Why Your Voice Reel Shouldn’t Sound like a Voice Reel

A really common mistake I see when people are starting out in voiceover is coming into it with this idea of a ‘voiceover voice’.

And I get it, because lots of people come to me saying they’ve been told they’ve got a good voice for voiceover. And they do. They really do.

But if you put extra on top of that, and you start going...

‘Spotify Premium... once upon a time...’

Maybe in 2023, or before that, that would have been really popular. And don’t get me wrong, those reads still exist. You still get those big adverts. You still get those huge shiny reads where everything is pushed and produced.

But now, if you really want to sell yourself, and if you really want to separate yourself from your most obvious traits, you’ve got to ditch that voiceover voice.

You’ve got to find something truthful to you.

Which sounds annoying, I know. But it is the annoying truth of what I’ve seen.

Everything in this Industry is a Contradiction

I always say everything in this industry is a contradiction.

So even when I talk about mistakes, I have to say... mistakes can sometimes yield work. There is always someone who will book the thing I have just said not to do. There are always exceptions.

But there are general trends. And the trend I see is that the industry has changed. The old idea of what a voiceover should sound like is not always the most useful thing now.

Some of the best voiceovers don't sound like voiceovers at all

For me, I am white, young, female, with a light Northern voice. That gives people some information about me straight away. But if I only give the most obvious version of that, I am not showing enough.

The more specific you can be, the better.

And that is what I’m trying to get from people in a voice reel session. Not a polished voiceover version of them. Not a ‘please cast me’ voice. Something that feels like them, inside the job.

That’s the difference.

A Good Voice is Only the Start

Being told you have a good voice is lovely. It is. I’m not dismissing that.

But a good voice is only the start.

If you are listening to yourself trying to sound nice, the read can go flat very quickly. You start trying to be good. You start trying to be impressive. You start thinking about the sound of your own voice rather than the person you are speaking to.

Tips on how to get the most out of your voice reels

And then, quite often, the thing that was actually interesting disappears.

That is why I don’t want people to come into Blooom sessions trying to sound like a voiceover artist. I want to know what job you want it to be for. What company you want it to feel like. What world we are trying to sit in.

Especially with video games, I want it to immediately slot into those worlds. I want someone listening to be able to go, ‘Oh yes, I can hear where this belongs.’

That is much more useful than just sounding good.

Commercial Reels Should Usually Start with your Own Voice

When I first started making reels, based on the knowledge I had then, I would always say: stick with your own accent, especially for commercials.

And to some extent, I still think that applies.

For a commercial reel, I usually want to hear roughly you. Your own sound, give and take. You can go up and down the scope of what you can do, of course, but I want to know where you start.

Because commercial voiceover is often about the listener believing you. If you sound like you are doing a version of what you think a commercial should be, it can become a bit... not false exactly, but less useful.

You can hear when someone is presenting at you instead of speaking to you.

And most of the time, the one that books is the one that feels like a person. Not perfect. Not overly neat. Just alive.

Gaming and Animation are a bit Different

That said, again, there are always exceptions.

What I have learnt from the job I’m currently doing at the moment, which is a video game, is that they love accents.

The casting calls I get will quite often start with something specific. It might start off as an East Midlands accent, and then they are looking for someone who can also do East Midlands, General Northern, American, RP, Scottish, Welsh...

Because it is easier for them, ultimately, if they can find a voiceover artist they like to work with who can move around.

So now, especially with gaming and animation reels, I often lean towards starting with that one sample, just so I know who you are. Then after that, if you are great at accents, I really recommend it.

Leap around as much as you can.

But without losing who you are.

I once listened to someone’s gaming reel first, and then I went back to their commercial reel and thought, ‘Oh, you’re Scottish. I did not know that.’

Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But if you are looking for an agent in particular, I think it helps to pull those things together. Commercial, roughly in your voice, give and take. Then with gaming and animation, start in your voice, just to pinpoint it, and then show how far you can go.

Be a chameleon, yes... but don’t vanish.

A Reel Should Sound like the Work

I don’t ever like my voice reels to sound like a voice reel.

That is a big thing for me.

I will ask you what job you want it to be for. What company you want it to be produced by. What kind of game it belongs in. What advert world it sits in. Especially with video games, I want it to immediately slot into those worlds.

I have learnt so much about video games because I am not a particular video game player. But you learn by being in the work. You learn what matters. You learn why one line needs to land differently from another.

There is a silly example I always think about.

If you are playing a character in a game and that character is going to start a quest for the person playing, the line might be:

‘Have you got my socks?’

Now, if you don’t know what that line is doing, you might just throw it away. But if you know that ‘socks’ is going to pop up as the task, like find Fred’s socks, go back to the mountains, suddenly that word needs to do a tiny bit more.

Not in a huge way.

Not ‘HAVE YOU GOT MY SOCKS?’

Just enough.

That is the kind of thing I’ve learnt from being in sessions where they are so particular about every word. I have done twenty takes of individual lines before. And then when I’m directing someone else, I can bring that with me.

Not in a scary way. In a useful way.

The Note has to Land in the Right Place

So much of Blooom sessions is psychology.

I know what it feels like to be behind the mic. I know what it feels like when someone gives you a note that makes your brain go into a spiral.

I have worked with people who are not really directors, sometimes marketing departments on corporate jobs, and they give you impossible notes.

‘Can you be more emotional?’

Then you try that.

‘No, less emotional.’

What emotions can you deliver on your voice reel?

And you are standing there thinking... what am I meant to do with that?

So in Blooom sessions, if I give someone a note and I can see they have gone back in and lost that little spark, I will change how I give the note. Sometimes I will drop the note completely for a moment. Not because it was wrong, but because it has made them focus on the wrong thing.

I can give two notes that get to the same place.

I might say, ‘Do you want the emotional note? Imagine Fred and his socks and what this means to him.’

Or I might say, ‘Do you want the technical note? I want the word socks highlighted because that is going to unlock the next bit.’

Some people want the emotional note. They want to stay in the imagination. Some people want the technical note. They take it back into the booth and make it real to themselves.

Neither is wrong.

It is just about what keeps the read alive.

The Best Take is not Always the Neatest One

I had this myself recently.

I was re-recording a sample on my commercial reel because there was a tiny little croak in my voice. It was bothering me. So I went back into my cupboard, which is my voiceover studio, but... cupboard, whatever, and I recorded it again.

I spent ages focusing on the resonance of my voice, holding the diaphragm, trying to make it sound as lovely as possible.

Then I came out and listened to the two samples back to back.

The new one was nice. Fine. Technically cleaner, probably.

But it didn’t excite me in any way, shape or form.

The old one, with the tiny croak, had something in it. It had the thing I would actually send.

Because that is what books.

Not perfection.

And that is so counterintuitive, but it is the truth.

Of course, your voice reel has to sound professional. It has to be recorded properly. It has to be edited properly. The mix matters. The music and sound effects matter. Sometimes the difference between a ding and a ding dong matters, because people can be very particular and I admire that.

But underneath all of that, the take has to have life.

That is what I am listening for. Not just whether the voice sounds good. Whether the read feels like it belongs somewhere. Whether I can hear the job. Whether I can hear you.

So no, I don’t think your voice reel should sound like a voice reel.

I think it should sound like you are already working. Follow us on social media or read our blog. If you are looking for voice reel work in London and beyond, check out the Mandy Network for opportunities. (This is not an endorsement).