Mastering Voiceover:

Natalie Edwards, Head of Voiceover and Presenters Division at Excellent Talent joined Rachael Naylor on The VoiceOver Hour LIVE webinar in May to discuss what she looks for as a Voiceover agent.

Natalie is described as being “the perfect human sponge of knowledge, and with the natural performer just waiting for every opportunity to reveal herself, Natalie has been invited to Voiceover events across the UK (and virtually) to deliver pearls of Agent-y wisdom for budding Voiceover artists and those who wish to improve their business.”

Natalie, what do you love about your job?

When I first started, one of my tasks was to listen to everyone's reels on the books. It was amazing to listen to how many talented people I was about to start representing. And then listening to new people we've taken on and seeing them thrive with the agency…It's been really inspiring. What would you say is unique about Excellent Talent?

and audiobooks. It's nice we get to have such a variety of jobs. We've got a really personable approach to the way that we work with talent.

Internationally, how do you navigate?

It's amazing to listen to how many talented people I was about to start representing. And then listening to new people we've taken on and seeing them thrive with the agency… It's been really inspiring.

There are bigger jobs like commercials and video games and all of the mainstream stuff. We do that as well as corporate jobs, e-learning,

We do work with the US and Europe, but not as much as UK. We've seen such a shift in home studios, the only areas that are more in studio are gaming and animation because there's a lot more direction in terms of acting and some movement involved. Sometimes they need the space to be in that particular studio. If they find someone great they want to work with who is international, then they'll do it.

What are you looking for as an agent?

It depends on what we're missing, basically. We used to say, experience is very important and I think that's a very closed word. Experience also comes from knowing the industry well. It's important to us that you can go into a studio and we can trust you to perform and do a great job. Can you do the same thing in a studio in a live session? Get to know the agency you're applying for, do that research first. Go onto the website. Have a quick read-through of everything and if it's the right fit, send us an email.

So, in terms of that initial contact email, what grabs your attention?

Always attach your voice demos, voice reels. Sell yourself, but be friendly. If you don’t hear from us, then your application has been unsuccessful. We can't reply to everybody. But we do review our inbox every two weeks. You're welcome to reapply with some new material or any updates that you have.

What makes a good demo/ reel?

We don't mind what you send, as long as it sounds professional. Are you right for that advert you are voicing? Does your accent suit that character? Pay attention to the order of clips in your reel. Choose the best standout clip for the beginning of your reel. Those first few seconds are really important and also good to have a variety in there. We don't want it all to be one note. We want to hear you're versatile. Another thing is reading a script is different to being engaged with a script.

Moving on to AI. How are you navigating it as agents?

I think a lot of the narration-style voiceover is going to be affected, stuff that's easily going to be done by a computer. Basically, IVR e-learning audiobooks. My predictions are those areas are going to get affected. Things like video games, animation, commercials, that require a human, real emotion, I don't think they'll use AI to create it. But there is a risk that Voices will be stolen from the product. We are trying to figure out how we can protect our voices. We have been talking to a legal team about creating a clause for our contract. I think the moral of the story is research. Invest in some kind of legal advice.

Now is the important time to level up and make sure you get agents, representation, sort out your contracts, make sure your home studio is the best it can be, and get those clients. There are definitely clients out there that are not going to go for a machine.

I think people who have a real passion for the industry are going to stick to what they already do and appreciate that we are people and they like having a human at the end of the microphone.

How important would you say training is?

Very. If there are specific areas you want to do, focus on training in those, because that's how you're going to get better. It’s the only way that you can guarantee you're going to build your skills and confidence.

Do you have any other last piece of advice to leave everybody with?

Be patient. Even though it's such a fast-paced industry, I think be patient with yourself, others, your training. Just allow yourself to learn and grow in your voiceover journey.

To watch the interview in full head to the Members area of The VoiceOver Network website and Search for Natalie Edwards. Focus