Media Parents

Your broadcast or other media products, whether commercials, factual documentaries, online or on TV, need a professional voice, writes voice actor, and ex-RAF Officer, Kerry Hutchinson.

Voice Actor Kerry Hutchinson at work

As a father of three children, Kerry knows life can get busy, even in lockdown. “But,” Kerry continues, “If I can help you, let’s chat. As a professional voiceover and voice actor with my own broadcast-quality equipment, I could help you if you need a voice for your next project. Contact me via Media Parents or via the link below – I’d be delighted to provide you a free sample read of a script to help you decide”.

So, how did I get into voiceovers? I used to be a Training Officer in the RAF and someone said I had a good ‘Radio 4’ voice – would I mind voicing some instructional videos? And someone else later said I should do voiceovers full-time.  I was lucky with a new agent who had a gap my vocal tones would fill on their gallery.  Having German as a second language helped me gain the attention of German-speaking companies and agencies, and being able to mimic accents has also helped with my vocal ‘shop front’.

Once I’d got an agent, I started investing in upskilling courses, especially, several years later, I decided to go independent.  Not a leap for the timid, because competition among indie VOs is pretty ferocious. And you have to upskill to keep on the ball.  Social media courses have really helped, especially when learning about techniques to reach out when networking and marketing for possible voice job leads.

And having been injured in combat when a serving infantry Officer in Afghanistan, the compensation helped me realise a long-held dream of not just launching as an independent voice actor, but having a professional, broadcast-quality studio set up, which I now have. The image below shows me (on the right) ‘resting’ on a combat patrol with the Gurkhas, with whom I had the honour to serve, in Helmand, Afghanistan.

Among the many things I have learned is to pitch for jobs that fit my vocal range – and with a voice that seems suited to documentaries, corporates and one-to-one style deliveries that engage with a ‘listener of one’ that’s what I play to. Of course, being able to sustain accents such as gravelly Slavic angry, fearsome and similar, I have started helping indie game developers voice their 2-D characters.

Kerry Hutchinson on manoeuvres in Afghanistan

I think. It is a fact that web presentations, explainers and e-learner need a trained, professional and believable voice to bring your product, presentation and training to life. And not just on TV – more than 1.3 billion people use social media – that’s a rise of 88% over the last five years, and equates to more than 8 new users every second. So how could my voice help you penetrate the above target audience with your broadcast voiced project, marketing and branding campaign, or in-house training?

Well, video slots often have complex messages that only have a short time to deliver their message – and the right voice can explain new concepts and deliver information persuasively and compellingly. And a compelling, plausible documentary or narrative voice is instrumental in selling your audiovisual story and encouraging viewers to watch future episodes. Your audience, indeed the wider public, make fast judgments on voice tone alone.

So the right voice – believable, persuasive – can attract traffic to your series, product or brand if the voice infers it is respectable and of value to them, and therefore worth listening to and watching. Especially for a major multinational like NATO, who employ me as their consistent ‘brand voice’ – even when I go to Afghanistan on short term contracts. Here’s an excerpt from a promo video I did at the start of 2020: https://vimeo.com/393166864

The right voice can inspire trust and confidence, with a perfectly rendered narration that is lively and engaging, delivering a high-quality message. And for more commercial considerations, if your product has a voice component it could boost Google rankings and increase social media shares.

Contact me at https://www.kerryvoice.co.uk/ – as they say – “it’s good to talk.”

https://www.mediaparents.co.uk/freelancers/16452/kerry-hutchinson