Getting to know you...
I couldn't start a blog without letting you, the reader, learn a little more about me, the author. So, let me introduce myself. My name is Leonora Haig, a voice over artist living in lovely, leafy Crystal Palace with my boyfriend Tom and our cat, Monkey.
Having an unusual job often sparks lots of questions; what is a voice over? How do I get work? How do you set up a home studio? Can I be a voice over artist too? So, here is my corner of the internet, answering these often-asked questions and tackling some of the voice over worlds big issues such as: should I use P2P sites? How much should I be getting paid? How do you get an agent? What mic should I buy!?
One of the first things people ask me when they find out what I do is: "How did you get in to that?!". It's not a 'normal' job (whatever normal is!) and many VOs started in Radio however, my route is a little different. When I was younger I took speech and drama lessons and I loved being able to use my voice to express the authors words and bring the characters and situations to life. My dramatic streak bagged me a place on to Italia Conti Academy's BA (Hons) Acting programme where I learnt all about character development, deciphering scripts and being a tree. As a part of our training we had radio lessons with actor, producer and voice over artist Chris Pavlo, who taught us all about mic technique, characterisation, sight reading and lots more. It opened to eyes to the world of voice over and when I graduated I endeavoured to make it my career. With a lot of help from friend and fellow voice over artist Anna Parker-Naples I was able to set up my home studio when I moved in with my boyfriend, Tom, and I then worked hard to gain as much experience about the different types of voice overs and requirements needed to provide top quality audio to the end client. Since then, I haven't looked back! It took a while to hone my editing skills and get confidence behind the mic, but we can talk all about that another time!
I feel so lucky to earn a living doing a job that I love, every day is different and you never know what script is going to hit your inbox that day. However, being self-employed means I am forever at the mercy of clients choosing me as their voice and, like many other self-employed people, I work as a one woman band: I do all my own editing, marketing, accounting and time-keeping. It can also be a lonely job - I often joke that my job involves me talking to myself in a dark, padded room - and it's true! I have to trust my instincts when it comes to how my voice sounds and I have no other employees to bounce ideas off (unless you count Monkey!). Luckily, there is a wonderful community of voice over artists out there on the internet who are always happy to help out with any of my (numerous!) questions.
There's much more to come, so keep your eyes and ears peeled people!
Keep in good voice.
Leonora x
