How to book, host, and run a voiceover session as a producer
As AI is getting ever-so-close to taking over everything, there’s one piece of production that I hope never becomes a lost art—and that’s using real human voiceover talent.
Not only have I made some incredible connections by leading VO sessions, but I’ve also had a ton of fun and learned how to be a better creative in the process.
Working with real human talent helps you learn so much as a copywriter and a producer—it gives you a better idea of how words flow; gives you new insights into how to make a piece interesting; and puts your work in an entirely new light. Seeing how your writing can transform in the hands of someone else is pretty darn cool.
I could probably wax poetic about it for awhile, but that’s not why we’re here. In the interest of making sure this doesn’t become a lost art, I want to share everything I know about how to run a voiceover session as a producer.
So, here’s my step-by-step guide to casting, booking, and recording voiceover talent.
Get your script specs in order.
Obviously, you need a finished script before you can ever record a single word.
Once you have it in hand, you want to get an understanding of the basic specs of your script so you can start to get the other pieces in place. You’ll need to know the following:
How many spots do you need to record?
How long is each spot?
How many parts do you need to cover?
Are they a male, female? An adult, a child?
Knowing the answer to these questions will get you off on the right footing for casting and negotiating rights and budget.
Get a sense of the type of talent you want to cast.
Now that you have the basic technical pieces for your script, you need to dive into the artsy parts.
Here’s a few things to think through so that you can get an idea of the talent you need:
What’s the gender and age range you’d like? Does it matter if they’re male or female?
Do they need to have an accent, or are you looking for a clear, neutral voice?
What sort of tone/attitude do you need them to have? Think: playful, sassy, sarcastic? Serious, polished, formal? Rough, rugged, manly? Vocal fry, young millennial, energetic?
Is there a commercial you’ve heard that you’d like to emulate, or an actor who’s voice you feel is spot on? Pull some links or examples to share.
Take note of all of these pieces, because it will guide the audition brief we put together in the next step.
Put all of this information into an audition request.
The best thing about doing voiceovers in 2025 is that you don’t need to be physically present in a sound booth with someone. In fact, almost every voiceover session I’ve ever done has been completed remotely! Some of my favorite artists have been thousands of miles away from me, or even in a different country entirely.
You can find the right voiceover artist for you using sites like Voice123, Voices.com, Backstage, or even Fiverr. Or, as you record more and more, you’ll likely develop a list of contacts and favorites that you’ll be able to reach out to directly.
Most of these sites will have a standard intake form where you put all of your project details, but in case you find yourself working outside of a pre-set process, here’s what you should include.
Project name: keep this general; it’s a good idea to leave any brand names out of it, especially for the privacy of your brand or your client. I’ve used names like “Industrial Explainer Video” or “Yard Product Commercials.”
Project specs: Be very clear about what you need to record. For instance, “Four :30 second commercials for Amazon listings,” “2:00 brand video to be shown at a closed conference,” or “One :15 second social media commercial for a 3-month ad flight.”
Recording preferences: Do you want to do a live recording where you’re on the line with your artists to give in-the-moment feedback? Or are you okay if they record without you and send you the files afterward?
Usage rights needed: This is where things can get very unstandardized. Some artists don’t care about rights (especially for smaller projects with limited reach) and are happy to give you access to their voice in perpetuity. Others are VERY particular and will only grant you usage for a certain amount of time, after which you need to continue paying for usage.
Honestly, this could make or break a project—some clients are just not willing to continue paying for whatever reason; others know their creative is going to be constantly refreshed and the campaign itself won’t last that long. A general rule of thumb: the more eyes/ears on a piece, the more strict rights become.
Project budget: Again, this can feel like the wild west. Some artists use the GVAA rate guide, while others are much less formal or stiff with their rates. For the smaller brands I typically work with, my budgets have been anywhere between $250-$1500 per talent.
If you’re not sure where to start with budget, you want to take into consideration the runtime, the number of scripts, whether or not you require a live session, and the usage. I try to be as upfront and transparent about my budget as possible, but if you’re just not sure where to start, you can ask for bids and see where you land.
What it comes down to this is: you need to very clear with your specs and usage so you don’t waste time on the back end with too much negotiation. And always remember: if you have a tiny budget, you can’t be picky.
Talent requirements: This is where you put the direction for the talent for what you’re looking for—ie, male or female; age range; voice characteristics; existing examples. I also usually put in a direction like, “No newscaster voices or ‘voice-of-God’ type auditions, please.” But hey, if your project needs that type of voice, leave that out :)
If you aren’t sure if you want a male or a female artist, I’ll usually open up two projects instead of casting them both in one—that way I have a balanced pool of auditions to choose from, and it doesn’t sway too heavily male or female.
Script: Do not upload the full script into your audition (unless, of course, it’s very short). I usually take 2-3 sentences—ideally the most particular or challenging piece, or the piece that really needs to hit home to sell the idea.
Audition timeline: How long will you be accepting auditions? Always have a deadline in mind. I think the sweet spot is 2-3 days; most websites will already have a few pre-programmed runtime options. If you’re sending out auditions manually, always give a cutoff.
Once you have all of that locked and loaded, it’s time to hit send and let the auditions roll in.
Review your submissions
Most sites have a very convenient user interface where you can review auditions and leave notes. There are going to be some submissios that you immediately know are not the right fit:
They’re stiff or awkward
Their tone or interpretation misses the mark
They say, “I don’t do custom auditions for projects this small, but here’s my reel!”
They have a very pronounced accent when you asked for a neutral voice
They didn’t follow directions at all
Some VO artists will do multiple takes in their auditions, and most will say something like, “I’ve given you three takes here. Take 1…” Make sure you listen to all of them, because there will be differences, and if you cast that person, make sure you call out that specific style.
What I like to do is narrow down a list of favorites, then narrow down again. If I have enough time, I’ll walk away and then come back with fresh ears (because after a while of listening to VO takes, you start to go a little crazy).
If I’m sending choices to a client, I always give some rationale for each option and recommend a favorite. IE, “I’ve worked with Mike before and he’s great! He takes direction really well and can achieve the deep tone you’re looking for.” Or “I think Jane hits that millennial-cool voice we want, and she’s nailed this personality in other work she’s done!”
Once you’ve chosen your artist, it’s time to reach out to them.
Contact the artist to confirm details and send your talent release form
You can send a message directly to your talent in the software messaging system, but a lot of the time I will tell them we loved their audition and want to cast them; can you please reach out to my email to discuss the details? I’ll share my contact info at that point.
Voiceover artists are typically pretty hungry—I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than a day for a response.
Once they respond, I’ll review the details and confirm the rate and usage. You may have a little back and forth with negotiations here (particularly if your details were unclear in your posting), but this generally goes fast.
A few other things to ask:
What time zone are you in? (important if you want to do a live recording)
When’s the best time to have a live session?
Will you charge for pickups? (even the most well-planned production might need a quick change for a word, or an exec will hate the way something is said, or a last name is mispronounced even if the person on the session swears it was correct).
Once that’s all clear, put it all into a talent release form. You can find a few templates online, but it’s always a good idea to clear it with your legal council, too.
Documentation is really important for things like this, just to make sure that everyone is on good terms and remembers what they agreed to, just in case any questions about rights or usage ever come up.
Record!
This is assuming you’re having a live directed session. When you set up a session, make sure you send a Zoom or virtual meeting recording in your calendar invite (and I always recommend sending one of those). It’s a good idea to have the script(s) attached, too, so that the artist has them on hand and can go over them beforehand.
When you start your session (after the obligatory small talk, lol), it’s a good idea to go over the audition take that you preferred, point out any weird terms or pronunciations in the script, tell them about the client and the project goals, and go over the tone and characteristics you’re looking for.
Remember: always put yourself on mute when the artist is recording! You don’t want to be messing with their audio, or have something unexpected happen that completely ruins a good take.
Now, for the actual recording process:
Task one: full reads
I like to start with one long read-through to get a general sense of what we’re going for. I’ll give additional direction and go through again, and continue to adjust as needed.
Make sure your artist is calling out takes as you go. I always write these down and make notes throughout, too. It can move fast and feel overwhelming, and you don’t want to lose track of your thoughts.
At the end of this post, you can download some of my favorite scripting resources, and my VO notes template is included (it’s free!).
Task two: pickups
Once I have a few good read-throughs, I’ll take things section by section if there’s a chunk that didn’t quite hit the mark. This is called a “pickup.”
Again, call out the takes on these, and make sure to keep your notes and adjust.
Now—you can also do pickups after the recording, but the goal is to get what you need here. Again, things can happen and most artists are super gracious about post-session pickups, but try to cover your bases.
Task three: alt takes
There may be a line or a section where you’re just not sure what you want, or what will please the client, or what will pair the best with the actual piece of footage you’re using. This is where alts come in.
Pull out a line and ask for a 1, 2, 3 (or A, B, C) of that one. Usually, the artist will announce this as “Take #, ABC” in the recording, and then they’ll give three separate reads of that line, all with different tones or inflections.
You can do this several times until you hear what you need, and then move on to the next need.
Task 4: one for safety
Even if you think you had the world’s best ever read through on the first go, make sure you get an additional 2-3 takes. You never know what’s going to happen with a read, or what you may have missed.
Always try and get a few alts on the opening lines and closing lines; some things will just work better with a shot, an expression, or a client’s taste.
If you’re going through the trouble and time of a live session, make sure you’re getting everything you need to avoid reaching out for pickups later. If you do need a post-session pickup, you usually don’t need to have another directed session unless the mess really hits the fan.
Task 5: timing
If you have a time-limited script, it’s not a bad idea to keep a stop watch running—though your artist will be able to give you a much more accurate timestamp.
Sometimes, you might find that the script just doesn’t fit into that :15 second mark, and you’ll need to do some on-the-fly copywriting. I read and time every script I write before I send it off, but even then—when you get the right tone and inflection, it can change things. Scripts can run over, or even go under.
Just don’t forget to confirm this before you end the session.
Get your files and head to post
When you’re done with the session, clarify how you’ll receive your files. Most artists send them pretty much immediately—they’ll do some light cleanup and then shoot them over to you, whether it’s via Dropbox, WeTransfer, Drive, or something else. Just confirm timing and delivery method.
I also like to remind them of where to send their invoice! If you want to keep a good relationship (and reputation) with your talent, pay them on time.
And boom—that’s it! You’ve successfully cast and ran a VO session. Congrats!
Free production resources
I’m sharing my favorite resources for scripting and voiceovers—and it’s free! All you need to do is fill out the form below, and I’ll send them your way.
This pack includes my failproof script template, my voiceover notetaking template, and my word count guide.
If you use it, let me know if it’s helpful!
