What's in a number?

I'm very proud to have been nominated for six One Voice Awards, celebrating the best voice acting across genres throughout the UK.

A massive thank you to Hugh Edwards and the rest of the One Voice team for holding these awards and programming a hugely exciting conference in May.

As a serial nominee (27 in total since the inaugural awards 2018) and one-time winner, there are a few things I think I'd want to observe from these:

𝟭) 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼.

Most industry awards have very little resonance 𝘖𝘜𝘛𝘚𝘐𝘋𝘌 of the industry.

Do most of my corporate clients know what a One Voice Award is?
𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵.

Do some areas of voice acting perhaps value other, more specialised awards bodies?
𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰.

But what One Voice succeeds in doing is tying together an incredibly broad field and celebrating all its nuances.

And over time, that has had more and more weight.

The odd client has mentioned 'all my awards' when booking me. It's your skill and execution which will get you hired, but in a very competitive industry, every marginal gain is worth exploring.

𝟮) 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀.

I started voice acting mainly working in the corporate space, and swore I would never touch audiobooks.

Eight years later, I'm nominated for two audiobook categories because I've massively pivoted into that sector. This is both down to my developing skillset AND the profound impact AI has had on corporate and elearning work.

There are still really exciting, creative and well paid corporate gigs being made - and it was lovely to be nominated in that category too. But the more prosaic jobs which used to be my bread and butter are further and farther between as many clients settle for 'good enough'.

𝟯) 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

All my nominations fill me with immense pride, but it's the bigger picture that most reassures me.

This is the eighth consecutive year that I've been nominated for best male voiceover artist of the year, and that consistency despite huge changes in both life and work is worth shouting about.

𝟰) 𝗔 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁𝘀

Finally, there's something about seeing all these names and the awesome work they've done which fills me with great pride about the VO community at large.

You spot the usual suspects, people making personal breakthroughs... all of this helps tie together a community which is partly so strong because we spend our days speaking alone.

A huge congrats to all nominees and to those who had the guts to submit work in the first place!

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

𝗙**𝗞 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗘𝗦

𝙊𝙍 Happy Release Week to 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗔𝗚𝗘

It's been a highlight of the last year to be part of Graphic Audio, LLC.'s adaptation of Pierce Brown's RED RISING series, the latest instalment of which released recently and is available here.

A special shout out to Dave Fernandez at GA, who preps, directs and produces each episode almost single handedly.

So a huge congratulations to him and my fellow, brilliant cast members.
It's been a brilliant ride thus far!

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵.

A huge shout out to Daniele Lanzarotta and TJ London for winning the SOVAS award for best casting on Sunday!!

I've had the pleasure to work with these two fabulous women over 2025, and being invited to be a part of TJ's Rebels and Redcoats Saga and join an absolutely stacked cast has been a huge honour for me.

They are always supportive.
They are always constructive.
And they always hold you to bring your best work.

With some projects, as an actor, you can feel as if you're a little bit lost in the machine when you don't receive feedback.

While we want our craft and impulses to be trusted, there are few things more dispiriting that feelings as if you're performing into the void - which is almost always the case with auditions, and frequently even with final projects.

So do work with people who are passionate about the work, invested in everybody's contribution towards it, and still managing to do all this on a shoe-string is a phenomenal achievement which deserves to be shouted about.

Huge congrats Dani, Tracey - and to all the other amazing members of the team that made such a crazy ambitious project possible!

(and yes, that is my voice playing at the awards ceremony in LA before the acceptance speech. I very much hope to be back in person in 2027!)

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

“𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗺𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆?” - 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹

One of my New Year goals is to daydream.
For 15 minutes a day.

This isn't to do with manifestation or business goals.
It's another move towards putting craft at the centre of my working day.

For the first five minutes, there is a series of exercises (a guided meditation of sorts) that I listen to by the acting coach Niki Flacks. She describes it as 'self tuning'.

This helps me focus on the moment, my body and breath.
It's a more vulnerable and emotional state of readiness.

From there, I spend the next five to ten minutes trying to guide my emotional state in a particular way.

I might imagine specific imaginary scenarios.
I might listen to particular types of music.
I might focus on particular senses.

And while I might start with an emotional target, I don't force it.

The only rule is not to repeat what I started with yesterday.

Why do this?

Because it increases my palette as an artist.
Because I learn how different stimuli trigger me in different ways.
Because it helps me become less predictable, so that I surprise myself.

The below poem is a case in point.
I didn't start it from a sad place - but by being in a state of readiness, it simply 'dropped in' towards the end.

Not as a choice. But as a response to the moment.
Which is, after all, the artist's job.

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

"The end is where we start from"-TS Eliot

Last year was a profound shift for my business on a number of levels.

I pushed hard into the genre of audiobooks.

I booked a record number of video games.

I completely refreshed my branding.

And I won a One Voice Award*.

Financially, it was my best year in terms of income but not in profit - which is to be expected when you're entirely repositioning and reprioritising.

So the biggest aim for 2026?

𝘙𝘌𝘚𝘗𝘖𝘕𝘚𝘐𝘉𝘓𝘌 𝘚𝘊𝘏𝘌𝘋𝘜𝘓𝘐𝘕𝘎.

It's a cliche, especially for a one-person business where everything depends on you and you alone.

But I ended the year by saying YES to too many opportunities, with the result that I risked burning out. Every weekend and evening was a working one in Q4, which has never been the lifestyle I've sought.

That scenario was born out of typical freelancer anxiety and a lack of clarity in how to manage my schedule.

So the aim is to redraw some boundaries and try to stick to them a little more rigidly so I have room for stuff that will further benefit my creative development...

Oh, and a LIFE.

Here's to making small, manageable changes one screw-up at a time!

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

'I want you to SEDUCE the boat'.

As direction goes - that's in my top 10.

When I was asked to lend my voice to this beautiful promo campaign for Sanlorenzo Yacht's new Heritage, it was some of the best copy I've worked with all year.

Why?

Because it's not selling a product. It's tantalising with a relationship - a way of life - that its target audience longs for.

But beyond the actual message, there's real artistry in the copy and the visuals that it's the job of a voice actor to pick up on:

➡️ There's rhyming couplets and alliteration that must be honoured, not laboured.

➡️ The variety of the line length echos the ebb and flow of the water.

➡️ The sound design bleeds in FX to punctuate each point.

➡️ The music choice cues the level of projection.

I have a voice print that naturally lends itself to this kind of luxury. But if relied 𝘑𝘜𝘚𝘛 on the sound, all of those little details that elevate this from good to great would be lost.

And that's how you stand out.

By trusting in people who know their craft and are laser focused on the audience they wish to reach.

Like me. Like my clients.

A huge thank you to Sing Sing for having me involved.

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

EXPLAIN - don't INDICATE.

The voice isn't purely for emotion.

In the wake of AI voices, voice talent understandably point to the one thing their digital counterpart is completely devoid of: true feeling.

Yes, you can now insert emotional prompts line by line with some AI voice generators, which seems a faintly ludicrous, inorganic and labor-intensive way of getting a less-good end result, but it's still a valid point.

But another argument for the human voice is basic cognition.

If I understand the argument of a piece of copy, then I will naturally use the rhetoric within in to make my point for me. I won't just rely on throwing emotion at it.

Because emotion WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING is bad acting.
It's what acting teachers call 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚.

Rather than talking to your audience and carrying them with an argument, emotion for it's own sake talks AT an audience, telling them what they should be feeling.

And that's often how a lot of 'emotion' in AI voice comes across.

That doesn't mean it doesn't have it's place. For a one dimensional message, you can use a one dimensional tool. Some people just need the right sound or vibe for their content, and if they can find a (ethically sourced) tool that does the job, all power to them.

But for those that aspire to a greater, more meaningful connection with their audience?

You might want to employ someone who digs a little deeper.

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

A Monster's Voice 🧟‍♂️

How are a performer's choices effected by the genre they're working in?

I finally caught Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Frankenstein this weekend, which I greatly enjoyed.

Bold liberties were inevitably taken with Mary Shelley's original, but that's precisely what you want from a film adaptation. del Toro's vision is a personal one there's no attempt to create a faithful version. The themes of the novel are honoured, but in unconventional and creative ways.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿.

➡️ You can't change or cut the words.
➡️ You have to honour the author's vision.
➡️ And you also need to be mindful of the medium.

A great example of this is the VOICE of Frankenstein's 'monster'.

In del Toro's adaptation, I think Jacob Elordi does a wonderful job in charting the character's progress 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃 the voice.

He starts as an infant, only able to repeat the name of his creator, 'Victor'. This repetition (and apparent lack of mental progression) is what ends up trigger his rejection by Victor Frankenstein, rather than his physical appearance.

He then begins to learn language through observations of others, and even adopts the colloquial accent in which they speak.

And then he finally finds his own voice, shaped by the eloquence of his reading.

I recently had the honour of recording Frankenstein for Spotify Audiobooks, which presents it's own challenge.

In the book, the Monster first speaks 100 pages in, when he's already reached the end of the cycle described above. And he is already INCREDIBLY articulate - to a Shakespearean degree. Below is his first meeting with Victor, and the contrast between Victor's inarticulate rage and his creation's reasoning is stark.

I still wanted to honour the unnatural nature of the Monster in his speech. But slowing the voice too much or adding some form of physical impediment I felt would run counter to Shelley's writing. He also proceeds to narrate the next half a dozen chapters, so it can't be a performance that draws attention to itself consistently.

𝗦𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡.

The monster starts at a deeper pitch, with gravel in the voice, but becomes lighter and faster as he progresses. By contrast, Victor Frankenstein (who started methodical and controlled) becomes increasingly bestial. Over the course of the book, this was my way of conveying meaning through performance while still serving the medium I'm working in.

A huge thank you to Rinn K. for granting me such a wonderful opportunity. And if you were thinking of checking out the book thanks to del Toro, here’s the Spotify link to my narration!

(As explained on social media the reviews pertain to an earlier edition and not mine, so don't be put off my the middling rating - it's good... In my opinion.... HONEST)

Also available on Storytel and Booktopia

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

32 audiobooks in 45 weeks... 😅

But what did I learn?

➡️ The audiobook industry is even more about building genuine relationships than any other genre of voice acting.

I get repeat clients in my corporate, commercial and gaming work - but nothing to the extent I do with audiobooks. Once you've proven your sound, your acting chops and your scheduling, you're far better placed to work consistently with a producer. And meeting people in person (I went to AHAB in New York in March) and coaching with Julie Wilson had a transformational effect on my career.

➡️ Vocal health and stamina. These things haven't been much of an issue in my 8 years fulltime voice acting, but when you're recording 20-30k a day and the slightest change in your voice can have an impact, you need to know how to deal with it.

➡️ While AI voices are very much a threat, their limitations and lack of COGNITION are shown up in long form. They don't do suspense, tension or emotional transitions - because all those things require understanding of the story you're telling. Not how 'nice' the voice sounds.

➡️ The marketing is easier because it's not so scattergun. Rather than trying to contact hundreds of leads, I'm focusing on those people handling the titles and materials that readily excite me, which therefore makes a personalised approach more... personal.

➡️ The task of creating dozens, if not hundreds of characters for a book has reconnected me with my stage craft and drama school training - especially accent work and Laban. While I've used these consistently in all voice work, these have become a central focus of my working day.

➡️ There's a difference between how much you CAN narrate and how much you SHOULD. I'm still battling with this, and there'sstill terror in saying no to work - but I've worked a lot of evenings and weekends as a result, and that needs adjusting!

➡️ I'm a bigger fish in this pond. Gaming (where, ironically, I've had my best year of bookings too) is dominated by people in my demographic. Yet in most audiobook meet-ups, I've been one of only a few men my age and accent in the room. It makes business sense not to ignore this.

➡️ A social media profile helps. Authors have approached me directly from social media. Publishers have found my work there and are interested in finding ways to leverage my following. That simply never happens in corporate or commercial VO.

➡️ Audiobook narrators are the warmest, most supportive 'sub group' of voice actors I've ever found. Hands down.

I still work consistently with corporate, commercial and gaming clients every week too, but I thought now was a good time to acknowledge this milestone. The hugest of thanks to everyone whose been part of this journey so far!

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

The paradox of infinite content?

Everything becomes noise.

In all honesty, that's a big reason why I took a break of a few weeks from a certain social media platform…ahem, Linkedin.

The flood of AI templated, ChatGPT infused content had just been making the platform a bit of a slog for me in the last few months.

And reading Zsike Peter's wonderful THINKBAIT in the summer encouraged me to take a step back and reflect on my own output and whether I was in any way contributing to the problem.

So I took a break and re-evaluated.

Because regardless of the end result, I'm as much concerned about the process and what it gives me as I am by the output.

Sure, I've gotten a slow but steady stream of work on there from being consistent.
But I've felt the cognitive-cost of that.

It's taken up valuable time for reflection.
I've found myself having conversations I'm not invested in.
Plus - the brutally honest truth - I'm finding more rapid success in other places.

But rather than jack it all in together, I've determined to be a lot more selective.

And I'll definitely get back to posting, but not just for the sake of consistency.

My CTA? Check out Zsike's book, available to pre-order now.
If you're looking for an antidote to AI-slop, they don't come any better.

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

So you’ve been recast!

That was the disappointing news I ended last week on, for a lovely AAA gaming project that I’d had the pleasure of working on for 6 months.

As development went into the final stages, it was concluded that the character in question needed an older sounding voice, and so my time on the title has wrapped.

I’m not sharing this just to get sympathy.
I mean…. Not ‘entirely’ 👀
Lord knows there are far more profound things happening in peoples lives than this.

But just as I’ll happily celebrate the wins, I think it’s just as important to talk about the losses and how you deal with them as an actor.

➡️ First it’s about getting good.
➡️ Then it’s the struggle to get seen.
➡️ Followed by the challenge of actually booking in an industry where everyone is - at least - very good.
➡️ And even then, when you’ve booked the damn thing… there’s always that ‘what if’ niggle until the project actually gets released.

This isn’t my first rodeo.

I’ve had leading roles in projects that got cancelled or lost funding. And I’ve also received parts as part of other recasts myself. I’ve had roles promised me only to go to ‘bigger names’ and supplied the temp voice for ALL the characters in an entire game, only to not be part of the finished release because ‘we heard your voice so much’.

So what do you do?

Dust yourself down.
Put it into context.
Ask yourself if there’s anything different you could have done to change the outcome.
Scream into a pillow.

And once that’s run its course... pick yourself up and get ready to fight again.
Because THAT’S the game as much as anything 🫡

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

Announcing Hearthfall. A Dark Fantasy Audio Drama

Excited to share that I’m part of Hearthfall, a fantastic new audio drama inspired by video games such as Baldur's Gate III, Elder Scrolls Oblivion and The Witcher III.

It takes the medium to a whole new level with original music and immersive sound design by Brian Kelly, the show creator. Hearthfall also features a stacked cast including Sarah Nightingale from Dead by Daylight, Sean Mendum from Baldur's Gate III, Ian Russell from Rogue Trader 40K and (ahem) myself.

This is a completely AI free show celebrating human creatives coming together to push boundaries.

A free two episode pilot has just been released with a full season coming in 2026, available on Youtube, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the words of my character IIya “You have no idea what you’re in for”.

Need a compelling, award-winning voiceover?

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

AI's effect on the voices we hear

If you destroy the steps, you destroy the path.

Making sure you're better than AI is only half the battle.

The health of an industry is not just determined by those people playing at the highest level.

It's also determined by the fresh blood coming into it.

The unheard voices.
The irreverent approaches.
The unique backgrounds and experiences.

Without them, a talent pool can only stagnate.

Or, at best, the industry becomes dominated by those people who can afford to play in it.

I'm not saying voice talent doesn't need to consistently get better and utilise AI technology when possible.

I've heavily invested 25% of my income into further training over the last seven years and continue to do so. An investment that was partly made possible thanks to the hundreds of 'lower profile' jobs I recorded over that period.

But the 'get better or go home' sentiment is an overly-simplistic take to a nuanced and complex problem.

And we all know how well the internet does nuance.

Want to inject some originality into your project? Then check out my demos here

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

The director's chair...

Every new piece of equipment in my home studio is rigorously tested by Honey the studio cat.

Behold - Exhibit A.  The 'narrating stool'.

As I'm doing a lot more long-form work, I needed something that provides support but keeps my posture more upright for easier breathing and movement.

The inevitable Ikea purchase has worked wonderfully, but only got the final seal of approval yesterday when Honey decided to test it for an entire afternoon.

It's this level of stringent attention to detail that truly makes a recording space 'broadcast ready'.

Anyone else have a home-based engineer with  impeccable attention to detail?

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

'Knighthood lies above eternity. It doesn't live off fame, but rather deeds'.

Delighted to have narrated this epic non-fiction title for HarperCollins Publishers about the forgotten life of William Marshall, a medieval knight.

There are two things I love about this kind of job.

1) Learning about a subject completely new to me.

2) Taking lessons from the past and showing their continued relevance.

Thomas Asbridge's writing does both of these things masterfully.

For those interested in the brutality of medieval warfare or the intrigues of the royal court, then it has plenty of page-turning suspense and intrigue.

But Asbridge also uses Marshall's story to deftly meditate on notions of friendship, honour and identity in a profoundly human way.

Yes - admittedly he does this with quite a few lesser-known French place names , but that's why narrators make sure to prep thoroughly!

A huge thank you to Mandi Ogle for the wonderful opportunity and to the team at Eljininc for their fabulous production support.

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

The Greatest Knight. Thomas Asbridge. Harper Collins Publishers

Measure twice. Cut once.

When a client sent me their script last week,
I had questions.

The project involved lots of German and French place names, and it wasn't as simple as checking how they were pronounced.

When adapting material for an English audience, you also have to determine to what level you Anglicise foreign names and quotes.

The answer to this will depend on the client and their audience.
Knowing this kind of information in advance is ideal so that a voice talent can prepare in advance and focus on the performance while recording.

Alas, in this instance - my client didn't know.

Rather than ask the end-client in advance, they preferred to let such questions be solved 'in session'.

This left me with two options:

1) Wait until the live recording session and thrash it out as we go.

OR

2) Prepare for different eventualities so that the client experience was the smoothest possible, even if it costs me extra.

I went with number two.

I contacted a German VO colleague who I paid to provide a guide for both authentic and Anglicised versions of the names in question.

I then spent half an hour annotating my script with both versions, so I could quickly swap from one to the other depending on the client's preference.

In the end, the client wanted a combination of the two - so being able to flip between them proved invaluable. If I'd not done any prep work under my own steam, the recording would have taken twice as long and the delivery would have suffered.

But did I make a big fuss about this to my client?

No.

I fed back my experience AFTER the session had completed and everyone was happy, and said that I'd charge extra for the additional prep time if required in the future.

The takeaway?

Be prepared.
Make sure YOU look good.
Educate rather than remonstrate whenever possible.

That doesn't mean allow to be taken advantage of. If this project was longer or more complex, then I would have stood my ground about the importance of getting supporting materials in advance.

But you've got to treat each case individually.  And for this one, making a big song and dance about having to do prep work would have proven a distraction.

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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

Taking a step into the unknown

That is the reality of being a freelance creative.

When I first started my acting journey, the only thing I knew was that the statistics told me that only 2% of actors are gainfully employed at any one time.

When I first started voice acting, I made the decision to go 'all in' purely because I was earning more from it than from what I could scrounge through zero hour contracts (around £400 a week).

And even in the last year, I've instigated a profound shift by moving into a genre - audiobooks - that I'd never touched 18 months ago.

It's now about 60% of my work, and the entire workflow and rhythm of my day has changed as a result.

THIS is why having my branding shots done by Musselwhite Photography Ltd was such a no brainer - because images like the one below encapsulate both the challenge and the invitation of a creative life.

To make your mark and be truly memorable, you have to be brave enough to make bold and distinctive choices. And you have to be prepared to take them knowing that it might not work out.  Consistently.

Today, having the bravery to stick to that choice is only getting harder.  Whether it's increased competition, the fear of advancing tech or the general sense of the world burning... it certainly doesn't seem to be getting easier.

So to anyone looking for a quick pep talk - know that you're not alone.

Be brave enough to take that step.

It's the only way it works.

Want an original take on your upcoming project?

Contact me here and we can discuss your voiceover needs directly

By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

Know your casting, darling...

Delighted to share that I've had the pleasure of working with Chris DiTuri and Joel-Peter Carm courtesy of BLEND Voice on Azra Games' forthcoming fantasy epic Ungodly.

Am I the heroic hulk?
𝗢𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁.

Am I one of the two scantily dressed women?
𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 - 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

Am I the horrific beast of your nightmares on the right.
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁?  𝙈𝙀!!!

𝗡𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

Every recording session has been a total pleasure and it's lovely to see so many of my peers being involved in the same project too.

Looking forward to sharing more upon release later this year!

Check out my Game demos here

Contact me or add me to your supplier list for future reference

By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

Ungodly by Azra Games

I don't want you to see me

And not because I'm distractingly beautiful*.

I probably have a handful of live-directed sessions every week.

And for roughly 75% of them, I run the session with my camera turned off.

That might seem like a surprise given I'm a performer - and one that has built a significant part of their business on a social media presence.

But when I'm recording most projects, I want the client to be focused on my VOICE, not what weird stuff I might be doing to make the sounds that I do.

This week, I had a fantastic recording session working on an audio drama in which I had to almost drown, climb and get various bones broken.

After introductions (conducted with the camera on), I explained my preference for 'camera off' for these reasons, because the contortions I might make to render such sounds believable while rigidly standing still might be distracting.

This isn't always the case.

Some directors - especially in video games - love to have a visual idea of what you'e doing so they can offer feedback and specific adjustments directly related to your physicality.

But when I started out, I felt that I 𝘏𝘈𝘋 to have the camera on to prove my commitment in some odd way.  And this sometimes resulted in less experienced clients getting distracted during recording... 'Wow, the faces you make', etc.

As ever, it's about providing the options that best suit a clients needs.

But if I voice talent suggests switching cameras off, please don't take it personally.

*I appreciate my beauty IS very distracting though.

Need a compelling, award-winning voiceover?

Contact me here or add me to your supplier list for future reference

By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

Past the 30 games mark!

My progress in voicing games has been slow but steady.

I recorded my very first title back in 2013 with Dark Souls II, and since then I've had the pleasure of working on a huge variety of roles, from Lego Knights to Kraken Warlords to... nosey postmen.

But progress hasn't always been steady.  There have been casting rosters it's taken me years to get on, and in 2022 I hardly worked in games at all.

I've collaborated with huge publishers and one-person studios, and I've inevitably been involved in projects that ended up never seeing the light of day.  This included the lead in one AAA game that  I thought might totally change my career.

And my skillset isn't necessary cut out for every type of game.  While I can vocally transform to a degree and cover a range of accents and character types (an essential skill for helping developers populate the worlds they create with NPCs), there are people WAY MORE adept at that than me.

And so I continue to work on expanding skills, while at the same time consolidating where my strengths lie - in textual rigour and emotional depth.  This might mean I'm never a 'booking machine' like some of my peers, but when the right opportunities DO emerge, I make sure to do a bloody good job.

So here's my current gaming reel made of some of the projects recorded over the last decade.  I've got some more in the pipeline I'm looking forward to adding in due course (one or two of which may have been announced at Gamescom's launch last night), but I'm pretty proud of what I've achieved so far.

Any feedback on the showreel most welcome!

Want an authentic take on your next project? Then check out my gaming reel here

Contact me here and we can discuss your voiceover needs directly

By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor

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