Meet the voice you hear when you’re on hold

Name: Mark Cowling
The profession: voice-over artist
The organisation: On Hold Professionals and freelancer on Fiverr
The job title: voice-over artist
The pay: $120,000 – $140,000

8.30am: My voice can be heard in commercials, corporate videos, e-learning courses, animations, audiobooks, and more. Today there are four Fiverr voice-over jobs to deliver for Australian and overseas clients and a dozen or so regular phone message “on hold” recordings to do for my own business.

My voice has been described as warm, engaging, mature and authoritative, making me a good choice for brands looking to establish trust and credibility with their audience. Australian…but not too “Aussie” if you know what I mean.

[Given the boom in AI] I’ve explored a few of the leading AI voice-sampling and replication platforms and they do a pretty good job if I’m totally honest. But, good for what?

For a home, family or travel video AI voice-overs are just fine. But without exception, the AI-generated voice-overs that I’ve listened to lack the vibrance, energy, believability and emotion that a pro voice-over can bring to a project.

9.30am: I jump into my home studio and get in front of the microphone. Some voice-overs are pretty straightforward and after a quick proofread I can get them done quickly. Others, like the Fiverr jobs I’m recording today, are more demanding and need greater focus.

I feel blessed to enjoy what I do. This job gives me the freedom to work my own hours and allows me to work from anywhere in the world.

Voiceover artist Mark Cowling

They are high-end corporate style voice-overs that represent either Australian or global brands for online videos or training courses, so they have to be delivered with the right balance of enthusiasm, polish and tonal quality without being over the top.

I started off in front of the camera as a presenter for TV commercials, business and corporate videos back in the 1980s. I still do quite a lot of presenter work for selected clients during the year.