This Guy.
I probably should have known using my voice was going to be part of the deal.
I was five when I was cast as “the kangaroo with a solo” in our Australia Day kindergarten production.
That might not sound particularly remarkable, except I’d enrolled the week before.
Apparently subtlety wasn’t an early strength.
Then somebody showed me a radio studio.
I started in community radio at 14.
There was something irresistible about it. Microphones, buttons, music, people, technology and the slightly terrifying knowledge that whatever happened next was going straight out of the speakers.
I was hooked.
What followed became nearly four decades across community and commercial broadcasting, voice-over, production, presenting, cameras, writing, training and communications.
I’ve worked in Sydney and regional New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria, along with time working in the United States.
I’ve presented and produced programmes heard across Australia, worked on national campaigns, provided voices for broadcasters and brands, produced commercial audio and content, worked as an ENG and freelance camera operator, and trained people in how to communicate when somebody puts a microphone in front of them.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some very recognisable organisations along the way.
But the logos aren’t really the interesting part.
The work is.
I’ve spent a lot of time on both sides of the microphone.
Being a voice actor made me a better producer.
Being a producer made me a better writer.
Being a broadcaster taught me to listen.
Working behind a camera taught me that what’s outside the frame can matter just as much as what’s inside it.
Training people taught me that knowing how to do something and knowing how to explain it are two completely different skills.
And working with businesses taught me that the thing somebody initially asks for isn’t necessarily the thing they actually need.
That’s probably the thread connecting everything I’ve done.
I like figuring things out.
Why isn’t this working?
Why does this script sound strange when somebody says it aloud?
Why does this perfectly articulate person suddenly sound like they’re being held hostage when the microphone turns on?
Why are six people doing something manually that a sensible process could solve?
And, occasionally:
What does this button do?
I’ve learned to be slightly more cautious with the last one.
The technology changes. People don’t change nearly as much.
I’ve worked through analogue tape, carts, CDs, MiniDisc, early digital systems, hard-drive playout, nonlinear editing, remote recording, podcasting, streaming and whatever we’re calling the current explosion of AI-assisted everything.
I love technology.
I also don’t confuse owning technology with knowing what to do with it.
A better microphone won’t rescue a bad performance.
Another piece of software won’t necessarily fix a broken workflow.
And no amount of production polish can make an unclear idea clear.
The useful questions are usually much simpler.
What are we trying to do?
Who are we trying to reach?
What’s getting in the way?
Then we work from there.
These days.
I’m based in Melbourne and work across voice, production, writing, broadcasting and training.
Some jobs start with a microphone.
Some start with a blank page.
Some start with somebody saying, “We’ve got a bit of a problem.”
Those are often the interesting ones.
My voice-over work has its own home at ThatVoiceGuy.
Broader creative, production and practical business work lives at ThatGuy Group.
I’m also the person behind Community Radio Victoria, an independent space for the people who make community broadcasting happen.
And Allain.net.au?
That’s me.
The things I’ve done, the things I’ve learned, the work I’m doing now and occasionally the things I think are worth saying.
From Allain.
I’m a voice actor, broadcaster, producer and generally decent human being.
Except, don’t touch my fries.
I’m endlessly curious about how things work and have a long-standing habit of taking things apart to find out.
Sometimes they even work better afterwards.
Away from work, I’m usually tinkering with something electronic, exploring somewhere, cooking something unnecessarily complicated or becoming far too interested in a problem that somebody casually mentioned within earshot.
I still love radio.
I still love microphones.
I still get a ridiculous amount of satisfaction from a beautifully clean edit.
And after nearly four decades of doing this, I’m still learning.
I’d be slightly worried if I wasn’t.
Want the longer version?
For anyone who enjoys the archaeological layers of a broadcasting career, there’s plenty more.
Radio shows, production work, voice campaigns, camera work and various adventures involving studios across Australia and overseas.
[VIEW CAREER & SELECTED WORK]
Or, if you’ve already heard enough and have something interesting in mind:
[LET’S TALK]
First round of coffee is on me.
What can I do for you?
Quite a few things, as it turns out.
Most of my work sits somewhere between
voice, production, writing, training & communication.
Sometimes you know exactly what you need. Sometimes you just know what you’re trying to achieve.
Pick a door.
Commercials, narration, promos, corporate content and voice work that sounds like a person rather than a bloke reading at a microphone.
From the first idea to the final edit.
Radio, podcasts, commercials, interviews and audio content built around what the audience actually needs to hear.
Words written to be understood.
Radio, voice-over, video, web and content without the corporate porridge.
Microphones. Cameras. Presentations. Interviews.
Helping people stop performing communication and start actually communicating.
For announcers, presenters, producers and stations that want to sharpen the craft rather than simply learn which buttons to press.
Performance, content, production and what happens between the songs.
PRODUCTION & WORKFLOW
Sometimes the problem isn’t the microphone.
Production systems, workflows, content processes and practical help figuring out why something takes three hours when it should take twenty minutes.
Ideas, creative direction and practical help making the way you present yourself match the thing you’re actually trying to build.
Radio, audio, video, events and conversations that need someone comfortable enough to keep things moving without making themselves the main event.
I’ve been doing this for a while.
Career & Selected Work
I’ve done a few things.
Nearly four decades around microphones, studios, cameras and edit suites produces a slightly unusual CV.
Some of the work has been national. Some intensely local. Some has involved very recognisable names. Some involved a handful of people, ageing equipment and the firm belief that we’d work out what that button did eventually.
It all counts.
My commercial broadcasting career started in Greater Sydney in 1994, although I’d already been involved in community radio for years by then.
Back then, pushing buttons, hitting cues and making sure everything happened at precisely the right moment was a fairly good description of the job.
A little later I joined Radio 2 Australia as a producer on The Big Australian Breakfast, hosted by Mikey Robins and Ian Rogerson.
That became part of a career that’s taken me through commercial and community broadcasting, voice-over, audio production, presenting, writing, training, television and camera work.
I’ve worked across Sydney and regional New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria, as well as spending time working in the United States, including Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Nevada.
The equipment has changed enormously.
The useful bit hasn’t.
Broadcasting
Radio was where a lot of this started.
I began in community radio at 14 and eventually found my way into commercial broadcasting, production and networked programming.
Over the years I’ve produced and presented music, talk, sport, entertainment and specialist programming, from local broadcasting through to programmes heard around Australia.
Some of those programmes include:
The Allain Edwards Breakfast Show Networked throughout Australia.
National Rock & Blues Show Networked throughout Australia.
5 Minutes A news and current affairs roundup distributed to more than 250 Australian radio stations.
The Smokey Dawson Radio Show
The Corporate Box Sport.
The Swamp Blues and roots.
Sounds of Australia Australian music from the 1960s through to the 1990s.
TBO - The Best Of A music programme built around a different year each show.
The Take Digest-based talk.
Hallaow! The Allain Edwards Experience Opinion and web talkback.
The Raceline Motorsport.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives Australian music and conversations featuring some of the country’s best-known artists.
Different formats. Different audiences. Different eras of radio.
Same fundamental job.
Give the person on the other side of the speaker a reason to keep listening.
Voice & Commercial Work
Being behind a microphone eventually led to being paid specifically for what came out of it.
I’ve worked across commercial, corporate, promotional, training and informational voice-over, for broadcasters, businesses, agencies, government, education and other organisations.
For more than four years I was the main voice behind Berts Soft Drinks’ Berts or Burst competition.
I’ve also appeared in staff training content for Bunnings Warehouse, explaining power-tool categories to people who probably weren’t expecting me to turn up in their staff room.
There have been national campaigns, corporate projects, explainers, promos, training material and plenty of scripts that arrived containing considerably more words than could physically fit into the time available.
That’s part of the job too.
A good read isn’t just about having a nice voice.
It’s about understanding what the words are supposed to do.
Production
I’ve spent almost as much time behind microphones as in front of them.
Commercials. Promos. Programme elements. Interviews. Features. Corporate audio. Long-form content. Podcasts. Training material.
Production taught me something that has followed me into almost everything else I do:
The edit is part of the performance.
A beautifully delivered line can still be wrong for the job. A clever script can fall apart when somebody actually has to say it. Great audio can’t rescue an idea nobody understands.
The whole thing has to work together.
That’s the bit I enjoy.
Writing
Working in radio and voice-over rather quickly teaches you whether copy actually works.
Eventually somebody has to say the words out loud.
I’ve written for radio, voice-over, video, websites, campaigns and content, and I tend to approach writing the same way I approach production.
What are we trying to say?
Who are we talking to?
What can we remove?
And does it sound like something an actual human being would say?
Copy isn’t finished when it looks good on the page.
It has to survive contact with an audience.
Camera & Field Work
Not everything I’ve done has involved a microphone.
I’ve also worked as an ENG and freelance camera operator, with vision broadcast in Australia and internationally, including by the BBC and CBS.
Working behind a camera teaches you a slightly different discipline.
Audio teaches you to listen.
A camera teaches you to look.
Both teach you to pay attention to what is happening beyond the thing you originally planned to capture.
Training
After enough years doing something, people eventually start asking you how to do it too.
I’ve worked with broadcasters, presenters and others who need to communicate clearly when there’s a microphone, camera or audience involved.
I don’t particularly believe in teaching people to have a “broadcast voice”.
I’d much rather help them get rid of one.
The interesting part is finding the person underneath the performance and helping them become more confident, natural and useful to the audience.
Training has also taught me something important:
Knowing how to do something and knowing how to explain it are two very different skills.
Consulting & Problem Solving
Some jobs don’t fit neatly into a category.
I’ve consulted for agencies and start-ups, including SecondSync, which was later acquired by Twitter.
I’ve helped with communications, production, content, workflows and the occasional situation that begins with someone saying:
“We’ve got a bit of a problem.”
Those are often the interesting ones.
Sometimes the thing somebody asks for isn’t actually the thing they need.
A new microphone won’t fix a bad performance.
New software won’t fix a broken workflow.
A prettier design won’t make an unclear idea clear.
Sometimes the most useful contribution is simply asking:
Why are we doing it like that?
One thing tends to lead to another.
Looking back, the different parts of my career aren’t as unrelated as they might first appear.
Broadcasting taught me to perform and, more importantly, to listen.
Production taught me timing, structure and how much difference a tiny change can make.
Voice-over taught me what happens to writing when somebody actually has to say it.
Camera work taught me to look beyond what’s happening directly in front of me.
Writing taught me to remove things.
Training taught me that experience isn’t particularly useful unless you can pass some of it on.
And working with businesses taught me that the thing somebody initially asks you to make isn’t always the problem they’re actually trying to solve.
That’s probably why I still enjoy doing a mixture of things.
Still doing it.
These days I’m based in Melbourne, working across voice, production, writing, broadcasting and training.
I also continue to build projects of my own, including ThatVoiceGuy, ThatGuy Group and Community Radio Victoria.
Different projects. Different audiences.
Same basic philosophy.
Understand what you’re trying to say. Know who you’re talking to. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.
I’m still making things.
Still learning.
Still teaching.
And still occasionally pressing buttons simply to find out what they do.
Although these days I usually check whether they’re connected to the transmitter first.
Let’s talk.
If you’ve got something you’re trying to make, fix, explain or improve, give me a call.
0403Voice4
Who have I worked with?
Over more than 35 years, I have worked with some of the biggest names in radio and TV and have been exclusive voice to brands and companies you know and trust.
.
What my clients are saying about my work
I'd love to discuss your next idea
Let's Talk. First round of coffee is on me.
