About Helen Lloyd

In a career spanning more than fifty years, I have re-invented myself several times My various ‘reincarnations’, as actor, television presenter, theatre director, programme researcher, tutor, television and theatre producer, have all contributed to the Helen Lloyd I am now. An experienced and mature voice actor, a lover and interpreter of words, a many-voiced storyteller and a facilitator.

As Maya Angelou said, ‘Words mean more than what is set down on paper. it takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning’

Photo of Helen Lloyd in her voiceover home studio booth wearing headphones.

I love sharing stories, and get enormous satisfaction from being fully immersed in storytelling, creating believable characters, and interpreting an author’s words and intentions. There is something wonderful about transforming the written word into a compelling audio recording. I get enormous pleasure from sharing my expertise with fellow narrators no matter at which stage of their audiobook journey they have reached. 

I can think of no better way to earn a living: audiobook narration combines so many of the skills I have gained during my career. In audiobook narration,  I feel I have come home.

Professional Organisations

Working in audiobooks can be a lonely occupation. Support, knowledge and comradeship from colleagues, audio engineers, producers, potential employers and others in the wider voice and audio industry, are I think, vital for expanding horizons, gaining knowledge and making connections with others. I am a proud member of various professional organisations, some of which provide mentorship – all of which encourage discussion, support and the sharing of information.

Audiobook Narrator

e have all had stories read to us at some time in our lives. This can be an exhilarating and enlightening experience, and should feel as though your favourite actor is performing just for you. A well narrated audiobook offers an intense emotional encounter: just you and the voice in your ear, intimately sharing the experience. 

Achieving a connection between author, reader and listener is what I aim to achieve in my own narration, and what I work on with fellow narrators in my coaching and director sessions. 

Audiobook narration is unlike any other form of voice work – or any other form of acting. There is rarely a soundscape to give an indication of time or place; there  are no illustrations or diagrams. There are no visual references: no paragraph breaks, no ellipses or dashes, no punctuation, not even white space on the printed page. There is only a voice to bring the author’s vision to life, to creating a compelling narrative and a full cast of unique and believable characters.

I know that the key to achieving compelling narration lies in meaningful preparation. An actor playing a role on stage, discovers and unwraps the layers of his character during weeks, sometimes months of rehearsal.  An audiobook actor has no such luxury. The time for exploring and discovering is truncated to one or perhaps two reads of the manuscript. A narrator who undertakes these preparatory reads with knowledge and attention to detail can deliver a multi-faceted, and apparently effortless narration that sounds spontaneous and natural. 

Director Sessions and Coaching

Helen Lloyd 1-2-1 coaching session.
Coaching Session with Art Campion

Audiobook narration is largely a solitary occupation. Having access to someone who can help you refine and rethink your narration is a game changer. How do you create a narrative voice that is genre appropriate? How do you create compelling and individual characters? 

Critiquing your own reads dispassionately is almost impossible. You can’t hear your own vocal tics or whether you’re falling into repetitive vocal patterns. It’s all to easy to play safe, and to fall back on a kind of default delivery that is accurate, but has no heart, no soul. You’re unlikely to get detailed feedback from a proofer, an editor or a producer: nor from a publisher. We work in an overcrowded profession, there is always someone new knocking on the door, and increasingly the option of using a synthetic voice. If you want to not only keep working, but want to do better work for major publishers, you owe it to yourself to become the best narrator you can possibly be. 

My Audiobook Coaching Course is not for the faint hearted. The coursework and the assignments are tough, calling for concentration, commitment and application. After the first module, all subsequent modules have at least two recording assignments plus an own choice recording. There is homework, there are exercises, there are challenging texts that will take you way out of your comfort zone. You’ll get feedback not flattery, and I will expect you to work hard to achieve results. For my part, I promise to listen to every read, to support and nurture you to the best of my ability. I will help you choose samples for your website and other platforms that showcase your abilities, and I will give you the confidence to face narration challenges. You’ll be able to join other students and narrators with whom I have worked in fortnightly Zoom sessions where you will receive peer review on live reads, and have access to a safe and supportive space to discuss all aspects of the audiobook industry. 

Helen Lloyd group coaching session on zoom.
Group coaching

Contact Helen

If you’d like to find out more – please get in touch.

A bit of background

I have had several careers since graduating from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1969. I was a professional actor for fifteen years working mainly in Rep, with occasional forays into radio and television.

In the early 1980s I joined Central Television, the ITV station for the Midlands, as a continuity announcer, and during this time, began working as a freelance voice actor and recorded my first audiobooks… thankfully, no longer available!

At the end of the eighties, I moved behind the camera and into production for ITV Regional Programmes, making documentaries and factual series. I continued working as a voiceover during this period, narrating over fifty documentaries for ITV1 and the new digital channels that were launched in the early 1990s.

I took redundancy from ITV in 1983 and returned to my roots as an actor and producer. In 2013 I recorded my first audiobook from my personal studio at home … and the rest, as they say, is history.

In 2024 I completed Masters Degree in Creative Writing at the University of Hull, Graduating with Distinction. I have since successfully published several short stories, and am working on several other projects, including a book about Audiobook Narration, ‘The Audiobook Book’. Watch this space for more news on my latest adventure.

On The Blog

I have been writing articles on narration, audiobooks, acting, and other aspects of the industry for many years, and though this aspect has been somewhat neglected due to pressure of work, I manage to keep up a steady flow of articles, which I hope you will enjoy.

The Authentic Voice

Your voice is your voice … or is it? There is a lot of talk about ‘authenticity’ buzzing around at the moment. Just Google ‘Authentic

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On Concentration

When recording an audiobook – or indeed working on any other kind of narration or Voiceover recording, particularly if you’re working remotely from your personal

Read More »

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