1. James Earl Jones This man’s voice tops all the lists when it comes to popular speaking voices. His deep strong tones appear sinister as the dark Darth Vadar and yet he provides a voice of wisdom in Disney’s Lion King movies.
2. Liam Neeson This name may not be as recognizable as some but his face and voice would be. His greatest starring role was as Oskar Schindler in the movie Schindler’s List. In addition to his many movie roles, Liam also was known for his narrating abilities for documentaries and providing the voice of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie.
3. Mike Rowe Many people now recognize the face of Mike Rowe from the television program “Dirty Jobs” but his voice is heard often on the airwaves as a narrator for many other popular programs including: Deadliest Catch, Ultimate Fighter and American Choppers. His voice is clear and steady. Few people know that he also sang opera professionally before moving to the west coast.
4. Dennis Haysbert “You’re in good hands with Allstate.” This actor was chosen to be the spokesman for Allstate insurance in recent years. His voice demonstrates a calm fatherly assurance. The marketing people knew what they were doing when they selected him for these commercials.
5. Sean Connery Best known for his role of Agent 007 in the James Bond films, his acting career  did not end there. His distinguished looks seemed to only improve with age and complimented the appeal of his Scottish accent. Women in particular love the sound of this man’s voice.
6. Julia Roberts. This actress, so popular in many films, has a voice that is soft and feminine. Her speaking voice would not be labeled as strong and yet its strength lies in its beauty. Her voice has a calming quality that puts its listeners at ease, a unique and enviable trait.
7. Diane Sawyer Ms. Sawyer has established herself as a strong news commentator. The clear tone of her voice has done much to advance her to that position. She is able to speak with authority and yet maintain a gentle feminity within her voice.
8. Anthony Hopkins The British accent has a special appeal to Americans. Mr. Hopkins ability to add strong dramatic tones and also soft spoken clarity are part of what sets him apart. He is able to project personality with simply a change of tone to his voice. He demonstrated that by mastering the calm but sinister sound of evil in the Silence of the Lambs movie.
9. Morgan Freeman Morgan’s voice is distinctive. It is one of those voices you immediately recognize. I’ve often thought that his frequent casting in movies has as much to do with his voice as his acting abilities.
10. Burl Ives Last but certainly not least on the list is the rich voice of Burl Ives. His most famous narration being the cartoon of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Most of us have listened to his wonderful telling of this story year after year. Smooth but strong, there is something very comforting about how he speaks his words.

This list could have certainly included many more than ten names, especially if we went back a few decades to early radio years when voice was all you heard. I’m sure that the voices of many on this list brought back memories of movies or television programs that are automatically connected to the sounds of their voices.

Every now and again (more and more regularly infact) we have been recording one-off audio demos for producers and emailing them as part of our weekly availability.

This is our version of Britain’s Got Talent:

Download audio file (the booths got talent.mp3)

Our producer Mark Stephenson is actually the talented one for constantly coming up with great ideas and mixing these fantastic demos.

Oh, and that really is me gargling! My new party trick

So, earlier, instead of recording the On-Hold messages we were supposed to be producing we (me and Producer Paul) somehow found ourselves playing Name That Tune! (the gargle edition).

It’s a simple concept. I gargle a tune and you have to guess what it is. Unfortunately, I spat the water out halfway through, but that just adds to the difficulty factor!

See what you think:

Download audio file (name_that_tune_1.mp3)

So far, guesses from friends and colleagues include:

Amy Winehouse – Rehab

Nickelback – Rock Star

Auld Lang Syne!!!!!!

Tommy Cooper – Don’t Jump Off the Roof Dad !!???!!!!???

Post your own guesses in the comments below. No prizes – it’s “just for fun”!

Lisa

P.S. I don’t claim to actually be good at gargling in tune, so don’t be too upset if it’s nothing like the actual answer