I have been using my voice for more than just conversation for as long as I can remember. At school, as well as taking part in the usual youthful drama productions, I was deputy head boy, responsible for standing up in front of the school next to the headmaster on stage, making announcements, handing out detentions and booming out “School, stand!” or “School, sit!” at the appropriate moments.
The power of my voice was quickly noticed in a variety of environments and circumstances, and I regularly acted as the ‘Voice of God’ at all kinds of events, whether marshalling visitors at events, performing as a herald at re-enactments or acting as Master of Ceremonies at weddings or parties – all of this unpaid, of course!
After I launched my own magazine in 2006, I became a regular guest on a hobby podcast when that medium was still young, and in 2018, when I launched my own Patreon, I started with the first episode of my own Battlechat podcast which has since amassed well over 100 episodes, plus scores more ‘specials’ for my patrons. Not content with just that one string to my bow, I launched Inside Your Head in 2021, addressing psychology, mental health, mindfulness and related issues. As well as the classic interview format, the show includes personal reflections and guided meditation.
In addition, on an occasional basis, I have conducted interviews with authors on this very site, which can be found under the heading of Author Insights. Perhaps the most important of these, from my perspective, was my conversation with debut author Lauren Robinson, for whom I designed both the cover and interior of her book The Boy Who Saw In Colours (paid link). I created some publicity pieces for her, including audio snippets and then, to my surprise, she asked me whether I would be interested in recording an audiobook version of the novel.
Sadly, for reasons beyond my control, the complete audiobook was never released as planned, and so you can imagine my disappointment after spending many hours reading and recording Lauren’s extraordinary novel. It features a young boy of mixed blood being forced to grow up in an elite Nazi school during WWII. To make things even more interesting, he has a condition known as synaesthesia, because of which his experience is often expressed in colours, rather than via the senses one would normally associate with seeing, hearing and feeling. Moreover, it gradually becomes clear that he is homosexual, a subject that Lauren handles with sensitivity, though it does not dominate the story. Obviously, I needed to approach my performance with equal care.
The final audiobook would have been nearly 12 hours long, and no single excerpt can possibly cover the full range of performance required by the text, but with Lauren’s kind permission, you can listen to Chapter 33 here, which deals with the results of an Allied air raid that has gone wrong.
Lauren has also kindly provided the following testimonial:
Working with Henry Hyde on the audiobook for The Boy Who Saw In Colours was one of the most rewarding parts of bringing my debut novel to life. His talent, sensitivity, and intuitive grasp of the story’s emotional landscape elevated the project beyond what I could have imagined.
The book lives and breathes through atmosphere and internal emotion—qualities not easily translated to audio—but Henry managed to capture every nuance with stunning clarity. His interpretation brought depth to the characters and atmosphere that felt both haunting and human, and his attention to pacing and tone made the listening experience deeply immersive. The novel, a deeply emotional coming-of-age story set in Nazi Germany, required a narrator with not only technical excellence, but also the ability to convey subtle shifts in mood and emotion. Henry met every one of those expectations. Whether it was portraying the vulnerable introspection of Josef or capturing the chilling austerity of the regime that shaped his world, Henry brought each scene to life with care.
Beyond the artistic side, Henry was an absolute joy to collaborate with: professional, communicative, and genuinely invested in honouring the heart of the story. I’m endlessly grateful for his work and would recommend him without hesitation to anyone looking for someone who brings not only skill, but soul to the craft.
Lauren Robinson, author of The Boy Who Saw In Colours
I also narrated non-fiction work, most particularly a military history book for author Russell Phillips: A Strange Campaign, covering the little-known battle for Madagascar in WWII. This audiobook has been published via Audible, and you can find it here (paid link). The Amazon site has its own five-minute preview of the content. This is not the first narration of this kind I have produced, since I have also self-published a number of audiobooks related to my writing around military history and wargaming, as well as short narratives for gaming.
In relation to my podcasts, I have also been creating audio ads for show sponsors for many years, such as this recent one for Wargames Atlantic.
.
As a step towards taking this aspect of my career much more seriously, I have signed up with an organisation called Gravy for the Brain which acts as a hub for ll things voice talent related, including online courses, webinars, legal advice, forums, mentoring, job opportunities and so on. As a result, I shall be producing a professional demo reel which will appear in this section of my website in due course.