AND FLORA MUNRO VISION

I’d been a freelance voiceover artist and performer for several years before joining the STV team and becoming a continuity announcer six years ago.

I got the job as a direct result of the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.

I was cast as a dancer with the additional responsibility of welcoming the first team, India, into Celtic Park and kickstarting the Athlete Parade.

The next day, the head of continuity at the time got in touch via a friend to ask if I’d be interested in auditioning as a continuity announcer.

I’d somehow coped with not mucking up my lines in front of the entire world on telly, so thought I’d give it a go.

The role is a lot more creative and technical than you might think – sadly it’s not just about sitting and watching the telly.

You’re effectively a selfproducer and responsible for researching, writing and delivering all the linking announcements for that upcoming 24 hours, a mix of live and pre-recorded content. We broadcast from a wee sound booth within the Transmission Suite at Glasgow’s Pacific Quay studios. It’s live in the evenings from the end credits of The Chase up until around 10pm.

Time-management is key. You need to have all your pre-records for through the night and the next day sorted within that time too.

I’ve somehow managed to avoid saying any sweary words on air, but I did mispronounce ‘firefighter’ as ‘firefarter’ when I was talking about a Scottish contestant coming up on The Cube. That made

Twitter.

TONI FRUTIN

Fourteen years ago I was doing a radio comedy sketch show, and I was approached by the head of continuity at STV.

She asked if I’d ever considered doing continuity announcing – and the rest, as they say, is history.

I’ve always been a bit of a giggler, from as far back as my school days.

I had a terrible giggling fit once when I was recording a script for Judge Rinder – I just couldn’t get through it.

Thankfully it was a pre-recorded voiceover.

If it had been live, I would have been out of a job.

It’s our job to be the calm voice at the end of all that, so the audience can get the information they need.

You have to have an in-depth knowledge of the schedule and the ability to connect with the viewers on a personal level, which was one of the reasons we wanted to do this Christmas promo.

We wanted to speak to our viewers and recognise the sacrifices that we’ve all made, but to encourage people to keep going.