Showreel
TV and radio presenter of live and pre-recorded shows, corporate presentation and public speaking, voice-over artist and writer.
Television
With over 34 years experience in live and pre-recorded programming, I am fully proficient in every aspect of TV presentation.
For the last 23 years I’ve presented thousands upon thousands of hours of live and unscripted TV for QVC, the UK’s leading Shopping Channel. It’s a challenging job requiring boundless energy and enthusiasm, and the ability to retain and impart information on a myriad of different products whilst demonstrating them within a strict time frame. Broadcasting live for 16 hours a day without autocue you need to be articulate and informative, gaining the customer’s trust to buy items they can’t physically get their hands on. With up to nine guests an hour it’s imperative you know the backstory of the brand prior to broadcast and can handle last minute changes in the running order. I’ve presented live shows on location in the UK and abroad (Italy, USA, Hong Kong and France) occasionally coping with talkback in a different language using an interpreter. Split screen presentations via video link present an additional challenge as the guests have no talkback or sense of time, so in addition to understanding and demonstrating the products while engaging with an unseen customer, there are constant sales updates and set targets to contend with – and NO script! This job is unlike any other TV presenter’s role, requiring a completely different skill set, but it’s always exhilarating and rewarding.
My television career began with Granada TV, co-hosting the award-winning daytime show This Morning over a four-year period. The format was the perfect learning platform to introduce me to live studio discipline, camera shots, talk back, autocue and working to time. Since then I’ve presented debating shows with a live audience, location shoots, pilot shows for light entertainment, outside broadcasts and pre-recorded studio shows. I guested on The Apprentice, You’re Fired, and worked as a reporter for the BBC’s Watchdog series and Holiday Programme, in many UK locations and also in France, getting to work with my children on several shows which was challenging but fun!
Radio
Radio will always be a great love of mine, and I’m fully at ease with every aspect of presentation and broadcasting.
My first job in radio was as a Travel Reporter on Beacon Radio, a Commercial Music Station in the West Midlands. Within two weeks I was asked to co-present their midmorning show, which I did for 18 months, before moving to BBC Radio Shropshire and taking on the role of researcher, producer and presenter for their two-hour weekday afternoon show. In addition to operating the radio desk, playing music and linking with local stories and news, I had to source my own guests for a daily 30 minute feature. I would often pre-record these on my Euer reel to reel tape machine and then edit them in studio prior to broadcast. Interviewing techniques were honed, and I conducted a great many of these ‘down the line’ to BBC Broadcasting House, talking to celebrities, authors and many other interesting people. I became very adept at live outside broadcasts too which I particularly enjoyed.
Voice-over
I work in-studio and from home.
I began voicing 30-second radio commercials for Beacon Radio’s in-house production team before finding further voice-over work with a Midlands based Agency. I worked for various brands including Berlei, British Gas, The Halifax, Thomson Holidays, Cadbury World and Sainsbury’s, not just voicing radio commercials but also corporate training programmes and travel guides. Described as ‘friendly and informative’ my voice can be heard giving emergency announcements on the mainline London railway stations as well as the DLR. I have voiced the Johnson Controls/Alpine satellite navigation system that is found in both Jaguar and Honda cars and also the onboard commentary for the River Severn tour of Ironbridge. I’ve explored the world of Audible audio books and I intend to voice my first book A New Kind of Normal.
Marvellous Ways
Lindor
Abbey
Navigation
Novel
Corporate and events
In studio, on location, scripted or autocue, presenting or reporting, I am fully versed in all of these skills.
Over the years I have presented a great many corporate videos and infomercials for companies as diverse as Unilever, Eden Vale, Marks and Spencer, Lloyds Bank, British Steel and Heineken International. I also hosted a live audience Celebrity Cook Off event at the NEC in Birmingham in front of 500 people, which led to me presenting 10 episodes of The Good Housekeeping Cookery Show from studios in Carnaby Street. As an ambassador for the charity ‘Breast Cancer Now’, I have spoken at their annual Fashion Show and at several national fund raising events, scripting my own speeches.
Writing
I can produce copy on any subject for any form of media well within the set deadline.
I wrote my first book, a biography entitled A New Kind of Normal that was published in 2018, reaching No 5 on the Amazon bestseller list alongside Michael Caine and Michelle Obama’s biographies! I have since then written a novel, a six-part returnable TV drama series that I am currently working on with a scriptwriter, a two-hour TV drama and a 45-minute two person play for stage/radio that was considered for The Women’s Playwriting Award.
Whilst working in broadcasting I became involved in writing for and contributing to TV shows such as Channel 4’s Dispatches. I also formulated programme ideas for TV and I have written storylines and a script for the BBC 1’s TV series Doctors. As an Ambassador for the charity Breast Cancer Now I have written and delivered speeches to raise awareness and funds and the QVC blog I wrote for over 15 years had their highest readership: I have also written product-based editorials for QVC.
Contact me
For TV, Radio, Corporate or Voice-over enquiries, please mail:
enquiries@ali-k-productions.com