Category Archives: Hiring Voiceover

Preparing Your Voiceover Script

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Writing effective copy for your ad campaign, DVD promo, or even voicemail system takes a certain kind of expertise. Professional copywriters can do amazing things. I produce some content for many projects, and actually have training in technical writing, legal writing and radio scriptwriting as part of my Communications degree. But I don’t put myself out there as a copywriter. Still, there are mechanical limitations to how a script can be interpreted. With that in mind, I provide these few guidelines from a voice actor’s perspective:

  • Be realistic about word count.  If your message must be delivered in a specific duration, you can only fit so many words into the script. A :15 TV spot, for example, will accommodate only between 35 to 40 words. Deliveries that are supposed to sound rushed can definitely fit  a few more words. But you can’t fit 100 word script into a :15 spot and expect effective brand building or ROI. Audiences can’t realistically understand let alone absorb a word-bloated :15 spot, if it can even be produced.
  • Check your script before you send it to the voice actor. Nothing will delay a rush script faster than mistakes that could have been avoided, but are instead sent into production. Phone numbers and web sites are the usual suspects when it comes to script mistakes. Other culprits are bloated word counts for short commercial spots. To avoid delays and additional voiceover charges for  script corrections, trim your script for the appropriate running time of your commercial, verify your contact information, and check any other detail before sending it for recording. Remember that voice actors are only responsible for their own mistakes, if such a thing can occur.
  • Remember that numbers are words. A phone number is not a single word even if your word processor  says so.  A spoken ten-digit phone number is almost always ten separate words. Each digit should be included in your total word count to make sure it will fit in your :15 spot. (On projects that may be charged by the word, for voicemail systems for example, expect voiceover talents to appropriately count phone numbers and addresses as a separate word per digit.)
  • Consider omitting superfluous information when script duration is an issue.  For example, if your script has a web site address, remember that “www” is three words (or two if you use the more urban “trip dub”). The “www” is generally implied and you may want to consider dropping it from your script to save on precious real estate. Most web servers will in fact accept a web site address without “www.” Try your web site address and see whether it works without the trip dub.
  • Don’t just write your script. Speak it. Conversation should flow, and often something that looks good in writing, sounds awkward when you say it out loud. Choose words that flow unless you’re trying to achieve a particular effect with the script.
  • Create a script for  your audience, not for your message.  Describe your house first to an architect,  then to a close friend, and finally to a child. Chances are good you would not choose the same words each time.  Choose words that appeal to the people you’re trying to reach.
  • Don’t translate more of the script than you should.
    • If your script is to be translated into different language, Spanish for example, only provide a Spanish translation for a web site address if you’ve actually created the Spanish domain. Otherwise you’re sending people to a non-existent web site. That’s kind of a duh, but it happens.
    • Similarly, only translate numbers in mailing addresses for English-speaking countries. Leave the “P.O. Box,” street names, citys and states in English (maybe with a slight Spanish pronunciation) to ensure that Spanish listeners correctly address mail the way an English-speaking postal worker will understand it.

How To Hire A Professional Voiceover Talent

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Now that you know you need to hire a professional voiceover talent, where on earth do you find one?

The answer is more complicated than: right here. I may not be the right voice for you. In fact, as much as I like to work with people and participate in projects, I could never be every voice for every project and I’d be the worse kind of voice actor if I thought I could.

But not to worry. Finding the right voice is easy. You just have to know: what you’re looking for and where to find it.

What kind of voiceover does your project require?

  1. Understanding Your Target Audience. If you have a target in mind, the path becomes that much easier to identify — and the shortest distance between two points is still a straight line. If you’re trying to reach a younger audience, a younger voice is generally what you want and it follows from there: hip audience, hip voice; mature audience, mature voice; and so on. This will also guide you in deciding what kind of production you need: hip, upbeat, mature, serene.  It may be harder to identify your audience. For example, you might conclude that anyone could call your office and so your voicemail audience could be the whole world. But that’s not really true. Your business will generally attract a particular kind of clientele.
  2. Understanding The Image You Want to Portray. Although, you’re usually guided by the kind of people you want to attract (your target audience), you still have to consider how you want them to react to you and your message.  For example, for a public service announcement on the use of condoms, you might want to attract a young crowd, but want to convey a sense of trust, knowledge and responsibility.  So maybe a hip older brother voice is what you want to try for.
  3. Choosing A Voice That Can Best Reach Your Audience. In general, people don’t want to be talked at. They want to be spoken to — unless of course you’re doing a hard sell car ad, or you want people to come on down to Uncle Barney’s for his insane deals! You have to consider what you would like to hear if you were part of the audience you’re trying to reach. If you don’t know, ask. That’s why people do demographic studies or hire PR and advertising firms. You may be surprised to learn that the best voice to reach your audience may not be someone from the same age group. If you want to make a young child feel safe, for example, you may want to use a voice that sounds  like Mom or Dad.
  4. Using A Particular Voice “Age” To Reach Your Audience. Obviously voices come in all ages. The talent’s actual age doesn’t always matter, but sometimes it does.  For example, some projects absolutely need the pure, playful innocence of a kid’s voice; it’s a unique crystal quality that, in my opinion, adults who imitate kid voices just can’t capture. Child voice actors can be hard to find, so if this is what you need, get started looking right away. But if you need an adult voice, you really have to listen to the voice quality so that you can get a sense of the voice age: young adult, middle-aged, senior. Your audience demographics will guide you.
  5. Deciding On A Male Or FemaleVoice. Some projects have set scripts that already determine how many voices and what genders are best suited. But if all you need is a single voice and gender isn’t specified, you’ll have to consider whether you want to convey a particular quality that, in your opinion or in the stated opinion of your target audience, only a male or female voice can produce.  Here, however, consider thinking outside the box and breaking some gender stereotypes, otherwise your message can wind up sounding like everyone else’s. Talented male voices can sound caring, nurturing, gossipy, even bitchy. Talented female voices can sound authoritative, commanding, ambitious, aggressive.
  6. Determining what language(s)  your project will require. Generally, you know your project will need to be in a specific language, probably English since you’re reading this blog.  But you can’t take for granted that certain communities have large numbers of Spanish speakers, or French or German. Or perhaps you are part of an international market reaching out to other countries.   Consider the benefits of reaching out to speakers of other languages before you hire an English voiceover. For continuity, you may determine that it would be best to start by hiring a bilingual or multilingual voice talent for your project.
  7. Focusing On Talents Who Provide The Type of Voiceover Service You Need.  Obviously, you have a specific project in mind: a commercial, or voicemail, or maybe a promotional DVD. Although professional voiceovers may do commercials, audiobooks, voicemail and just about anything needing a voice, certain projects require a certain type of expertise.  Radio imaging, for example, requires a voice actor with a particular sense of timing and style and not every voice actor can effectively do radio or TV imaging. Similarly, voiceover talents who specialize in e-learning may not have skills for character development that some fiction or children’s audiobook projects require. Look for talents who provide voiceover demos for the type of service you need: commercial demo, audiobook demo, etc. Then, listen to that demo.

Where can you find the professional voiceover talent you need?

  1. Trying the Direct Approach at NikkiSaco.com. You’re already here on my web site. If not go there and send me an email. Like I said, I might not be the right voice, but I definitely know a lot of professional voiceover talents whom I’d gladly recommend for different types of voiceover projects in several different languages:  English, Spanish, French, German and more.
  2. Visiting Voice Talent Productions. This is a New York agency I am affiliated with. It is run by Erik Sheppard and he has an impressive roster of talented professional voiceover artists (notwithstanding yours truly).
  3. Using Accredited Voice Over Talents. Accreditation for the voiceover industry is relatively new, but assures voice seekers that they’ll find talents who can provide professional interpretations and broadcast quality audio files. There are over 100 voiceover talents on the accreditation roster. If they aren’t suited for your project, the chances are good that they can recommend someone else who is. Visit SaVoa.org to learn more.
  4. Searching the Internet. Now that you know what you’re looking for, you have a much better chance of finding it. Or do you? Try a search for: young voiceover talent big brother condom PSA English. I doubt you’ll find the voice you need since you’ll first have to sift through pages of unrelated hits, even with all those keywords. Unfortunately, Google doesn’t consider the order in which you enter your keywords so the top hits will probably be to the more traveled “Big Brother” reality TV show sites.  For this reason, you may have more luck searching for young male voiceover talent and leaving out the hotter keywords. But you’re still stuck sifting through a lot of talents and listening to a lot of demos.
  5. Using a Voice Talent Agency. Voice talent agents, like agents for actors, will generally sign on qualified professionals and can be an excellent source for finding the voice you need. In addition to Voice Talent Productions (see no. 2 above), you might want to visit  VOPlanet, a voice talent agency that also provides a marketplace for posting leads.
  6. Posting Your Project on a Voiceover Marketplace. I would frankly forego, Elance or one of the other general freelance sites and go straight to a voiceover marketplace. There are three I can readily recommend. All three sites offer a lot of guidance to voiceover seekers and include profile pages on hundreds of voiceover talents with their demos available for your listening pleasure. They all provide a way for you to request custom auditions and bids.
    • Voice.com – excellent marketplace headquartered in Canada, available worldwide. Jobs budgets must be $100 or more. Great customer service, blogs, and podcast for the voiceover community.
    • Voice123.com – very good marketplace headquartered in the U.S. and available worldwide. No minimum on job budgets. All leads filtered through SmartCast system to target your job to specific voiceover talents. Sponsors a good voiceover forum with lots of information for talents and seekers.
    • Bodalgo.com - up-and-coming marketplace headquartered in Germany and expanding worldwide. Excellent source of multilingual voiceover talents for international markets.
  7. Relying On Word of Mouth. Obviously, if you know someone who has produced a similar type of voice project with good results, that person may be able to hook you up with a voice talent or full production company. This is as good a place as any to mention that you might want to consider how involved you want to be in the process. If you hire a production company, that company will hire the voice talent and take care of producing your project. If your project is for broadcast on TV or radio, many production companies can contact media outlets to coordinate markets and air dates for your project.
  8. Hiring A Production Company To Do It All For You.  ProductionHub is an online directory of film, video and audio production services worldwide.  I have some professional companies which have hired me in the past and which I enjoyed working with and would readily recommend.

Wow, I can’t believe you stuck it out with me for this long article. That shows you’re persistent and determined, good qualities for any voiceover seeker, especially if you request a ton of auditions. If you want some tips on how to effectively post your job on a voiceover marketplace, please visit my site in the next week.  Thank you!

Professional Voiceover Talent: Do You Need One?

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Try to communicate with customers or clients — without talking.

Try to describe your products or services, try to field their questions, direct their calls, market to them without using a voice. It is possible to do that and some individuals and entities manage it very well.

But if you need to use a voice to promote your products or services, then you need a professional voice.

You need a voice that is, for the most part, understandable, one that fits your message and one that can convey the most appropriate mood for your message. It may not be a gorgeous voice. Maybe your product or service needs a particular ruggedness or quirk or some other quality to attract a particular audience. That’s fine. But that voice has to be able to interpret your script and deliver your message in the most effective way.  That voice represents you, your company or your cause. It has to be the best voice for the job.

Some business owners think they can produce professional voiceover themselves. Frankly, they aren’t always right but how many clients are willing to say:

“You know your voicemail greeting really sucks?”

- or -

“I want to hear more about your new product line, but can’t understand the narration on your promotional DVD!”

Most of the time, you just won’t hear from those clients — because they will have gone with the outfit that sounds more professional.

Most people agree they need a professional sounding voice, but what they are really asking is whether they need to hire someone to be that voice.

Do you need to outsource your voiceover project? You may find that you or someone in your company or organization are more than capable of producing the type of voiceover you need to effectively convey your message. If that professional voice is literally right under your nose, that’s awesome. Give yourself a pat on the back and go record your professional voice track.

Do you know how to produce professional voice tracks? Oh no! You were so close to staying in-house, weren’t you? But the fact is that, although computer technology has made it possible for everyday people to produce quality audio tracks, some projects need qualified sound engineering to record voice without hums, pops, clicks or other annoying sound artifacts. Some projects also need quality sound effects and royalty free music beds. Some projects may even require a little ambient echo or some funky distortion or vocoder effects, or just some simple compression and EQ.

Recording, mixing and mastering isn’t something you can learn overnight.  When your project needs not just a professionally interpreted script, but also a professionally produced audio track, it may well be time to outsource your voice project to a professional voiceover talent.

Coming soon: How to Hire a Professional Voiceover Talent.