The impact a great voice over artist has on people cannot be overemphasized, no matter the target audience. It can carry the proposed message with the right words, style, and tone to easily relate to your audience.
To prove this point, all you have to do is look at the statistics. There has been a drastic increase in demand for voice-over artists – people who are professionals at making messages sound good – in all industries and works: commercial, IVR, audio guides, etc.
Everyone believes that the first voice-over was Walt Disney’s performance on Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie, the animated short film created in 1928. However, the first voice-over was performed 28 years prior – in 1900, by Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor. Fessenden was inspired by the telephone, a new creation at that time by Alexander Graham Bell, so he set out to create a “wireless” way to communicate remotely.
While working for the United States Weather Bureau in 1900, Fessenden performed the first voice-over by reporting the weather.
Fessenden is generally accepted as the first radio voice. Throughout the Christmas season in Boston, in 1906, he did an entire recording of music, Bible texts, and Christian messages and sent them to ships out at sea.
The act of performing voice-overs is called voice acting. It involves using your voice for professional audio works like the ones found in games, videos, commercials, animated movies, etc. Therefore, a simple search of the term “voice-over” in Wikipedia will lead you to a wide range of knowledge, showing how vital it is.
By now, you know how voice acting is an essential piece of almost any genre you can think of. Various names are attached to different voice-over artists, depending on the kind they wish to work with. These names can be divided mainly into five:
Are those people who introduce segments of radio broadcasts or live television like talk shows, sporting events, continuity, promo, etc.
Works on audiobooks, documentaries, educational videos, business videos, and audio tour guides.
Perform in animated movies, cartoons, radio dramas, ADR, puppet shows, foreign language dubbing, and video games.
Perform in a wide range of genres, performing interchangeably in any of the types mentioned above and direct telephone prompts (IVR), audio messages on websites that welcome visitors, and GPS guides on mobile apps.
This is an easy way to refer to all terms mentioned above. It was created to relate to all kinds of voice-over performers easily. All agencies that use voice over actors use this term.
The type of work of voice actors very diverse. It includes:
Even though voice actors are seen but not heard, the work they have to do is extensive. There are various skills required for being a voice-over actor, and they vary markedly. For example, you will need a set of techniques and skills as an animation voice over artist that are different from those required for audiobook narration.
Getting a professional voice-over artist might be one of the best links you can establish between your customers and your products and services. This is a lot of responsibility to go with just anyone. For this reason, you want to look for some of the best qualities in a voice-over artist.
Let’s study some of these qualities:
How flexible is the voice-over artist? How many accents can the artist speak?
The message you wish to pass across to your audience should be conveyed clearly. For this reason, the clarity and quality of the voice-over artist should be checked.
There are different voice personalities required in every recording, so look out for people with a wide range of voice qualities.
This is very important, as it can be a single deciding factor of whether a project will work. Excellent enunciation is a vital quality of a good voice over artists so that they don’t damage the company’s brand image.
You should also focus on timing and pacing when you want to hire a voice-over artist for your project. This means that the artist should know how to rest and pause accordingly when recording and not just rush over the lines he/she is given.
The voice-over artist should balance the right rhythm while recording a voice-over while also bringing the right personality into the narration.
This quality of a professional artist must not be ignored if you want your voice-over to sound natural.
Native speakers of the specific language have an edge here as they can quickly master a script and ensure the lines of the script are delivered in a clear format.
When you perform voice-overs tor represent a character, it is called voice acting. If you want to hire a voice-over artist, you need a specific voice for your documentary or commercial. If your voice-over artist is unable to act that voice, then don’t hire the person.
Contact me to know my availabilities, tell me about your project or get a sample of my voice on your script! We can communicate in English, I have been working internationally as a French Voice Over since 2004!
I work with customers working in different time zones, please feel free to e-mail me in English! On my testimonials page, you will find some messages from my international clients.