Determining the right pitch and emotion
It all starts with the tone of your project. Are you looking for a voice that sounds enthusiastic and energetic to launch a new product? Or would a warm, soothing and trustworthy voice be more suitable for an internal guide or a manual?
Think carefully about the emotion you want to evoke in the listener. A professional voice-over artist can play with intonation, tempo and volume. Decide for yourself in advance whether the tone should be more businesslike, friendly, mysterious or, conversely, highly persuasive. This helps the voice-over artist strike the right note straight away during the recording.
The target audience determines the voice
Who exactly do you want to reach with your message? A younger audience naturally speaks a different language and responds to a different dynamic than a group of professionals in the healthcare or construction sectors.
When making your choice, bear the following elements in mind:
- Age and gender: Sometimes a soft female voice works better for an empathetic topic, whilst a deep male voice conveys just the right amount of authority for a financial project.
- Language and accent: Will you opt for flawless, neutral Standard Dutch, or does your project need that touch of local charm with a soft Flemish accent?
- Relatability: People prefer to listen to someone they can relate to. So tailor your choice of voice perfectly to your listener’s world.
Technical quality and flexibility
When a voice-over is required for a project, we look not only at the timbre of the voice, but also at the technical aspects. A professional voice-over artist usually works from their own, perfectly soundproofed recording studio. This ensures that you won’t hear any distracting ambient noise, echo or strange background noise in the final recording.
You should also always ask how flexible the voice-over artist is. What if the script needs a minor adjustment at the last minute? Clear agreements in advance about any re-recordings prevent surprises later on. That way, you can be sure the end result sounds exactly as you envisaged it.
Listen to the demos with the right perspective
When you’re looking for a voice, you’ll be listening to a lot of audio clips and demos. It’s tempting to simply choose whatever you personally like the sound of. However, try to set your own preferences aside for a moment and listen through the ears of your target audience.
Does this voice suit the rhythm of your edit? If necessary, ask the voice artist or the agency for a short test recording with a few lines from your own script. That way, you’ll hear straight away whether it’s a good match for your specific project, even before the full recording begins.
