How to choose the best american male voice over talent for your project
Choosing the right voice for your project doesn’t have to be a daunting task.
With the amount of available voice over talent that exists today, it may seem overwhelming as you sift through a myriad of talent profiles, demos, and emails trying to find the right voice actor for your production. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be this way. By following some simple steps that I’ll outline below, you can streamline the process of hiring talent for your productions.
Let’s say you’ve just finished the storyboard concept for your company’s brand video. Or perhaps you’ve created a draft of your company’s upcoming radio spot. Whatever the project is, you have decided that you want a male voice over talent convey your message.
By slowing down and considering some important details, we can actually ensure success by steering ourselves in the proper direction. Whether you’re the owner of a small business, or someone who has never hired a voice actor before, all you need to do is follow the tips below.
(Already a pro at finding the right talent? Of course you are, you’re on my website after all. Contact me today to get started on your next project.)
Make sure the voice actor you’ve chosen is full-time.
If you’re going to spend all of this time and effort finding the perfect voice for your ad campaign, you need to work with someone who’s bread and butter is voicing advertisements. By working with a professional, full-time voice actor with a proven track record, you’re ensuring that your production goes smoothly. Why get bogged down with rookie mistakes and semi-pro audio, when you could hire a true professional from the start?
Furthermore, a full-time voice actor will be able to deliver finished audio files to you quickly. This is a luxury not often afforded to part-time talent. If you work with a part-timer, you might not even hear back from them until they get off of work from their 9-5 job. Then, they still have to get in the booth and record (if they even have an honest to goodness vocal booth to speak of in their studio.) This brings me to my next point.
Confirm that the talent has a professional recording environment available to them.
Your project deserves the best possible audio. Voice actors with professional recording environments can provide the quality of audio you need for your brand. Do you want to hear dogs barking, or the voice actors air conditioning unit, in the background of your ad? I didn’t think so. Work with a voice actor that has their recording space dialed in for crystal clear, broadcast quality audio, and you’ll avoid this issue altogether.
Verify this sound quality by asking about sound engineering experience.
Your preferred american male voice actor should, ideally, have a background in audio engineering. They should have an established and proven workflow for producing high quality, broadcast-ready audio in their home studio. They should be able to cut, splice, merge, filter, layer, and manipulate audio tracks to fit the needs of your project.
To provide an example, let’s say you want to create an advertisement with music and sound effects. In order to do this, you will need to work with an audio engineer. The engineer will know how to incorporate these various components into one cohesive project. Here’s the good news: any voice actor worth their salt has this capability, so take a listen to their samples and verify they have the right stuff for your project.
Ensure that your chosen talent takes direction and feedback well.
Ego has no place in the voice over profession'; it’s extremely important that the talent you choose is able to listen to your direction and feedback, make the necessary changes, and provide a quality product. Now, how do we ensure that this is possible? It’s easy! Check and see if the voice actor you’ve chosen offers live directed sessions. This is a good indicator that they are ready and willing to listen to your feedback. There’s also the added benefit of being able to hear their performance live, offer notes on the fly, and streamline the whole production process. Bonus points if the talent has a Source Connect account, as using Source Connect in a live directed session is common in larger scale, higher profile projects.
Be on the lookout for creativity and passion.
If you’ve ever worked with a voice actor that lacks passion and creativity, you will understand how important this point is already. If not, just know this. Passion is a pre-requisite in this industry. If you want your content to sound authentic and believable, you need to work with a voice actor that is passionate about their craft. Someone that understands the importance of your project, and truly enjoys the process of creating amazing american male voice over content.
Give those demos a critical listen.
Voice over demos are kind of a “best case scenario” for voice actors. You’re hearing a curated version of what this talent has to offer, so (if their demos are good) you can expect a similar level of quality and performance on your project. Try to find a demo that matches your preferred category. For instance, If you’re working on an eLearning project, listen to the talent’s eLearning demo. If you’re working on updating your company’s Phone Greetings, listen to their Telephony demo to hear samples from IVR systems, On Hold Messages, Voicemails, and more.
Request an audition sample, whenever possible.
The absolute best way to ensure a proper fit for a voice actor and your production is to get a free audition sample. Most voice actors will readily provide a free, short sample (<30 seconds or so) in order to give you an idea of what to expect. This will help you determine the actor’s audio quality, performance characteristics, and more. (By the way, if you’d like a free audition sample from me, contact me today. Share a portion of your script, and I will provide sample audio for you as soon as possible. Easy as pie!)
Conclusion
Hopefully, after reading the tips above, you feel at ease when it comes to selecting the right american male voice over talent for your upcoming project. If you follow these tips, you’re sure to find someone that fits your style and your production. And hey, since you’re already here, why not reach out to me right now to request a free audition sample?
