Pinpointing the right voice over talent is very important regardless of the project that you want them for. But the challenge that is faced by most people is how they can go about the process so as to successfully hire the right artist.
The company that you hire to provide you with voice overs should not only be affordable but also one that can guarantee quality work. In the text below, we tell you the ten most important things to take into account when hiring a professional voice artist. Read below to find out about these tips.
1. Go for trusted as well as experienced talent fished from a company with reputation
These days, there is a very stiff competition in the market of voice overs. So long as a person owns a microphone and has a voice, he or she can venture into the industry and advertise themselves on the internet as professional voice overs. Just like is the case with any marketplace that is readily accessible, having too many options is not always a great thing for consumers.
Rather, the important things, far more important than having a million and one options to choose from, is getting a quality professional voice over and recording with the ability to make timely deliveries. Because Google filters billions of website pages, it is important that you use a reputable supplier who can offer accountable and trusted voice overs to enable you home in on gifted voice artists who are capable of delivering the project on time.
An agent or a supplier with multiple voice over professionals ought to be in a position to offer you a multitude of options. Also, their experience when it comes to intricate hiring implies that not only do you have a professional but also a trusted company which you can hold to account should something not turn out as you expected it to.
2. Shy away from directories that have massive pools of voice over experts
Even though it is possible for you to land a gifted voice artist to handle your project, it is not a good thing to post your project to several talents at one instant.
Because most of the large sites will just let anybody to join them and pitch for work, they tend to have thousands of members. These sites allow as many members as possible to register because the members pay some money before being allowed. Credible and established voice over professionals will be quick to avoid the sites that have thousands of amateur contenders.
You should also do the same when choosing a voice artist. Moreover, a directory with thousands of voice over artists makes it difficult for you to zero in on one suitable artist.
3. Cheap is often more expensive so buyer beware
After receiving a quote in this industry for a professional work in this sector, you should not choose the cheapest quote. Just as I mentioned before, the market has been flooded with anybody as long as they have voice and a microphone. Professionals who deliver quality work are likely to charge a lot more compared to the yet to be established upstarts.
While the upstarts may try to lure you with their cheaper prices, it is always a good idea to choose a respectable and professional company. Just like with many other things in life, when it comes to voice overs, expect to get what you paid for. A respectable company will deliver higher quality work compared to one that is just starting out.
However, this is not to say that you should always choose the highest bidder. Professional companies will charge a price that falls in a given range. If the price that a company charges appears way out of this range, you probably need to avoid this company.
4. Do not base your decisions on the demo as it is just the beginning point
It could be that at this point, you have identified a voice over whose demo reel appears great and very well produced. However, this is no proof that their other works are great. This is because several studios can record and then produce show reels for the upcoming voice over artists.
These can then be manipulated to appear as though they are the artist’s previous projects. This, however, is not a big issue sometimes. However, when your intention is to contract one of these talents, it is important to take note that they may produce on their own without a producer’s help may be of significantly lower quality compared to their show/demo reel.
In order to this, one should choose voice suppliers with international repute.in case you find that you are directly dealing with an artist, ask him or her to give you an example of their recent project that is not only similar but also one that was produced in their own recording studio.
For instance, if your project entails recording an audio book, insist on the potential voice overs providing you with a copy of their previous project. It is possible that their corporate narrations, on-hold messages and adverts that are professionally produced may not show their capability to narrate an audio book.
5. Clarity and fairness are an absolute a must
It is important that, when asking for the voice over services, you ensure that you are as clear as possible regarding your budget, project requirements as well as the expectations. One way of differentiating a great voice over company from an average one is because a great company will explore the extent of your job and pose the right questions so as to get the most accurate quotation from available vocal talents.
But you need to understand that it is totally your obligation to provide a clear overview and description of your work as well as its exposure and distribution. If, in the course of the project, there is an increase in the scope as well as participation in the voice over, the company could be forced to charge more money than it initially quoted. You need to have a transcript or a script just for the reason of estimate or quotation.
6. Be realistic about the timescale
This may sound common sense but many times, people underestimate the time it should take to come up with a script that is ready to record. Remember there are many things involved in the preparation of the script and these need sufficient time. For instance, you need to set time for listening to the various voice demos, covering any re-records and recording the first draft.
There is no need, for example, to rush a completed script at the last minute when it ought to have been due ten days ago and expect to get a result in the same day. In order to achieve this, it is important to set time early and even book in advance. If you have a voice expert who can avail themselves on short notice and is always ready to record your script then you should know that he or she is not busy.
One attribute of good voice over artists is that they are always busy and therefore not available on short notice. They tend to carefully manage their recording schedules.
7. Don’t be fooled by lies
So you may think that this is easy money since it only entails speaking into a microphone. Far from it! A professional artist has many years of experience and will always talk at the right pace, speed and tone. This professional also knows that in order to come up with a professional voice required, he or she must know how to correctly position the microphone.
Although the voice over experts may make speaking into a microphone appear easy, it never is. Theirs is a professional skill nurtured and developed over many years.
Even the most established profesisonals must perform several takes prior to sending the versions that they are most proud of. The recording is only one process. It does take skilled audio editing methods to be able to get rid of the gaps, plosives, noticeable breaths, pops and saliva noises.
This requires years of practicing and may sometime need to be done by a sound engineer. In short, you cannot compare 10 minutes of speaking into a microphone with 10 minutes of voice that has been produced. For instance, you cannot possibly talk while wearing a permanent smile or a happy tone on the face all the time.
In most cases, voice over jobs need this to be done for longer periods of time. If you find this unbelievable, just try to read this post over the microphone and listen on your efforts afterwards. You will realize that it is not as easy as it appears.
8. Re-records are very time consuming, avoid them completely
Re-records can consume a lot of time. If possible avoid them as much as you can by doubly checking your script just before you start to record. In case you miss even a word, it may mean that a line, sentence or sometimes a whole paragraph has to be re-recorded afresh. It may not be easy for the voice over to reconstruct the moment and hit the tone as well as the flow that was in the original piece.
On the other hand, there is no way you could possibly record a single one and then fix it in the middle of the line. Another thing is that any new audio produced needs to be blended well so that it fits in the original recording. This may require complex audio editing. Therefore, doubly check the script for any errors to ensure that you do not have re-records as they can be damn time-consuming.
9. Fees tend to vary from one expert to another
Voice overs professionals, just like actors, charge depending on their fame and popularity. If you are hoping to hire a voice artist who has landed a series of advertisements on the mainstream TV, they may not entertain the idea of having to work for small fees.
Also, it is important to understand that voice overs tend to have different structures of career and as such, may charge according to current timetable and what suits the position of their industry. Therefore, it is not possible to identify one uniform figure that can apply to all voice artists.
Rather, it is necessary that you get quotes per individual jobs and this should be informed by specific details of a particular job. Good providers are able to efficiently get the details of the job and then choose the best voice over according to your budget.
10. Always Give Feedback and appreciation if the job is done to your satisfaction
During production and recording stage, clients are known to be communicative enough. But not many of them can get back after the end of the project to report that they got what they wanted and that it was a nice job.
While there is nothing wrong with this, a voice over is likely to the client who remembers to show their appreciation and thanks. It is not something difficult. Just compose a simple email message to thank them for delivering a great job. Letting the provider be aware that you liked their work will encourage them to perform for you even better the next time.
Conclusion
Hiring professional voice overs is not easy, like hiring other professionals. The challenge here is that there are so many of the so-called professionals out there and it becomes really difficult to find the perfect one for you.
The article above explains ten things that you must take into account if you want to get the very top quality voice over. They include knowing that the price one charges is likely to differ from the price that another one charges, remembering to call back and thank the artist for great work, triple checking to avoid re-records, being realistic about the time scale and being clear in so far as job requirements are concerned among other things.
Sticking to the points above may not necessarily guarantee a flawless voice over but it can be the difference between a good job and a great one. Stick to the script and your chances of landing a top voice over professional will be greatly enhanced.
