How can voice actors deliver a natural or conversational voice over?
By far, the number one reason our clients reject voice overs is because they say it does not sound natural or that it's too robotic, even after requesting multiple revisions. How do you know when you are delivering a "natural" or "conversational" read? What directions can a client give that will help you understand what they mean by "natural" or "conversational?"
Here are some voice overs that were rejected by our clients because they said it wasn't natural enough. I would love to hear your opinions on the topic and get advice on how to deliver the "natural" sound our clients want.
Project #1
- Client's instructions: We'll be using this voiceover with a video for a sales software. We would love for the tone to be very conversational, similar to this video: https://www.zendesk.com/product/tour/
- Audio we delivered: http://voicebunny.com/shared/view/ODkwMzY3
- Client's rejection comments: A bit more like a movie trailer than a conversation.
Project #2
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Client's instructions: Casual upbeat voice for mobile app demo
A product description for an iPhone application for 20-30 something travelers
Most people listening to it will be potential investors or early employees
The vibe should be casual and upbeat with occasional tongue-in-cheek asides
I don't want it to sound too formal and stuffy like many product demos. It should feel kind of "light" -
Client requested a revision: This is great, but not quite right for our purposes. It sounds a little corporate and formal and we're looking for something more casual and conversational and maybe a little softer.
Also, could you try recording it as one file? The breaks sound a little unnatural and we want it to be more fluid. (This client even recorded herself attempting the voice over to demonstrate the kind of tone she wanted.) - Audio we delivered: http://voicebunny.com/shared/view/ODkxNTgy
- Client's rejection comments: It's very good, but just not right for our purposes. We need something more casual and conversational. It's still too "pitchy-y"
What advice would you give to the voice actor from Project 1?
What advice would you give to the voice actor from Project 2?
Do you agree with the clients in these cases?
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Hey All, just my $.02. Both sound good but do sound more as if they are being read, more corporate in feel, especially the Salesloft read. One good "conversational" example that comes up often is Justin Long as a "Mac" in the Apple "Mac vs PC" commercials. The clients seem to be going for a very "Hey, we're just talkin' here" kind of a vibe. Something that sometimes helps is having a picture of a friend in front of you and act like you're to talking to them. Also adding a little bit of a subtle sarcastic tone to some of the lines (as appropriate) helps to give a lighter feel and more of an inclusive/throw your arm around the shoulder feel.
Casual/Conversational is one of the hardest to pull off well especially without specific examples.
And this helps to point out one of the challenges with the system, no direct communication with the client. Hopefully that can be solved soon. It is sometimes very hard to pull the full meaning out the the script and instructions to deliver the client what they want. And many times they aren't able to properly utilize the interface to tell us what they want. They aren't able to put it words what they are hearing in their heads. I've had a number of times where the instructions, examples and revisions contradict each other.
Project #1: One way to solve this may be to avoid the usage of compressor / limiter plug-ins that instantaneously provide a "controlled"-sounding voiceover. We should have a list of checkboxes to instruct the VO artists to-dos and not-to-dos (and in this case "NO LIMITER / COMPRESSOR" or something like that).
Project #2: We can all take this one as a lesson... In this era of stealth marketing and subliminal advertising, this up-to-yer-face style of presentation may be going out-of-style.
Since we already have defined styles such as "corporate", "hard-sell", "soft-sell", "anime character", ... we need two more style definitions: "truly conversational", and "corporate conversational", in hope to avoid confusion.
Advice for talent 1: It seemed a bit, choppy. For example the section starting "For modern sellers, it automates your process.." is a bit disjointed or bouncy.
Advice for client 2: relax. It is pitchy. Listen the bit "We might call Piper a hipster". Imagine talking to your cousin about this gal you know. Would you say it with that same articulation and emphasis?
General thoughts:
My VO coach has been working with me on refining the "conversational" style. Some nuggets of information that may help others include:
1) Avoid "pouncing" on certain words. For example, I was recording the following snippet: "Some might prefer a lecture or a documentary film to tell the story of 125 years of winemaking. At Beringer, we prefer a glass." I instinctively wanted to emphasize "We", because, well, we're different! For some styles of read, that might be exactly the right approach, but for conversational, no way. It's more of a shoulder shrug and toss it off...we prefer a glass, simple as that. Conversational is easy going and relaxed, not pouncy or punchy. (You can still bill-board the company name, but don't over do it).
2) You've heard it before, but I'll say it again. With conversational reads especially, focus on speaking to one, very specific person (or small group of buddies). If it helps, tape a photo above the mic. In fact, I'll sometimes ad lib to my mom or my friend, setting the scene, before starting the actual read. For example "Hey, Jen, I'm so glad you could make it tonight. I've missed our get togethers! Besides, I've got this awesome vintage I've been dying to share with you! You know, some might choose a lecture or a documentary film ... "