GUIDE TO VOICEOVER REQUEST

A short guide to having your voiceover recorded

If you are writing the script yourself, try not to be too wordy. Things like phone numbers in commercials are hard to understand and remember(as are complicated web page addresses too many dashes and forward slashes can make it non pronounceable. Often it is easier and quicker to say ‘Just Google trees are us’ or ‘page 240 of the White Pages’ (Yellow Pages have the competition’s details as well!). Remember that not too many people listen to the radio with a pen in their hand. Watch out for awkward tongue twisters - some words were just not designed to be said together. 

A tip-off for the voice over talent with hard to pronounce words and place names is also a big help in getting it right the first time. Depending on the word, either phonetics (FON ET ICKS) or ‘rhymes with’ seems to work well. You should also give the voice over talent a clear idea of what you want the commercial to sound like. Things like ‘gentle soft sell’ or ‘over the top excited hard sell’ makes it pretty clear, as does ‘dignified’, ‘Aussie’ or ‘ocker’. Other important information we need prior to recording is the duration – for radio 15secs, 30secs, 60secs, etc and for television 14secs, 29 etc to allow time for the vision to change.

When the script is finalized, take a moment to read it aloud at the desired speed. Check for details such as incorrect information, a wrong address, or parts that just don’t sound right, and importantly, make sure it runs to time. Generally a hard sell commercial can contain more selling points than a soft sell commercial. Most of this will not need your attention if we are writing the copy for you, but we ask clients to check for inaccuracies prior to recording. Remember, any changes to the script or direction after recording will incur another charge.

When picking the voice of your product, use the demos in our talent pool to best determine who will give you the sound you want. The demos attempt to demonstrate the abilities of each voice talent. Often it is a good idea to quote the part of the demo that is in the desired style, for example ‘in the style of the Hotshot Voice over in Allan’s demo’. And finally, please choose the voice carefully… if you select a voice and change your mind, you will be charged for both versions.

And finally - unfortunately additional charges may also apply if you do not settle the invoice on time. Not many accounts end up at the debt collectors, but to make it worth their while we have been forced to introduce this policy.