Do you want to record a radio ad for your business, a voice greeting for your inbound customer service phone number, the names of your employees for a dial-by-name company phone directory or audio for your sales demo? Then you’re probably in need of a voiceover artist.
We asked top voiceover providers on Elance for project posting tips and here’s what they had to say:
1. Include the script
This sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s critical for a voiceover artist to read your script so they can identify the length of the recording and give you a proposal for the job.
Voiceover artist Kirk Winkler recommends also including a script word count in your job posting. "Once you have the preliminary script, conduct a word count and then report the number in your job posting so that contractors can give you a good estimate," Kirk said.
Voiceover artist Tom Underwood agrees and says the word count is better than reporting the page count.. “I would rather see word totals than number of pages because so many parts of a page can vary: font size, margins, photos, just to name a few. I base my rate on one page being 350 words. So if a project has 35,000 words I know it's about 100 pages long and bid accordingly,” he said.
2. Describe your preferred voice style and tone
Voiceover artist Leah Frederick recommends specifying the type of voice talent you want in your job description. "Do you have a preference for a male or female voice? Are you looking for an American or British accent?" Leah asks.
The decision is really your preference, but be sure to communicate it in your job description so that you hire the best fit for your job. Leah also recommends including examples of audio that you like and that could work for the script you have.
In addition to voice preference, you’ll also want to consider your tone preference. “Tone is helpful. Let the provider know if you want something professional, friendly, light-hearted or upbeat,” mentioned voiceover artist Hana Haatainen Caye.
3. Specify the audio file format
You want to make sure the final file is usable, right? Tom Underwood says listing the audio format you want is critical when hiring a voiceover artist. "There are many formats out there, so please specify MP3, WAV, Aiff, Flac, etc," he said.
4. Mention background music or special effects
Depending on how you are going to use the audio, you may want to think about adding another layer such as background music or special effects. As Elance provider Elisa Garcia points out, knowing whether you want background music can affect the project quote and whether or not an artist can do the job. In most cases, the provider you hire can give you their perspective on whether these will improve the effectiveness of your audio piece.
5. Describe your target audience
Kirk Winkler recommends that employers describe their target listening audience for the audio piece. "We may well record in a different 'voice' for college educated adults than we might for teenagers or children," Kirk said.
6. Describe how the audio will be used
Voiceover artists like to know how the audio will be used, and almost every voiceover artist we talked to mentioned this must-do. Hana Haatainen Caye points out that the planned usage can affect the quote for the project, and she says to be sure to include whether this is a character voice, podcast, radio commercial, phone answering system, or for some other use.
Now you're ready to start thinking about the information you need to post your voiceover project. While you're brainstorming, read how Elancer provider and voiceover artist Leah Frederick provided the voice for Margot - a video game character.
Special thanks to all of the Elance providers who contributed to this article: Leah Frederick, Kirk Winkler, Tom Underwood, Hana Haatainen Caye, and Elisa Garcia.
