Whether you are a business looking for a voice-over artist for an advertisement or a content creator looking for the voice for your next main character, finding said talent can be much more complicated than it seems. What should you consider? What should you avoid? These are essential questions that need to be asked. There are, of course, many websites that offer great voice-over artists. Voquent, for example, makes the searching process more straightforward. However, knowing what to look for is still a great idea. If you are looking for voice-over talent, but aren’t sure what qualities they should have, here are 4 of the most important ones that can help you to find the talent you need today.
Experience
The best quality to look for when trying to find a professional voice-over artist would be the amount of experience the artist in question has. The great thing about being a voice-over artist is that while having a dozen training courses under your belt is excellent, having worked for many clients and on big projects is also a badge of skill and more beneficial for understanding industry requirements. Voice actors with experience will require less direction from yourself.
Range
The next quality that a professional voice-over talent should have would be an extensive vocal range. Of course, this isn’t entirely necessary since you can find a specific voice for any character or project. However, finding talent with a wide range will allow you to use that talent in many different roles without needing to go through the entire search process again. For example, consider Seth Macfarlane, who does the voices of over 40 characters for Family Guy. This works particularly well with more minor roles but can also be considered when on a tighter budget.
Great Pronunciation and Enunciation
Pronouncing each word they are saying and effectively enunciating are some of the essential qualities a voice-over artist needs. The reason for this is quite apparent; even if the voice-over artist has a wide range, what good does that do if they aren’t able to say the words they are reading clearly? Your audience must understand your message or character as much as possible, so clarity is critical.
Consistency
As mentioned above, excellent quality for actors would be a wide range, so you don’t need to find different talents for different characters or projects. One aspect that closely follows this would be consistency; the voice-over talent must be consistent with their work. It would be a nightmare to find a phenomenal talent, only for them to deliver great recordings one day and terrible recordings the next. Talent should be reliable, especially in multiple recording sessions where they must create the same voice each time.
To Sum Up
Choosing a voice-over talent is never easy. There are many factors to consider besides what has been mentioned, such as good pacing, an understanding of emotions, great tone, versatility, and more. However, focusing on the above four qualities will help dramatically decrease the list of potential issues and focus on talent that naturally and authentically suits the project’s requirements.
