How to find the best Voice Over Artists in 2022

Video Production in London

A professional voice over can bring a touch of class to any video or audio project. The right voice can add credibility and gravitas, helping to engage the audience and deliver the message with impact. A good voiceover artist will also be able to vary their delivery to suit the style of the project, whether it’s a high-energy commercial or a more relaxed corporate video.

With so much riding on the voice, it’s important to choose an experienced artist who can be trusted to deliver the goods. Luckily, there are plenty of great voice over artists out there to choose from. So, if you’re looking to give your project that extra edge, make sure you get the right voice for you.

 

What Is Voice Acting and  Best Voice Over Artists?

Voice acting is, as you can assume, a form of acting, but dependant fully on a vocal performance as they are not on camera. A voice is added to a video, or is used in an audio book or podcast, to communicate a message, entertain, narrate a story or educate the audience. Voice over artists are becoming more and more in demand thee days, with the popularity of podcasts, audio books, documentaries and especially video games. So it is important to know what to look for in a performer when you’re planning a voice over for your project.

As with any other kind of role, voice over artists require acting skills, as well as the ability to do impressions, accents and character voices. They are also required to alter their inflections, have excellent enunciation and have full control over the tone and volume of their voice. Here are some of the essential qualities to search for when hiring voice over artists

What to look for:

 

Experience

As with any hiring process, you want to make sure the candidate has enough proven experience in similar roles so you can feel confident in their abilities. Voice over artists do not require formal education necessarily, such as an acting degree, but they will most likely have completed training courses or worked with a voice coach. The most important thing is that they have practiced and have a voice reel to show you. Practical experience is the only way to really become an expert voice actor and become comfortably in various voices, roles and genres.

So the first thing to do when looking for voice over artists is to check out their portfolio, check out what they have worked on in the past and listen to some examples of their voice.

 

 

 

Clarity

Once you know that the actor has adapt to different roles and genres, you need to make sure that in any character, accent or tone, they maintain the clarity in their performance. Scenes can require voice over artists to whisper, cry, shout or whimper, and they need to keep the dialogue believable yet easy for the listener to comprehend. In daily life when we get upset or excited about something we often become hard to understand, mumbling or speaking too fast. Good voice over artists must be able to control their voice enough to ensure clarity alongside expressive emotion. This can take a lot of skill, but if they have plentiful experience they can likely handle it.

 

Consistency

It can be hard to find people that you both trust and love working with. And since voice acting requires so many variables, as detailed in this article, once you find one you like you will probably want to keep them around for future projects, especially if they have proven their range and versatility to you.

That’s where the importance of consistency comes in, if you want to continue to collaborate with someone in the future you need to know they will remain consistent in their performances and also have consistent availability and be easy to reach. When you start working on a project and think this actor would be the perfect fit, you don’t want to have to wait weeks to hear back from them.

 

Being Articulate

This one might seem obvious, but being naturally articulate is essential for voice over artists. They need to sound genuine, while moving through sentences smoothly with an uninterrupted flow. Of course in reality when we speak we add ‘umms’ and ‘aahs’ but in a voice over these sound unprofessional and make the recording less appealing. So it’s important to make sure that while they speak with clarity, they also move between the words with a natural sounding flow as well. You don’t want to spend your entire post production process cutting out filler words and repetitions.

Pacing

Pacing is an important consideration when recording a voiceover. The right pace can add energy and excitement to your recording, while the wrong pace can make it sound flat and lifeless. There are a few things to keep in mind when setting the pace for your voiceover. First, consider the type of material you’re recording. If it’s a fast-paced commercial or an action scene in a movie, you’ll want to speak quickly. On the other hand, if you’re recording a slow, mellow piece, like a meditation tape, you’ll want to speak slowly and evenly.

You should also take into account the mood you’re trying to create with your voiceover. If you want to sound friendly and inviting, speak at a leisurely pace. If you’re trying to sound authoritative or persuasive, speak with more authority by speaking more quickly. Pacing is just one consideration when recording a voiceover, but it’s an important one. By finding the right pace for your material, you can give your recording the extra spark that it needs to be successful. So make sure you listen carefully to the pace at which your potential voice over artists speak and how they can adapt according to the project’s aim.

 

Enunciation

God voice over artists should enunciate exceptionally well. This is because when people are watching a video, they want to be able to understand what is being said. If the voice over artist does not enunciate well, then people will not be able to understand and the video will not be as effective. There are many different ways to enunciate words, and a good voice over artist will be able to do this in a way that is clear and concise. They will also be able to do it in a way that sounds natural and not forced.

Enunciating well is an important skill for a voice over artist to have, and it is something that can make or break a video, so they should be able to do it even with difficult words, while maintaining the emotion of the script. If you listen to their voice demo and can’t tell for sure if they are able to enunciate well enough, you test out someone’s ability to enunciate by giving them some words which are hard to pronounce and ask them to enunciate them.

 

If you’re looking for high quality voice over artists, as well as voice over recording and editing, then look no further. Nostairway Creative is a video production company in London which can offer all of these services at a reasonable price and with a quick turnaround. Check out our list of talented and experienced voice over artists on our website, and listen to some of their demos. We have actors for every mood, scene, genre and emotion, as well as a variety of accents. Even our Creative Director, Rob Marshall, is an experienced voice over artist, who you can hear in his voice reel:

 

If you found this article interesting or helpful, check out some of our other articles:

Voice-over Production and Recording in London

Voiceover – How Hard Can It Be? 10 Answers

10 Tips for a Good Video Voice Over