All About Directing Voice Overs

If you're new to ordering voice over services, you might be wondering about directing voice over sessions. A common misconception is that you must direct every voice over. Directing your voice over is an option rather than a necessity.

Let’s explore the role of directing in voice overs, when it's beneficial, and how you can effectively communicate your vision to ensure a successful collaboration – with or without directing.

What is Voice Over Directing?

Directing a voice over involves guiding the performance of a voice actor to achieve a specific artistic vision or meet project requirements. Directors may provide instructions on tone, pacing, emotion, pronunciation, and overall delivery style to ensure the voice over aligns with the intended message or character portrayal. While directing can be invaluable for complex scripts, character-driven narratives, or precise brand messaging, it's important to note that not all voice over projects require direct supervision.

Voice Actors Are Professionals

It’s natural to wonder about the need for live direction. However, if you hired an experienced voice actor, you’re enlisting the expertise of a professional. Professional voice actors can effectively interpret scripts and convey your message with clarity and emotion. By placing trust in their skills and experience, you allow voice actors to bring their creativity and understanding of your project's requirements to the forefront. This collaborative approach not only simplifies the process but also yields polished results.

Communicate Your Vision

While directing a voice over isn't always necessary, providing clear guidance ensures that your voice actor understands the tone, style, and messaging you aim to convey. Start by outlining the purpose of the voice over project and the intended audience. Describe the desired emotional tone— for example, whether it's authoritative, conversational, or upbeat—and any specific nuances like pacing or pronunciation preferences.

Provide Reference Material

Offering reference materials is an effective way to ensure your voice over project aligns with your vision. Whether it's sample recordings, scripts from previous projects, or examples of voice styles you admire, these references provide valuable context for your voice actor. They help clarify expectations regarding tone, pacing, pronunciation, and overall delivery style. Some producers even send the music track that will be played under the voice over to help convey the overall feel of the project.

Client-Directed vs Self-Directed Voice Overs

Deciding between live directing a voice over and having a voice actor self-direct depends largely on your preferences and project requirements. Live directing includes providing real-time feedback, discussing interpretations, and guiding adjustments to ensure the voice over aligns closely with your vision. This approach is beneficial for complex scripts, specific branding needs, or projects where precise delivery and tone are critical.

Hiring a voice actor to self-direct is perfect for straightforward projects where clear direction has been communicated upfront and you trust the voice actor's expertise to deliver a professional performance. It saves you the time spent listening in to a VO session and offers flexibility in scheduling and workflow, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your project while still achieving high-quality results. Self-directed voice overs are preferred for simple voice overs and longer straightforward projects such as eLearning courses.

Feedback and Revisions

You may request a small portion of your script as a sample before turning the project over to the voice actor, especially if it is a long form voice over or you have multiple scripts that require the same delivery.  If their tone and style match your vision, then they can complete the project and deliver the final recording. Clear and specific feedback helps voice actors refine their performance to better align with your expectations. If you’re concerned about revisions, ask the voice actor you hired about their revision policy. A professional voice actor will have no problem walking you through the process.

Build a Long-Term Relationship

When you find a voice talent you enjoy working with, establishing a continuing relationship can be highly beneficial. Building rapport and familiarity over time allows the voice actor to better understand your preferences, style, and project needs. This leads to smoother collaborations and a more efficient workflow, as they become attuned to delivering exactly what you envision. This ongoing partnership can ultimately save time and effort while consistently elevating the impact of your voice-over projects. Even after directing the first project with a specific voice talent, you can have the talent voice subsequent versions of the same project without your direction as they will already have nailed the style in the initial directed session.

When it comes to finding the perfect voice for your project, sometimes directing is essential to ensure every detail aligns with your vision. However, there are times when you can confidently trust a professional voice actor to deliver exactly what you need.

VOPlanet offers a diverse roster of seasoned voice actors capable of both live-directed sessions and self-directed projects. Whether you prefer to guide the process or rely on their expertise, our professionals are ready to bring your voice over project to life.