How a Professional Voice Over Can Help Your Small Business

As an entrepreneur and self-employed person, I’m well-versed with the steps of establishing a new small business: At first there’s the emphasis on a good company name and domain name, then comes the mission statement and company logo, and soon the business cards are being printed.

Next, you’ll be asking yourself ‘how does my business sound?’ and how best to communicate a memorable message about the product or service you’re offering.

If you want your business to be the best, it should both look and sound the best.

By choosing a professional voice over for your corporate message you can ensure it’s conveyed confidently and professionally. As a result your company will also be conveyed confidently and professionally.

Professional Voice Over vs Do-It-Yourself Recording

Sometimes, people choose to cut costs by asking someone in-house to record their voice over, but there are drawbacks of taking this approach:

• The audio quality is usually questionable; room tone and background noise can affect the clarity of your message.
• The tone of voice may sound flat and uninteresting and this can reflect on your company – imagine if your company logo was made from 90s clip art!
• The meter may be incorrect for the script. If read too fast or too slow, the audio will have an amateurish quality.
• If a professional studio isn’t used to make the recording, any amendments needed at a later date will be difficult to match to the original audio and can stand out like a sore thumb when you edit them into your video.

By contrast, here’s what a professional voice over will give you:

• They’ll have a professional broadcast quality studio where pristine audio will be recorded with no background noise, pops or clicks or room tone / reverb.
• You’ll get an engaging read! Professionals are paid to sound anything but “flat and uninteresting”.
• If the video has already been created prior to recording the voice, they will keep in mind the length of your video edit and record the script to meet any time limits, while at the same time sounding fluid and captivating. (Note: Usually it’s best to record your voice over first and create your corporate video afterwards, to fit around the voice over).
• Because most professional voice overs have their own studio, if you need your recording amended at a later date they will be able to provide a recording that’s virtually identical to the original. The new recording (perhaps because you updated the price of your product or have a new special offer) will seamlessly and quickly edit into your original corporate video and will save you money on re-recording the entire script again.

My Credentials

The main types of business communication I usually record are:

Elearning and Training Videos

These require a clear yet engaging tone of voice as the audience often listen for many hours and need to retain the information.

I’ve also written about choosing a voice for your e-Learning course.

Corporate Videos and Animations

Created for:

• A company’s intranet.
• To represent a company at trade shows and conferences.
• For communicating longer informative messages to the public. These communications often make up the bulk of a companies YouTube channel content and / or social media posts.
• Business to business communication.

The voice over style is often aspirational and upbeat in anticipation of the future, or natural and conversational.

Down to Earth Communications (appropriate during COVID-19)

A down to earth tone can be more appropriate for some corporate messages, especially when relating to changes in uncertain times.

Advertising on YouTube, Facebook, Linked In, Instagram or Twitter

When advertising, you’ll need your voice over to sound attention-grabbing and as exciting as the other competing commercials on the TV / radio and streaming sites.

The voice you choose can also give your brand character, whether that’s by choosing a regional accent, a sincere conversational tone or a super cool delivery.

Need a Voice Over Recording?

Please get in touch if you would like my voice to speak for your business. I offer 24 hour turnaround on most scripts and supply ready-to-use audio by e-mail.