Choosing the most suitable voiceover artist to represent your brand in a commercial, narrate your explainer video or voice your eLearning materials is a crucial step. The audience takes action and appreciates a voice they can relate to. When it comes to male vs. female voiceovers, there is no clear-cut rule that one gender should provide this service or the other.
However, there are instances where a male voice draws more attention and has a greater impact. According to B2B Community blog, audiences perceive male voiceovers as authoritative, factitious and serious. They are thus the best for marketing products such as cars, yachts, computers, and property. The authority in male voices also comes in handy for serious commercials such as legal services, banking and insurance.
Tips for Choosing British Male Voice Over Services
Are you looking for British male voiceover services to work on your project? It is a daunting task to pick the best voice talent from the hundreds of agencies and freelancers offering these services. But knowing what you are looking for will help you narrow down your search.
We have compiled five tips to help you choose a British male voice over artist that matches your needs.
Understand Your Target Audience
The first thing to help you decide which male voice over is the best for your project is to understand the people your message targets. If you target young adults, your best bet will be a British male adult in the same age group. Similarly, if you make explainer videos for elderly support products such as pain-relieving products, a caring and understanding voice will do the trick.
Another thing about your target audience is their location. Which accent do the people living there relate with? If you are promoting your new store in Wales, you need to hire British male voice over services that nail a Wales accent. Using a Scotland accent may make them feel like you don’t relate with them, thus losing their trust.
The age of your audience also determines the kind of voice talent you choose. If you are creating an advertisement that targets teenagers, the male voice over artist can use slang, street language and humour to pass on the message. You need to choose a voice over artist that understands how to use such language.
What Kind of Service Type Do You Seek?
There are several types of voiceovers. Setting your project goals and knowing what you are looking for in British male voice over services will help you decide on the best choice. The types of voiceovers include:
1) Commercials
2) Narrations
3) Explainer videos
4) eLearning videos
Professional voice over artists have varying specialties. Some are skilled in executing short commercial projects that demand a deep, authoritative voice. Others have a relaxing and emotion-filled voice suitable for long narration videos like National Geographic or Discovery Channel. Additionally, others have the perfect expressive voice for animation, cartoons and explainer videos.
Your choice boils down to what services you seek. Some talented voice talents are voice actors, meaning they can embody any voice. Whether you want an emotional, expressive or flat voice, there is no character that a voice actor cannot play.
Consider the Tone of Your Project
What is the tone of your project? Is it conversational, authoritative, funny, humorous, emotion-filled or serious? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself when selecting British male voice over services for your business.
For instance, a commercial advertising a cologne to middle-aged men differs from an explainer video illustrating how to mount a TV on the wall. The former needs an emotion-filled and convincing tone to show the target audience how buying that cologne will impact their life.
As for the explainer video, the artist needs to maintain a flat yet attention-capturing tone to take the audience to the end of the video. Understanding the tone and emotions of your project is therefore essential to choose the right man for the job.
Study the Portfolio of the Voice Over Artists at Your Disposal
After narrowing down what types of British male voiceover artists you seek, take your time to listen to their voiceovers. Examine their tone, expressions, diction, enunciation, etc. This will give you an idea of what their work feels like, and it can help you make an informed choice.
Carefully compare the voiceover examples and if you hear something you like, contact the artist or agency for more engagement. Sampling different talents can also give you something you thought you never needed. So instead of hiring talent and teaching them what you want, look in the archives for something that resembles what you seek.
Ask for a Demo
If you click the search button today looking for the best British male voice over services, you will get hundreds of thousands claiming to offer the service. However, if you have worked with some of these artists before, you know some of them deliver substandard work different from what they promised.
Why go through such risks when you can request a demo before hiring? A demo is a demonstration of a skill such as singing, narrating or voice acting. Ask for demos from several prospects, then compare them. Pick the one that excites you and discuss the project details and working conditions. This way, you get a professional voice over artist who matches your project needs.
Consider Reviews and Recommendations from Friends
Your friends, neighbours, co-workers or family members may know an excellent British male voice over services they worked with and delivered quality services. Before doing a solo search, ask them to give you recommendations.
If you tell a service provider that a friend recommended them to you, they may give you a discount. Moreover, they have a reputation to maintain and are likely to go out of their way to provide exemplary services.
Another crucial thing to do when searching for a voice over artist is look at what other clients have to say about their services. Look at the reviews and make a decision. Beware of fake reviews that are too good to be true. A trustworthy agency will have both 5-star and 3-star ratings because it’s hard to impress 100% of the clients. However, many bad reviews are a red flag.
Wrap Up
Male voiceover artists are best suited for projects that require an authoritative, serious and leading voice. They are also the perfect choice for projects pushing brands such as cars, computers, banking services and insurance.
When choosing the right male voice over artist, understand your target audience, the suitable tone for the project, and the type of service you want. Asking for recommendations, looking at clients’ reviews and asking for a demo will also help you make an informed decision.