Hiring A Voice Over Actor

We’re sure you’re a person of many talents. From work around the house to problem-solving within our careers, most of us take on new challenges daily.

But let’s look at it this way—say you have a problem with your sink draining, but you don’t want to hire a plumber right away. After all, finding and enlisting the help of a professional can be tiring, not to mention expensive. So you may instead opt to try to fix the clog yourself, and you may even be successful. However, down the line, you’ll likely find that the problem persists and escalates into something bigger than it ever was in the beginning.

Relying on your voice talent skills may not have repercussions as obvious as an unusable sink filled with water, but it can impact your project negatively. Not only will it take your focus away from other important parts of your project, but it may not even leave you with the results you want—voice actors train for years to be able to provide high-quality work. It’s best to leave it to the pros and delegate with confidence!

Speaking of pros, here are some other advantages to hiring a professional voice actor: 

• You’re provided with broadcast-quality files that are ready to use, recorded in a state-of-the-art studio. 
• Your voice actor can bounce off your ideas to bring other project possibilities to life 
• Freelance voice talent can work with quick turnaround times, working in parallel to your other project tasks
• Quality voice acting gives your project a polished, professional feel and first impression 

And it just wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t give you a few cons as well:

• Sometimes it can take a bit of back and forth to get the tone right, especially if it’s your first time hiring a particular voice actor
• Some producers may feel scared of “letting go” of their projects by allowing the involvement of another professional

If it’s your first time hiring voice over talent, you may be wondering what you should provide to your voice actor to set them up for success. While every project and every professional will be somewhat different, here are some things that it’s helpful to tell your voice actor from the get-go: 

• Your script length, so they can verify that they have the proper bandwidth to take it on
• Your intended use for the voiceover (will it be featured on a website? In a paid television ad? As a pre-roll ad? Something else?)
• Your budget (so you can ensure a good fit for both parties)
• Your deadline (always important)
• Your project’s tone/voice (some voice artists may specialize in different genres and/or tones)
• Any references for the project – like a rough cut of the video, previously produced creative, possible backing music tracks

When you have a great project idea, do it the justice of hiring a professional voice actor. You won’t regret it.