One of the main components of a television, radio or online ad is the sound. Is the voice charming? Is the voice soothing? Do you relate to the voice on the ad? Do you hate the voice on the ad? Does the voice on the ad sound like nails against a chalkboard? Do you replay the ad over and over just to hear the voice? Is the target audience Hispanic? These are all questions that I ask myself when selecting the perfect voice over talent for an ad.There are millions of options to choose from when selecting voice over talent. And there is no such thing as a “one size fits all voice” as it can be a tough task to audition and cast talent for a project. In TV, radio, and online ad production, we use voices that fit the creative that our clients are running. A Honda dealer typically would not run a rugged, masculine, tough sounding male as opposed to a bright, smiley and friendly female. Whereas, a jewelry store would use an older, elegant sounding gentleman versus a younger, hip sounding female. Again, there are TONS of options to choose from. I have learned that establishing lasting relationships with talents and agents is key. We have a large roster of Grade A, top of the line talent that we use on a daily basis at The Moran Group. Every voice over talent that we use is hand selected and is the perfect fit for the creative that we are producing. A few other steps when selecting the perfect voice talent is to make sure they are readily available for you, are happy to help you in any way that they can and collaborate with you to make sure that the final read is the best read they can give! The type of voice over talents that I tend to stay away from are those that are only available at certain times, have a longer turnaround time, those who are unresponsive to calls and emails and those who do not go the extra mile for our clients.

Budget is also a key factor when selecting voice over talent. Usually, you can hire a talent for a project within your budget. Sure, you will come across those that want an exorbitant amount of money to read three lines of copy, and those are usually the ones that are skipped over. This goes back to the relationship that one builds with a talent. For example, if a client approves a script, the script is then sent to the talent to be recorded, the talent sends the audio and the track is laid down to video and all of a sudden an hour later the client calls for a revision. How is this handled? With me, I would explain the situation and ask that the client re-read the revised line at no charge, which is typically, no problem, However, you may work with a handful of talents that want to be paid for everything that they read, regardless who’s fault it was. Could it be a client change? Could it be an error on the script? Could it be the talent’s error? All of these scenarios happen more so than not, that is why it is important to have a great rapport with your talents at all times to avoid costly charges, but also get the most bang for your buck. It is a fun and rewarding task to see and hear the outcome of the finished project when it looks and sounds like a million bucks! Let The Moran Group help you identify your target audience and select the perfect voice over talent for your project! Send us a message or give us a call at 225.330.8146 to learn more. You may also find these articles helpful in your search:https://www.debbiegrattan.com/blog/hiring-voice-over-talent-key-factors/https://neilwilson.com/2018/02/12/my-path-to-success/