So PRESTO! You are the Producer?....Rick Gordon

Your new company website is online and as part of the content there will be a voiceover done by a professional representing the voice of the President. The boss has decided you should be the one to get the job done because you have a great voice. GREAT! Well........errrr.........where do I start?

This can be a very complex and time consuming project so I will just give you the gist of it using a very short President's welcome to the your new website.

The very first thing you will need is a script. Don't even think about VO talent at this point. It is absolutely imperative that you have a perfect script that everyone can agree upon, especially the President. Since there can be various approaches to this task I can only give you my method, your ideas may very well differ. Have your President write the message he wants to broadcast. Tell him it should be pleasant, brief and to the point. Tell him that a normal speaking voice is about 150 -160 words per minute (WPM) so he should keep that in mind while creating his masterpiece. If it is boring keep it short, if it is Oscar material make it can be a little longer. 75 words will take about 30 seconds to hear.

He can start with "Hello and welcome to Computers Plus, my name is Frank Drummond. (Title inserted below the audio/video window) We hope you enjoy what we have to offer as you browse through our site. I want to personally guarantee all of our products and services. Should you have any questions or concerns I invite you to contact our Service Department at any time ....blah...blah...
We've already used up 60 words or about 25 seconds!

Now run his script by your HR or PR people or a few advertising people and refine it. After you have had all the input you need get the President to sign off and agree. This is a very, very important step. This is your final script and if it is changed it will cost you more money in all likelihood. Make sure that it is a final-final!

OK Great! Now let's go get a VO talent. Where? Who?
Choose your talent based on the gender of your President or whoever will be speaking on behalf of the company. If you have lots of time and a good supply of Tylenol you could ask one of the employees to record it. Chances are your efforts will be futile. This welcome message represents your business and all of the people in it. It is not just the words from the President; it will be your image, your brand. It has to convey trust, quality and believability. It may be heard thousands of times by thousands of people. It has to be right.....right? And that’s why you’ll more-than-likely need a professional to deliver it. The secret word is "tone". You will have to get educated about that word. It is a mean word meaning you either can recognize it or you can't. You can only be trained on it if you at least comprehend some of its meaning. Kinda like something you were born with, such as a talent.

You next step would be to get some VO samples. Here at CV you can go listen to all of our talents and choose one and contact him/her directly or you can choose more than one or you can ask us to do a free Casting Call for you so you will have many choices.

OK........so things are humming along. Now how do you choose? Remember at the beginning of this article I said that the President asked you do put this together because you had a great voice? He was probably right. You can of course seek out a Producer or offer the President the job but I would guess that you can accomplish this task with flying colors. Indeed if the production is a sales pitch or of an e-learning nature you should consider hiring a producer but for this one you will be fine.

OK, you've got a great voice. Know what? I bet that you can recognize other great voices as well. Well those are the people you should choose to assist you in making a choice. Keep your selected talent number to a minimum, let's say three. Don't decide by committee. Stick with your gut feelings and those who are helping you. You will know which voice talent to choose from somewhere within yourself.

Next month we'll discuss "Hiring a VO talent". You will find it surprisingly easy to work with your chosen talent with confidence and you will be extremely proud of your production. Remember I said "tone". That is the dirtiest four letter word in the VO business. We'll talk about that too.

All the Best,
Rick Gordon