Voice Over for Podcasts
You’ve got your equipment set up. Your script is written and edited. You’re ready to record. But wait! There’s one more tool / resource that could take your podcast to a new level.
Voice Over.
Sometimes adding another voice – a professional voice – to your podcast can give it that extra added something or can help solve a problem. Here are just a few of the ways experienced voice over talent can be used in your podcast.
Podcast Intros and Outros
You only get one chance to make a first impression. Why hobble yourself with a mediocre introduction? Research from NPR shows a typical podcast loses roughly a quarter or more of its listeners within the first 5 minutes. A mediocre intro can turn them off within the first minute. You want to start strong and a strong intro with an experienced voice over talent can help you achieve that goal. And that’s not the only advantage. When someone else introduces you, you immediately attain that extra bit of authority that can go a long way.
Just make sure the the tone of the intro matches the tone of the show. You wouldn’t use the same style intro for your sci-fi or crime podcast as you would for a knitting show – would you?
Podcast Interviews
You have something to say but don’t want to just jump in and talk for 40 minutes. Or you’re an expert in a certain field and have to figure out how to keep your audience with you as you explain dense material. Or you’re a brand, with a product or service to sell, but you don’t want to go all selly. (Yes, I know that’s not a word)
Set up an interview! A podcast interviewer will ask the questions that will allow you to talk about your subject in the most interesting and natural way possible. You can prepare the questions that will let you put your story together in the manner you want. Or you can send the interviewer the material you want to talk about and have them prepare questions – and ask off the cuff ones. Why hire a pro to conduct the interview instead of using just anyone to read what you’ve scripted? A pro will keep the conversation flowing – and never sound as though they’re reading from a script – even when they are.
Podcast Narrator
You have a great story to tell. It’s riveting on paper, but you’re not a storyteller at the mic. Don’t worry, most people aren’t. This is where professional voice actors can take your words and immerse your listeners in your story. Whether your story is a multi-cast or single narrator dramatic tale or a stream of consciousness anecdote or an informative article you’ve written, professional voice actors engage your audience, drawing them in, immersing them and keeping them there, with storytelling skills that range from high drama to conversational and everything in between.
Podcast Host
A different style than narrator, a podcast host is there to guide the listener to the story being told through other means, whether linearly – by you, the creator – or through multiple interviews or audio segments. The host ties the elements of the story together. Much like documentary narration, a good host knows how to advance the story without drawing attention to themselves. Professional voice over talent know how to move the audience through the story without distracting from it.
These are just a few of the ways using experienced voice over talent can help your podcast shine. But it’s by no means a complete list. There are as many ways to use a VO as there are types of podcasts! It just comes down to using the best tools available for telling your story.
