The last few weeks have been a busy time for voiceover recording in the dVoiceBox studio.  In addition to the usual ISDN sessions for radio ads and my regular recording of messages for the IVR phone system for Legal and General there have also been two large projects for learning and training programmes.

I think you can discover some very interesting facts and information through voice-over work and it feels especially true this month.  In the first place I’ve just started working on a new project with Michiel Koudstaal at Voxcast in Holland. He’s providing the Dutch version to my English voiceover for a series of short training videos that are all about the Economics of running a business.

I now know more than I would have previously thought possible about the mechanics of Inventory Control, Working Capital, Financial Supply Chain and Capital investment – and that’s only after the first 6 scripts! I’ve never had a great head for numbers but I’ve been starting to wonder if I could apply some the formulas and ideas I’ve been voicing about to the running of my own business.

This series involves regular weekly recording end editing sessions which look like running through into the New Year.

Another regular client for me is Healthcare Learning: Smile-on: an elearning company I’ve provided voice overs for over the course of the last 4 years.  One training sequence of modules that I’ve worked on is part of a programme of professional development for Dental Practitioners.

In previous modules I’ve learnt about the effective running of dental practices – my own dentist doesn’t know how much of a practiced eye I cast over his operation when I go for a check-up – luckily he scores pretty highly.  The current series of modules is different in that it looks at dental patients more holistically: looking at diseases and conditions that the body might suffer from that have a knock on effect to the treatment given by a dentist.

I’ve learnt a lot of anatomy with long sections on the digestive tract and also the cardio vascular system – it’s explained many things that had been a mystery since biology lessons at school.  However the current two modules focus more on the mouth again with the yeast/fungal infection Candida and also Herpes.

The great thing about these modules is that I feel I’m learning lots and additionally its giving my tongue a real work out too – one of the stand out sentences in a recent script contained the words:

“It is worth noting the endocrine defects such as diabetes, adrenal failure and hypoparathyroidism, have been associated with chronic muccocuteneaous candidiasis….”

Prior to that I had the lingual challenge of:

“This condition is caused by  candidal hyphae infiltrating the epithelium surface of the tongue, which causes leukocytes to inflitrate the epithelium in response, leading to elongated hyperplastic rete ridges.”

Although I think these sentences are tough  I actually love the challenge of getting the pronunciation right and making sense of the, often complex, content.  After a few years of these kinds of voice over scripts I think I’ve got a reasonable understanding of what they are all about – which I hope I can convey in the recording which in turn makes the voice over make more sense to the listener.

Final thought – one of my kids had to talk about his parents in his French class – so for homework had to research the French term for the parental occupation.
Apparently in France I’m a “Voix Off”!