If you are planning to use a professional voice-over in a project for the first time you may find the whole process rather daunting.  A recent post on Linked In by voice artist Sarah Bowers makes everything straight forward with a guide to seven steps to booking a pro voice over.

Sarah (see photo) outlines the things you want to be sure about when booking a voice over: training, professional studio equipment, experience and the quality of their work.

Sarah’s first tip is to spend time looking round the voice artist’s website – check out their previous work, listen to showreels and download demos for future reference.

The second tip is about training and experience as you want a voice over who can take direction, offer variety and deliver the exact vocal performance you require.  Look for evidence of this on the website.

Step three is to investigate whether your potential VO has their own studio and if they do what kind of set up do they have.  Is it a laptop with a USB mic under a blanket in the cupboard under the stairs or something much more professional?  Ideally you want the latter.

Step number 4 is to look for recommendations and testimonials from previous brands and clients that they have worked with.

Step five is availability – how easy is the VO to get hold of?  A full time voice artist is likely to be able to respond to your queries much quicker than someone doing voice work as a side hustle. Although as Sarah points out they may be recording when you call and have to ring you back when free.

Number 6 is that when it comes to quotes a professional voice should be able to give you a fee promptly – although the speed of this may depend on how much information you are able to give the voice over about the usage of the voice recording in the final project as this can make a massive difference to the fee.

Sarah’s number 7 is to ask whether the VO can self direct.  Ideally your chosen voice over should be able to offer both self direction or a live directed session.

If the voice over artist ticks all 7 boxes you ought to be confident they will deliver the exact audio you require for your project.

Sarah’s list is a useful reminder for the more experienced and a perfect guide to the novice booker of voice overs.

You can find out more about Sarah Bowers from her website www.sarahbowersvo.com

Or search for her profile on Linked In