Ensure a successful Commercial Voice Over Session
I've voiced commercials for Hasbro, Braun, Tia Maria, Canali and other brands, which means I've done several commercial VoiceOver sessions.
There are things that in my opinion should be done to help you get a better result out of your voice actor. Here are some.
1. All material should be provided in advance.
The script, references, music, the video if possible will help the voice actor get comfortable with the material.
Little asterisk here*, the voice actor should avoid rehearsing the script because they can become fixed in a performance that you don't want. This is really just to get comfortable with the words. Refinement is done during the session, not before.
2. Directions should be very specific and story-driven.
You can talk tone and style if you want but ideally you want to build a scene for the voice actor. What's going on? Who am I? What environment am I in? What does it look like? This will unlock more grounded and real performances. We are voice "actors" after all.
The best directors I've had really helped me find that place I can live in as a character.
3. A clear vision as to what you want it to be.
I've had sessions in which clients want all sorts of variations for "safety", but this is really symptomatic of a lack of organisation.
If you don't even know what you want, is it right to expect the voice actor to know?
The exception to this is work that is more poetic and open to interpretation. It's more abstract and that is what the client wants.
If you have a specific objective, such as making listeners feel a certain way, or trying to communicate certain values you have in a product for a commercial, it's much better to have a clear vision as to what it is that you want, and that will help inform better decisions in the voice over session.
If you don't do any of these things you're assuming the voice actor will just deliver and know exactly what you want, and maybe that's what you want! If it's not what you want, I suggest you take the steps I suggested in this video.
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