Different Types of Voice-Over Projects — When Do You Need the Services of a Voice-Over Artist?
Voice-over is used across a wide range of fields. Here are some of the areas where voice-over can be heard:
Public transportation such as buses and trains, voice instructions at crosswalks, elevators, museum narration, public institutions such as banks, post offices, health clinics, and almost any place with a queue management system uses recorded voice-over to announce numbers. In shopping malls you hear voice announcements, and various applications across different devices — from vehicles and home appliances to smartphones — rely on voice-over.
More familiar forms include audiobooks, corporate videos, training films, animated films, commercials and sponsorships, phone systems, and many other areas where there is a need to deliver information or operate an application through voice.
Beyond simply delivering information, voice-over also motivates us and evokes different emotions. A voice-over artist can convey various feelings that make us desire a particular product or service. In addition to being clear and ensuring the listener fully understands the message — which is precisely the voice-over artist’s role — different types of intonation (changes in pitch or tone) can completely alter how a text is perceived.
For example, persuasive narration can convince us to purchase a product, while instructional narration will be calm and pleasant, explaining how to use specific software or navigate a website. A conversational, eye-level tone can speak directly to a certain audience and still be persuasive without being forceful. Storytelling narration provides an immersive experience and draws us in. Just as facial expressions or acting skills in front of a camera create emotional impact, voice-over offers many possibilities for performance and tonal variation to convey different emotions to different audiences.
The use of voice-over artists has existed since the invention of radio and the introduction of commercials. It’s important to understand: a voice-over artist is not the same as a broadcaster. A voice-over artist reads a pre-written script. They do not improvise, and they even have the privilege of receiving a fully prepared text, sometimes with pronunciation marks, and reviewing it before recording. They can make mistakes and correct them, since in most cases voice-over is not performed live — except for those who provide narration for ceremonies or live events.
A broadcaster, on the other hand, must have complete mastery of the language and sharp thinking skills, as most of their work is done in real time. Of course, a voice-over artist must also have strong command of the language they are narrating, and often they are expected to proofread the script as well. Frequently, a voice-over artist receives a script in which, for example, numbers are written as digits rather than words, and they must understand and know how to pronounce them correctly.
