4 Reasons You Should Outsource The Voice Over For eLearning

Posted On: Nov 29, 2022    Written by: Abe Udy

Considering recording your own voice overs for an upcoming eLearning project or online training material?

Here are four reasons you should outsource to professional voice talent.

Quality.

A professional, high-quality microphone and recording booth are essential to make your content sound as good as it looks. 

It might be tempting to think you can use a mic at your office desk to record the voice over. While this is technically possible, it won’t result in a high-quality recording. A microphone in a recording booth is essential for recording a professional voice with no background noise. A booth will also create an acoustically ‘dead’ environment, resulting in a clean, clear, premium-sounding voice over.

Poor audio quality is often equated with poor CONTENT quality. Don’t risk your online courses or eLearning content appearing cheap and ‘less than’ with audio that doesn't sound as good as it could. Booking professional voice overs for eLearning will ensure your project sounds (and looks) premium.

Variety.

Don't be limited by one or two members on your team who might be interested in recording voiceovers, or tie them up in a recording studio when they could remain focused on their primary role.

When you outsource to a professional voiceover company, you’ll have access to a wide range of voice actors. This is especially important when you have a project that includes a range of characters. From a young twenty-something female to a more mature male in his sixties - when you engage a voiceover agency to cast and supply voice talent, you won’t be limited to whoever is on your team.

A clear brief on the type of voice you’re looking for is essential. Any learning course will have a targeted audience, so choosing the right type of voice for the project (and that audience) is important. If you’re unsure, the subject matter will provide a guide as to the best voice artist for the project.

Is it the best use of time for your lead designer to stop what they are doing and spend time recording a voiceover? Should a busy animator step away from their workstation and into a makeshift voice booth? Focus is important. Don’t ask your team to shift their focus away from their primary role - outsource to someone whose focus is recording voiceovers.

Ability.

Reading a script (without sounding like you're reading it) is more difficult than it might sound! It takes practice and years of experience to ensure the voiceover flows and sounds natural.

Sure, anyone can read a script out loud. But practice makes perfect. If you haven't had much experience recording voiceovers, your reads will likely sound disjointed and stunted. With eLearning content, the voiceover narration should always sound authentic and relatable, and it takes a professional with experience to deliver voice overs like this.

Maximising knowledge retention and engaging with the learner to provide the highest quality learning experience is your primary goal - so booking a quality voice artist who can deliver the script with authenticity is critical.

Knowing where to place emphasis, where to add colour, light & shade, and which words to lean on is a real art. As I’ve written in a previous blog, the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

Deadlines.

With so many components involved in creating eLearning material, outsourcing to a professional voice over means you’ll have one less thing to worry about.

Before you book the voice and the audio recording takes place, ensure the audio production company has good quality control measures. Proofing a long eLearning narration is essential to pick up any minor errors a voice over talent might make. There’s no point in beating a deadline - even with a quality voice - if the voice over is full of mistakes!

A professional audio production company will also use editing software to remove breaths, mouth clicks, pops and stumbles to ensure the audio is clean and clear.

When you outsource the voiceover narration to professionals, you’re freeing yourself up to focus on your core activity - to do what only you can do.

Categories