Are you proud of your voice? Then why not use it to make a living? Voiceovers are not new! We have seen plenty of documentaries and series with impressive commentaries. The only novelty is that content creators are now using this video production technique to build connections with their audience.
Whether you are a food video blogger (vlogger), beauty influencer, or product reviewer, you can use voiceovers to add depth and personality to your videos.
Read on to discover the top 10 voiceover best practices for recording a professional narration from the comfort of your home.
10 Best Practices for High-Quality Voiceovers
Almost every industry, including online entertainment, is getting increasingly competitive. Entertainers and content creators now have to go the extra mile to tackle the shrinking attention spans of their audience. Voiceover is an excellent tool for that!
Just so we are clear, voiceover is the off-screen spoken audio that is added to the video, usually in post-production. You can capitalize on this technique to grab attention. However, talent doesn’t guarantee immediate success. Even with a voice like Morgan Freeman, your success is on the hinges if you ignore the best practices for voiceover while creating and posting your videos.
To perfect the art of off-screen commentary, you just need to follow these simple tips.
1. Prepare a Dedicated Recording Space
Neighborhood parties, noisy family members, construction work, arguments, or busy streets, there are many distractions in our home. Recording a high-quality professional voiceover is quite impossible in such an environment. Therefore, the first and foremost best practice for voiceover is to have a dedicated recording space, especially if you are a content creator.
Realistically, it is impossible to mute the outside world unless you have the budget to turn your room into a studio. However, you can minimize the noise within your control. Choose an ideal room far away from most distractions and unplug all the noisy devices to achieve the best sound quality.
2. Craft a Compelling Voice Script
We can focus on all the technical elements, but the content is the most crucial part of a professional voiceover. Expensive equipment and excellent voices are all meaningless if you have a weak script. Therefore, the second voiceover best practice is to write a captivating script. It will help you convey your message effectively and increase engagement.
But how do you come up with a compelling script? The notable elements of impressive voiceover content include a cohesive structure and a strong call to action (CTA). In simple terms, you need to write for your audience’s ears. It means avoiding complex sentences so your script can flow naturally.
Moreover, your tone and style should be according to your content. For example, your tone should be inspiring if you produce educational content and light and cheerful for makeover videos.
3. Use the Right Equipment
High-quality voiceovers also depend on the right equipment. If you are planning to set up a home studio, a best practice for voiceover would be to invest in the best gear, including:
- A microphone
- Headphones
- Pop filter
- Audio interface
- Voice recording & editing software
Voice distortions, background noise, and other problems can affect the quality of your commentary. You can only tackle these issues by investing in high-end equipment.
High-quality headphones, microphones, and audio interfaces can help you deliver a clear message. These professional gadgets come with advanced features such as better sensitivity and broader frequency response, minimizing the background noise and streamlining the recording process.
4. Place the Microphone Correctly
Investing in a good microphone is not enough! The real voiceover best practice is to master the microphone etiquette.
Before recording your voice, place the mic in the right position for minimum retakes and excellent results. You don’t want a muddy sound by standing too close to the mic or a distant or weak sound by standing too far. The ideal distance of a microphone is usually 6 to 12 inches from your mouth. Place the microphone correctly and speak directly into it for a clear sound.
5. Use a Pop Filter
If you want your audio to be clear and crisp, use a pop filter. You might have already seen this noise protection filter if you follow a bunch of musicians. It is attached to the microphone and has two benefits. It effectively reduces plosive sounds (popping noise) when you speak or sing into a mic.
Moreover, pop filters enhance the quality of your voiceovers, making them more pleasant. But most importantly, they protect the lifespan of a microphone, protecting them from human saliva. Therefore, their use is considered a voiceover best practice.
6. Warm Up Your Voice
The next best practice for voiceovers is to perform warm-up exercises for your vocals. It can help you maintain your voice. Just as athletes stretch before any race to protect their bodies, vocal warm-ups are vital for preventing damage to the vocal cords from constant voiceovers.
These exercises not only help you stretch your vocal cords but also enable you to dazzle your audience through excellent performance.
To achieve perfect clarity and tone without any vocal strain, make it a habit to stretch your vocal folds. Some of the best vocal warm-up exercises for voiceovers include full-body stretches, breathing exercises, tongue twisters, and humming.
7. Drink Plenty of Water
All seasoned voice actors and singers always carry one thing: a bottle of water. Hydration is not only a voiceover best practice but also key to good health. Hydrated vocal cords are more stable and can produce a broader pitch range. They are also less susceptible to vocal damage from overuse.
Therefore, you should drink plenty of water and avoid dehydrating foods like dairy or coffee before recording. If you want to keep earning through your voice for a long time, make it a habit to drink more than 1.5 liters of water every day and include water-rich foods in your diet, such as cucumber, melons, and grapes.
8. Practice Clear Enunciation
Clear and natural delivery should be at the top of your voiceover best practices list. The last thing you want to do is to confuse your audience by mumbling, rushing, or stumbling over your words.
Enunciation simply refers to speaking clearly. It is important because it helps you look confident and professional. To improve your enunciation, you should first understand the factors impacting the clarity of your speech, such as pronunciation, volume, speed, and breathing.
The easiest way to recognize your problem is to record and hear yourself. You can then improve your speech through various exercises, like tongue twisters, practicing in front of a mirror, yawning, or holding a pencil in your teeth.
9. Control Your Breathing
Another best practice for recording voiceovers is to have firm control over your breathing. Effective breathing helps with enunciation and gives you complete control over your voice. If you face speech challenges due to poor breathing habits, you can practice several relaxation techniques like diaphragmatic and pursed lip breathing to improve your breath control. These breathing exercises help to minimize audible breaths in your voiceovers.
10. Edit Your Voiceovers
The last voiceover best practice is to invest time and capital in editing. Recordings come alive in the post-production stage. Editing software can help you transform your raw audio into a polished gem complimenting your video’s content. This stage includes cleaning up the audio to remove all mistakes, including unnecessary pauses or audible breathing.
You can also use noise reduction features to minimize background sounds such as traffic, music, or arguments. These voice editing software also help you add all the necessary effects and perfectly synchronize the audio with the video.
Looking for a Professional Voiceover Service Provider?
Take your videos to the next level with high-quality voiceovers. If you are looking for a professional voiceover service, we are here to help! Contact us for top-notch results. At Limegreen Media, we have a pool of experienced voice actors who can cover 50+ languages. We give a personal touch to every voiceover project, providing remarkable services like translation, recording, and editing the audio to meet your requirements.
