Looking for direction on directing voice over talent?

Creative companies are moving more and more towards regularly hiring from online platforms for their voice over casting. This means clients, producers, and copywriters are directing voice over talent with at-home studios; this in lieu of working out of a recording engineer’s studio. Since talent on online platforms are at various stages of their career, a hirer won’t necessarily know how experienced the talent is at taking direction. Talent spend many hours recording alone in their studio. They may be a pro or they may not be directed on a regular basis.

If you know how to direct a session, you will allow a talent to shine no matter their seniority in the business. 

In “Directed soiceover sessions: tips for success”, I share pro tips for talent in a directed session. Below, I’ve curated a list of posts to help with directing voice over talent in order to make the most of your time and their abilities…

Directing Talent

>>Pro Tips For Directing Voice Overs Here are two great interviews in one blog post. VOPlanet.com provides tips from seasoned voice actors, Debbie Grattan and Kelley Buttrick. They share what makes a great voice over session director, what the most important things a voice over producer can do BEFORE a session, and what kind of feedback is most useful during a session.

>>Directing Voice Talent: Better Communication, Better Results  From Dan Friedman at sound4vo.com, an article from a producer/engineer/voice actor’s standpoint, as Dan wears all hats. Brief and to the point, Dan shares the what, who, and how! Great breakdown…

>>Directing Voice Talent? Check Out These Tips for Perfect Narrations! From Lori Haller at the Great Voice Company, some advice for corporate narration projects specifically… This article is to the point about what to do before a session and during. She breaks it down very simply.

>>The Science of Directing Voice Talent And from Allison Smith at TelecomReseller.com, “…for writing scripts for telephony – whether that’s IVR, On Hold Systems, or Call Center Prompts, it is essential to be able to communicate what you (or your end client) is looking for; what image they’re looking to establish with their phone system.”

Preparation meets Creativity

Whatever you are directing, keeping it simple and clear are the main takeaways. Directing a session with ease, allows a talent room to be creative, while providing their most professional service possible!