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What You Need to Know About Voice Over Coaching – Part 2

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Many factors contribute to a successful voice over career, and one of those can be good voice over coaching. Voice over coaching has become more popular than ever, something I looked at in the first part of my voice-over coaching blog. This second part dives deeper into the VO coaching scene, with input from three highly respected and successful VO coaches:

  • Kim Handysides is a voice over coach with 25+ years’ experience as an award-winning voice actor, with a stellar reputation built on her talent, creativity and relentless work ethic. More at www.kimhandysidesvoiceover.com/coaching.
  • Julie Williams is a voice over life coach with 40 years’ experience as a voice over pro. Her coaching guides clients through every aspect of their voice over lives. More at www.juliewilliamscoaches.com
  • Marc Cashman is Voice President of Cashman Commercials, with over 40 years of experience as an award-winning voiceover talent, casting director, copywriter and producer, where he offers V-O coaching in commercial copy, narration, promos, trailers, e-learning, animation, videogames and audiobooks. More at www.cashmancommercials.com.

As you’ll note, all three are established voice over actors who offer professional voice over as well as coaching services. I sent several questions their way, and they responded with the valuable insights below.

What Can Voice Over Coaching Do for Clients?

Marc:

V-O coaching gives voice actors tools they can use and apply for the rest of their career. It helps bolster their strengths and diminishes or eliminates their weaknesses. It gives them confidence in their abilities and helps put those abilities in perspective. It exposes them to many different genres of V-O, and challenges them in areas they weren’t sure they could tackle.

It breaks them of bad habits and fosters good ones. It lets them make mistakes while training so they don’t make those mistakes in the workaday world. It holds their feet to the fire and gives them constructive feedback. And by listening to a recording of their coaching sessions, it gives them an objective view of their progress.

Julie:

It can make the difference between whether they can actually get work or remain a “wanna be.” As a Whole Voiceover Life Coach, I guide clients through all aspects of their VO careers, both by myself and by referring them to others with different areas of expertise.

What Makes a Client a Good Fit vs. Bad Fit?

Marc:

I know if a V-O coaching client is a good fit for what I offer when I hear if they’re able to listen, to take constructive feedback, to apply that feedback quickly, to understand that I’m here to support them with best practices – and if they have a great attitude and sense of humor.

Julie:

The students who are a bad fit are the ones who think they already know it all.

Can You Tell if a Client is Primed for Voice Over Success?

Kim:

Yes, especially after the first session. Sometimes even before. A successful client has to be able to identify any emotional roadblocks and be willing to remove them. Emotional roadblocks can be external, like a demanding family or day-job situation, or internal, like not being able to handle rejection.

I coached one very talented client who will not succeed because their fear of failure is greater than their willingness to try. And that’s sad.

My most successful VO clients take the work very seriously. They make plans and follow through on them. They work on their craft, their marketing, their knowledge of equipment every day. They are consistent. They try. They take risks. They study ones who’ve succeeded and learn to bring their own special something to the mix.

Julie:

I can only tell if a client is likely to succeed once I start working with them. Some are great naturally but haven’t developed any skills. Others just don’t learn well. There’s only so much I can do with them.

[Indications of likely success include] taking direction well, being open to listening, and having a good attitude. 

Marc:

I can tell if a V-O client has the skills necessary to be competitive in the industry, but I can’t tell if they can be successful, because that depends on so many variables: timing, connections, self-promotional abilities, luck and myriad others. I’ve worked with many talented voice actors who’ve dropped out of sight, and others who’ve made huge strides. There’s just no telling how successful someone will be in this anonymous side of show business.

Can You Tell if a Client Has Little Chance of Voice Over Success?

Kim:

Yes. You need talent, a keen observation of the human condition and to be able to keep people’s interest when telling stories. You also need discipline, flexibility, an open mind (and heart), a strong drive, and the ability to communicate well with people. Unfortunately, a lot of people are under the misconception that all you need is a “great voice.” That is such a shallow view of this industry.

Others who may have little chance of success include people who are too busy or disorganized to do the work, or not committed to the reinvention of oneself we need to undertake to ride the waves in the industry. There are some instances where the client may literally be chasing an impossible dream. Someone who speaks a language other than English as their mother tongue, or has an unmarketable accent.

More often though, clients who don’t seem to have what it takes are the ones who aren’t willing to do the work. And the work is extensive, especially if you’ve come from something other than acting or a broadcast background.

What do You Tell Clients Who Don’t Seem to Have What It Takes?

Marc:

I tell them if they really want to pursue V-O, they need to be competitive, which takes skill, dedication and relentless focus. I also remind them that V-O is an anonymous side of show business and that not everybody who wants to be successful can be.

But I also remind them of the mantra of the used car business: There’s an ass for every seat. Somebody is gonna get the part, and it could just as well be you. I’ve worked with students who I thought were marginally talented who’ve gone on to make a career of V-O because they were diligent and tenacious.

What’s One Piece of Advice You Wish Every Client Knew? 

Kim:

It takes work. A lot of work. You have to be disciplined and set goals and strive to reach them, then set more. This is not an easy profession. But if you’re willing to work hard and diligently, you may succeed and be able to make money doing something you love. And that’s a dream come true.

Julie:

Realize that you’re starting a business.

Marc:

Don’t do a V-O demo until you’re ready. Don’t put the cart before the horse. Understand that anything you want to do well takes time and practice. Understand the 10,000-hour rule of competency. Double that to achieve proficiency. Triple that to achieve greatness.

Summing Up Voice Over Coaching

As you can tell from the responses of these three VO pros, dedicated voice over coaches are equipped to help you learn a lot about the business – and yourself. I’ve worked with several good voice over coaches over the course of my own career, and it was particularly helpful during my early years in voice over. While much has changed since I got my start in the early 1990s, great voice over coaches will always be an asset to the business.

Thank you to Kim Handysides, Julie Williams, and Marc Cashman for taking the time to respond to our questions and share their knowledge with the world.

Why Work Is Not the Be-All and End-All of Life (Not Even Voice-Over Work)

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Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love my job as a voice-over talent. Being able to make a living doing something I enjoy and am skilled at is a fortunate blessing. Yet I have many other blessings outside my job that also bring me joy and a sense of fulfillment.

That’s where many in today’s society have gone wrong. Instead of having passions outside their jobs, they have been told make their jobs their passion. Many become compelled to only take jobs they feel have meaning, purpose and represent their true calling. They refuse to even consider any type of work unless they think it’s going to bring them fulfillment and contentment.

This alarming shift is outlined in an article in The Atlantic, where writer Derek Thompson explores the phenomenon of “workism.” And it’s wreaking havoc on the nation as a whole.

What is Workism?

Workism is the idea that work is more than just a way to earn money. It is instead viewed as the core of a person’s identity and life’s purpose, a way to find contentment and fulfillment. In other words, it’s pretty much the worship of work.

The roots of workism can be traced back to the long-standing American Dream, the idea that you’ll enjoy material riches and success only if you work hard and give it your all. But workism takes it to the next level, promising not only success on the material level, but on the emotional and spiritual levels as well.

Workism, for many, is taking the place of traditional faith, which is on the decline in the U.S. The workism movement has spread across generations, and particularly hits hard with millennials.

It’s become such an obsession that a full 95 percent of teens responding to a Pew Research study ranked “having a job or career that they enjoy” at the top of the list of “extremely or very important” things to have as an adult. The report, by the way, was examining the epidemic of youth anxiety.

Workism Side Effects

It’s no coincidence the Pew study had been investigating youth anxiety, as anxiety is one of the foremost side effects of worshiping work. Others include mass disappointment, disillusionment and inevitable burnout.

Expecting More than You’ll Get

Work was designed as a way to earn money, not as the be-all and end-all to the meaning of life. One of the dangers of trying to make your work be meaningful is that most work is not meaningful. It’s work, and generally something you probably wouldn’t do unless you’re being paid to do it.

When people devote their entire lives to work, worshipping something from which they can actually be fired, they’re setting themselves up for a painful fall if the market doesn’t behave. And its behavior is out of anyone’s control. The concept of workism is falling flat itself, with Gallup reporting nearly 90 percent of workers are not engaged in their jobs. It’s also creating a culture of misery, perhaps explaining why anxiety and depression have increased significantly over the past 40 years.

‘Meaningful’ Jobs Saturated

The jobs that appear somewhat meaningful, or seem that way to the masses, are becoming saturated with people seeking out their life purpose in their work. This creates a big supply of people interested in that type of work – resulting in low demand and even lower pay. That tends to make “meaningful” work some of the lowest-paying around unless you happen to be the owner of the business or high enough on the totem pole to command a good salary.

The voice-over industry has experienced a massive influx of job seekers over the past few years, as have other industries that appear to have jobs that people think will bring on good feelings and a sense of wholeness. Now is exactly the wrong time to be pursuing so-called meaningful work, since so many young people are doing exactly that. A more strategic tactic would be to pursue a career in something that pays the bills and then have a meaningful life outside of work.

Most people are actually happiest when they’re spending time pursuing their hobbies or with family and friends – not jammed behind a desk looking for the meaning of life.

Finding Meaning in Anything You Do

Another important thing to remember is that you bring meaning to your work; it doesn’t bring meaning to you. No matter what you do for a job, you can always create the meaning you want. While this might seem like a controversial idea to some, if you really examine it, you’ll find it to be true and accurate. More to come on this idea in the near future.

Depending on a person’s mindset, being a plumber or HVAC technician could have more meaning than being a Broadway producer or star. After all, which changes a person’s life more? Seeing a really great Broadway show or getting their furnace repaired so they can have heat during the winter?

Most folks would agree getting the furnace fixed is a more meaningful thing for them because it impacts them all winter long. You can make a huge difference in peoples’ lives by doing very ordinary things. This is the missing piece in today’s way of thinking about work. Millennials especially are failing to realize that THEY create their own meaning in what they do.

So yes, my voice-over work is very meaningful. I enjoy it, am passionate about it, and am extremely grateful to have it. But it’s not my only source of joy or the only way I find enlightenment in life. And, like any job, it can sometimes be a source of frustration, stress, and discomfort. That is the nature of the reality we live in. Nothing is perfect, every job has its drawbacks and downside. The attitude and perspective you have about those areas especially will make or break how much joy you experience in your work.

Are you looking for an experienced and passionate voice-over talent for an upcoming project? Your search is over… Contact Debbie today.

What AI Can Do For America, and the Voice Over Industry

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From voice assistants that can order our groceries to vacuum robots that do a better job cleaning our floor than we do, America is being swept away by the artificial intelligence revolution. The country just so happens to be at the forefront of that revolution, and an initiative launched last month is aimed at keeping us there. The initiative outlines what AI can do for the country, and I took a look at what it can do for the voice over industry.

American AI Initiative in a Nutshell

We Americans may love our AI toys, but we also love our country’s economic and national security. In a move to strongly maintain it, President Donald Trump launched the American AI Initiative.

The initiative pretty much covers all the bases when it comes to ensuring the U.S. remains a leading player in the AI field. In addition to directing federal agencies to put AI investments in development and research at the top of the list, it also increases access to federal computing resources and data for the country’s AI researchers.

It likewise aims to pave a smooth road going forward, touching on:

  • The job market, by asking federal agencies to help Americans gain skills relevant to AI technology
  • The industrial and technologies sectors, by directing regulatory agencies to establish guidance for the use and development of AI
  • The safety and technical standards of AI systems, by calling on the National Institute of Standards and Technology to lead the way
  • The future of the U.S. as a global AI leader, by supporting American AI industries and research as well as securing our critical AI technology

The belief is that our country’s ability to stay on the forefront of AI is critical to boosting prosperity, enhancing national and economic security, and protecting American values. And if you think that sounds good, just wait until you take a look at how voice over fits into the bigger AI puzzle.

Where Voice Over Fits with AI

The advancement of artificial intelligence is creating fresh opportunities across the country and beyond, and this certainly applies to the voice over industry. While some may immediately bring up the fact that AI applications are powered by synthetic or computer-generated voices, you have to remember that those voices had to originate somewhere. That somewhere is usually from a voice over actor.

More often than not, synthetic and computerized voices need a human voice to establish the foundation of the vocal database. Voice assistants are a prime example, and their popularity and reach continue to explode. As noted in a past blog about voice assistants, the three big ones are Google’s Voice Assistant, Amazon’s Alexis and Apple’s Siri – but there are many, many more.

Going Beyond the Voice Assistant

Smart speaker sales have also exploded, as more people embrace AI technology in the home. The movement is predicted to get even bigger, with smart home and “internet of things” devices expected to increase exponentially over the next several years. Any devices or apps that feature a voice response option are likely to have had a human voice as a starting point.

The same holds true for the virtual assistants and voice apps used across a variety of industries. Whether it’s an AI-powered chat bot that answers your online questions, or a virtual travel assistant that provides hotel and flight suggestions, those that use voices are apt to have originally recorded them from VO actors.

Even some AI apps that don’t currently use voice responses are expecting to add them in the future. Google Maps, for instance, is planning to implement its voice assistant into its Map application so it can both show and tell you where to go.

Rather than looking at the AI explosion with disdain or fear, we can look at it as a chance to embrace new opportunities. Besides, no matter how advanced artificial intelligence may become, AI is still a long way away from producing a voice that is as natural and welcoming as a real human’s. That means robots won’t be taking our VO jobs, at least not any time soon.

What You Need to Know about Voice Over Coaching, Part 1

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A survey recently caught my attention, and it would probably catch the attention of most folks involved in the voice over industry. That’s because the survey reported there are now more voice over coaches than actual voice talent in the U.S. Wow is right. People with whom I’ve spoken have given mixed opinions on the survey, some stating there’s no way that could be true. True or not, the survey did bring up a notable point: professional coaching is rapidly on the rise.

This rise applies to professional coaches across the board, from life coaches to business coaches, spiritual coaches to recovery coaches, writing coaches too – of course – voice over coaches.

Voice Over Coaching Hotter than Ever

Not to be confused with voice coaches who focus on improving your vocal performance, voice over coaches are focused on helping you launch and develop a voice over career. Voice over coaching would fall into the same category as business coaching, which has exploded to rake in $10 billion in revenue for 2018.

Worldwide, the International Coach Federation (ICF) reports that coaching has grown from 47,500 coaches in 2012 to 53,300 coaches in 2016, or at the rate of 1,500 new coaches entering the industry every year.

Because voice over coaches share a category with business coaches, it’s tough to discern the exact number of voice over coaches that have joined the fray. But I can say I have been seeing more and more voice over coach discussions, promotions, and ads encouraging people to hire them.

Why the Rise in Voice Over Coaches?

Coaching, in general, is believed to be on the rise because people are beginning to realize the benefits of coaches. Skilled and qualified coaches can help you make significant changes in your life to get you where you want to be – as long as you have the motivation and drive to do your part. Voice over coaching is no different.

Instead of being in a large workshop or class with training directed at a group, voice over coaches can provide one-on-one attention tailored to your exact needs. They can assess your individual talents and abilities, help you uncover your strengths and weaknesses, and work with you to establish a path of action that aligns with what you want to achieve.

A good voice over coach will also double as your cheerleader, confidant and great motivator, holding you accountable, pushing you out of your comfort zone and celebrating your successes. This type of personalized attention is a unique element of voice over coaching and, based on the rise in popularity, people appear to be benefiting from it.

How to Choose the Best Voice Over Coach for You

Good coaches can help you achieve great things, but not all coaches may be all that good. The industry is not as regulated as many others, which means anyone who wants to call themselves a coach pretty much can. Researching a voice over coach’s background, credentials and experience can help you determine if the coach is qualified. Look at the industry experience of voice over coaches as well as life experience.

And just because a voice over coach may be experienced, trained, credentialed, and loved by many doesn’t mean that person is a lovely fit for you. Everyone is different. Your search for the best voice over coach starts by researching, narrowing down your list, and then interviewing the top coaches to determine if they can provide what you need and want.

Other things to look for in a voice over coach include the ability to help you:

  • Generally, improve your voice over delivery and acting skills
  • Understand how to properly analyze and present audition copy
  • Master vocabulary and pronunciation – accent work (learning or losing an accent)
  • Become knowledgeable about prominent actors, training and trends in the industry
  • Grow in your voice over career, as well as other aspects of your life
  • Gain confidence and personal insight
  • Take risks, move out of your comfort zone
  • Set and achieve specific goals, with your VO skills as well as marketing your career
  • Discover what makes you and your voice over work unique

Depending on your specific coaching goals, you may also be looking for help with demos, auditions, marketing, and other services.

Two more things to look for in a voice over coach, or any coach, may be the most important. One is honesty. You want someone who will give you an honest, no-nonsense assessment of your abilities and skills. The other is the right focus. No matter what specific elements you choose to work on, the focus should always be on you, the coaching client, and not the coach.

In the world of coaching, you are the star of the show. You’re the one who maps out the path to build your future. And that means you’re the one who has to put in your best efforts and hard work to make it happen.

While I have never offered coaching services (despite being asked on an almost weekly basis), I have worked with many good voice over coaches over the course of my career. It was especially important to do that in my early years of the business, to make sure I was learning good habits and techniques. Of course, a whole lot has changed in the voice over biz since I got my start back in the early 1990s, but certainly, finding a great coach to work with should be top of the list for anyone looking to build a long-lasting voice over career.

How Your Mindset Can Shape Your VO Career

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Many factors come into play for building a successful voice over career, and one of the most important is your mindset. And your mindset goes much deeper than, say, having a positive or negative attitude.

I’m talking about the attitudes and beliefs outlined by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, who has done extensive research related to two main types of mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Each mindset comes with its own set of beliefs that shape the way individuals approach their VO careers – and their overall lives.

The Fixed Mindset vs. The Growth Mindset

Folks who have a fixed mindset believe they were born with a certain amount of intelligence, talent, and skills, and those traits are fixed in place. No matter what they do or how hard they try, there’s no way to increase those traits.

On the opposite side of the fence is the growth mindset. This mindset assumes the intelligence, character traits and creative abilities we harbor at birth are just a starting point, and they can all be strengthened and enhanced throughout our lives.

More on the Fixed Mindset

Because people with fixed mindsets think the hand they were dealt is as good as it gets, their mission in life becomes proving they were dealt an amazing hand. Every success confirms they have the winning hand, while every failure is a blatant sign of deficiencies.

The Fixed Mindset:

  • Views success as validation of their inherent traits
  • Views failures as proof of deficiencies
  • Avoids challenges as they may result in failure
  • Gives up easily in the face of obstacles
  • Sees effort as useless since they’re already born with what they need
  • Ignores constructive criticism
  • Feels threatened by the success of others

More on the Growth Mindset

Those with a growth mindset believe hard work and targeted efforts can bring about significant changes in our level of intelligence, talent and skills – or even in our personality traits. Failures are not seen as proof of deficiencies but rather as valuable lessons that help stretch existing abilities to even higher heights.

The Growth Mindset:

  • Views success as the reward for their hard work and efforts
  • Views failure as valuable lessons
  • Thrives on challenges and pushes to higher heights
  • Persists in the face of obstacles
  • Sees effort as the path to mastery
  • Learns from constructive criticism
  • Feels inspired by and learns lessons from the success of others

How a Fixed Mindset Might Approach a VO Career

Someone with a fixed mindset may go into a career as a voice over artist with high hopes of proving their innate talents and skills in the area. Since they were born with all the talent they need, they may not be interested in advanced training or putting intense effort into sharpening their skills.

They’ll instead sit at a microphone, send out audition after audition, knowing they’ll eventually be hailed as the highly talented and amazing voice over artist they feel they are. They may land a job or two, but then notice the majority of auditions they send get no response whatsoever.

Rather than trying to figure out why some auditions get no response, they look at the ones that do – then go for jobs that are similar to those they’re already landing. They may discover they have a strong, inherent talent for political voice overs, for instance, but notice they get no response when they send out auditions for commercials or e-books.

So they focus solely on political voice-overs, responding to calls for auditions, and also contacting companies directly to offer their services, whether the company called for an audition or not.

While they may have failed to land voice over jobs outside a specific niche, that’s perfectly fine with them. They’ll stick with a category in which know they excel and it’s easy to prove it again and again.

What a Growth Mindset Might Do

A person with a growth mindset may enter a career as a voice over artist with the same aim of success, but they’re likely to prepare with voice training, learning the necessary software skills, and taking a few marketing classes to help spread the word about their new adventure.

When the auditions they send out get no response, they may seek advice from voice over pros or additional training to improve weaknesses in their performance. While it may take some time to land a single gig, they’re learning a lot along the way.

The first audition they sent out is drastically different than the much-improved 36th audition they sent out, and their work keeps getting more refined and on target with consistent effort and hard work.

Over time, their career may be filled with ups and downs, but each down is a chance to look at how far they’ve come and where they want to go next with the development of their VO career. They learn new technology and techniques as the needs arise, keeping their skills aligned with current trends.

When they see others succeed in the same field, they get inspired and are eager to learn more about how the person is making it work. It reinforces that they, too, can enjoy success if they put in enough effort and work.

Mindset, of course, is just one of the factors playing a role in the outcome of a voice over career. Other factors are totally outside our control, and they can be working for or against an individual at any given time.

Someone with a fixed mindset may be more prone to giving up if they keep hitting a brick wall, then moving on to try something new. Someone with a growth mindset may keep pushing their limits to overcome the challenges that appear to block their path.

Tips for Cultivating a Growth Mindset

While the fixed or growth mindset can both lead to positive outcomes in different ways, the growth mindset can be an asset in certain situations to help increase the likelihood of success. Our mindsets are formed at an early age, but it’s never too late to change them.

Developing a growth mindset is possible for anyone, and a few tips from InformED may help:

  • Trade the word “failing” for the word “learning”: Everything is a learning experience, no matter how it turns out.
  • Admit, and even embrace, your imperfections: Acknowledging weaknesses can lead to overcoming them.
  • Focus on growth over speed, keeping in mind it can take some time to learn or master a new trait.
  • Focus on learning over approval: If your main goal is to get approval, you diminish your potential for growth.
  • Make a new goal every time you accomplish an existing one: Those with a growth mindset tend to constantly set goals to keep themselves active and growing.
  • Become friends with the word “yet”: Instead of simply saying you haven’t mastered something, tell yourself you just haven’t mastered it – yet.

Just like any other goal you set out to achieve, cultivating a growth mindset is going to take time, effort, and practice. Yet the small changes in thinking can result in larger changes in your attitudes and behaviors that notably improve your likelihood for success, whether it’s with a voice over career or any other path you choose.

Looking for success with your next voice over project? Contact Debbie today.

Exploring the Voices of Voice Assistants

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Whether you’ve asked Alexa to play your favorite song or questioned Siri about tomorrow’s weather, chances are high you’ve used a voice assistant at least once in your life. In fact, statistics from Mindshare say an estimated 600 million people worldwide use voice assistants at least once a week.

Voice assistants are personal helpers that reside in smartphones, computers, and other internet-connected devices, ready to help you find information or complete a variety of tasks. Just wake up the assistant with the mention of a keyword, and the assistants use a natural language processor to decipher what you said and then jump into action.

Tasks can include finding all types of information on the internet, playing music from an accessible music library, setting appointments and reminders on your calendar, and controlling smart home appliances. All of this can be accomplished using voice controls.

While many of us turn to voice assistants without a second thought (unless they mess up our request), I’m prone to be curious about the way human voices are used in any project. This especially holds true as voice assistants become more natural sounding and advanced, prompting folks to speak to machines the same way they would speak to another human being.

Voice Assistant Options

Three of the most popular voice assistants are those from Google, Amazon, and Apple. All three can be used on mobile devices or on a stationary device in your home.

  • Google: Google Assistant is the straightforward name of Google’s voice assistant, available on Android phones, Android Wear wearable devices, and in homes as part of the Google Home smart speaker system. It responds to your voice as well as typed-in commands.
  • Amazon: Alexa is the name of Amazon’s voice assistant, and you can interact with her through an Android app on smartphones and tablets as well as with Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot devices. Amazon Echo combines the main control unit with a cylindrical speaker, while Amazon Echo Dot is just the main unit without the speaker. Each can work independently of one another.
  • Apple: Apple’s voice assistant is named Siri, and she’s available on iPhones and the HomePod speaker system for household use.

The Voices They Use

The default voice for voice assistants has long been female, although the choices have since increased to both male and female options.

  • Google Assistant lets you choose from a total of eight different male and female voices, with the voice of singer John Legend planned to be added to the mix down the line.
  • Alexa has her default female voice, and Amazon recently introduced eight different male and female voices developers can use to change the default. If you’re a developer or savvy enough with technology to change the voice, the total here is nine.
  • Siri got a revamped default female voice in September 2017, and you can also choose from a number of male and female options with American, British or Australian accents.

How They Choose the Voices 

Using a female voice as the default voice for voice assistants may irk some who feel it stereotypes women as “mere assistants,” but the truth is that people generally tend to trust female voices over male voices.

As I discussed in a previous blog, there are several reasons why. The higher pitch of a female voice instills more confidence in listeners than the lower-pitched male voice. Female voices are also perceived as more soothing and comforting, as well as helpful rather than commanding.

It’s also been shown that the human brain is developed to like female voices, and perhaps even prefer them over the male voice. Studies suggest this preference can be traced back to the womb, with unborn babies reacting to the sound of their mother’s voice.

Of course, the perfect-sounding voice for one person may not be equally as pleasant for another, which is probably why companies have expanded the selection of voices to include a wider variety of different-sounding male and female voices.

Additional criteria that come into play for Apple when choosing voices for Siri include ensuring the voice is “perceived as being compatible with the Siri personality.” The Nordic edition of BusinessInsider notes the Siri personality is known to be neutral, professional, and somewhat restrained (even when delivering the occasional joke if you provide the right prompt).

Google’s use of John Legend’s voice appears to show celebrity status is likely to play a role in the voices it uses for its assistant.

How an Actor’s Voice becomes a Machine’s Voice

Once an actor is chosen to provide the voice of the assistant, recording the actor’s voice comes next. This process can last anywhere from 10 to 20 hours to get a solid sample of the actor’s voice. The recorded materials can include any number of different voice over scripts, including things like navigation instructions, short question responses, audiobooks, and yes, even a joke or two.

While 20 hours of recording provides a good sample of a voice, it’s certainly not enough to create every single possible the virtual assistant may need to make. That’s where technology comes in. After the speech is chopped up into blocks of components, technology, such as Wavenet, can arrange those blocks into new words and phrases as needed.

The key is ensuring those new words and phrases sound more human than they do synthetic, or as if you’re speaking to another person instead of a robot. Artificial intelligence techniques can help, which is what Apple uses to make Siri sound more human.

As human as voice assistants may sound, they’re still machines. While they can help with many mundane tasks, or even deliver an occasional joke, they can’t take the place of real human connections. And since they rely on human voice recordings to develop their own voices, they evidently can’t take the place of real human voice over actors, either.

Looking for voice over work from a real human? Contact Debbie today.

 

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Debbie Grattan is a top-rated professional female voice over talent with more than 25 years of experience delivering voice over services worldwide. She regularly records commercial voice overs for radio and tv as well as infomercial voice overs and direct response marketing for children's toys, health, fitness and beauty products. Other specialties include female narration voice overs for corporate narration, web videos, tutorials, explainer videos and technical medical narration. Debbie also provides phone-related voice over services including phone prompts, messages-on-hold and outbound phone marketing for companies in the United States and Canada.

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