The voice isn't just a show, it's a powerful asset for your brand if you use the right one.

Award-Winning voice over and sound engineer Australian Ant Bohun talks about the importance of hiring a professional to be the aural representation of a brand. We look at the process, the costs, and the impact of well-chosen voice over talent and the impact they can make on a brand. You can chat to Ant Bohun here.

SPEAK|Pr is for business owners to unlock the value in their organization for free with effective communication and is hosted by international Pr agency owner and entrepreneur Jim James.

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Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to this episode of speak to my name is Jim James, and this is the podcast for you. If you've got value locked up in your organisation, you're just looking for some cost effective and simple ways to share that. And today I'm joined all the way from Australia by an old friend called and Bowen, who is an international sound specialist. And welcome. Thank you, Jim. Thank you very much now, and we're going to talk about sound and audio and voiceovers. Today, this is something that I know you've done for companies big and small. Tell us you've mentioned before that it's expensive to get an amateur to do your voiceover. Why is it worth the investment? to spend a bit of money to get the right voice for your brand? Right? Well, yes, I guess. In some ways, yes, there is the old saying of if you think it's expensive to hire professional, hard amateur first. When people think of brands, and we'll go I guess we'll think directly of the example of a television commercial or something that you see regularly. That voice that you hear has been auditioned by advertising agencies, and creative directors and people who are in charge about making the campaign work, to work with that brand. And the best example that I can think of, off the top of my head is here in Australia, there's a large retailer called Harvey Norman. And the first time you actually hear when you hear the voice over artist voice on there who's a gentleman called Damien Rafferty, you know, that it's going to be Harvey Norman. And his voice is, it's not hard sell, it's not in your face, it's very pleasing and very easy on the ear to listen to, but at the same time, he gets the message of retail across. And this is something that he's very, very practised at. And in taking direction, and delivering the raid that suits the brand that suits the whole, for one of the better way to put it the whole vibe of the commercial. So if people are thinking about, you know, creating a voice for the brand, in the same way, they might have a logo, and a colour and a corporate identity, from what you're saying, then voice is really part of that corporate entity. So how does a company an individual or a bigger company decide on? What kind of voice male female? high pitch low pitch? Can you guys get? And through the steps to make the decision? Certainly, I think, really, I mean, with the different industries, and it's going to depend a great deal on what the industry you are working in and what the company you are working for, as representing. If you want to take a bank, for example. If you get if it's a corporate bank, then it's going to be someone who has a, you know, a very prestigious voice, something that sort of commands attention and is, you know, in some ways, maybe oozes success and goes with the feeling that this this company and this brand is, is very successful, and we build on that. But if it's a bank that's appealing to the general public, whether it be families or, well, yeah, the general public being families and things it's going to be, it's going to be spoken in such a different way, and a very warm voice to talk to you directly the client, because we can help you that sort of a feeling things rather than things something big and prestigious, and, and you can trust us with loads and loads and loads of money. That's right. So really representing the the brand through the choice. So should it be male or female? Or do you need a male and a female spokesperson? Do you think? I think you take it very much from the point of view of what say, for example, when an advertising campaign actually would be if the if the campaign was actually showing. Sorry, if the story of the campaign was that it's a mom and kids leaving for school, and there's a lot of family involved, or perhaps we're sort of going from the commercials going from the direction of a mother then it would probably would have a female voice to it. But if we're talking about maybe something else, a different storyline in the commercial, whether it's something that's centred around a young dad or something like that, then you would probably have a male voice. But those decisions are very much made by an advertising agency who you would employ to do such things and of course, they would run it by you. First, they would present you with a bunch of different options and you would choose the idea that you would like the most and then you you work up from there as to how you actually develop your campaign from there. How can the average company Access of voice over artist he is ago, there would be the voice over agency that would have many, many people on their books, and you would ring them on the phone. And they would sort of ran the idea past you. And if you'd like to see, but now with the world being on the internet, as it is, there are many, many, many voiceover agencies online, which will represent major actors. And also people who do voiceovers for a living. And I think that's sort of also a distinction that needs to be made as well to that. Voiceover actors might not necessarily be Screen Actors, but they people who make a big, who make their living from doing just purely voiceovers and taking direction from people, from directors and advertising agencies, or wherever the session is being recorded. But also, there are many, many people like myself, who also have their own business and also run the voiceover business directly online as well, too. So you can search for voice over artist, male voice over artist, and you could find any number of people who would be able to help you. I mean, this is very much a global thing, you could find people who are purely an Australian voice or purely an English voice. And you can deal directly with those with voiceover artists, without necessarily having to go through an agency, it's not always going to be the case, if you are chasing of potential blank or thinking of any particular actors. But if you are chasing an actor who's been in Game of Thrones or something like that, you will probably end up having to go through an agency. But having said that, there are many agents sorry, there are many websites where you can choose voiceovers you can have a listen to. And in terms of the the sort of the process and the cost. And how would I do that, then if I have got, let's say, a desire to have the telephone message that when people are called up the showroom, for example, and they need to be on hold? Would I go online? And then send them a script? Or would they write the script and send that to me? And what sort of costs are we looking at? Do you think? Um, it's a bit of a piece of string question. This one, many people, many voiceover artists will do telephone on hold, for sure. And you would send them the script, and say, obviously, all the details of your company name and also padding it out further of the services that you offer, and so on, and so on. There are this varies around the world, there are different rate cards, in, in some countries in certain countries, for each of these prices, and each of these types of voiceovers and things like that. Certainly here in Australia, we have one. And whereas in other parts of the world, it's a negotiated rate with that voiceover artist that you're actually using. So depending on where you are, would depend on on how much it may or may not actually cost. To be honest. Ideally, that is the best way because it works better for everybody in the industry. However, you more often than not, you can actually negotiate directly with a voiceover artist as well, too. Right? Yeah, I found for the for a podcast that I was making, that I could get a voiceover for sort of a 32nd to one minute, for about 40 to 50 pounds for you know, just a standard read over. And then and then in terms of the licence and the right to use that. If I have, say you, Australia, do a voiceover for me. Can I use your voice all over the world? Do I own that? Or do you have rights on that? Had it How does that work? No, you can you because you because you've paid the fee that that you negotiate with either the voiceover artist agent, or the voiceover artist directly? Now you own that that's, that's now yours. So yes, you don't have to, on something like a telephone on hold message. You don't actually have to pay residuals or rollovers or anything like that. With something like a television commercial, however, more often than not, you would, it would be a licence for one of a better word for probably maybe 12 months. Again, it varies from it varies from country to country and things as well, too. And let's say in this instance, that it is a 12 a 12 month licence, then if you roll the ad over into the into the following year, then you would pay the artist again for the next 12 months. So what advice would you give someone that and that is looking to have a voiceover for a number of different like they've got a maybe a huge Channel they maybe got a podcast, maybe they got a call on hold maybe the in store announcements, what can you give us some tips of you know how to look for, and what qualities that you think someone should go for in that voiceover. Many, many voiceover artists, myself included, as I said, before, we've we've all got our own websites. And you will find on that website, a section where you can listen to other things that they've recorded previously. So there'll be a demos page where they'll have a compilation of television or radio commercials that they've done in the past. If they've done a lot of work, over the years and things like that, it won't just be television commercials and radio commercials that they've done, there will be there will be Messages On Hold, or there will be explainer videos, or there will be things like that. And there'll be examples that you can audition directly off the site, you can play directly off the site. Or you can actually download an mp3 file or a WAV file. And you can send that round to other staff members or other people in your organisation. And so what what do you think of this voice? Or howdy? How do you feel this is the right voice for the for the campaign that we'd actually like to run? And can you give us any examples of ones that you think have gone really badly? And any any examples where either you've been involved with or you've heard online and really thought that the voice is just not helping the brand? I think it's possibly possibly a common conception that that what certainly some brands will do. Let's say for example, that someone's decided, yeah, I want I want tyrian Lancaster, I want, I want one of the the actors from Game of Thrones. And I found out how much it will actually cost to get the actor from Game of Thrones. And then we've thought, No, actually Darryl, down in marketing has got a really good voice because he actually emceed The, the company dinner last week, and everybody thought he was funny and terrific. And he's got a great voice. And he was really good. And said people use Darryl for marketing. And the problem is when Darryl actually gets in front of a microphone, and he's not actually standing in front of an audience who are responding to all his jokes that he's been saying for years and things like that, Darrell just clams up. And Darrell, suddenly, derald read may sound very stilted, and not really what you want to be hearing for your business or your product. Whereas if you actually hire a voiceover professional, and someone who does it for a living, they'll look at a script, and they'll find out what your they will ask and they will find out what you want to get from that script, what you want to feel from that script. Do you want to feel? Do you want your listeners or your audience to feel that they're warm? And they're relating to your company? Do you want? Do you want to have a prestigious field? Do you want it to be a light hearted feel? Is that? Is that a comedic thing? Is it something that's entertaining in terms of you know, it's quirky, and things like that. And that's the value in hiring someone who does voiceovers for a living, rather, they're all in marketing. So in terms of and the kind of work that you're doing, can you share with us a project that you've worked on, that you think is really great case study, for getting a brand across or any other product or service, this almost sounds like on, on on testing my own horn on I guess in some ways I am, um, I I actually won an award last year for a documentary that I did a voice on. And the documentary of VoiceOver on the documentary was about bushfires and wild fires that we've had here in Australia over the years. And it was for the country fire authority, which is, as the name suggests, is the is the Volunteer Fire Brigade. And they wanted to actually get across what, you know, the different histories of fire and the big ones that we've had here in Australia. Now, the voice that I did for that the voice that I did for that was was terribly serious, because it was it was dealing with a pretty bleak subject matter. Because, you know, many, many people died and a lot of livestock was lost and property was lost and things like that. So it was Yes, it was it was a fairly bleak voiceover it was keeping it was, it was it was keeping the viewers interested in getting the facts across and things like that. But at the same time, it was very sombre as well too. So that voice, as I said, that particular voice over 1 million award, which I was very, very pleased to receive it was great. So if that if you had a different voice who was who was well, if it was Darrell for marketing going. And then in 1983, the Ash Wednesday, bushfires came through and completely decimated Melbourne, it didn't have the same effect as in 1983. The Ash Wednesday, bushfires came through and decimated Melbourne. That was That's a lot. That's a very quick and off the head example of what I'm trying to get across. It's, it's choosing the right voice to get the message across is the main thing. And certainly the same as I know, I keep coming back to this, but certainly the same with radio commercials and TV sees television commercials. People will choose a voice appropriate to whether it's advertising that's in your face, and everybody really sort of needs to know that very quickly. Or whether it's something that needs to be warm and sentimental and heartfelt. It's that very two different rates. And whilst while some voiceover actors, voiceover artists are not actors, they are essentially in the same way actors as well, too, because they are acting, they are taking the script, and then bring it to life off page. So yeah, it's, it's how they interpret what you're what they're given. And more often than not, because of when you work with an experienced person, they'll be able to, to give you tips, or maybe work out a better way of saying a sentence that you might have written for them or to get a message across. Because that's, that's the gig. That's what they do for a living. Dine Out. Fantastic. And if someone wants to find out about you, where can they find and bone? audio voiceover extraordinare? Well, Jim, you can find me so sorry, that was a very obvious joke that came out of nowhere, Jim, you can find my voice over side of my business on at Bowen, voice over.com. And Bowen is spelled Bo h u n. And you can find the the sound engineering side of my business at sound plays.com.au. And thank you so much, you and I go back a long way from our early days in synchro Sound Studio in Malaysia back in 9697. So it's a pleasure to catch up with you again, my friend, thank you for sharing your wisdom with us. You're very welcome. Jim, thank you very much for the opportunity. Appreciate it. So you've been listening to and burn in Australia, talking about the impact of voiceovers and how to choose the right person to represent your brand. You've been listened to the speak PR podcast. My name is Jim James. So thank you for listening. And until we meet again, I wish you the best of health, a profitable business and that if you're gonna have someone speak for your brand, make sure it's the right voice.