Summary
The power of the right voiceover
Imagine you’re watching a nature documentary, and suddenly Sir David Attenborough’s iconic voice fills the room. Or you’re at the movie theater and a deep, dramatic voice accompanies the latest movie trailer. Perhaps you’re watching a slick video about a new tech product, and an articulate, enthusiastic voice guides you through all the features. In each situation, the voiceover has been carefully chosen and directed to create a more immersive experience for you, the viewer.
The right voiceover connects with your audience. It blends seamlessly into your video, becoming an important part of the overall experience, and helps tell your story. It’s the guide that leads viewers through your content, helping them understand complex ideas or stirring up emotions you want them to feel.
But the wrong voiceover can have the opposite effect. It can be jarring, making your content seem less credible, less authentic, or simply less enjoyable.
This is why it’s super important to get the right voiceover for your video. But until recently, it took a lot of time and could be very expensive. This is where Motion Array’s new AI voiceover comes in. You can create high-quality, creative voice overs for your videos in seconds.
This article includes a step-by-step tutorial on how to get started the right way. Let’s dive in.
Before you get started
It’s worth investing some time preparing and thinking before you start working on your voiceover. Two things are particularly important to consider: the objective of your content and your target audience.
Define your objective
The first thing to think about is what you’re trying to do with your video. Is it selling the next big thing, showcasing your travels, teaching people how to do something, or telling a gripping story? Your objective should guide everything in your video, from lighting to camera angles, titles to music — and of course, your voiceover.
If you’re making a promo video, you might want a super enthusiastic voice to get people hyped up. For an instructional video, think clear and patient. Maybe you need a voice that can send shivers down spines for a horror movie trailer, or a friendly, conversational tone for your documentary.
Identify your audience
The other important factor to consider is your audience. Is your video for film industry professionals, cooking enthusiasts, or keen gamers? Are they bored teenagers, anxious parents, or laid-back retirees? What are their cultural references? What language are they most comfortable in? Your audience is the key to figuring out the right tone and style for your voiceover.
For corporate types, you might want to keep things professional and polished. But if you’re making content for kids, you’ll want to dial up the energy and maybe throw in some goofy voices. Targeting millennials? A casual, slightly sarcastic tone might hit the spot.
It’s all about speaking your audience’s language. Get it right, and they’ll feel like the video was made just for them. Get it wrong, and it’s a great way to turn them off. Ultimately, they should feel that the voice-over blends seamlessly with your content.
What to consider when choosing a voice over
After you’ve nailed down your objective and audience, it’s time to pick the perfect voice for your video. Here are the important things to think about in your decision.
Tone
The tone of your voiceover needs to match your message. For serious topics, you’ll want an authoritative and trustworthy voice. For fun, lighthearted content, you’ll want narration that’s upbeat, energetic, and can put a smile on your audience’s faces. For emotionally charged videos, a warm, empathetic tone can work wonders.
Remember, the right tone done well can have a big emotional impact on your viewers, which will help make your content memorable.
Pacing
It’s really important that the pacing of your voice-over fits what’s happening on screen. For action-packed sequences, a quicker pace can amp up the excitement. But if you’re explaining complex ideas, it’s worth slowing it down to give your audience time to process. And no matter the speed, clarity is king. Particularly if you speed it up, make sure each word is still clear and easily understood.
Gender
Historically, male voices have been chosen when trying to persuade your audience or project authority. Female voices were associated with nurturing and emotion, and they were often used for videos about healthcare, education, or family-oriented products.
This is changing rapidly, and there’s more and more evidence of female voices being used for roles that traditionally would have been filled by men. Some people are also arguing for genderless voiceovers. In 2019, researchers even unveiled a genderless voice assistant.
Ultimately, it comes down to understanding your audience. Older viewers may connect more to voices that conform to the stereotypes they grew up with, but younger viewers are likely to be less concerned and may even support flipping the script on traditional gender roles.
Age
Another important factor to consider is how old your voiceover sounds. Younger voices often give a feeling of energy, enthusiasm, and modernity, making them ideal for content that’s aimed at younger audiences. On the other hand, older voices are normally associated with wisdom, experience, and authority, which can be great for educational materials or serious topics. Sometimes it may even make sense to use a child’s voice, which can give a sense of naivety and innocence to your voiceover.
Language and accent
It’s obvious that the language of your voiceover should be one your target audience can understand. Thanks to a variety of AI tools, it’s now even easier to create multiple narrations for your content in different languages. You can simply translate your text using a tool like ChatGPT, and then use a local actor or an AI voice generator to put your script in the new language. Fortunately, Motion Array’s AI voice-over works in many different languages to help you localize your video for many different audiences.
It’s also important to think about the accent of your voiceover. Every language contains many different variations, and each one can create different feelings in different audiences. For example, a posh British accent can be perceived differently in the US than in the UK or Australia.
A study of UK ads by the Unstereotype Alliance found that “southern-voiced ads were seen as more trustworthy, confident, and helpful, while northern-voiced ads were associated with quality and taste”.
Nearly every language has regional variations, and the accent you use can have a big impact on the perception of your video, so it’s worth doing a bit of research before making your choice of voiceover.
Translation tip:
When translating your script, do it line by line and not all together in one go. This will help when you put the translated voiceover into your edit and need to match it up with visuals.
AI voiceover or human voice actor?
There used to be only one way to create a voiceover for your videos: hiring a voice actor. Working with a professional voice artist is a great way to get exactly the voice you want for your video. They’ll have the right experience to take your brief and turn it into the ideal narration.
Now, there’s also the option to use AI voice generators. It’s a lot faster, taking just seconds to create your narration. And it can save you a lot of money. Such voices used to sound a bit robotic, but newer technologies are dramatically better.
For example, Motion Array’s new AI voice generator is trained on top international voice actors so you can create the perfect voiceover for any type of content. It offers a range of expressive voices in multiple languages, including English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish — with more languages coming soon. And there are a variety of customization settings to help you get just the right sound.
There is also another option: to record a voiceover yourself. This can be good if you’re looking to create an authentic vibe for your videos, or to build your own personal brand. Just bear in mind that to approach the quality of a professional actor or an AI voiceover, you’ll need special equipment. And it can be very time-consuming to get just the right take.
A step-by-step guide to Motion Array AI voiceover
It’s never been easier to create the perfect voiceover for your content, thanks to the new AI voice generator on Motion Array! It’s free to try with any Motion Array plan.
1. Explore the catalog and choose your voice
A huge collection of voices is available in the catalog, with a range of styles, emotions, ages, and genders. We hired professional voice actors to train the voices, to make sure you can create the highest-quality narrations for your videos.
As you browse through the catalog, you’ll see that each voice is labeled with its gender and a short description to give you a sense of what to expect. At the top left, you’ll also see video categories. These are simply suggestions, giving you an idea of what the Motion Array curators think each voice may be best suited for.
To hear a preview of the voice reading a sample script, hover over it and press the Play icon.
If you already know what type of voice you’re looking for, you can use the filters at the top of the catalog. They’ll help you quickly find male or female voices and filter by video category: Characters, Commercials, Documentaries, Explainers, Health & Wellness, Social, Trailers, and Tutorials.
Once you’ve found the voice you want to use, hover over it and click the Select button at the top right.
2. Enter your text
Now, go to the top of the page. You’ll see the voice you selected on the left side of the text box. Before you enter your text, choose the language of your voiceover. The default option is English, but you can also create voiceovers in French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.
It’s time to enter your text! We recommend generating a short amount of text each time to get the best results. Short audio files are also easier to import and move around in your edit.
3. Use the settings to direct your voice
At the top right of the text box are settings that you can use to customize your voice. The Speed settings let you adjust the pace of your voice, making it faster or slower. The Emotion settings will make your voice sound more angry, sad, optimistic, curious, or surprised. You can only choose one emotion for each generation.
4. Generate and download
It’s time to generate your voiceover! Click the Generate button, and after a few seconds your voiceover will appear under My Voiceovers (located underneath the text box).
You’ll find all of your voiceovers here, together with information about the voice and language you used, the time and date you created them, and their length. You can also view their waveforms.
To download the MP3 file, look for the Download icon on the right of your voiceover. You’ll also see icons to add it to a Collection, to get information about the Speed and Emotion settings used, and to delete it.
Once you’ve downloaded your MP3 file(s), it’s time to import the voiceover into your edit.
How to integrate voiceovers into your edit
Here are some important things to think about to ensure your voiceover complements everything in your edit, and to help you get the effect you’re looking for.
Keep it simple
You don’t want your voiceover to stand out or interfere with your visuals. When writing your script, aim for clear, short narration that support the main points of your video in a direct and engaging way. Too many details and long scripts can sometimes make people lose interest. Always remember that video is a visual medium, so wherever possible, show, don’t tell.
Balance the voiceover with your music and SFX
You don’t want different elements in your audio mix to be competing for attention. Consider choosing music that won’t overpower the narratio,n and lower the volume of background audio when the voiceover is speaking, so it won’t be distracting.
Use natural pauses for emphasis
Incorporate short pauses after making important points or transitioning ideas, so your viewers have a moment to let them sink in. This also helps make the voiceover feel more natural and conversational.
Test and adapt
If you have time, before finalizing your video, it’s a good idea to test the voiceover with a sample audience or team members. Use their feedback about the voice’s clarity, tone, and overall impact to make final tweaks before publishing.
Now it’s up to you
With the right voiceover, you can guide your audience, convey emotions, and bring your story to life in a powerful way.
The new Motion Array AI voiceover makes this process easier than ever, helping you create high-quality voiceovers in just a few clicks. Whether you’re working on a commercial, a documentary, or an explainer video, you’ll find the perfect voice to tell your story.
To try out the AI Voiceover feature, sign up for Motion Array for free, and see how it can help your take your videos from good to best.
