What to Consider When Looking for a VO Talent?

We have been discussing how talents can deal with clients. Clients like talents, are very much valued in any type of business. Since The Voice Realm cares for both its talents and clients, we will now be featuring articles that can also help the clients.

There are several elements that clients, like you, should consider before hiring a voice talent to do your voice over project. You should not make decisions just because their demo is good. 

What are the things that I need to consider when hiring a voice talent?

Consider looking at the talent’s profile.

As a client, it is your responsibility to always check on the talent’s profile. Normally, a voice talent’s profile would include information like their voice type, and what niche best fits their voice. With The Voice Realm, the talent’s profile also includes the talent’s demo doing a narration, e-learning, movie trailers, and so on. Our website also includes the talent’s local time, and how long will it take for a voice actress to be able to answer your inquiries. Cool, right? 

If you are hiring a freelance voice talent that is working solo, you need to check out his website. His website should include what type of voice over work he does, how long they have been in the business, and the feedback that are in their profile. You can also check their location, so you would know the time difference between you two.  

Consider checking their demos.

Demos are important. This is what should be included in a voice actor’s profile. These demos may include previous jobs that they did. This will give you an idea if the voice range that are in the talent’s profile is true, and this will give you a glimpse of the talent’s capabilities.

Consider holding a personalized audition from your prospect talent.

You may already have two to three talents that you are considering hiring, but you only need one. What you can do is ask the talent, if they would not mind recording phrases of the project, one that is different from the audition script. By doing this, you will be able to know the vocal range of the talent in a different perspective. Having your prospect talent read the project’s script will also give you the chance to know who sounds best among your choices. This will give you a chance to pick the one who read the script, the way it’s supposed to be read.

Consider the talent’s acting ability.

Demos do not only provide you  with the talent’s voice quality. Demos also gives you an overview of the acting ability that a talent possesses. As a client in this field, you know that voice acting is not simply reading, and recording the script. A good voice talent should be able to let you, and the listeners visualize what they are saying, through their delivery. 

Aside from their demos, since you have checked their profiles, and credentials, you should consider the training, work experiences that they have. If you have a keen eye on choosing the right talent to work on your project, then you would probably consider these stuff. Choosing a voice talent with a good skill set will give you an edge, for they are flexible enough to do what you have in mind.

Consider looking at the feedback.

Word of mouth is very important. If they are professional and smart voice talents, they would definitely ask their previous clients to leave reviews on their website. Reviews say a lot about how a voice actor does his work. Reviews are powerful proof, these give clients a clear picture about a client’s work ethic.

Testimonials are mostly unbiased opinions from actual clients, like you. Who else would you put your trust on? Looking at the people who left a review on a talent’s website will also give you a list of the people that they have worked with. The number of people, and the quality of the job that they worked on can be a good basis of your judgement.

Consider their recording environment.

Most voice actors today work from home, where they have a customized home studio. Voice actors with home studio that have quality equipment must be considered. They should have a sound proof studio, a quality microphone, a good recording, and editing software, and so on.

If you ask the talent and they know how to answer about the specs of their microphone and they cannot answer, you should think twice about hiring them. Sometimes, remote voice actors include the specs of their home studio in their website, for additional information. You can always, always ask for a recording that is done in their home studio, so you can listen to the quality of their equipment.

Consider the talent’s responsiveness.

A voice actor’s professional website says a lot about them. If the voice actor’s website looks outdated, this may be a sign that your prospect is not responsive enough. You should always, always consider this. Communication is of paramount consideration in the voice acting business. Why is that so? This is very important because as a client, you have your own deadline to meet. You cannot afford waiting on someone who takes a long time to reply.

Taking these things in consideration can make choosing your next talent a less complicated. Choosing the talent to work with still depends on your verdict, and your need. As a professional client, it will be easy for you to look for someone who is as professional as you.

Tired of looking for talent’s website one by one? On our next article, we will give you an idea of what to look for in a voiceover casting websites for your convenience.