Comments on: When It Makes Sense to Pay for Professional Narration http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/ Practical, real-world tips for e-learning success. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:19:26 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Voiceover Berlin http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-6952 Voiceover Berlin Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:53:08 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-6952 Hi there, we do the whole day recording sessions in over 20 languages for elearning here in Berlin. It is funny, even if we have the finacial crises here in germany the companys do invest in professional narration and voice talents sometimes even more. They want to sound professional. I think you do not have to get the best voice professionals for that. But if you choose somebody very talented it could be the best way to get your messages through. If you have to record 20 hours you`ll need about 25 hours with a good talent and about 70 hours with a "no talent". So in the end it should be good mix off all. Hi there,

we do the whole day recording sessions in over 20 languages for elearning here in Berlin. It is funny, even if we have the finacial crises here in germany the companys do invest in professional narration and voice talents sometimes even more. They want to sound professional. I think you do not have to get the best voice professionals for that. But if you choose somebody very talented it could be the best way to get your messages through. If you have to record 20 hours you`ll need about 25 hours with a good talent and about 70 hours with a “no talent”. So in the end it should be good mix off all.

]]> By: 4 Simple Tips for Recording High-Quality Audio - The Rapid eLearning Blog http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-5789 4 Simple Tips for Recording High-Quality Audio - The Rapid eLearning Blog Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:18:03 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-5789 [...] an earlier post we looked at when it makes sense to consider paying for professional narration.  If you have the money, this is a viable option.  However, many of you are like Old [...] [...] an earlier post we looked at when it makes sense to consider paying for professional narration.  If you have the money, this is a viable option.  However, many of you are like Old [...]

]]> By: John Scaletta http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-3600 John Scaletta Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:56:15 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-3600 In my opinion as a video editor it always makes sense to hire a pro. Unless you want the client to speak to give the segment more credibility. We like to use clients to speak on video when we do web video advertising. This way the potential customer gets to know the person they may be doing business with. See samples at http://www.exposeseo.com But when we are working on a general informative video or e-learning product a professional is the way to go. Our choice is Tom O'Toole he has a great studio and he works fast and professional. http://www.tomotoole.com Kind regards, John Chicago, IL In my opinion as a video editor it always makes sense to hire a pro. Unless you want the client to speak to give the segment more credibility. We like to use clients to speak on video when we do web video advertising. This way the potential customer gets to know the person they may be doing business with. See samples at http://www.exposeseo.com
But when we are working on a general informative video or e-learning product a professional is the way to go. Our choice is Tom O’Toole he has a great studio and he works fast and professional.
http://www.tomotoole.com

Kind regards,

John
Chicago, IL

]]> By: Stefan http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-3541 Stefan Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:39:44 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-3541 I have worked with Graffitti Studio-Bulgaria. They have an excellent ISDN voice over studio which provides multilingual voice over services. Check http://www.graffittistudio.com/en/voiceover-studio.html I have worked with Graffitti Studio-Bulgaria. They have an excellent ISDN voice over studio which provides multilingual voice over services. Check http://www.graffittistudio.com/en/voiceover-studio.html

]]> By: Bottom-Line Performance » Blog Archive » Learning design and development statistics…do you agree? http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-3247 Bottom-Line Performance » Blog Archive » Learning design and development statistics…do you agree? Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:49:19 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-3247 [...] would assume the 33:1 for PowerPoint to e-learning conversion is what most closely correlates to Tom Kuhlman’s references to “rapid development” of e-learning since I know it’s not the 220:1 [...] [...] would assume the 33:1 for PowerPoint to e-learning conversion is what most closely correlates to Tom Kuhlman’s references to “rapid development” of e-learning since I know it’s not the 220:1 [...]

]]> By: Bottom-Line Performance » Blog Archive » “Rapid” e-learning design and development http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-3158 Bottom-Line Performance » Blog Archive » “Rapid” e-learning design and development Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:43:55 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-3158 [...] to Tom Kuhlman, author of the Rapid e-Learning Blog (one of my favorite blogs), it’s 40 hours. Here’s what he says in a recent post (on [...] [...] to Tom Kuhlman, author of the Rapid e-Learning Blog (one of my favorite blogs), it’s 40 hours. Here’s what he says in a recent post (on [...]

]]> By: Chris http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-2927 Chris Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:34:52 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-2927 Hi Tom - great post. I work for a company that specializes in providing professional voiceovers for elearning and other applications (www.procommss.com), so I am a bit biased. A lot of our new clients have a similar experience to Laurie's. There's often trepidation about the cost, but once the final product is received and they see the advantages both in quality of read and time savings, they wonder why they hadn't gone with a pro voice before. For those who worry that their script will end up sounding 'too professional' or 'announcer-y', the problem lies more in casting. Each voice talent has his or her own strengths. Some folks excel at movie trailers, others at cartoon characters. You want to find the talent who can bring a regular conversational style to your script. Also, make sure your script lends itself to being conversational. Hi Tom – great post. I work for a company that specializes in providing professional voiceovers for elearning and other applications (www.procommss.com), so I am a bit biased.

A lot of our new clients have a similar experience to Laurie’s. There’s often trepidation about the cost, but once the final product is received and they see the advantages both in quality of read and time savings, they wonder why they hadn’t gone with a pro voice before.

For those who worry that their script will end up sounding ‘too professional’ or ‘announcer-y’, the problem lies more in casting. Each voice talent has his or her own strengths. Some folks excel at movie trailers, others at cartoon characters. You want to find the talent who can bring a regular conversational style to your script. Also, make sure your script lends itself to being conversational.

]]> By: Karen Commins http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-2922 Karen Commins Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:00:58 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-2922 Tom, as a postscript to my comments yesterday, I want to point e-learning producers to my blog article titled <a href="http://www.blog.avoiceabovethecrowd.com/2008/02/12-tips-for-more-natural-narra.html" rel="nofollow"><b>12 tips for more natural narrations</b></a>. Several people commented that sounding natural is not as easy as it seems. My tips may be especially useful to those who utilize internal employees for their e-learning narrations. I hope this info is helpful. Thanks again for a great discussion. Karen Commins http://www.KarenVoices.com http://www.KarenBlogs.com Tom, as a postscript to my comments yesterday, I want to point e-learning producers to my blog article titled 12 tips for more natural narrations. Several people commented that sounding natural is not as easy as it seems. My tips may be especially useful to those who utilize internal employees for their e-learning narrations.

I hope this info is helpful. Thanks again for a great discussion.

Karen Commins
http://www.KarenVoices.com
http://www.KarenBlogs.com

]]> By: Karen Commins http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-2918 Karen Commins Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:51:53 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-2918 Hi, Tom! First, thanks for writing this article. The tremendous discussion that has ensued shows that the question of using professional voice talent is quite a hot topic for e-learning producers. I noticed that several respondents commented that authenticity is important. I agree. However, you don't have to sacrifice authenticity when you hire a professional voice talent. Many of us have significant experience in other fields that we bring to the microphone. For instance, I have a MS degree in computer information systems and worked over 20 years in the IT industry. Since I am a SME in IT, I can quickly and easily voice highly technical scripts with complete credibility. Finding a professional talent is easier than ever with the proliferation of voice casting sites, including: Voice123.com Voices.com eLearningVoices.com As Tom indicated, you can post a script, timeframe and budget and receive dozens or even hundreds of auditions. As an alternative, several voice talent have responded to this thread, and thousands more have web sites on-line with demos. When you decide to hire a professional voice talent, I hope you will look over my list of 25 reasons why it should be me! http://www.blog.avoiceabovethecrowd.com/2008/11/25-reasons-clients-hire-this-v.html Thanks again for the article and this terrific discussion! Karen Commins http://www.KarenVoices.com http://www.KarenBlogs.com Hi, Tom! First, thanks for writing this article. The tremendous discussion that has ensued shows that the question of using professional voice talent is quite a hot topic for e-learning producers.

I noticed that several respondents commented that authenticity is important. I agree. However, you don’t have to sacrifice authenticity when you hire a professional voice talent. Many of us have significant experience in other fields that we bring to the microphone. For instance, I have a MS degree in computer information systems and worked over 20 years in the IT industry. Since I am a SME in IT, I can quickly and easily voice highly technical scripts with complete credibility.

Finding a professional talent is easier than ever with the proliferation of voice casting sites, including:

Voice123.com
Voices.com
eLearningVoices.com

As Tom indicated, you can post a script, timeframe and budget and receive dozens or even hundreds of auditions. As an alternative, several voice talent have responded to this thread, and thousands more have web sites on-line with demos.

When you decide to hire a professional voice talent, I hope you will look over my list of 25 reasons why it should be me! http://www.blog.avoiceabovethecrowd.com/2008/11/25-reasons-clients-hire-this-v.html

Thanks again for the article and this terrific discussion!

Karen Commins
http://www.KarenVoices.com
http://www.KarenBlogs.com

]]> By: Connie Terwilliger http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/when-it-makes-sense-to-pay-for-professional-narration/comment-page-2/#comment-2896 Connie Terwilliger Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:44:45 +0000 http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/?p=750#comment-2896 There have been many great points made here about the benefits of hiring professional voices. One question was how to find talent. I'll take this one step further - you need to find the "right" talent. Not every voice talent has experience in eLearning/Training. I'm one of the professionals at e-learningvoices.com - which, as Rick described in the previous response, is a group of voice talent who have a lot of experience in this area of voiceover. Additionally, a full-time professional voice talent will have the right equipment, environment and software - and the experience to use them quickly and effectively - to provide you with high quality tracks in any format that are ready to drop into your project. There have been many great points made here about the benefits of hiring professional voices.

One question was how to find talent. I’ll take this one step further – you need to find the “right” talent. Not every voice talent has experience in eLearning/Training. I’m one of the professionals at e-learningvoices.com – which, as Rick described in the previous response, is a group of voice talent who have a lot of experience in this area of voiceover.

Additionally, a full-time professional voice talent will have the right equipment, environment and software – and the experience to use them quickly and effectively – to provide you with high quality tracks in any format that are ready to drop into your project.

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