Even for small businesses, it’s often worth considering investing in a professional voice over artist when it comes to corporate videos. They will add an additional layer of credibility and professionalism that even the most enthusiastic business owner or team member will struggle to match. Plus, they are versatile – being able to tweak their delivery to match the needs of the client and to do it quickly. Which makes them a cost-effective way to deliver those key messages and convey your values.

At Blueberry Pictures we often work with our clients to source just the right voice to accompany their videos and we thought it might be useful to share some top tips on what to consider when choosing the voice of your company:

• Gender – tricky one this. Typically, a female voice is soothing (think of the smooth and well-spoken voiceover for M&S food).  This promotes trust and research shows that both men and women tend to trust women more.  But a male voice can be more authoritative.  Which can be more effective when it comes to selling high value products such as cars and technology.   We always recommend that clients think about who the video is aimed at and who has the buying power.
• Age – it sounds obvious but it’s a good idea to try to match your voiceover artist to your target audience in terms of age. That said, there is research to suggest that an older voice can be considered more trustworthy or credible.
• Accent – we’ve all seen the research that tells us that some regional accents inspire more trust than other (sorry Liverpool, Birmingham and those from the East End of London). But while people from Devon and Southern Ireland top the most trusted list, it is important to think about whether your video will be seen internationally.  In which case the traditional received pronunciation accent may be the safest way to go.
• Curve ball – of course you can take things in a totally different direction. Using an elderly voice for your tech company or a child for financial planning can be arresting because they’re unexpected.  Not that we’ve been able to persuade someone down that route yet!

Have a listen to this clip where we’ve recorded both a male and female voice.  Which do you think works best in this instance?  Drop us an email to let us know or if you’d like to discuss how a change of voice could help with your video.