What Is Voice Over?

A voice over is a recording of audio for a script, video, or presentation. The actor narrates the story, or the audio is used to complement other visuals such as images and videos. A professional voice over artist is hyper-aware of how their vocal tone and style can influence the overall outcome of a narration or recording. They may be able to convey excitement without sounding fake or they might be able to evoke an emotion in their voice that will improve the persuasiveness of a presentation or a sales pitch.

Voice acting began as an auxiliary skill for classically trained actors, but is now being recognized as a true art form and profession in its own right. The voice over actor often produces the character’s lines as they read them out loud, and is also required to improvise when called upon during the filming of a video or project.

One of the most well-known voice over artists is Mel Blanc, a radio personality and comedian who played many different characters on animated cartoons for Warner Brothers. He is credited with popularizing the voice of Mickey Mouse in the 1928 cartoon, Steamboat Willie.

Choosing the right voice over for your video or project can be difficult. You need to be sure that the talent you choose will be a good fit for your brand and project. If possible, try to have a conversation or email the person you’re hiring before hiring them. It’s important to discuss what tone and style you want, how they would go about reading the script and the overall goal of the production. This will help avoid any miscommunication that could come up later on in the production process.