Do-It-Yourself Narration?
Honestly, I hesitated over writing this post. Why? Because it will reveal a “Learning Experience” that I had in August, that promotes the benefit of hiring professional voice talent for online narration (e-learning, marketing presentations, etc.). In a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) e-learning world, a world that’s growing due to the current economy, most people cannot afford to hire a professional voice actor and they feel satisfied with the audio narration they produce for their online learning activities.
I’ve heard their results, and…. well…. (pause) Let me tell you a story.
One of the projects I worked on this summer was a short, online CBT for a local hospital, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). Their OD group hired me to develop and package for publishing their designed and approved content. They had used Adobe Captivate in the past. For this project, I used Articulate Presenter ’09. I like how Presenter makes it so easy to import recorded WAV or MP3 files (WAV is the better format).
My Initial Approach
For this project, I decided to take the DIY voice actor narration route. Now, let me explain. I’m not a “total” amateur, but I’m also not a Union Talent. I’ve attended two voice over workshops and several “work outs” with my coach, Beverly Bremers.
As I was saying, I decided to DIY the audio narration for CHOC’s CBT project. The audio quality I produced in my home studio, edited by using Audacity, was fine. The (ehem) voice actor’s acting or narration was… lacking… something. I decided I just couldn’t import my lack-luster narration into a nicely developed CBT. For a moment, I sat in my home office in a bit of despair.
You see, spoken narration for online learning is much more than buying a microphone and learning how to use a sound editor. For e-learning to engage your learners, you want the audio to enhance the experience and not detract from the activities. And, in my opinion, you don’t want the audio to draw attention to itself because:
- It sounds like you recorded in an echo chamber.
- You don’t know how to edit out the “Popping Ps”.
- The narration sounds stilted; there’s no “life”, no vibrancy in the voice.
For my CHOC project, #3 above caused my moment of despair. I knew that hundreds, if not thousands, of learners would complete the CBT. The graphics and animations were quite nice! How could I put lack-luster narration into the package? I couldn’t.
So… what did I do? Have you guessed yet?
My Life-Saving Approach
I called Beverly, my coach. Bless her heart, she was driving back from a gig in San Diego, was almost at her studio, and YES!, she said to come on over. Two hours later, I left with Audacity files to edit, a smile on my face, and a huge sense of relief. Beverly took me last minute into her studio after working a gig, long hours driving on the freeway, and just before her scheduled work-out session with other voice talent. I’m forever grateful.
What’s the Difference?
Acting, ladies and gentlemen, acting. Although I read and recorded the exact same script, the words came alive under my coach’s direction. Her coaching also reminded me of the acting principles she teaches in her workshops and work-out sessions. As our coaching session progressed, I “got more into” the script and she coached me only on the finer points.
A Professional Is Worth It!
I decided to write this post after an Orange County ASTD colleague of mine, Janet DiVincenzo, wrote on her LinkedIn profile the following (two days ago):
Janet and I have chatted about audio narration for online learning a few times, and I’m pleased that she understands the difference. Bravo, Janet!
What about the CHOC CBT project? Thanks to Beverly for helping me to find my acting voice for their script, I got rave reviews from the OD team for my audio narration as well as for the Articulate Presenter development. The “total package” produced client-pleasing results as well as an engaging experience for the learners.
Bottom Line…
If your budget for online learning is limited, please do what you can to save money to hire a professional voice over talent. Everyone will be much happier that you did!
(As for me, I learned that a talented VO coach is also worth every penny for studio/coaching time. I’ll hire Beverly for my next VO project, and the next one, and the….)
Great post Jenise. Professional is definitely worth it (for the most part). I worked on a contract where the company COO just didn’t have the time to find professional voice actors and so hired another company to do it. While the job got done, it might have been worth the time to find a couple of professional talents that you trust that can deliver in a timely fashion and can even take care of some of the editing for you. Yeah, trial by fire. Learning by experience.
That’s a great case study, Jenise. Words of wisdom. Thanks for sharing.
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Hi Jenise,
Great example of the challenges people encounter when attempting to record a podcast. If I may suggest it, I recently covered Podcasting for E-Learning in some depth on my blog. In all there are about 20 posts in the series, but if you start here (http://michaelhanley.ie/elearningcurve/podcasting-for-e-learning-putting-it-all-together/2009/08/07/) you may find some information of value to you.
Regards,
Michael Hanley
–
Michael,
Thank you for your links! You’re always welcome to visit my blog.
For me, the bottom line is acting skills. And, that means attending some acting classes. It’s a skill that’s built over time and with consistent practice. I see a big difference between podcasting and voice narration for e-learning. That topic is a new post in itself, and I might write it one day.
Again, for e-learning courses, my opinion is it’s best to spend the money and hire a VO professional.
Jenise,
Thank you for writing this post and supporting the use of professional voice talent for eLearning. I’m both a voice talent and eLearning professional, so I’m really just the choir you’re preaching to, but maybe hearing it confirmed by more eLearning professionals will help our case!
The point you make about acting is crucial. Having a good voice is not enough. Voice acting is a skill that needs development.
One more note – professional voice services don’t have to be expensive to be good. I really strive to strike a balance in my VO fees – enough for the talent to feel compensated fairly, but not so high that the VO charges are higher than the cost to create the presentation!
Thanks again Jenise, you are very wise!
Diana Jaffee
Diana, thank you for visiting this post!
I’m glad you stopped by so others can know about you.
~Jenise.
Jenise,
How cool that my experience influenced you to write this! And how great that you are branching out and expanding your toolkit by learning voiceovers from a professional. Clients will come to really appreciate this.
Janet
Janet,
You are an inspiration to many in our ASTD OC chapter (http://www.astdoc.org), not to mention faculty and staff at University of California, Irvine.
Keep up the great work!
~Jenise.
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I too am a voice talent and have been producing e-learning narration full time for over a dozen years. I agree with Diana’s post that pro talent doesn’t have to be expensive. There has been such a surge in numbers of folks calling themselves voice talent that the rates have been driven down. As with all transactions, though, caveat emptor is the approach you need to take. The advent of cheap broadband, powerful computers, and USB microphones make it possible for anyone to record and send audio files. A good place to start looking, should you be in the market, would be SaVoa (Society for Accredited Voice Artists) whose accreditation is based on both vocal and technological proficiencies.
Great comments, Rafe, thank you for visiting.
And, I wish you continued success!
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