How to Set a Deadline When Hiring a Voice Actor

You need a voice over yesterday. We completely understand. As Professional Voice Actors, we will do everything in our power to meet your deadlines and help you get your projects back on track.

Although we’re great at what we do… the best of the best… we have limitations. We don’t like to admit it. We much prefer to exceed expectations every time we head into the booth to record. The reality is, we can only do so much.

Therein lies a common divide.

The space between what you, as a client need and what we, as the talent, are capable of delivering.

A Survey of Voice Actors

Recently I surveyed a large group of my colleagues. Professional voice actors from around the globe. In all, about a thousand of them were given the opportunity to respond. The question before them, a simple one.

"What are some things about the process of auditioning, booking and recording a voice over that you wish clients understand a little better? What could they do to make projects easier for talent?"

As a talent, my objective is to provide the best possible service to you… the client. The voice seeker. My motto is, “Happy clients are repeat clients; and they tell their friends.”

I want you to tell your friends about me. About how pleased you were with your finished audio. About how seamless the process was. About how I gave a voice to your story. Kept your audience engaged. Effectively delivered your message. Made you smile.

Repeat clients are the basis of my business. I work hard to earn every one.

Now about this survey. My thought process was simple. If we can identify problem areas from either side of the equation, talent or seeker, and shine a little light on them, perhaps we can make the business of getting a voice over for your project even easier. 

Everybody wins!

Which brings me to the number one response received. 

Time.

You Need it Fast; We Need More Time

So many talent spoke of time. More specifically, the amount of time, or lack thereof, they’re often given to complete a recording professionally.

As I mentioned in the beginning, we know you need your voice over delivered quickly and we want to do that for you. There are just a few things we want you to understand first.

Five minutes of narration is going to take more than five minutes. In fact, five minutes of narration could take 30 or even 60 minutes to deliver in some circumstances.

Take a big eLearning project. Say, a couple hours worth of narration. Now we’re talking about even more time. Maybe six or even eight hours.

We’re going to do our best to deliver quickly every single time. 

To help you set more realistic deadlines for yourself, there are a few things you’ll want to take into consideration.

Understanding Recording Time

The numbers I’m going to share with you are merely averages. Understanding these averages, however, will make a big difference in setting attainable deadlines and realistic expectations.

When it comes to recording time, assume a 1:2 ratio. That is to say, for every minute of finished narration, expect two minutes of recording time. In other words, if you have one hour script, assume about two hours of actual recording time in the booth.

We’re professionals, but humans. Sometimes we’ll make mistakes. From time-to-time we need to look up words. Occasionally we’ll take a couple passes as a phrase, sentence or paragraph to get the proper emphasis and tone for the context.

Your message is important to us, and we’re going to record it until we get it right!

Understanding Editing Time

Next up is editing time. For this, assume a 1:4 or possibly 1:5 ratio. Using our eLearning narration as an example, expect one finished hour of narration to take four or even five hours to edit. This includes removing clicks, breaths, and all those little mistakes we made along the way. This includes splitting and naming files.

This also includes a final quality check. Whether I’m recording a 90 explainer video or a 60 minute eLearning course, I always listen back to the entire recording from start to finish (distraction free) to make sure everything is 100% clean, on script and ready to be delivered.

In most cases I can deliver a short script in an hour or less, depending on when it arrives in my inbox and what other projects I have going on in a given day. Many professional voice actors can and will do the same.

All we’re asking for a little consideration about the time requirements necessary to make sure you’re getting the best possible recording and finished product possible. Particularly on long form narration.

This additional time spent editing, quality checking, etc, also get factored into our rates. It’s all part of our time, and part of the professional service we provide.

A 60 second script is never just 60 seconds of talking. It’s time interpreting your story. It’s time marking your script for emphasis. It’s time recording and hitting each point you want to drive home. It’s time cleaning everything up. It’s time ensuring you have the best possible audio to enhance whatever project you’re working on. Whether it’s an explainer video, a corporate identify piece, a television commercial, an eLearning module or anything in between.

Your Message Matters To Us

Your message matters to us. Telling your story is something we take very seriously. All we’re asking for is a realistic deadline to deliver it so you can get the maximum benefit possible from your finished voice over.

Need help setting a realistic delivery timeline? Just ask! Any professional voice actor will be able to look at your script and estimate a delivery time based on the content and their current availability. When you’re in a hurry, don’t be afraid to say so up front. We’ll always do our best to work with you to meet your deadlines, while also being honest with you about what we’re capable of.

Working together, we can and will make the process of getting a voice over easier for everyone!

In the coming weeks, I'll be sharing some more results from this survey in articles on LinkedIn. All designed to help us better understand each other - voice seekers and voice actors - and how to make the process better for all sides.

Looking for a quote or audition for your project, or are you ready to book right now? Reach out to me directly at [email protected] or visit my website to hear my demos at https://marcscottvoiceover.com.