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Writing a script to be read aloud isn’t easy work. Here are some tips on how to write a good speaker script.

It doesn’t matter if you are writing a commercial, a marketing video or an on hold message, you have to use the right words in the right order to create the right impact.
The voice talent’s job is to bring your words to life. The last thing you want your voice over (VO) talent to do is guess what you mean or how you want them to say something.
Voice To Me has put together a list of 5 solid points to help your voice talent read the copy the way you mean for it to sound!

 

1. NO CAPS
A SCRIPT IN ALL CAPS IS LIKE YOU’RE YELLING!!

Not only does it feel like the writer is pitching a fit, but all caps is harder to read. And harder to read is a recipe for mistakes in both text and context. To a voice talent ALL CAPS means emphasize, but it’s better to use a bold or underline rather than all caps if you would like your VO talent to give the words or phrases a subtle yet discernable emphasis.
To voice talent proof your script use simple sentence case in a nice, easy to read font such as Arial in size 12 or 14.

 

2. Give Pronunciations

The last thing you want to hear in your project is the voice talent mangling your client’s name or their product. When it comes to pronunciation of any kind, we say, “When it doubt, spell it out.” Sure, voice talents can hit up Forvo.com (a pronunciation site) or cull through YouTube videos to try and find the right pronunciation, but it’s much more accurate, and fast, if you let us know how to say it correctly as a note in the script.
Some producers send us an Mp3 with the correct pronunciation two or three times in a row. This cuts down on pickups and patches, and you end up with a much smoother narration. Truth: if there is a way for us to mispronounce something, we will find it. To talent proof your script, let them know exactly how you want something said before they start recording.
Ps. If you do not have a smartphone or microphone at hand you can call our pronunciation guide phone number.

 

3. Zero or “O”

Numbers are tricky. Percentages are shifty. And fractions…forget about it. Voice talents can say numbers in so many different ways and combinations, and invariably, the client would like them read the other way.

Pop Quiz. Say these numbers:

1578 – Fifteen seventy-eight or one-five-seven-eight?
7.049% – Seven point zero four nine percent or seven point “O” four nine percent?
$20,995 – Twenty-thousand, nine-hundred ninety-five dollars or twenty-nine-ninety-five?
2013 – Two thousand thirteen or twenty-thirteen?
Told you. Numbers are crafty and completely open to interpretation. Take the guesswork out of numbers for your voice talent and state your preference.
It’s that easy.

 

4. Punctuation is Your Friend

The power of a voice talent is their ability to connect to the material and make it sound believable and natural, and punctuation is key to making that happen. When voice talents don’t have a punctuation road map to follow, we will take pauses when we need to breath or where we think is a good place, which might completely change the context of your script.
The well-placed comma is a thing of beauty. The word “pause” in brackets is fine, but I’ve been known to read those. While it makes for comedy and great out takes for the Christmas party, it means extra time in the studio.
If you want your voice talent to take a thoughtful pause in your script, use punctuation to show us where and for how long.

 

5. How Do I Read A – (Dash)?

What do you see when you look at Monday-Thursday? Do you see Monday through Thursday? We don’t. We see Monday dash Friday. How about this: www.cool_website.com/callme? It might be obvious to you as the owner of the website, or the writer might have cut and pasted the web address into the script without thinking about how badly I can trash it. In that simple web address, We see all sorts of landmines. To voice talent proof your script, fully write out any of these questionable names or phrases once in a script note. It might look like:

An Example Web Site URL:
www.cool_website.com /callme

Now Written For Narration:
w w w dot cool underscore website dot come slash call me

With this simple step, you won’t have to hear the many variations that voice talents can come up with to say your name or deliver your information incorrectly.
Trust us, We do this for a living!

 

The easiest way to get your message across the way you want it is to voice talent proof your script. You don’t need to spend hours in the studio to get the read you want for your project. All you need to do is write your script so that your voice talent knows exactly what you want to hear.

 

Contact us if you want someone to read your script;  info@voicetome.com 

Here you can find our talents

 

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Voice To Me top 20

Here are 20 reasons why you should choose Voice To Me for your next voice job:

* Europe’s leading voice-over agency
* Delivery within a few hours
* 1400 professional votes
* 100 languages
* Simple search function
* Easy to listen, share or download audio files
* Child talents
* Dialects
* Quick quote
* Ask us directly via chat
* Direct the talent through a live session
* Translation
* Mastring
* Soundproofing
* Sound processing
* Adaptation of film
* Quality guarantee
* Get a piece of your text read as a free demo
* Voices of all ages
* Express delivery

Contact us and we will give you 20 more …

BANNER_300_Eng

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Would your company like to have an own site with voices? We can help you create your own voice data base.

Simple, searchable and with your company’s logotype and contact information.

We have made it easy for you to tell your customers about different voices and automatically receive quotation requests directly from your customers.

See examples here: http://swedemotion.selectyourvoice.com/

 

Call us on 036 770 15 40 or email info@voicetome.com and we will be happy to tell you more about how you can get your very own voice database on your website today. For free!

 

Read more about our other services here 

 

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Voice To Me are specialized in localization of films.

Did you know that we can take your film and make copies in over 100 languages without you having to lift a finger..
We will take care of transcribing, translation, voiceover and, if you would like, subtitling.
Besides this , we will also help you with the timing, synchronisation and processing of the audio. We will deliver a master file that you can use as soon as you have downloaded it from our servers.

It has never been easier or more cost effective to convert your film into new languages than now.

We helped CB12 / SB12 in their localization of their tv commercial. After we received the master film from the client, it took us just under 36 hours before delivering the film with synced voiceovers in 12 languages.
See some examples of how a film can look like when we use our voicetalents in different languages to make a perfect localization:

CB12-Mint-Menthol-Mouthwash-186063

Netherlands
France
German

Want know more ? Please visit www.voicetome.com or send us an email.

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IVR recordings

– It takes 4 seconds to make a first impression …
– It takes several years to get rid of the same …

It is becoming more and more common for companies, both small and large, to realize the importance of making a good first impression for their customers. The first contact between the customer and the company takes place at 70% via a switched telephone exchange, which makes it more important than ever that the voice that welcomes the customer is professional and trustworthy.

In addition to having the message read out credibly, it must at the same time be friendly and have a tone that coincides with the company’s image.

Voice To Me has over 17 years of experience in voice work, copy and “first meeting” with the customer. We not only help with the actual reading, but are also happy to produce manuscript and menu structure if desired.

More and more people realize, for example, the advantage of promoting their website or a product during the waiting period in their own exchange.

Do you want to know more, or book your own voice for IVR recordings? Read more or contact us on 036 770 15 40, or: info@voicetome.com

PS.
Did you know that we at Voice To Me today deliver votes to most major companies and institutions in Sweden. This week, for example, we are proud to have read the following company switches:

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Voice To Me already supplies the store votes for all of Clas Ohlson’s stores in Finland and Norway.
Today, we are proud to announce that we will also be honored to deliver the store voice for the UK, which will be heard in all stores across the UK.

Clas Ohlson wanted a credible and good-natured voice with Swedish-sounding pronunciation. The choice fell on https://swe.voicetome.com/&lv=2093

Do you have any special wishes on how you want the voice to convey your next message to sound?

Contact us and we will help you.

Ps. we have thousands more votes than the ones we show on our website.
We are happy to help you with Celebrity voices, children’s voices, dialects, etc.

Posted .

Voice To Me are specialized in localization.

Did you know that we can take your film and make copies in over 100 languages without you having to lift a finger..
We will take care of transcribing, translation, voiceover and, if you would like, subtitling.
Besides this , we will also help you with the timing, synchronisation and processing of the audio. We will deliver a master file that you can use as soon as you have downloaded it from our servers.

It has never been easier or more cost effective to convert your film into new languages than now.

We helped CB12 / SB12 in their localization of their tv commercial. After we received the master film from the client, it took us just under 36 hours before delivering the film with synced voiceovers in 12 languages.
See some examples of how a film can look like when we use our voicetalents in different languages to make a perfect localization:

CB12-Mint-Menthol-Mouthwash-186063

Netherlands
France
German

Want know more ? Please visit www.voicetome.com or send us an email.

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How about having your own voice archive online, right on your own homepage - for free? 
Display your own branded voice bank and let your clients search among thousands of professional voice actors.
We will put your logo and contact info on the archive so it will look and feel like it is your company running the archive.
Here is an example on how it will look: http://swedemotion.selectyourvoice.com/
Call us on +46 36 770 15 40 and we will be happy to tell you more about how you can get your very own voice database on your website today. Totally free..