How to save money on corporate video voiceovers

Lessons from the front lines of corporate video scripting services 
 
We’ve been creating a ton of videos for our clients recently. And when we say “we,” we mean a team. As providers of corporate video script writing services, we’ll gather the client input and pen the script itself. Then we’ll work with/direct a number of other people, including internal resources at our clients who know how to edit video, external/freelance video editors, animators, and, as you might expect from the title of this article, voiceover artists. 
 
In fact, it’s hard to think of a video we’ve done in the last year that hasn’t utilized a professional voiceover. 
 
With all this practice, comes experience, and lessons learned we can pass along to you. 
 
Steps for creating a corporate video
 
Unfortunately since the pandemic, we haven’t been sending out camera crews to do shoots. (Although we look forward to the day in the not-too-distant future when we can hopefully resume that practice, a lot.) This means that on-camera talking heads are limited, pragmatically, to captured Zoom call footage or other webcam input. It’s not the highest-quality video. 
 
Stock footage, on the other hand, is. 
 
So we’re using lots of stock footage to elevate the production value of the videos we help produce. That will be combined, typically, with on-screen demos of our clients’ latest offerings. There will be titles and motion graphics and animation and music, but the real thing holding it together is that voiceover. 
 
So let’s dive into what makes a good one, how you can get one, and, best of all, how you can basically get more than your money’s worth from your next one. 
 
How to script a corporate video
 
The voiceover is really the “backbone” of your script. It’s what ties all the visuals together. The music helps to set the tone and pick up the pace. 
 
Quick note, quite literally: We’ve found, thanks to our clients’ diligent research into YouTube metrics, that most viewers will stop viewing a corporate video right around the two-minute mark. So that’s been our guideline for scripting limits. 
 
Here’s another convention we’ve discovered. Many of the two-minute corporate marketing videos we help to create follow a basic three-act structure: 

1. The problem. 
2. The solution. 
3. The call-to-action or CTA.

 
All of this affects the voiceover, including the way you script it, the announcer you hire, the way you direct it, and the way they read it. 
 
This is a gross oversimplification, but it goes something like this: 

• The problem. This is the “before snapshot” of the relatable situation you’re depicting for the target audience. “How many times has this happened to you?” or “Is your enterprise struggling daily with this insurmountable issue?” Here, the script—and the voiceover, and even the music—should convey the soul-sucking/stress-inducing/budget-busting  situation that your target audience is currently enduring. The worse you make it sound, the better. Not only will it be more dramatic, but it will make your soon-to-be-unveiled solution all the more impressive, by contrast. 

 

• The solution. This is the “Imagine you could...” moment. Typically, the music will kick into high gear; so will the announcer. This is the whiz-bang portion of the video, in which the seemingly insurmountable problems of Act I are miraculously solved, thanks to your client’s offering. If you (hopefully) have numerous sell-points to reveal, line them up from simplest to sexiest. You want to keep building and building, with the solution continually looking better and better, as you go. By this point, the audience is breathlessly asking, “How can I get my hands on this?!” To which you helpfully offer them... 

 

• The call to action. This is the simple “Book your complimentary consultation” or “View our screen demo” or “Sign up for your free download,” or whatever. It’s got to be quick, simple, easy, and compelling. And it should feel like the logical conclusion of the video. It is, quite literally, the last word. 

 
Casting, booking, directing
 
We’ve been using tons of talent from Fivver lately. We’ve been getting great talent at great prices. 
 
Not easily, mind you. You really need to listen to the demos and read the reviews and scour all the fine-print for what-they-charge-for-which. But once you assemble a stable of good talent, you’re off to the races. 
 
Some quick tips: 

• Include direction. You can put it directly in the script, and/or in your cover-note instructions to the voiceover artist. Be as specific as possible, e.g., “We’d like you to do this read in a similar voice to your Toyota sample, but with about 20 percent more energy. The product we’re going to reveal at the mid-point of the script is the first of its kind ever on earth! Corporate execs will be amazed when they see this, so be sure to convey that level of enthusiasm.” 

 

• Spell it out. Never assume the artist knows the pronunciation of acronyms you take for granted. Spell them out. For example, we recently mentioned FIS and scripted it like this: FIS [“F-I-S”]. That’s so they don’t say “Fiss.” 
  
  There are other words you’ll need to spell out. Is the word “read” pronounced “reed” or “red”? Let the announcer know. 

 

• Don’t be shy. If the announcer flubs a line, get a retake. Similarly, if you find out, the hard way, that you’ve got a flub in your script which the announcer followed (correctly and professionally) “out the window,” politely ask for a recut—acknowledging that you’ll need to pay for that one. Sometimes, being nice—especially with an artist you give a lot of work to—can end up getting you a favor. If you get one, show your gratitude! Life happens. We’re all human. 

 
How to save money on video voiceovers and production
 
We’re often getting two-minute Fivver reads for under $100, so we’re hardly complaining. That said, reworks require time and money. And here’s the important thing to bear in mind: 
 
It’s easier to cut than to add.
 
That should be your mantra. If that video needs to time out at two minutes, but the script feels like it might come in at 2:15, record it as-is. Because, with any good, professional voiceover, it’s pretty easy to edit out, in video, passages that you no longer need. This is fast and easy and gives you a safety net. We’ll often create a “red ink” version of a script, for our editor, after the V.O. is recorded, with cut-able passages called out in color, like this: 
 
Now we’ll enter the account number—the one we got from the spreadsheet we just created.
 
See (or rather, “hear”) the natural pause at the em-dash? That’s an easy and “invisble” break. So we’ll simply rely on the editor’s discretion to bring the project in on-time, letting them choose the “red-ink passages” they need to cut. 
 
And if you want a separate, longer version? It’s already in the can. And paid for. 
 
Get help with corporate video scripting and production
 
We know about this stuff because we help our clients with it all the time. And they’re making a lot of money off of these videos. Everyone wins. 
 
You can, too. Contact us today to learn more and get started!

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