Vietnamese voice over artists are talented professionals that can take your scripts and turn them into beautiful voice overs; however, even the best voice over actors can’t read minds. Vietnamese voice actors need direction, and not just any direction; they need the right kind of direction that will enable them to take your project and produce a high-quality voice over that you’ll love.
So how do you effectively direct Vietnamese voice actors online? Well, lucky for you, we’ve created a blueprint that outlines the 7 most important elements to direct voice actors. If you stick to these 7 key points, then you’ll enjoy a life full of beautiful voice overs that hit the mark every time for your projects.
It all starts with the purpose
The first and most important key point that you must identify and relate to the Vietnamese voice over actors is the purpose of your project. The purpose is key because it sets the tone, mood, and theme of how the voice over actors will approach your project. The following 4 questions must be addressed every time and communicated to your voice actors:
- Who is the target demographic for this Vietnamese voice over?
- Be as specific as you can. Are you targeting males between the ages of 20 – 30 that live in a major metropolitan city in Vietnam? Or how about moms who love to enroll their kids in after-school programs and sports teams? The more specific the better.
- How do I find my target demographic?
- Your target demographic is your customers in Vietnam. Who is buying your product or service? Who is telling their friends about your product or service? These are the people you want to target so that you can increase your business.
- What will this Vietnamese voice over be used for?
- Now that we know your target demographic, tell your Vietnamese voice actor what this voice over will be used for? Will it be used for a movie trailer, online radio advertisement, video game, documentary, podcast, audio guide, or TV commercial?
- Where will this voice over be played?
- The medium of delivery is also very important. How will your target demographic listen to this Vietnamese voice over: online radio, traditional radio, YouTube, TV, movie theater, or mobile device?
- What is the main goal or call to action?
- If you’re creating an ad, then your goal or main call to action will be to drive your target demographic to go to your website and make a purchase.
- If you’re creating a documentary video, then your goal is to immerse the viewer in the world that you’re documenting.
- If you’re creating a video game, then your goal is to create a meaningful relationship between the player and the game character.
Utilize 3 (and only 3) keywords that describe your needs
It’s tempting to share a ton of keywords that describe the way you want your project to be read; however, when it comes to keywords, the less the better.
Information overload
Information overload is a serious epidemic that many managers fall victim to. You know what I’m talking about — it’s the excess information that prevents your team or contractors from doing their work in an effective and efficient manner.
If you bombard the voice actor with too many keywords, then they’ll feel overwhelmed and confused. Stick to the following three types of keywords when describing your projects:
- The read should sound:fun!
- The read should NOT sound:professional
- The listener should feel:excited
These 3 questions clearly address the tone, feel, and emotional response that listeners should feel when listening to the voice. Trust us, your Vietnamese voice actor will thank you for being so clear and not overloading them with descriptive words.
Link to examples of voices you like
Did you hear a Vietnamese voice on YouTube, SoundCloud, or Vimeo that you really like? Or perhaps you have the audio of a project you produced somewhere else and would like to produce a similar voice? If so, make sure to send your Vietnamese voice over actors a link or downloadable file so that they can listen to it and understand what you’re looking for.
Alternatively, you can record yourself reading the script in the manner you want and send your voice to the Vietnamese voice over actors.
VNVO allows you to record your voice right on the project submitting page to make giving directions even easier.
Use time stamps to synchronize your script to an existing video
First and foremost, I’d like to recommend that you create your Vietnamese voice over before you create your video. Why? If you create the voice over first, it will be much easier for the video production team to create a video that fits the timing of the voice.
However, if you already created your video, then make sure to include timestamps in your script. This will allow your voice over to time his voice to the scenes of the video.
How to timestamp your script
Timestamps are very simple and straight forward to create. Before each line of your script, add the time from which the sentence should be read. Take a look at these examples:
[00:23 – 00:49]
Tricky words in your script? Tell your Vietnamese voice artirsts how to pronounce them
This is very important — always assume that the Vietnamese voice over actors do not know how to pronounce difficult or uncommon words. Trust me, this will save you a lot of revision time. Especially be aware of uncommon product names, company names, or author names. Sure, everyone can pronounce “John”, but check out this name: Jun Loayza. How on earth would you pronounce that?
Here is how to give instruction on how to pronounce words:
- Karaoke:care-eh-oh-kee
- Audi: ow-dee(not aww-dee)
- Danbury:dan-berry
- Jun Loayza:june low-ai-zah
Utilize [brackets] to include specific directions in your script
When you want to give specific directions within your script, utilize [brackets]. Vietnamese voice over actors are aware that words in brackets are directions and should not be read. Make sure to be clear, precise, and concise with your directions in brackets so that it doesn’t break up the flow of the read.
See an example below of how to utilize brackets within a script:
[Script 1: Lesson 2, Listening]
[Woman who sounds like an airline stewardess:]
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the crew I have the pleasure to welcome you aboard flight 707 to London.
Prepare for takeoff and put your seats in the upright position. We also ask you to please remain seated with your seat belts fastened at all times.
Afterword
You are now an expert at directing Vietnamese voice over actors online. Feels good, huh? When you receive a thank you email from a voice actor because of your clear and concise directions, make sure to give us a shout out
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please do reach out to us here at our contact page.