Best Ways to Generate a Voiceover
Take a few moments to reflect on these moments:
- A video you really enjoyed
- A teacher course you were engaged in
- A speaker whose speech impressed you
If you were to reflect on these memories, you would find that the way the speaker spoke or delivered the message had a huge impact on your experience. And that also applies to eLearning modules. As you plan them, you might want to consider whether you’re going to use a voiceover. Using voiceovers can improve both the overall learner experience and the company’s return on learning investment.
When to use voiceovers
However, some courses may not require audio or may be designed with the intention of not using audio at all for several reasons. In most cases, however, audio can make learning more memorable and engaging for learners, leading them to better knowledge retention and absorption. Here are some examples of effective use of audio in an eLearning course:
- Listen to a conversation between/among characters
- Show process illustrations or animations where a narrator explains the concept
- Have someone present the content to make the course more interesting and engaging
How to generate voiceovers
So how can you generate voiceovers? Here are some of the most common methods:
- Standard text-to-speech engine, usually available with authoring tools or free online tools
- Premium AI engine trained on human voices to achieve AI-generated voices
- In-house talent (or yourself) to record a voiceover
- Hire a professional voice-over artist for studio-quality output
The audio level and voiceover quality needed depends on your goals and the objectives of your eLearning course. Sometimes having a text-to-speech voiceover gets you where you need to go. At other times, you may want to consider hiring a professional human voice over artist to ensure the emotional and memorable experience comes to fruition. If your eLearning is somewhat complex, or you want to make sure your audience really understands and relates to the material, you may want to use more audio components to help engage your learners, reduce overall training time and increase learner satisfaction.
Which is the best choice for your eLearning? It depends on many variables. Some of these variables may include budget, audience needs, animation, etc. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each option.
Options for generating voiceovers
Standard text-to-speech engine
- Benefits
-
- Free with your authoring tool
- Convenient Workflow
- Easy updates
- Considerations
-
- Mechanical sound
- Can get boring and distracting after a while
- Best use case
-
- When the budget is very tight
- To record short strategic phrases
- For alpha versions of a module
AI Generative Audio
- Benefits
-
- Can better reproduce the human voice and intonations
- Easy to update
- Considerations
-
- Requires separate subscription
- Requires a separate workflow, as it is different from your authoring tool
- Best use case
-
- Finding a balance between budget and quality
- Limited storytelling; can become monotonous if heard for long periods
- When the scenario is not very emotional
Internal/self-recorded audio
- Benefits
-
- Use talents already available
- Extra authenticity if you use a subject matter expert
- Considerations
-
- Quality can vary greatly, depending on the equipment available
- Removing resources from their full-time role
- Difficult to update if the employee leaves the organization
- Best use case
-
- When you need to add the voice of authority (like expert commentary)
- When you need to be assured of a high quality recording
Professional human voiceover
- Benefits
-
- Highly skilled and talented voice overs
- Lots of voice types and accents to choose from
- Can show emotions and inflections to maintain interest
- Ideal for projects to be translated into several languages
- Considerations
-
- High cost compared to other options
- Can be difficult to update after a long time, if the original artist is no longer available
- Best use case
-
- High-quality, high-visibility courses
- Classes with scenarios or stories where emotion in the audio is important
Conclusion
Usually, we advise our clients to choose between AI-generated or professional voiceovers. AI-generated voiceovers can be an option for budget constraints. Additionally, AI can be effective at adding strategic voiceovers, depending on your needs and budget. You can choose only specific areas of your eLearning that you want to explain: a table, a video, or a specific important element of your eLearning.
On the other hand, professional human voiceover gives you the ability to add a little extra emotion, ensure your content has exact pronunciations and pauses as in the script, and bring out the implication. of the character which can be particularly useful when using animations, conversations and role-playing scenarios as part of your online training. Human voiceover is the best option for your eLearning to personalize your learner’s experience and engagement, and to meet your company’s business goals around employee development, while achieving the best overall eLearning result. With these options and strategies, you can make the most of the budget while delivering an impactful and effective eLearning experience!
Artha Learning Inc.
Artha is a full-service learning design firm. We partner with organizations to design their digital learning initiatives from an instructional, engagement and technical perspective.