Corporate Voice Over in Brazilian for Voice Interaction

This is a story of trust and friendly collaboration. Mariana is one of the most charismatic, attentive and resourceful people I work with. And she uses emoticons :)

It all started with...

1. a detailed, super kind message from her introducing her company, Voice Interaction (Portugal), explaining what she needed and asking some questions about how we could work together.

2. I was considerate yet straightforward. I was punctual and replied to every single topic she raised.

3. She replied being completely casual, with emoticons.

4. I couldn't help it. When I realized, I was using emoticons too.

Usually, I'm very polite and discreet with my clients, but I couldn't be indifferent from her transparent, lovely style of communication.

Well, short story: they were considering other voice over professionals for that job but now that such a long time has passed and not only I was the chosen one, but also after we have exchanged so many messages, scripts and videos, I think that working together was inevitable. Lucky me!

eLearning Demo

This is the eLearning voiceover demo I sent her:

Project's file

• Client: Voice Interaction.
• Deliverables: +15 voice-over audio files, ranging from 3 to 54 minutes.
• Genre: Corporate ("About Us"), Business & Product Presentation, Software Documentation & Walkthroughs.
• Audience: Events attendees, Clients, and Prospects in the Broadcasting and Multimedia Industry.
• Techniques: Technical reading and Synchronization.
• Usage: Website, Social Media and Offline.
• Artistic Direction: Different for each video; Self-Directed.
• Studio: Recorded in Amanda's Home-Studio.

Mariana's Testimony

Types of Corporate Videos

About Us

Product Presentation

Voice Interaction: Copywriting & Post-production:

Amanda de Andrade: Voice-Over

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Voice Sample

We kickstarted the first recording with a tone test.

But what's a tone test?

After the company accepted my proposal and we officialized our collaboration, **I received the script and the original video for reference.

With that information at my disposal, and considering many other parameters (audience, industry, length, purpose, etc...), I suggested a tone of voice by recording a sample in synchronization with the original video in English.

That tone was approved at first!

However, not everything was right. Having recorded that voice sample before recording the whole script was super important because it showed us right away that it wouldn't be possible to record it in synchronization - the pace would be too fast because Portuguese is a language that uses more letters and words if compared with English. So we still had one problem to solve.

2. Pronunciation

Anytime I was uncertain of how to pronounce an acronym, a foreign word, or even a technical jargon, I sent her an audio file with different options.

It takes time to scan the script and think about all the words that can be pronounced wrong.

Nevertheless, this is one small task compared to the inconvenience and the waste of everybody's time if a word (with multiple occurrences) is mispronounced and needs to be corrected after the full script was recorded.

This step must not be skipped.

3. Recording and editing

During the recording of the long formats (software tutorials), I looked for the balance between proper articulation and naturality.

The pronunciation must be clear yet the voice can't sound unnatural, tense, or robotic.

For long videos, the voice must be comfortable to listen to, not too high nor too low in pitch (otherwise it will sound too acute and aggressive or too bassy and dull) to prevent the listener from hearing fatigue or boredom.

The listener's interest can't decline throughout the video, neither mine interest could decline! I couldn't let my voice change during this long recording - I had to keep it steady, fresh, and interesting.

4. Delivery and Feedback

Our default turnaround timeline was:

• 1 day to deliver the tone test and the list of pronunciations
• Then, I waited for her approval, comments, or feedback
• After that, plus 3 days to send the full, edited recording

However, I was always sending the files before the deadline. After the 2nd video, we speeded up the process and she was receiving the final files within 12 hours and 2 business days.

Once we already arrived at the ideal tone and I learned about the terminology and her preferences, there was no need to record tone tests nor options for pronunciation of foreign words and acronyms.

5. Prepare. Record. Deliver. Repeat.

After we had the voice test, we know where we were starting from.

She trusted me to adapt the tone and the pace depending on the purpose of each video (tutorial, product presentation, corporate/business story, etc...), so I followed my own judgment and the industry's standards, and made small adjustments to tone and articulation.

After all, a 50-minute tutorial for users can be very different than a 3-minute product presentation for prospects.