The Power of Voice Over

Do you mind if I get cheesy for a minute? Good, because I’m about to get cheesy. Sometimes it just hits me how incredible the human voice is and how much power it has. Voices convey so much more than information - just think about how emotion is so intrinsically linked to your voice, and how a voice has the ability to make people laugh, cry, rage, tremble in fear. Honestly, it’s just truly amazing, and every day I am so grateful I get to work in an industry where the voice reigns supreme.

Told you it was going to get cheesy in here. And now you’re probably wondering what in the heck even made me start thinking about all this. I’ll tell you. It’s Morgan Freeman’s fault. That man has one of the most recognizable voices in history, and sometimes when I hear him, I get honest-to-goodness chills - and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.

Recently, Vanity Fair posted a video of Freeman narrating a Justin Bieber song called “Love Yourself.”  While I never in a million years thought I would be referencing a Bieber song on my blog, I must say that those lyrics were suddenly made beautiful and exceptionally meaningful once Morgan Freeman got ahold of them.

Hearing Freeman’s dramatic reading of Bieber’s lyrics got me thinking once again about just how powerful voice over can be. The right voice can make you feel things you didn’t think possible. It can sell any product. It can change  your mind. Consider this: people will continue watching a video with poor quality imagery but amazing voice over; however, when the situation is reversed with excellent imagery and poor VO, they turn it off. This just goes to show that the voice is an incredible (and often underrated) tool.

The next time you hear a commercial or watch a video on the internet, listen - and I mean really listen - to the voice. Think about how it’s making you feel, and the emotions that are wrapped up in it. And then marvel at how we’re all equipped with this incredible tool that can do wondrous things. And just keep practicing as I do to make your voice the most attractive, interesting and powerful as  it can be.