This is the fourth video for the Telegraph Business Club that I've had the pleasure of lending my voice to. I love the format of these videos; a documentary-style video to promote businesses and their services. They're not loud, they're not flashy and they don't attempt to cram ten minutes worth of text into two. Instead, they're simple and understated, and as a result, wonderfully engaging.
This video for VCL Vintners takes its viewers on a journey - a history of their company and a tour of their services. That's exactly the kind of voice over project that I want to be a part of. I want to go on a journey and I want to take the audience with me. Why? Because I think we all want to watch a video or hear a message and at the end of it know and feel something different.
Am I different at the end of a brand's video than I was at the beginning? Did it stimulate thought? Did I learn something new? Did it make me look at something in a new light? That's what any good commercial video strives for. It's not about selling a message but affecting change.
In a video like VCL Vintners where you have such strong, clear directorial story-telling; where you have employees who can relate their business's message far better than any outsider ever could, you need a voice-over talent who is comfortable doing less, not more. A viewer won't walk away from this video saying, "Wow. What a brilliant voiceover!"
and they shouldn't. They should barely notice voice over artists like me because it's the message that should be front and centre.
A good VO is one who can bring your message to life, but a great VO, more often than not, is the one that you don't even notice. I'm not so arrogant as to say I achieve this completely in this video but I certainly think it's a strong start. It can sound counter-intuitive but sometimes the flashiest voice, the deepest voice, the sexiest voice is the last voice you want. If someone buys your product based on a voice they'll likely leave disappointed because they were sold a voice and not your message.