Picture this: You’ve invested in a sleek explainer video with clean animations, a sharp script, and polished branding. But when you hit play, something feels off.
The visuals are great, but the voice sounds flat, robotic, or disconnected from the message. And suddenly, your video begins to feel less like a powerful pitch and more like a missed opportunity.
That’s the often-overlooked power of voiceover. It’s not just about reading a script; it’s about guiding the viewer, setting the tone, and adding a layer of personality that visuals alone can’t deliver.
Finding the right explainer video voiceover requires more than a pleasing sound. It’s about pace, tone, clarity, and relatability to the audience.
Why Voiceovers are crucial in Explainer Videos
The role of voiceover in any explainer video is not just narration; it shapes how the viewers perceive the message and how well they can connect emotionally.
The right voice will bring clarity, commitment, and emotional value to the video, making it more engaging and memorable.
Here are a few key reasons that make all the difference.
1. Humanizing the brand and building emotional connections
A voiceover does more than just “say the words.” It sets the mood. It tells the viewer, without saying it directly, what kind of brand they’re dealing with.
Let’s say you’re watching an explainer video for FinTech brands.
If the voice sounds overly casual, you’re probably not going to trust it with your money. But replace that with a voice that feels calm, grounded, and assured – You would surely listen.
That’s the power of a good voiceover. It helps people feel something and when they feel something, they remember it and your brand.
2. Clarifying complex ideas through tone and pacing
Explainer videos are often packed with complex information narrated or demonstrated through visuals.
But if the message is delivered too fast or too flat, people tune out. A strong voiceover helps pace the message, highlight what matters, and keep things easy.
Let’s say you’re explaining how a product works, maybe a demo or tutorial. You’ll want a clear, steady voice that walks the viewer through each step without rushing.
But a little more energy in the voice keeps people engaged for a brand video or something animated and fun.
3. Increasing Viewer Retention and Comprehension
80% of viewers can recall a video they watched in the past month because more than one sense comes into play. The information is easy to follow when the voiceover is clear and well-paced.
However, if it is monotonous or dull, users may lose interest and leave the video before getting to the core message.
The role of the voiceover in an explainer video is to keep the audience engaged and prevent them from clicking away.
A skilled voiceover artist will ensure that each word of the script resonates with the audience and clicks the audience’s pain points.
4 Factors to Consider while Choosing the Right Explainer Video Voiceover
Choosing the right voice for your explainer video does not mean selecting a pleasing or soothing sound; it means much more.
It is about finding the perfect match for your message and your viewers. Voiceovers improve clarity, engagement, and emotional connections, making it vital to consider the following aspects before deciding.
1. Tone and Style
The tone of your voiceover should match what your brand is all about. Here’s how to think about it:
- Need to sound professional and credible? That tone works best for corporate explainers, training videos, or anything educational.
- Telling a brand story or aiming to connect on a personal level? Go for a voice that feels conversational and warm.
- Launching something fun or fast-paced? A more energetic, upbeat voice will help carry the vibe.
Also, consider who you’re talking to. A casual, youthful tone might speak better to Gen Z or millennials. For a more formal B2B audience, a calm and steady delivery usually feels more on-point.
Check out how we chose an energetic yet confident voiceover to demonstrate a B2B product for our client – StayFi:
2. Gender and Age
A voice’s gender and age can subtly shape how the message is perceived. Audiences naturally respond to different voices in different ways.
While there’s no hard-and-fast rule to follow, there are some common patterns in how your target audience tends to react:
- Male voiceovers are considered authoritative, which makes them perfect for instructional or technical videos.
- On the other hand, female voices are warm and friendly, making them perfect to add emotional value to the video.
3. Accent and Language
If your company operates across several countries, deciding the appropriate accent and the right language is vital. A few things to consider are:
- Local accents can make your brand feel familiar and relatable to a local audience.
- The neutral tone is ideal for an international reach.
- If you want to reach different regions, then a multilingual voiceover is the way to do so, as it will help you target various types of audiences in their languages and accents.
4. Clarity and Pacing
No matter how engaging a voiceover may be, if it’s too quick or unclear, your message could be lost. Here, a few important considerations include:
- Clear pronunciation to ensure that each word is understood.
- Inconsistent pace – too slow can frustrate viewers and too fast could overwhelm them.
- Stress on certain phrases because pauses help increase retention and make it easy for viewers to comprehend.
Following these voiceover factors in your explainer video can make your video engaging and impactful and leave a long-lasting impression on your audience.
3 Types of Voiceovers for Different Video Goals
Since each explainer video is created with a different goal, the voiceover must align with those objectives.
That is why selecting the right voice for the video is important, as it will impact the video’s message. You do not want the viewer to skip your video because the voice is irritating to their ears.
Here are different types of voiceovers that you can select according to your industry and the goal of your video:
1. Informative and Authoritative
If an explainer video has been created to educate, instruct, or share important details about a product or service, then the voiceover should be informative and authoritative.
Here, the need is to create trust and to make complex topics easy to understand.
These voiceovers are usually used in corporate presentations and financial and healthcare content. Clarity is the key in this type of voiceover.
The tone should be steady, confident, and professional, ensuring the audience perceives the information as reliable.
The video below is a perfect example of how the artist’s pace should be for an informative explainer video:
2. Conversational and Relatable
Here, the agenda is to make a sense of connection and make the content fun. The conversational type of voiceover makes an explainer video feel natural and engaging; it is like a friend talking to the audience.
This type of voiceover can be used in brand storytelling and social media content. This tone will be friendly, engaging, and very easy to understand.
Using conversational and relatable voiceover, a brand can build trust and emotionally connect with the viewers. So, if you want to increase brand awareness, this is the type of voiceover for your brand.
3. Energetic and Exciting
An energetic and exciting voiceover is perfect for content that aims to capture attention quickly, bringing enthusiasm and energy to an explainer video.
This type of voiceover is mostly used in ads, product launch videos, and event promotions.
The right amount of energy can make a brand fun, fresh, and engaging for the viewers. This type of voiceover can increase engagement and leave a lasting impression on the audience.
Best Practices for Selecting & Working with Explainer Video Voiceover Artists
Choosing the voiceover artist is not an easy task. It will shape your brand’s voice and how the audience perceives it.
Here are some best practices to be sure that you select the right voiceover artist for your explainer video:
1. Review multiple auditions to find the best fit
You must review multiple auditions to find your brand’s voiceover artist. You must ensure that the voice represents your brand’s character and engages with the audience.
Always consider the voiceover artist’s clarity, pace, tone, and emotional expression.
2. Collaborate closely on tone, emphasis, and delivery
Maintaining prompt communication with artists is crucial for your brand. You have to give specific instructions about the tone and phrases that need to be emphasized or, if there are industry punctuations, to ensure that everything aligns with your brand.
3. Test the voice with a sample audience for feedback
Before you finish finalizing the voiceover, try the sample with a small portion of your target audience. Seek feedback regarding tone, engagement, and clarity.
This will ensure the voiceover has a good resonance and aligns with the brand’s image.
Conclusion
When making an explainer video, voiceovers often get pushed to the bottom of the priority list. But in reality, they’re an equally integral part of the video.
While you’re picking a voice, don’t just think about how it sounds. Think about how it makes your message feel.
At MotionGility, we offer a team of assorted voiceover artists fluent in multiple languages, tones, and styles.
Want to experience the quality of our explainer videos and voiceovers? Contact us today!
