As someone with a background in both the private sector and the government, I’ve had to sit through quite a bit of corporate training (onboarding, finance, HR, recruiting, etc.). So much time sitting in front of a computer learning about how my role would affect day-to-day operations and learning about the details of my benefits package and retirement match. Admittedly, I hated it. It was largely boring, unengaging content with awful audio and dry video. Honestly, you couldn’t force me to remember what I watched and listened to because I genuinely couldn’t tell you.

A big part of it is that the speakers in the content, generally speaking, are not engaged in the content so there’s really no, to quote Thom Pinto, “give a shit” factor. If the presenter doesn’t care, why should I? As a listener, it affects my retention of the information and makes it harder to do the job I was hired to do, which could have downstream effects that costs the company or organization time, money and resources.

Here are some things producers, editors and publishers should keep in mind when producing corporate content (internal or external):

INVEST IN PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED VOICEOVER TALENTS

The best thing you can do as a producer is add value to your content strategy. Voiceover talents that are professionally trained, have their audio dialed in, and can turn around recordings quickly with minimal revisions bring a lot of value. That super slick looking product demo doesn’t mean much if the message isn’t delivered with friendliness, enthusiasm and warmth. This way you get higher retention rates and you’re not leaving money on the table.

People interact with people. Not algorithms. Not processes. Not even with brands. Having a voice actor perform your script adds more value through personal connection, experience and empathy. Pro talents even have demos and samples that adhere to the format: corporate narration, eLearning, explainer videos, etc. Give them a listen and I guarantee you can find a voice actor that you can hire.

You may be tempted to use AI voices. Don’t. Just don’t. They can only ever be as good as a human voice actor, but never better. AI voices are also not directable without complicated prompts that don’t maintain a performance that doesn’t inevitably end up firmly in the uncanny valley. I encourage you to put yourself in the shoes of a listener. Would you like to hear a robot tell you how to do your job? My guess is not. Again, it’s just leaving money on the table. Do yourself and your company’s brand a favor and hire a human voice actor.

GOOD CORPORATE TRAINING PAYS DIVIDENDS

When the training is good, the execution of tasks is good. This maximizes employee efficiency and minimizes extemporaneous costs that may be incurred in the months after training is complete. In other words, good training is good for business. it’s good for the optics, it’s good for the productivity, and it helps build trust and reliability internally.

So what’s the point I’m getting at? From one business to another, I hope that this information has empowered you to see the value in professional creatives, not just in voiceover, but in every part of the content creation process. We live in an age where media quality, internal or external, is what viewers and passersby use to judge the credibility of a brand, and you never get a second first impression. So make it a good one. Invest in your content and create relationships that can help you do just that. Voice actors, copywriters, audio engineers and video editors are all here to help!