Today, I'll address as many of these as space allows, continuing the process as necessary in future articles. Although I can give you the benefit of my own experience and point-of-view, remember a narrator is your personal "voice," and you must come to your own conclusions.
What type of narrator should you employ? At what cost?
The type and cost of narrators range from professional, national media personalities to absolute amateurs. In other words, you may use a network news anchor, a well-known talk show host, a Hollywood star -- with their equally astronomical fees -- or your secretary with the pleasant telephone voice, the president of the company, or even a junior high/high school student, whose services may be purchased for a pizza. (Yes. I have indeed done this in various situations.) Most commonly, there are narrators and on-camera announcers available through media production or audio service companies, whose experience and capabilities vary.
There are five criteria as you consider your options: budget; time; availability; script focus; and audience. Your deliberations as to "who" should be guided by these. For instance, while considering a "name" narrator:
Have you allowed enough in your budget for a celebrity? How are they to be contacted? Is he or she available within your time frame?
Does your script call for an on-camera personality and narration -- someone who can "act" as well as narrate? Would a well-known voice or face divert attention from your core message? Or enhance it? If the answer to this is "enhance," will any celebrity do? Or is there a celebrity already connected to your business or sympathetic to your cause, who'd add credibility to your production?
If you're considering local celebrities -- beyond the questions of cost, availability and focus -- how comfortable are they with the production process? Have they done something similar? How did they sound? Are you going for "heart and emotion" -- or "just the facts, Ma'am." How is your audience likely to view them? Do they have "issues" surrounding them which may create a negative?
You get the general idea. Questions beget questions, but the more you discuss the pros and cons of narrators, the more likely you'll be able to reach the necessary comfort level with the person or individuals your choose.
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