How to sound like one of the major players

Your company might be considered a very successful SME. But your growth could be hampered by people’s perception that a small or medium enterprise like yours would not be able to handle larger contracts. The result is new business often goes to the “big guys” in your field and you don’t even get a shoe in the door.

The quickest way to start overcoming such misconceptions is to adopt some of the attributes we associate with major corporations. Often it begins with simple things like the design of your website or how your company sounds on the telephone.

So start making some basic changes to alter the way people think about your company. First item on the agenda; professional voice recording for phone system.

Professional telephone messages level the playing field.

You might be amazed to know a prospective customer will form an opinion of your operation in the first few seconds after the telephone is answered.

There was a time when a well-spoken and efficient telephonist was on hand with the sole responsibility to direct incoming calls.

Today that position has been divided into a multi-tasking role covering everything from sales calls and reception desk to filing, typing, despatch, post office runs, car park supervision, miscellaneous errands, child minding and social club duties.

So when incoming calls have to be answered and reception is otherwise occupied callers should hear a welcome message that has been professionally scripted and recorded. If they are put on hold they should be entertained and informed by a similar high quality program.

While you may not be able to justify the cost of adding more receptionists, correctly and efficiently answering incoming calls is a priority. So be sure to follow-up on the first agenda item; professional voice recording for phone system.

Your professional telephone messages sorted online

Media Group, the business audio specialists provide a wide range of services online. They have a team of experienced writers and producers operating from their own modern recording studios on the Queensland Gold Coast.

With a wide selection of professional male and female voice artists at their service, Media Group will have your business telephones sounding like a multi-million dollar organisation.

Find out more at www.mediagroup.com.au

Take up the invitation from Media Group to get a free on hold message. See the details on the website.

Putting your voice where it can be heard

The proliferation of the communications industry around the world has created boundless opportunities to get involved in Freelance voice work.

If you have no experience, there is a catch 22. You need to have a ‘’”show reel”.

The magnetic reels of tape from the analogue days have been replaced in the digital era by CDs and USB Flash Drives or emailed in MP3 format or WAV files.

The show reel, should contain a few examples of previous recordings you have made. These recordings don’t have to be published or broadcast examples, however they should bear all the hallmarks of having been professionally recorded.

Get it down on tape

If you have the budget, or you can hit Dad up for few bucks, you should hire a studio to help record and produce your show reel.

The studio will have a high quality microphone, a sound-treated room and access to some Royalty Free Music tracks and Sound Effects (SFX) that you can use to enhance your production.

The studio engineer will help you edit the tracks so the show reel doesn’t turn out to be of epic length.

Show variety and a little ingenuity

Advertising Agency people pretend they are trendsetters, but in fact they are dedicated followers of fashion. Always on the lookout for a new voice, they will usually be comparing you to what is safe and familiar. So don’t be totally boring.

Present some examples of you reading in standard announcer style as well some character voices. Use wording you have plagiarised off existing scripts from ads or movies. Or write your own brilliant stuff. That way if you don’t score any voice work you might get a call to write some copy.

See a lot of people. Ask all to buy.

Let people know you are looking for freelance voice over work. As with any sales campaign you have to get your voice noticed and let producers and studios know how to get in touch.

Plus you have to be proactive. Use social media to spread the word. Get blogging. Contact every sound recording studio in your city and give them a copy of your precious show reel emblazoned with your phone number and email address.

One big name you should have on your list is Media Group, the business audio specialists at www.mediagroup.com.au

Sometimes a voice can send the wrong message

When perusing a book or reading a print advertisement you can sometimes “read between the lines”. It is an interesting turn of phrase to describe instances where you might find some meaning in the prose or copy the author has intentionally or subconsciously hidden in the text.

You might be surprised to learn that similar things happen when you are listening to a Voice Over. You might watching a TV commercial or listening to a podcast. The announcer will be adhering to the words on the script, but slight nuances in the voice can detract or add meaning to the message your brain receives.

A trained voice talent knows a lot about skinning cats

When a professional Voice Over artist is handed a script to read they will usually look at any directions indicated by the scriptwriter or turn to the studio producer and ask “How do you want this read”?

Just as there are many ways to remove the feline epidermis, there is an endless variety in the way a script can be interpreted.

In recording advertising audio tracks, most scripts will fall into broad categories with shorthand names like “soft sell”, “hard sell”, “corporate” “friendly” “authoritative”.

To the Voice Over artist these categories are the start point. Immediately they will adopt the tone they know will fit the bill. For the soft sell they may inject more air into their voice. They may work close-in to the microphone to add an intimacy to the read.

For the hard sell they may step back a little from the microphone and adopt a full “parade ground voice”. Really hammering the price or any discount and using huge inflections to add excitement to key words.

If the script direction calls for a corporate read then the Voice Over will be delivered in fairly neutral tones with a slightly restrained feel.

There’s meaning in the length of the syllables

In each of the cases above, it’s the Voice Over artist who is injecting the desired impression or net take-away from the production.

He or she is more than capable of reading the same words yet have the listener react in a variety of ways. The intricacies of annunciation, timing, breathing, pausing, projection and tone are the unwritten devices available to the gifted reader.

Media Group, the business audio specialists, provide an enormous variety of professional male and female Voice Over talent. You can be sure whenever you need a particular style of voice, Media Group will heave the solution.

You can go online anytime to audition samples of the Voice Over talent at www.mediagroup.com.au

Having music play on your phone can be risky

Music they say has “the power to soothe the savage beast”. So surely a little On Hold Music playing over your business telephone would be ideal to placate an impatient caller!

On the surface it seems reasonable. But problems arise when the laws on copyright have to be obeyed. Any breach of those laws and you might be meeting the “Savage Beast” at the local courthouse.

In order to have music playing at any commercial enterprise the proprietor must pay annual licence fees to the collection agencies representing the copyright holders of that music. In other words the authors, musicians and publishers that own the music.

In Australia the fees are levied by APRA AMCOS who represent the musicians and PPCA who act on behalf of the publishers, usually record companies.

What if you have nothing on except the radio?

You might argue that the On Hold Music playing on your business telephone is coming from a commercial radio station plugged into your phone system. To the legal eagles that is just as bad as having the radio blaring out through your shop or showroom or your office.

The rules apply to all sources of music whether it’s a streaming service, compact disc, mobile phone, or any analogue or digital storage device.

Simply put, if you want On Hold Music playing to callers while they are waiting for you to answer the phone, you have to pay the licence fees OR you have to use Royalty Free Music!

Royalty Free Music is available from Media Group

Media Group, the business audio specialists have the most extensive libraries of Royalty Free Music. The Media Group music catalogues are supplied exempt of the annual fees payable to the collection agencies representing the authors, musicians and publishers.

The people involved in the production of Royalty Free Music have already been fully compensated for their creations. So when you choose an onhold package of music and messages from Media Group, the On Hold Music playing to callers waiting on the phone attracts no further fees.

Choose tracks from the music genres that appeal to your customers

You probably already have a fair idea of the type of music your customers prefer. When you have selected an onhold package from Media Group you will also get to audition the tracks to include in your On Hold Music.

The libraries cover all music genres from Pop and Rock to Folk, Country, and Classical tracks.

You can hear some samples from the various collections at the Media Group website. Have a listen and then have Media Group write, record and produce an onhold package of messages and music that will be right for you.

Head to www.mediagroup.com.au