by Peter K. O’Connell

I realize I risk coming across as the “You Kids Get Off My Lawn” old man when I say this, but your font size is shamefully small.

I can’t easily read many of them and no, it’s not my eyeglasses prescription.

Your font is teeny tiny.

Specifically, your business card font size.

People have trouble reading it. This is not a joke. No punchline ahead. I am being completely serious.

If you see someone squinting or putting on glasses to read your card, you are risking your burgeoning sales relationship for no good reason.

You and I quietly judge people all day long…same in a business setting. But if you can avoid making a bad first impression (say, with an unreadable business card) wouldn’t you want to swerve away from that mistake?

I respect that there are electronic business cards and direct contact transfer apps and blah, blah…people still use business cards, A LOT, whether tech nerds like it or not.

And somewhere along the way, in a memo I never received from some invisible business card design guru, it was decided that:

• Cool design included really small fonts, like smaller than 7pt
• Font should be difficult to read (they think the “KISS” principle does not apply to their creative genius)
• Tiny white lettering on very dark backgrounds that often don’t contrast or reproduce well in the printing process are on trend

I have neither the time nor the inclination to do the research to prove I am right about how wrong they are but I am right about this, I am 100% sure.

What causes these business card font size issues, you ask? Oh, I’d love to tell you:

• Designers and business owners wanna be sleek
• They wanna be cool
• They want TONS of white space on a 3.5 × 2 inch piece of card stock…so smaller fonts are better, they think (and no they are not)
• People are also buying business cards online and often designing cards themselves— knowing nothing about design while also looking at a design template image blown up to a much bigger size on their large monitor than what will be a 3.5 × 2 inch card
• Vomiting too many words onto that 3.5 × 2 inch card….treating the card like a folded 8.5” x 3.69” brochure (which it ain’t!!)
• Business people also ignore the purpose and value of business cards as a communication tool first and branding tool second

So how will this problem be solved?

Well it won’t be solved because the problem involves people and people are stupid (I know this because I are a people) and people skip the simple stuff thinking it’s not important and… that’s why the world exploded and we all died, Your Honor.

HOWEVER, just because people are stupid doesn’t mean you are.

You can break the “stupid people” cycle when it comes to business cards.

Here are my tips:

• Don’t give your designer carte blanche to make the business card however they want it…too many of them (not all but very many) see business cards as pretty pictures as opposed to what they really are… a necessary communication tool for business
• Pretend all your clients wear reading glasses…they don’t but pretend…and look at your design as if your clients FORGOT their reading glasses but have to read your card; ask yourself – could they read it?
• My magic number is 7….never create a card with a font smaller than 7 point….if you’re smart, it will be 8 or 9 point or higher – also character spacing matters, be carful not to squish letters together
• If that font you love for the text on your business card is not Arial or Georgia or something very close (and equally readable/legible, like those fonts) chances are you should not use that font on your card…save the fancy fonts for your logo…reader comprehension trumps branding every time with business cards
• People have been trying and using black or dark blue or some really rich dark color on business cards for decades…with limited success on the readability scale (example: forest green cards, with gold or gold foil lettering on a serif font…pretty maybe but yikes for readability) — look, just tread carefully to avoid poor contrast, small lettering, thin strokes, or printing problems with dark backgrounds
• Business cards have TWO sides…no reason you can’t print on both sides

It’s ok if, after reading this, you think I am nuts.

Why is this idiot blathering on about business card fonts??

I’m ok with that.

But please just think about all this when you’re looking at your current business cards or designing your next business cards.

I promise you this is all sound advice on business cards.

I hope it helps.

Tags: business cards, commentary, marketing // Add Comment »

Nobody wants to be trained by a robot.

Nobody wants to be sold to by a robot.

Nobody wants to be influenced by a robot.

So why are producers and educators increasingly trying to sell to us and educate us using voices that are robots?

Because it’s easier?

For whom?

The producer, maybe. But what about the person who’s supposed to listen?

Cost savings?

Again, maybe for the producer.

But when the whole purpose of that voice is to communicate with another human being, what happens when that human being discovers there was never another person on the other end?

That’s where this gets interesting.

She Sounds Like Someone You Trust

Think about the female voice you hear on a commercial.

She’s warm. Friendly. Trustworthy.

Maybe there’s even something familiar about her. She sounds like someone who knows what she’s talking about. Someone you might ask for advice.

Maybe she reminds you of your mom.

That’s not an accident.

The voice is there to make a connection with you.

To make a product seem approachable. To make a company seem trustworthy. To make you feel something about whatever is being sold.

And then you find out…

There is no woman.

There never was.

That person you thought you were listening to doesn’t exist.

Doesn’t that change things?

Because you didn’t just use a voice to deliver information.

You used the fake voice to falsify a relationship!

You gave the listener the impression that another human being was talking to them — reassuring them, teaching them, recommending something to them — when there was never another human being there.

And once the listener discovers that, what happens to the trust you were trying to create in the first place?

Now the internet has labeled you as the brand that lied. That’s a hard label to shake.

Were the cost savings on human voice talent worth THAT?

Now Put That Voice in a Training Course

You’re taking an online training course for work.

Let’s be honest. You probably weren’t exactly counting the minutes until you could begin.

But the woman walking you through it sounds OK.

She’s clear. Pleasant enough. You’re listening. You’re learning.

Then something happens.

Maybe there’s an odd pronunciation.

A strange pause.

An inflection that doesn’t belong there.

Something glitches just enough that suddenly you realize:

Wait. That’s not a woman.

It’s an artificial voice.

Can you still learn from it?

I guess.

But do you listen to it in exactly the same way once you know nobody is actually talking to you?

The information hasn’t changed.

The words haven’t changed.

But the relationship has.

A Human Voice Is More Than a Sound

This is where I think we sometimes misunderstand what professional voice actors actually do.

We’re not hired just to make sounds.

For example, a great female voice actor doesn’t simply have a pleasant voice and read the words on the page.

She understands them.

She interprets them.

She knows which word in a sentence matters.

She knows when a thought needs another half-second to land.

She understands when the copy is asking her to reassure someone instead of sell them.

She can sound amused because she understands why something is amusing.

She can sound concerned because she understands what the listener might be concerned about.

And when a director says, “Can you make that a little warmer, but don’t make it sound like you’re trying to be warm?”

She knows what the heck that means.

That’s not just a voice.

That’s a person communicating with another person.

That’s What I Listen for in Female Voice Talent

Throughout my career, producers have asked me to help them find female voice talent for commercials, corporate narration, training, explainers and all kinds of other projects.

And yes, the voice itself matters.

But I’m listening for something beyond whether she has a beautiful voice.

Does she connect?

Does it sound like she understands what she’s saying?

Does it sound like she’s talking to somebody instead of reading at somebody?

Can she take somebody else’s words and make them feel like her own thoughts?

Because whether you’re teaching someone, selling something, explaining something or trying to earn someone’s trust, there’s another human being on the receiving end.

And that’s why the female voice talents I recommend are professional human voice actors.

They’re not there simply because they can produce a nice sound.

They’re there because they can communicate.

They can listen to direction. Interpret a script. Understand an audience. Make adjustments. Find the thought behind a sentence.

They can connect one human being to another.

And that’s really why I created audio’connell’s FemaleVoiceTalents.com.

These aren’t artificial voices I found in a database.

They’re human women I know. Professional female voice actors I’ve known and/or worked with over the years, whose talent and professionalism I trust enough to recommend to producers.

You can listen to them, decide who connects with you and your project, and contact them directly.

They’re real people.

They understand the words they’re saying. They understand the people they’re saying them to. And they bring something to the microphone that can’t be manufactured simply by making a voice sound human.

Technology can reproduce a voice.

But the humanity isn’t in the sound of the voice.

It’s in the human person behind it.

Tags: commentary, female voice talent // Add Comment »

Back in 2015, I wrote about drones giving commercial and residential real estate marketing a whole new perspective.

My friends at DreamDirt were showing buyers acres of Iowa property from the air, and I got to narrate some of those flying tours.

Great aerial views. I’m NOT doing the flying. Everybody wins.

In 2020, the same conversation took a turn because everything in 2020 took a turn because…2020!

Masks, distancing, and understandable concerns about letting strangers through the front door made property showings complicated.

Video and especially drone work offered agents the chance to introduce properties from a distance, and narration gave prospects a credible storyteller to guide them through what they were seeing.

Eleven years and all those discussions and recordings later, it occurred to me that I should really UPDATE my website’s Real Estate Voiceover & Video Narration page.

Consider your visit to the updated page an open house for your ears (and eyes). You don’t even have to take your shoes off.

The new demo includes clips from my work with DreamDirt, including footage from nationally recognized productions.

As you may recall (but then again, why would you?), in 2016, two videos I narrated earned first and second place in the National Auctioneers Association’s marketing competition for Best Auction Promotional Video.

Then, as now, a lot of good work goes into making those pictures and words work together, and I am always happy to have the speaking part.

I also updated the page with a beautifully videotaped and edited tour of a log cabin home on a 68-acre farm in Iowa. It gives you a chance to hear how my voice follows the video from the rooms inside to the land outside.

That’s what I enjoy about real estate narration: the story changes with every address.

A family home needs a welcoming introduction.

A commercial building needs clear information about the space and its features.

Acres of land need context—and sometimes a pause so viewers can appreciate just how far that view goes.

For agents, drone operators, and video producers, my job is to help those details come together in a natural, engaging way. You’ve put thought into the property and the pictures. I bring that same attention to the voice.

The updated page also answers practical questions about scripts, recording, and getting started. Your listing description and property specifications may already contain much of what a producer needs to shape the narration.

So, if you’ve followed this story from those early drone videos, welcome back. If you’re just discovering that I narrate residential and commercial property tours, welcome aboard.

Come hear what a property can sound like.

I’ll be the guy talking. You probably figured that out.

Tags: commentary, real estate, voiceover // Add Comment »

I would happily take a little less “unprecedented” right about now. How about you?

Masks. Social distancing. Trying to figure out where you can go, who can be there, and how far apart everybody needs to stand. Even the simplest things seem to require a planning meeting.

For my friends working in residential and commercial real estate, getting prospective buyers through a property has become one more complication in a year nobody ordered.

Sellers may be uncomfortable welcoming strangers into their homes. Buyers may be uncomfortable going inside. Touring an occupied commercial building brings its own concerns for the people working there.

But houses and buildings still need to be bought and sold. People still need somewhere to live. Businesses will hopefully still need a central place to work.

How do you introduce a property when getting everyone through the front door is so difficult?

My thoughts are simply that video has become more important than ever. And so has what people HEAR while they watch.

I have previously talked about how I am a big proponent of video as a sales tool for commercial real estate and residential real estate sales. I am all in on drones as possibly the best way to get the emotional and cognitive buy-in from prospects. A real estate video gives prospective buyers a chance to explore from a distance. Ground-level footage can take them through the rooms, while aerial drone footage introduces the property’s setting and surroundings.

But when someone watches that tour at home, the agent may not be there to explain what they’re seeing.

That’s where professional real estate narration can help. And yes, this IS what I do for a living, so I’m hardly an impartial observer. But my facts check out as true…especially through all this COVID crap.

A friendly voice can guide viewers through the property, connecting the pictures with details that matter. For a home, that might mean explaining the layout, pointing out a feature, or introducing the outdoor space. For a commercial building, it might mean describing access, available space, and how different parts of the property fit together.

You’re giving people a tour they can see AND understand.

Watch this video and tell me if this isn’t a pretty effective way—second to an in-person visit—to show a residential or commercial property (this video I narrated kinda shows both)::

I’ve enjoyed doing this work for years through audio’connell Voiceover Talent, including property videos for my friends at DreamDirt. In 2016, two videos I narrated earned first and second place in the National Auctioneers Association’s marketing competition for Best Auction Promotional Video. I was proud to contribute the narration to those productions.

The purpose today is much the same, even if the circumstances are very different: help people understand the property’s story.

The voice shouldn’t sound like someone shouting specifications across a parking lot. It should feel like a knowledgeable, welcoming guide, with enough room between the words to appreciate the view.

And getting a script started doesn’t require inventing the property all over again. Agents already have descriptions, specifications, and important features that can be shaped into conversational copy to follow the footage.

Will a narrated video replace every visit? No way….agents are the beginning, middle and end of every transaction.

People still buy from people. Period, full stop.

But right now, video tours give agents a badly needed tool, offer prospects a useful first look, and help them arrive with better questions when a visit is possible.

If you’re a residential or commercial real estate agent, video producer, or drone videographer putting together a property tour, I’d be glad to help give it a voice.

We’ve got enough distance between us right now. Let’s help buyers feel a little closer to the property.

Tags: commentary, real estate, video, video production, voiceover // Add Comment »

Everybody’s got a guy.

A plumber guy. A car guy. A guy who knows a guy.

For a lot of producers throughout my career, I’ve been their voiceover guy.

And every so often the phone rings:

“Peter, do you know a really good female voice talent for a corporate narration?”

As a matter of fact…I gotta guy.

Except she’s a woman.

Over the years, producers who know and trust my work have asked me to recommend female voice actors for all kinds of projects. Corporate narration is one of the most common.

And when I recommend someone, I’m putting my reputation on the line right along with hers.

So what am I listening for?

First, she has to sound like a person

That sounds obvious.

It isn’t.

Corporate narration has changed a lot over the years. Clients generally don’t want someone who sounds like she’s standing behind a podium reading the annual report.

They want someone who sounds natural, present and connected to the words — not computerized. Often, the voice becomes the personification of their brand, not simply a persona. That makes sounding like a real, trustworthy human person even more important.

And conversational doesn’t mean casual.

It means believable.

The best female corporate narrators understand the material well enough to sound like they’re communicating it, not simply reading it.

She has to understand the script

A good narrator sees more than words on a page.

She sees the thoughts behind them.

Where does the idea begin? Where does it change direction? Which word matters more? Where should the listener get half a second to absorb what was just said?

Those choices are what turn somebody reading copy into somebody communicating a message.

Producers can hear the difference. More importantly, so can the audience.

She has to take direction…and run with it

Sometimes the first read nails it.

Sometimes the producer says, “That was great. Can we do it again, but just a little warmer?”

Or faster.

Or less announcery.

Or more authoritative.

Or — one of those wonderfully precise pieces of voiceover direction — “Can you give me the same thing, only different?” (If I had a nickel for every time…)

A professional voice actor understands what the producer is trying to accomplish and can adjust without turning a directed session into an archaeological expedition.

That matters.

She has to make the producer’s job easier

This may be the biggest one for me.

Talent matters. Of course it does. It’s the foundation.

But when I recommend another voice actor, I also want to know what happens after she gets the job.

Does she respond?

Does she show up prepared?

Can she work efficiently in a directed session?

Does she deliver when she says she will?

If a pickup is needed, is it handled smoothly and professionally?

Producers have enough moving parts to deal with already. The voice talent shouldn’t become another one.

And yes, she needs a great voice

Of course.

But “great” doesn’t mean one particular kind of voice.

Warm. Authoritative. Friendly. Sophisticated. Conversational. Energetic. Reassuring. Technical. Approachable.

Different projects need different voices.

That’s one reason I’ve never tried to identify one woman as the female voice talent I recommend.

I know scores of excellent female voice actors, each with different strengths, styles and sounds.

The art is finding the right one for the project. Or at least giving my clients the very best choices to pick from.

When the Right Voice Isn’t Mine

What started years ago with producers asking, “Peter, do you know somebody?” eventually became something more useful.

I created a free online resource featuring professional female voice talents I know and trust.

audio’connell’s Female Voice Talents page (femalevoicetalents.com).

And noooooooo. I am not an agent.

There’s no booking fee. No middleman. And I don’t take a commission.

Listen to the demos. Find someone who sounds right for your corporate narration, commercial, explainer video, e-learning project or whatever else you’re producing.

Then contact her directly.

Simple, straightforward, helpful.

Three valuable words to run a business with…for almost 45 years.

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audio’connell Voiceover Talent offers producers a free, direct-to-talent resource for finding and hiring professional female voice talent. Browse audio’connell’s Female Voice Talent roster and contact the talent you choose directly.

Tags: commentary, female voice talent, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice // Add Comment »

Apparently the voiceover paparazzi have a very long memory.

CanvasRebel very kindly invited me for an online interview back in 2023. A few months ago, they asked me again. I’m not quite sure how I landed on their interview list a second time, but I was happy to answer a fresh set of questions.

The focus was a bit different this time—they asked about the people who have helped me build and run audio’connell Voiceover Talent and how those relationships came about.

That includes my graphic designer, Ann Hackett, who has put up with my design ideas for more than 20 years.

It also includes a recording studio in Chicago where I booked a session while traveling. The staff liked my work and suggested I contact Big Mouth Talent. I did, and within a few weeks, I had a new voiceover agent in Chicago. I went looking for a microphone and came home with an agent. That was a pretty good trip.

We also talked about the radio station visit that started my fascination with microphones at age five, what I learned at WVUD decades later, and two other lessons that took me considerably longer to learn.

If you’d like to learn all the details, you can read our new conversation here.

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