Entries Tagged as 'explainer videos'

Narration Demo 2020 by Peter K. O’Connell

Peter K. O'Connell Narration Demo 2020The hard reality for voice talents is that almost no one is as excited about the production and release of a new voiceover demo as the voice talent themselves. To us, it’s like a shiny new car.

Well maybe the demo producer – who earns his or her living off of producing voiceover demos – cares a lot…but the rest of the world doesn’t care quite as much as those two care.

Editor’s note: my new Narration demo is totally awesome (he said humbly) and you will totally love it (he noted demurely) and you’ll want to hire me on the spot (he said respectfully). I’m perfectly OK with that.

LISTEN TO PETER K. O’CONNELL’S NARRATION 2020 VOICEOVER DEMO:

 

It’s fun to listen to new voiceover demos when we come across them…hearing the read, gauging the performance, the script interpretation, the audio production and individually deciding if it all comes together in a finished voiceover sample that makes the voice talent shine.

From the talent and production side of the coin, it’s hard to reconcile the fact that the “shine” I mentioned is purely based on…the subjective opinion of the listener. That’s right, there is generally no right or wrong demo production answer, no perfect voiceover demo formula.

And that’s why even though I produced my last Narration demo about 6 months ago, I have now produced a new Narration demo. The last demo was great and I received work and compliments on it. But I decided to make what I feel was an important change.

On my past Narration demos, I included not only Corporate Narration clips but also E-learning voiceover samples and Explainer video voiceover samples. Maybe it was my stubbornness or my laziness (or something in between) but I believed at the time that one Narration demo with all three (3) genres included would serve the needs of producers.

For no particularly revolutionary reason and without a shocking epiphany, I decided that I might be wrong about that old reasoning.

It seemed to me that I wasn’t actually serving the producers of E-learning and Explainer videos very well with my “one-size-fits-all” Narration demo. So a new focused Narration demo has been produced as has a stand-alone E-learning voiceover demo and Explainer video demo. Each contains more specific examples of the categories, produced with element more appropriate to the production genre. Explainer video narrations sound different than E-learning narrations sound and Corporate Video narrations sound even more different than either of the other two.

Each demo now resides on its own web page as well, one for Narration, one for E-learning and one for Explainer videos.

I invite you to click on any of the links to hear any and all of them.

E-Learning and Explainer Video Narration Demos by Peter K. O’Connell

OK, ok, I finally did it.

In my past narration voiceover demos, while I always included my corporate voiceover samples, I also included samples of voiceover work I have recorded that are known as e-learning and explainer voiceovers.

At last I have given my explainer voiceover work and my e-learning voiceover work their completely individual voiceover demos.

Now you might not know terms e-learning or explainer…but I am pretty sure you’ve heard these genres of voiceover in your professional lives.

LISTEN TO PETER K. O’CONNELL’S E-LEARNING VOICEOVER DEMO:

E-learning voiceover narration by Peter K. O'Connell E-learning narration refers to the voiceover recording genre, often involving video and/or the internet that that helps students and professionals learn outside the standard classroom. E-learning has been long popular for training employees and teaching students at all levels of education but it’s popularity really spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of distance learning process.

LISTEN TO PETER K. O’CONNELL’S EXPLAINER VOICEOVER DEMO:

Explainer Video Narration Peter K. O'ConnellExplainer voiceovers are the narrations that tell the story of Explainer Videos. Most often used for businesses, Explainer Videos communicate in a simple ang engaging way how a product or service works and why a user would benefit from that use. Although they can be produced in a variety of graphic styles, Explainer Videos are most often animated – which helps producers convey complex ideas into a more simple form with eye -catching visuals and, of course, ear-catching narration! That’s where I come in.

Producers of E-learning and Explainer videos prefer to hear voiceover samples of their specific genre now, so…that’s what I am gladly offering them. Enjoy!

check your mail, you may already be a winner

Peter K. O'Connell Voiceover Want Ad 2017Ok, well there’s actually nothing to win but certainly check your mail!

And maybe you already have, which is why you’re checking out this page. Welcome to my voiceover blog.

If we haven’t properly met yet, hi, I’m Peter.

Yes, I sent out a new direct mail postcard this week to about 900 of my media production peers who work in audio production, TV and radio production, TV promo, explainer video production, documentaries and darn near every other kind of electronic production worldwide that uses voiceover.

I hadn’t done a mailer in a while, and with this year being my 35 anniversary in voiceover, I figured that’s something to talk about on a big postcard.

Why direct mail?

People still love getting unique stuff in the mail, even an oversized postcard. It’s a reminder to those I’ve worked with before that I’m still around (give me a call). It’s also an introduction to folks who may have heard of me (or may not have heard of me) but might need some professional voice talent help – the card is a friendly hello (give me a call) to them as well.

I’ll still do email blasts every now and again but I fear those don’t get read as much as they used to…my open rates are still good and I keep the message short and sweet!

So if you’re just finding me for the first time, hi (welcome!), and if you’re returning, hi again and thanks for coming back.

Oh and if you do need to call me, I’m on +01 716-572-1800.

peter k. o’connell aka the explainer video voice guy

Explainer Videos Peter K. O'Connell

Being nicknamed “The Explainer Video Voice Guy” wasn’t something I planned…I think it’s that way with most nicknames. But once you work with clients enough and friendship develop, nicknames are born and that how I got mine.

Hey, as long as the check is made out to Peter K. O’Connell, clients can pretty much call me whatever they want 🙂

Peter K. O'Connell business cardOn my business cards, I list Explainer Videos as one of genres for which I provide voiceover services. People who aren’t involved in media production ask me sometimes “what is an explainer video?” It’s a reasonable question that you might have too.

Usually short (like 2-3 minutes – but sometimes longer), an Explainer Video is a  fun and informative video presentation that creatively explains a product or service. Because it’s fun and informative and short, an Explainer Video captures and retains the viewers attention, making it a more useful sales tool for companies — compared to longer, dull videos or even brochures.

Plus, video continues to be a preferred media for people to discover new ideas and concepts.

The reason I get selected so often to provide voiceovers for explainer videos, I have been told, is because I offer a variety of fun, informative and friendly reads – depending on the script and the client’s audio branding needs. Like commercials and narrations, Explainer Videos fit my vocal styles.

For example, as an Audiobook narrator, I think I’m good (maybe even just OK) but certainly not great. Yet with Explainer Videos, as a voice talent I excel. I can’t draw a straight line but I can enjoyably tell you all about that straight line with a Explainer Video script in hand.

At this point, it would probably be more effective (and likely more entertaining) to let the Explainer Videos do the talking. So here are some examples of my Explainer Video voiceover work.

DELOITTE CANADA

This was one of the more informative Explainer Videos I recall narrating as I felt I not only learned about the impressive depth of Deloitte Canada’s knowledge of Canada’s economy but I also understood it…and folks, I was never a Finance major in college. Really well written.

ESKER

I worked with a great team at Esker, a global leader in document process automation. Their talent marketing team asked me to voice a series of explainer videos that highlighted their impressive array of services in a fun and interesting way. They save a lot of smart companies a lot of time and money Here’s one example of the explainer video series I voiced for them.

 

3 MINUTE CATHOLIC CATECHISM

I’ve done videos for clients all over the world and it’s a great experience. This particular project was interesting because the producer found me on Google all the way over in Austria. 15-20 years ago, that would not have been possible but today, it happens all the time. This was an interesting project because the producers wanted to make these short 3-minute videos, explaining the Catholic religion’s Catechism, for many languages. They started in German, producing all the videos based on a German voice talents tracks, then came to me for English. Needless to say, the video timing got tricky as they switched languages. It was great nonetheless!

If you’re interested in using me as the voice for your explainer video, give me a call at +01 716-572-1800.

voice-over puts the “explain” in explainer videos

For those who don’t know, explainer videos (also sometimes called video demos) are usually 1-3 minute videos that creatively tell the story of a product or service or even a story. There are many kinds…here’s an example of an explainer video I narrated for a DVD series which presented information about the Catholic Catechism in a friendly and creative way.

There are tons of talented production companies churning out amazing stories for products and services of all kinds. It’s an entertaining way of engaging a consumer.

Well, it’s supposed to be entertaining.

Problem is, just like in almost every facet of business, there are businesses out there who try and take crazy and short-sighted shortcuts on things like explainer videos with cheesy graphics and homegrown narration.

Yup, business owners narrate these videos themselves or have some family member narrate their explainer video, further diluting the possibility of any one watching the video past the first 10 seconds. It’s like watching a train wreck.

So here are my unsolicited tips for a valuable explainer video.

First, on an explainer video – visuals are the key…if they aren’t awesome, your production is in trouble. Visuals are job one.

Second, you don’t absolutely need a voice talent for a successful explainer video…but your visuals better tell a very, very, very good story…and you should look into a custom music bed too if you’re not going to use a voice talent.

Third, and I know I appear biased but I’ll take the risk, don’t do the narration for your explainer video in-house. Hire a voice-over professional (there are only a few thousand out there…see, I’m not just hawking my wares).

Great visuals and a great story teller will make your explainer video engaging and memorable. And that there’s the whole ballgame.