Forum Discussion
Voiceovers
Hello!
I need advice on best practices for using voiceovers. I am creating a training course for new leaders with 6 different modules and want to use voiceovers for the basic slides at the beginning of each module. Is this acceptable OR should it be all or nothing? I appreciate your input!
In my experience, there's really no "all or nothing" rule. It really depends on the content difficulty, length, intensity of each course. The other reply here is good, you want to not have too much of the same thing for a long time in a row. I try to mix up having them read, listen, and interact with the course as they go through. I also try to build a personality for the narrator or character I'm having them listen to. Doesn't have to be long or super in-depth but making a believable person with a reason to listen to them can help engage. I don't do the voice-overs myself, as the AI voices are incredible and have a lot of versatility. It's fine to have voice overs for the first part of the courses and then just navigation after that, but try to find ways to keep it interesting. Images/Videos/Click interactions/thought provoking questions/etc... to keep the courses engaging as you go along.
5 Replies
Adding voiceover to an entire course could be a time consuming job, especially if you are not using text-to-speech. Where we have alot of voiceover I try and alternate between a male and female voice to mix it up. If using Storyline you might even want to ask your users for their preference at the start and give them the choice (Personalisation). I'd also switch on the play/pause/seek bar/volume to give them control.
In my experience, there's really no "all or nothing" rule. It really depends on the content difficulty, length, intensity of each course. The other reply here is good, you want to not have too much of the same thing for a long time in a row. I try to mix up having them read, listen, and interact with the course as they go through. I also try to build a personality for the narrator or character I'm having them listen to. Doesn't have to be long or super in-depth but making a believable person with a reason to listen to them can help engage. I don't do the voice-overs myself, as the AI voices are incredible and have a lot of versatility. It's fine to have voice overs for the first part of the courses and then just navigation after that, but try to find ways to keep it interesting. Images/Videos/Click interactions/thought provoking questions/etc... to keep the courses engaging as you go along.
Just popping in to say I learned a lot from these responses! This was such a good question NicoleDarnes.
Thank you for your responses CharlesGuice and HVfb0f498d-053b - these have given me great options that I am experimenting with!
I think in terms of digital accessibility, it's always a good idea to have narration if you have text/video/audio in your modules. However, it's definitely easier said than done. It's like a "nice to have" that brings alot of value but is also alot of work.
I particularly don't use the AI tools that Storyline has (wink wink limited budget) BUT that doesn't mean you can't DIY that voiceover either. Storyline makes it INCREDBILY easy to add voiceover in mp4 files if that's what you want to do.
I think it does benefit your learners if you do the narration consistently in the modules so if you just do the title/navigation instructions then do that for ALL of your modules in that series.
If you don't narrate the title/navigation/instructions, and just do the main content narration then do that for ALL the modules in that series.
I guess the biggest question you can ask yourself is "How far do I want to go with this?"
Please feel welcome to message me on here if you want more tips or help :) Good luck!
