It’s that time of year when we become extra reflective and grateful for the year we’ve had and the stories we’ve been able to supercharge. Storytelling is our greatest passion and at the heart of everything we do, and this year has shown that the role it plays is more important than ever. Thinking a little further back, our founder, Andrew Park, started We Are Cognitive back in 2004 and since then we have not only been able to work on a lot of great animations, but also with a lot of great voiceover artists!
While we work with clients to carefully select the ideal voiceover artist for each whiteboard animation, we must confess to having a few favourites! We couldn’t resist making a list and thinking more deeply about the of importance voiceovers in the success of an animation.
10 of our favourite voiceover artists that we’ve worked with
From the voiceover artists we have worked with, we have picked out some of our favourites from the last 17 years, but it was far from easy. Each voiceover artist brings something special, so we have listed our favourites here in no particular order.
Sir Ken Robinson
In the passing of Sir Ken Robinson, the world has lost a bright, visionary and forward-facing voice. His insights into the education system and his charismatic and warm style made him a great thinker and speaker. We feel honoured to have been able to work with Sir Ken several times and each time, his charming and engaging voice brought a special quality to the tone and style of the whole animation. Our first project with Sir Ken was when working on the RSA Animates.
Gillian Anderson
You might know Gillian Anderson from The X-Files, The Crown or A Streetcar Named Desire, but to us, Gillian has a place in our hearts as one of our favourite voiceover artist collaborators. We enjoyed hearing Gillian’s crisp tones guide viewers through several animations we created for Radio 4’s History of Ideas series and helped us to explain important philosophical ideas like this, fittingly about Cultural Transmission.
Professor Stephen Hawking
One of the best things about our job is getting to work with the people whose ideas have defined our age. One of those people, also sorely missed, is the great Professor Stephen Hawking. We were able to work Professor Hawking twice, once when he delivered the Reith Lectures and once when he published his final book, Brief Answers to Big Questions. This was his final theory on black holes and drew heavily on whiteboard animation’s ability to make the complex simple. Our founder Andrew Park wrote about the experience here.
The BBC Radio 2 Team
We love combining informative dialogue with voiceovers that are bursting with character, and we had the opportunity to do this back in 2015 when we worked with the BBC Radio 2 team to tell the Christmas Story. It was great to work with household names like Clare Balding, Dermot O'Leary, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox, Ken Bruce, Diane Louise Jordan and Jeremy Vine.
Chris Anderson
Those conversations that often happen in coffee shops or pubs and go something like, ‘wouldn’t it be great if…..’, can lead to some of the best ideas. It was a situation a bit like this that led to the first TED-Ed animations. We have always been big fans of the work of Chris Anderson and TED. When the idea for TED-Ed animations surfaced, we jumped at the chance! Not just to animate the very first videos but to include Chris’ curiousity-inspiring voice as well.
Fi Glover
Fi Glover is an award-winning broadcaster. She is a journalist and podcast host and we’d go as far as to say she is on the way to becoming a national treasure. It was a wonderful surprise back in 2014 to have the opportunity to work with Fi in her work as a voiceover artist on this whiteboard animation for Grass Roots.
Professor Richard Wiseman
Whether it is a programme about magic, science or psychology, it always makes us happy to see and hear Professor Richard Wiseman make a contribution. We are fans of a good story and an interesting message, and Professor Wiseman brought us plenty of those when we worked together to create videos based on his book 59 Seconds. We were also very happy when Professor Wiseman agreed to help us conduct whiteboard animation research and lend us his voice again.
Harry Shearer
There are some famous voices and voiceovers in the world, and they don’t come much more famous than cast members from The Simpsons. While working with BBC Radio 4 on the History of Ideas series, we loved working with Harry Shearer - the vocal talent behind so many famous animated faces.
Chris Aldridge
It’s not every day you get to make an animation about a national institution, and the same iconic voice delivers it. We were lucky enough to experience this sensation when we were asked to tell the story of BBC Radio 4’s Shipping Forecast. It’s a rich history to begin with, but our animation was made even richer when Chris Aldridge - the voice of the Shipping Forecast - was the voiceover artist for us as well!
Brian Blessed
Last, but by no means least, in our list is the one and only Brian Blessed. THAT actor from Flash Gordon and the possessor of a frankly fantastic voice, Brian gave the voiceover for our animation for The Royal Collection a certain flair and intensity which suited the video perfectly. It stands out to this day as one of the more unique voiceovers we’ve been lucky enough to use.
The benefits of a professional voiceover
While these may be some of our favourite voiceover artists that we have worked with, we have been able to work with many more. Each brings the ideal approach to complete the animation they are working on. But they also bring a lot more.
Capturing your essence, style and brand
As professionals, seasoned voiceover artists are experienced at understanding what makes you, you. This includes your brand, your style and your values. They are then able to incorporate this into their delivery, adding to the feel and impact of your video. This is important, especially if your video is part of a series needing consistency or needs to fit into a larger plan.
Storytelling
Video voiceovers are first and foremost storytelling tools. They guide viewers through your video and add to the visuals you have crafted, working in harmony with them to ensure your message is delivered well. Professional voiceover artists are storytelling masters, knowing how to read and perform a script to ensure that it has the impact and expression needed to inform and engage and stay with audiences. More broadly, we cannot stress how important storytelling is. We have written about visual storytelling here.
Cementing the quality of your video
There are a lot of videos out there, seriously, A LOT! To stand out from the crowd you need to ensure the quality and production values of your video are high. Strong production values give you an edge and add extra credibility and strength to your message, and a video voiceover from a professional voiceover artist is a great way to make this quality instantly obvious.
Getting it done right and in time
There is always a deadline, and there are few things more annoying than a video being held up because part of it needs to be re-done to get it right. Using professional voiceover artists allows you to get it right first time and they can respond quickly if there is feedback. Their experience, combined with a good studio setup, means that you can get the delivery you need in a professional recording environment, given to you in a high-quality format. This saves time, allowing you to tick it off the list as you progress with the video.
What a makes a good voiceover?
That is why you should use a professional voiceover, but what does good look like? There are a few qualities every good voiceover needs:
A voiceover should be timed match to the length of your video, ensuring a good audience experience throughout. A big part of this comes from the script, which is also written to match the length of your video. We recommend 140 words of dialogue per minute.
As we have mentioned, it should be recorded to a high standard.
A voiceover is tailored to your brand, your audience and what they will respond to well.
A good voiceover is a performance, which engages viewers as it informs them. A good voiceover artist will use tone and emphasis well to make this happen.
A good voiceover sticks with us and adds a whole new dimension of communication. It combines with visuals and other elements to supercharge storytelling and messages. We have loved working with many voiceover artists throughout the years, especially the people we have mentioned above - but there are too many to mention in just one blog.
In the whiteboard animations we make, a professional voiceover is an essential part. They wouldn’t have the same impact without one. So, we ensure that on every project, our voiceovers are recorded by professional voiceover artists in professional studios. We are always open to a client recording their own, but it must hit a high bar of quality.
If you would like to find out more about how we use voiceovers in whiteboard animation, or how whiteboard animation could work for your message, we’d love to hear from you. Book a discovery call today!
Over-complication isn’t just tedious—it’s the nemesis of efficiency. Enter the KISS principle: “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”