Voice over has long been an industry dominated by male voices. In fact, it’s becoming more and more apparent that in many instances, female voices gain far better traction than their gender opposite. If client booking are anything to go by, it’s certainly a trend on Voice123. So, for business videos — are female voice overs a better choice?
The gender debate
There’s no doubt that a polished voice-over will make your business video come across as more professional. It will help your video establish a connection with your target audience, and can make it attention-grabbing.
Here are some reasons why choosing a female voice actor may serve your business video better:
Female voices are more persuasive
One out of five people in the US considers voice over work by a female voice actor more persuasive. This attitude could have its origins in the general mindset of people that attaches specific positive aspects to a female voice – soft, gentle, and credible.
In a study by Harris Interactive, 48% of participants felt male voice overs were more forceful. 46% of participants stated that they found female voice-overs more soothing. 18% were of the opinion that female voices were more persuasive.
Gentle and soothing voice-overs can make your target audience feel more comfortable. It becomes easier for your audiences to relate and develop a liking for your brand when they feel comfortable. And once they are comfortable with your brand, they are more likely to consider your video content, and thereby your product or service, more favorably.
Female voices sound more trustworthy
A study by CXL Institute shows that people trusted female voices better than male voices. The study assessed the target audience’s reaction to an explainer video by the Institute. The goal of the study was to know how audiences evaluated different voice overs in the video.
Four different voices were in the study. The voices differed by gender, and some of the voice-overs were by professional artists.
The study results showed that viewers regarded explainer videos with female voice overs more trustworthy than those that had a male voice over. In fact, the number of people preferring a female voice actor was far higher. Female narration, regardless of whether the narrator was a professional voice artist or not, was more trusted.
Another study revealed that more than half (66%) of internet video audiences wanted a female voice over. Viewers felt female narration to be friendlier than that of their male counterparts.
Style & tone
Pitch and inflection of a female voice are the primary reasons that cause viewers to believe female voice-overs more than male voices.
A University of Glasgow study proves this point.
The study involved 64 male and female voices. 320 participants listened to the word “Hello” rendered by the voices. The result was that participants trusted the female voices better for their pitch and inflection.
The female voices had a higher pitch, which generated confidence in listeners. Lower-pitched male voices didn’t. Use of inflection – additions to a base word to stress a specific grammatical aspect (for example, addition of “s” to indicate plurality) – by female voices imparted a greater degree of certainty to the narration, which made listeners trust the voice automatically.
This overwhelming preference for female voices will give your business videos the edge they require. Products targeted at women, such as makeup, female health and wellness items, costumes and fashion, and other feminine merchandise, frequently use female voice-overs.
Voice Assistants & IVR
Though not typical video content, automated telecommunication voice overs used for businesses such as on-hold calls, IVRS and other answering services, and service/product announcements use a female voice over. This could be perhaps for the soothing effect that a female voice over can create on waiting customers. Even voice technologies such as Siri, Alexa, and Cortana use female voices.
The gentler and more soothing tones of a female voice are more helpful in directing viewers to get a job done correctly or to have a problem solved.
The big lesson here is that voice-overs do matter when creating business videos. And using the much-preferred female voice-over will make your video more impactful. If you are looking to generate credibility and build trust for your product/service, then you could always try different voice-overs. But, go with the female voice acting first.
Female voice-over is more attractive and engaging
In the Harris Interactive Study mentioned above, 48% of the study participants said that male voice-overs felt more forceful. Also, the study by CXL Institute revealed that video viewers regarded male voice-overs as less attractive. The CXL Institute study also revealed professional male voice artists had the least pull.
This attractiveness of female voices could be due to the scientific fact that women’s voices are naturally more melodious. Just as soothing and attractive melodious music can be, so can be female voice-overs.
This pull that a female narrator has can make your business video more engaging for viewers and increase its reach. When you are able to attract viewer attention, video content, and thereby your brand message reaches the target audience.
Male voices: are they too dominant?
On the other hand, male voices are aggressive according to the above-mentioned study. They’re commanding. People don’t like orders. They don’t like being told what to do and what not to. With a male voice-over, your business video may be perceived to be doing just that, which is likely to make your video less tasteful for viewers.
A voice-over is important because it infuses your business video with life, which otherwise would have been just a mechanical rendition. Given the general preference for female voice acting in videos, as indicated by the above studies, it would be prudent to try your business video with a female narration first.