By: Robert Starling, Award Winning Voice Actor
How To Write and Prep Your Script For a Live Voice Over Session
Hiring a professional voice actor is an investment in making sure your message connects with your audience. Whether it’s a commercial, eLearning course, corporate narration, or explainer video, the success of your project starts with the script. A strong script sets up the voice over session for success and saves you time, money, and stress.
As an American male voice actor who’s worked on hundreds of live-directed sessions, here’s my step-by-step guide on how to write and prep your script before stepping into the booth.
1. Keep Your Script Conversational
Even if you’re writing for a corporate audience, your script should sound like a real person speaking—not like a textbook. A voice over artist can make almost any script work, but when the copy is natural and conversational, it flows more easily in a live session.
Pro tip: Read your script out loud before sending it to your voice actor for hire. If it feels stiff or hard to say, it will be harder to perform authentically.
2. Format for Clarity
In live voice over work, clarity matters. Use:
- Line breaks for natural pauses
- Bold or ALL CAPS for emphasis
- Phonetic spellings for tricky names or technical terms
This helps your voice over talent stay on pace and makes the session run smoothly.
3. Define the Audience and Tone
Before the session, let your professional voice actor know who the audience is and how you want them to feel. Should the read be warm and friendly, authoritative and confident, or upbeat and energetic? Tone guides everything.
A skilled American voice actor can adjust delivery on the spot, but clear direction upfront leads to faster results.
4. Include Special Words, Names, and Pronunciations
One of the most common slowdowns in a live voice over session happens when the script includes unusual names, acronyms, or brand-specific terms. Don’t leave these to chance.
Here’s how to make it easy for your voice over artist:
- Provide phonetic spellings (e.g., “Boeing [BOH-ing]”)
- Add audio references or links if possible
- Clarify preferred pronunciation of brand names, product names, or regional terms
- Note acronyms clearly (is it “N-A-S-A” or “NASA”?)
When clients provide this upfront, the voice over talent can deliver with confidence, and you avoid wasting valuable studio time.
5. Keep It Tight and Focused
Every extra word adds time to the read. If your script is longer than needed, your voice over session will take longer and cost more. Trim the fat. Keep sentences short, clear, and purposeful.
Remember, voice over services are about connection. The best scripts respect the listener’s time.
6. Mark Up Timing and Pacing
If your project has a fixed runtime—like a 30-second commercial—mark where pauses should fall. Notation helps your voice actor nail pacing on the first few takes, which saves valuable studio time.
7. Prepare for Collaboration
A live-directed session is a partnership. You bring the vision, and the voice over artist brings the performance. Be ready to:
- Give feedback in real time
- Try multiple takes
- Stay open to suggestions (a male voice actor or female voice actor may offer phrasing ideas you hadn’t considered)
Why Script Prep Matters in Voice Over Work
When a script is clean, clear, and well-prepped, the live session becomes faster, smoother, and more enjoyable for everyone involved. That’s how you get a final read that feels authentic, polished, and connected.
As someone who provides voice over services daily, I can tell you this: the better the prep, the better the performance.
👉 Need a professional American male voice actor for your next project? I offer fast turnaround, studio-quality audio, and decades of experience in voice over work. Let’s connect and make your script come alive.