Is it possible to get a free voice over or do you have to pay a professional? Discover the answer and learn how text to speech software can help you.

Free voice over

There are many reasons why you may need access to a voiceover.

For example, you may have created a batch of e-learning presentations for online consumption. You want those presentations to be as accessible as possible and make them more engaging. A good voiceover turns your presentations into explainer videos, creating a more enjoyable learning experience.

Alternatively, you may be a YouTube content creator working on a new tutorial. You’ve done everything you can in your video editor to make the video as good as possible. Now you require some voice sound to send it over the edge.

Whatever the case may be, you need a video voiceover. The problem is that hiring a voice actor is expensive. Thankfully, you have several options available if you need a free voiceover for your YouTube videos and similar projects.

Your options for free voice overs

You may need a voiceover for your podcast, audiobooks, or video, but you don’t want to pay for it. These are the options available:

Record your own voiceover

If you have a voice that’s as smooth as silk and feel confident in front of the mic, you can try recording your own voice. This approach has several benefits, including ensuring you have a real-life human voice to connect with people.

The problem is that recording your voice is not as simple as it appears. Voiceover artists use various equipment, such as microphones and noise-dampening hardware, to record their voiceovers. Plus, it’s not easy to create a professional-sounding voiceover. Even assuming you have the equipment, you need to keep the following in mind when recording:

• Audio clarity
• Audio volume
• Vocal tone
• Inflections
• Pronunciation
• Pacing

That’s a lot for beginners to learn, meaning recording your own audio isn’t as straightforward as turning a voice recorder on and going for it. Still, many online tools can help you. Plus, using your own voice can lend a sense of legitimacy to your presentations or YouTube channel.

Use text to speech software

Let’s say you don’t feel exceptionally comfortable speaking into a microphone or you don’t like the sound of your own voice and would prefer not to embed it into your video.

That’s okay because text to speech (TTS) software can solve the problem.

Think of TTS as a sort of voice generator. You can use it to convert text into speech that’s read aloud. The software usually uses speech synthesis to create natural-sounding voices. More advanced versions even allow you to download audio files in mp3 or WAV format so you can add them to your videos.

Text to speech is ideal if you want access to several AI voices. If you have programming abilities, you may even be able to create your own voices using a TTS reader’s application programming interface (API).

Follow these steps if you want to use text to speech software to create a voiceover:

• Write a script for your video that you can paste into the TTS app.
• Select an AI voice for your voiceover. Speechify offers dozens of voices with different accents, as well as celebrity voices. It’s crucial to choose a voice that matches your content. For example, training videos need authoritative voices, while a gaming video would do better with a more friendly voice.
• Customize the voice to suit your needs by adjusting its pitch, tone, and speed.
• Extract the voiceover as an audio file and use video editing software to add it to your video.
• Write a script for your video that you can paste into the TTS app.

How much does professional voice acting cost?

While an online voice can serve your needs, you may want something more professional.

A professional voiceover requires you to hire a voice actor. This actor reads from the script you create. They’ll also alter their tone and reading style based on your instructions. All of which sounds great.

The issue is that professional voice acting costs money. Prices vary from $250 for a single voiceover session to several thousand dollars if you use recognized talent. Several factors play into the cost you can expect:

How you’ll use the voiceover

A movie or videogame producer typically spends several thousand dollars on voice acting. At the same time, a YouTube content creator may spend a couple of hundred dollars.

The length of the script

The length of the script affects the time required to complete the voiceover. Expect to pay more for longer scripts, especially those that need several sessions.

Pickups

A pickup is any session where you ask the voice actor to return after delivering their original performance. For example, you may have to pay for a pickup if you change your script after recording.

Use Speechify to create voiceovers for your next project

While professional voice actors usually give the best possible performance, you may find they cost too much. Furthermore, you may decide that your voice isn’t suitable for your video or presentation. That makes text-to-speech software the best choice for your voiceover. Speechify can help.

This TTS app offers dozens of high-quality natural-sounding voices as part of its premium package. These voices come in male and female varieties, with several accents available. Speechify even has celebrity voices, with both Snoop Dogg and Gwyneth Paltrow among them.

Speechify is also a great choice if you’re recording content in a language other than English. The app features over 14 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Hindi. Each of these languages comes with a selection of voices too.

You can get Speechify for Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and as a Google Chrome extension. Better yet, you can extract any audio you create for use with your videos. Try it today with a three-day free trial.

FAQ

Is it possible to get high-quality free voiceovers?

Getting high-quality voiceovers for free is possible if you use appropriate text-to-speech software. Some can also record voiceovers using their own voices. Use Speechify to get voiceovers in good quality.

Is VoiceOverMaker free?

VoiceOverMaker is free for up to 800 characters. After that, you have to pay money to top up your characters.

What is the best voice-over for narration?

The best voice depends on the project. Corporate videos may require a professional voice, while other work, such as animated movies, needs a range of voices and tones.

How do I download a voiceover from Speechify?

It’s easy to download a voiceover from Speechify. After entering your text into the app, click the “Download” icon to download it as an mp3 recording. You can test this functionality for free on the Speechify website.