Male or female voice over - do you have a preference?

24 replies
When it comes to internet marketing ebooks, do you have a preference in terms of the gender of the voice over? Personally, I have none as long as the final product is crisp and clear, but I'm interested in hearing if people have differing opinions here.

~ Sirius
#female #male #preference #voice
  • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
    Sirius, when you say "eBooks", do you mean "audiobooks"? :confused:
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
    I prefer an Austrailian female voice but that's just me.
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    • Profile picture of the author dorothydot
      I think it depends on your target. I suspect that most men prefer a gentle, easy-to-understand female voice, while most women prefer a middling-deep, rich, easy-to-understand masculine voice.

      And then adjust the above according to your subject matter: i.e., for teens, make the voice a wee tad, uh, alluring? and for adults listening to a fictional mystery novel, make the voice less compelling so the novel's message dominates instead of the voice's words.

      Hope this helps,
      Dot
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    • Profile picture of the author takita787
      Originally Posted by Scott Ames View Post

      I prefer an Austrailian female voice but that's just me.

      yeah, and one that doesnt sound like its they're reading the lines for their first time
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  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    Watch a few TV commercials and listen to the voices, and then try to imagine which of those your users would most buy from.
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  • Profile picture of the author energyguy
    As long as it is in easy to understand modern english. I don't like big words that I have to try to understand what it means versus what was just said to me.

    Overall, I would prefer a male voice because it sounds more authoratative..Female voice for all marketing purposes though.
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  • Profile picture of the author ForumJoiner
    I prefer to hear the voice of the author. For instance, I love to hear the audio books read by Seth Godin.

    It's not only about how pleasant is the voice - the author usually knows best what (s)he intended to say.
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    • Profile picture of the author Gary Hicks
      I guess listeners might find a male voice more authoritative if the subject is internet marketing, but I think the content and credibility of the message is probably more important than the tone in which it's delivered.
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  • Profile picture of the author mario2001
    Banned
    I prefer female voice.


    Mario
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    It does not matter if it is a man or female. As long as you can understand what they are saying.

    Tal
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    • Profile picture of the author ildarius
      By far a female voice is preferable
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  • Profile picture of the author write-stuff
    I agree with Dot and BlogBrowser. It depends on the product and your target audience.

    - Russ
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  • Profile picture of the author ChristianM
    I tend to find female voices clearer but the most important thing for me is if I can understand them.

    I find some american accents extremely difficult to understand but I am sure the same is true for different nationalities - aim for what the most people wont be annoyed by or have difficulty with.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    Does not matter to me as long as it is easy to understand what is being said.

    James
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  • Profile picture of the author writergirlk
    I prefer a mid range female voice, as long as she doesn't sound like she's reading. Either that, or I like to hear the author's voice. Example - even though the hired people read Steven King's books better, I like hearing him read them sometimes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
    It depends on the product and who created it. If it's created by a male, and you have a female voice over, that would be rather peculiar. There's no congruency there.

    Fabian
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      It's not the gender of the voice to me - but the pitch. A high pitched voice is difficult to listen to - as is a strong accent unlike my own - or a nasal twang in a vocal.

      If you listen to announcements over sound systems in stores or at entertainment venues, you'll notice a high pitched voice is grating and harder to understand. Doesn't matter if it's male or female, but women are more likely to have high pitched voices.

      kay
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  • Profile picture of the author Dmitry
    I've once heard on Discovery (a reliable source that is) that both males and females have a better response (not sure what exactly that was meant to be) to female voices that's why the "help" voice in fighter jets is female... just what I heard.
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  • Profile picture of the author Scott Ames
    If if matters scientifically, I found this:

    The use of male or female voices in warnings systems : A question of acoustics Edworthy J, Hellier E, Rivers J - Noise Health


    excerpt:


    Some studies suggest that there are preferences for the voice of one sex over another, and this tends to favour the female voice, or the female listener, or both. For example, Whipple and Mcmanamon (2002) showed that the sex of advertisement presenters had a significant effect on the perception of gender-imaged products, but more specifically that female voices enhanced female-specific products, whereas the sex of the speaker had no effect for male-specific products. The sex of the speaker had no effect for neutral products (products directed at neither sex specifically). An earwitness testimony study (Wilding and Cook, 2000) showed that while males showed no differentiable ability to recognise male over female voices, females showed an enhanced ability to recognise female voices, as well as being more accurate overall. Thus when a preference is expressed, it seems to be for the female voice, and female listeners appear more attuned to speaker characteristics than do males.
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    • Profile picture of the author ildarius
      What does google use most often? well there is your answer!
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      • Profile picture of the author Sean A McAlister
        When it comes to business related products -male
        Everything else-female

        Online Popin's intreducing a website....Female
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  • Profile picture of the author Sirius Lin
    Wow, thanks for all the responses, guys (and girls)! Seems like there're a number of differing opinions here, but a majority seem to favour a female voice over.

    ~ Sirius
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  • Profile picture of the author takita787
    No preference really, i guess if i could chose ; a female voice.
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  • Profile picture of the author mbealmear
    If it is someting for business like an internet marketing ebook then I would use a man.
    For everything else it really depends on your target if it is women stuff use a female voice.
    Overall though as long as it is a clean, clear, voice it really shouldnt matter.
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