Audio Production
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Producing the audio portion of a speech system includes casting the voice, directing the recording of the prompts and concatenated speech, recording any audio icons, and postprocessing the recorded prompts.
The finished voice will determine the user's first impression of the system. Impressions formed within the first five seconds of an encounter are deep and lasting. To achieve the desired result, it is essential to have the following:
- Adequate time and resources
- A skilled voice actor
- A reasonable recording environment
- Good performance of the prompts
- Postproduction
The Casting Process
The casting process involves identifying the actor, auditioning actors, and in some cases, using casting studies to choose the best voice.
Identifying the Actor
It is always preferable to use professional voice actors. Recording all the prompts and concatenated speech in a successful voice system can be extremely challenging for even the most skilled voice actors. Actors who can deliver prompts that sound friendly and intelligent, and can provide understandable help, as well as being able to record sometimes hundreds of concatenated prompts in a reasonable amount of time are invariably talented and highly paid professionals. Although it is possible that an amateur voice actor could manage to convincingly record a smaller system, it is likely that any savings would be wiped out by extra studio costs due to repeat recording sessions.
The best actors are represented by agents, who will send out samples of all of the voice actors they work with that fit a given description. After narrowing the choices to a dozen or so actors who may be right for the system, the next step is to record auditions.
Auditioning Actors
The audition is an opportunity to explore working with an actor who could end up being a part of a company or a client's company for many years. It is necessary to answer some practical questions about the actor before entrusting customer conversations to this voice. Does the actor take direction well? Does he or she understand the product? Has the actor ever recorded a voice system before? Is there a good rapport between the actor and the voice producer? What about skill recording concatenated speech? Can the actor maintain consistency of pitch and volume through the audition?
An audition script can be short—two or three pages. It is important to listen for overall tone and style and it is also important to include error messages to get a sense of how an actor delivers bad news. Saying "Welcome to Blue Yonder Airline's reservation and information system" while remaining friendly and likeable is a lot easier than saying "I'm sorry I still didn't understand you" for the third time in a row. It is useful to record a sample help prompt, too.
The listener should remain focused on the voice and the information during longer instructional prompts.
Include the user's portion of the dialogue in the audition to get a clear sense of what the actor's voice will sound like in conversation with a real user. Any non-actor can record the user's voice; the dialogue will sound more realistic.
Example Audition Script
Here is an example of an audition script for a toy store call center application:
| TOYSPOT: | Thanks for calling the Tailspin Toys customer hotline, where you can PLACE AN ORDER, CHECK ON YOUR ORDER, or FIND THE LOCATION of the Tailspin store nearest you. What would you like to do? |
| CALLER: | Check my order |
| TOYSPOT: | Okay. All I need is your telephone number, area code first. |
| CALLER: | 303-555-0193 |
| TOYSPOT: | 303-555-0193. Is that right? |
| CALLER: | Yes. |
| TOYSPOT: | Good... Ah, here's your information. Did your order arrive? |
| CALLER: | No, it didn't. |
| TOYSPOT: | I'm sorry. You should have received your order by Tuesday, January 26th at the latest. Let me see if I can find out what happened. This should only take a moment... Hello? Sorry to keep you waiting. It appears that UPS delivered your order to 35 East Main Street, Golden, Colorado on January 26th. Would you like me to e-mail this information to you? |
| CALLER: | Sure. |
| TOYSPOT: | Okay, I'll send that right off to you. By the way, the Caribou Game that you were interested in last Tuesday is now back in stock. If you're still interested and would like to place an order, say BUY IT. Otherwise, say TELL ME MORE or NEVER MIND. |
| CALLER: | Never mind |
| TOYSPOT: | Sure. Is there anything else I can do for you? |
| CALLER: | <mumble> |
| TOYSPOT: | I'm sorry, I didn't understand. Try saying PLACE AN ORDER, CHECK AN ORDER or FIND A LOCATION. |
| CALLER: | Um... find a location please. |
| TOYSPOT: | Sure. According to the zip code you gave us on the Web site, the nearest Tailspin store is located at 123 Mountain Drive, Denver, Colorado. Is there anything else I can help you with? |
| CALLER: | No. |
| TOYSPOT: | Okay. Thanks very much for calling Tailspin Toys. Goodbye. |
Casting Studies
A useful way to identify the best possible voice for a system is a casting study. In a casting study, subjects that represent the target demographic for the speech application give their impressions of different voices, perhaps six to ten of the top choices. The study should ask them to rate the voices for the most important attributes for the system, such as likeability, clarity, intelligence, competence, and helpfulness, while making sure to provide the opportunity for the subjects to express their negative reactions, too.
A casting study opens up the voice selection process to a wider audience within the company, and can provide extremely useful feedback and acceptance from important decision makers. Key constituents will include those responsible for branding. It can be quite useful and instructive to hear company insiders' opinions and reactions to voices at this point in the process, although it is a good idea to keep the group to a manageable size because discussions can get surprisingly heated and opinions may vary widely at this point. The casting study will usually narrow the field to a few clear choices. If there is no single winner, either the creative team will make the decision based on variables such as speed, skill and compatibility with the director, or the company will make the final decision based on the casting study results and their own preferences.
For Further Information
The following table lists other topics discussing audio production.
| To | See |
|---|---|
| Get more information on successfully recording prompts. | Recording Audio |
| Get more information on prompt production features and techniques. | Editing Audio |
| Get more information on postproduction techniques. | Postproduction Techniques |
| Get more information on deploying prompts. | Deployment and Iteration |