Just what is a pronouncer? First, let’s zoom out and look at our core business. Producing error-free telephone recordings in Spanish, French, English, and over 80 other languages for call centers is our primary business service. Our customers need their brand names, people, addresses, etc. correctly pronounced by our voiceover talent.
What Is a Pronouncer?
Often, a clearly understandable “pronouncer” – visual or audio – is used to convey precise proper noun pronunciation to our Voice Artists. Pronouncers are used to document correct pronunciation and are shared between our company, our customers, and our Voice Artists.
How to Use Pronouncers to Indicate Correct Pronunciation
There are a number of pronunciation tips for Auto Attendant prompts and IVR Prompts. First, the scriptwriter should carefully review their script for any hard-to-pronounce words, and even words that have a chance of being pronounced in different ways by different people. Those that employ Marketing Messages for IVR recordings know that reviewing scripts for potential mispronunciation is a service we provide.
We also recommend reading the script aloud. Speaking the correct pronunciations along with any alternate pronunciations gives stakeholders a chance to decide what they want recorded, and equally beneficial – what they don’t want recorded.
Best Methods of Conveying Pronunciation
Written pronouncers for voiceover are the easiest and quickest way to indicate correct pronunciation. These can be fortified with phonetic writing and diacritical marks.
But our recommended, foolproof method is to find a perfect example of any words in question being said aloud. For example, if the CEO or Marketing Director can be found in an audio recording or online video saying any of her company brand names in question, we call this a “primary source.” Likewise, people that introduce themselves before a speaking engagement and pronounce their own name are also primary sources. Their own audio can be taken as gospel. They way say their name is the way our Voice Artists should record them. If the audio can be found online, our production team can extract the audio snippets so that our sales team can provide the audio to our Voice Artists.
We even provide a phone line for recording audio pronouncers. Our customers are welcome to call this line and speak the words in question into the phone. Like magic, their recording is instantly sent to our production team, which ultimately ends up being heard by our Voice Artists.
If you have any questions about finding and conveying the correct pronunciations for your scripts, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our sales team will happily help you move forward to advance the cause.