When finding the right voice for your yoga instructions, meditations, or affirmations, there are plenty of factors to consider. The good news is that, by the end of this post, you'll know exactly what you need to weigh up when deciding the best voice for your specific exercises.
Factors to Weigh Up When Finding the Right Voice for Yoga, Guided Meditations, or Affirmations
Voice Volume and Pitch
Given that you will likely pair your voice with background music, you need to consider the overall volume and pitch of your voice to ensure they are the perfect match. Ideally, given the nature of yoga and similar activities, you should be looking for a volume that's enough to be heard over the music, but not so loud that it becomes annoying or detracts from the background sounds.
In terms of pitch, you're most likely looking for soothing and relaxing tones, rather than sharp or bold pitches that could jar listeners and knock them out of focus.
Passionate vs. Detached
Your voice will guide activities such as meditating, and so you'll need to clear on whether you are looking for someone with verve and energy (useful for positive morning affirmations) or someone delivering a much more detached tone, deferring to the background music to set the mood for your meditation or breathing exercises.
Animated vs. Monotone
This dichotomy is similar to the one outlined above, the difference being that rather than evaluating the energy and passion with which they speak, you're judging a voice based on the range of tones and emotions for their voice.
Once again, relaxation exercises such as meditation benefit from more monotone (though not completely flat-pitched) voices, whereas some affirmations benefit from a voice with a greater tonal range, especially if you plan to start in one place mentally, and end up somewhere much more positive and uplifting.
Quick vs. Slow
Once again, whether you want a quick or slow narration will depend on the specific activity.
If you need someone to work their way through a lot of material, you don't want them to sound as if they are rushing. You want a voice over artist that can sound as though they are smoothly flowing through the script, deceptively covering a lot of ground.
Conversely, many yoga-inspired activities need calm, slow and relaxing voices, with long pauses in between lines of a script or instructions.
Diction
Diction refers to the pronunciation of words, which is vital when taking a group of students through yoga poses, for example. Much of the traditional yoga terminology is in Sanskrit, so you need to hire a voice over artist capable of pronouncing the words correctly.
Ideally, they will clearly demonstrate they have familiarity with the material, and you should ask for a sample or portfolio of their work to better evaluate their diction.
Male vs. Female
Last, by no means least, you may have a preference for the gender of your voice. Male voices tend to be lower-pitched (though not always), whereas female voices tend to be higher and have slightly narrow pitch ranges (perfect for relaxation exercises such as meditation).
Many yoga classes and instructions are voiced by females whose softer, higher-pitched tones are preferred for yoga classes and instructions that have their mystical origins in Hinduism and Buddhism.
There's nothing at all wrong with looking for a male voice, though. There's no real "wrong" way to go about it. At the end of the day, this choice will come down to your personal preference.
Recap: Finding the Right Voice Depends on the Activity and Your Personal Preferences
With the evaluation criteria laid out above, you can find the perfect voice for your guided yoga, meditation, or affirmation classes. In the end, the choice will come down to your specific activities and, ultimately, personal preferences.
However, if you are looking for a versatile female voice over artist with many guided meditation narrations already under her belt, then look no further! Not only am I familiar with yoga terminology, but I am flexible in terms of delivery style. I can accommodate all of your specific requests without any issues.
So, whether you're delivering a remote yoga retreat or sell guided affirmations and meditations, I am here to serve you.
You can book my voice services directly or contact me to discuss your project in more detail.
Here's to collaborating with you soon :-)
Nicky Griffiths