In the last installment of voice gym, we talked about opening our physical body to the practice of voiceover with side stretches, breath work, and warming up our MLT (mouth, lips, and tongue). In this new installment we’ll talk about how practicing the scripts themselves can be incredibly helpful to the artform before you ever step foot into the booth! Without further adieu, here are some professional IVR prompts to integrate into your practice to make sure you’re performing your best:
1. Greetings Message
As we’ve mentioned before, greetings messages are incredibly important because they are often the first place where a company establishes their voice with their audience. If you choose to use professional IVR prompts to integrate into your voiceover practice, this one is always a good choice. They can go something as follows:
Hello, you’ve reached the phone line of [insert business name]. Your call is currently being connected. Thank you for reaching out today, our operators are ready to assist your call.
2. On-Hold Message
These professional IVR prompts are a staple in most any business, large or small, and one that you would do well to be versed with in your voice acting practice. If you haven’t integrated these into your repertoire yet, there’s no time like the present! They often go something like this:
Hello there! Our agents [or staff members] are currently busy taking other calls, but if you remain on the line we will be with you shortly. Thank you so much for your patience. We look forward to serving you.
3. IVR Menu Options
Okay, okay. We know this professional IVR option might not be the most fun out of the bunch to practice, but it’s a really prevalent one at large corporations and it’s a sure thing that at some point in your voiceover career, you’ll snag one of these contracts! Remember: the basics are sometimes the most important, so next time you’re practicing your craft, be sure to add in a little something like:
Hello and thank you for taking the time to call [insert business name]. If you know the extension of the party you’d like to reach, you may enter it now with your keypad. Otherwise, please listen to the following menu–
This particular IVR prompt is important because many times this is where translations come into key. For instance press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish, often follows many of these kinds of greetings. This voice gym might not be as meditative as breath work or as fun as vocal trills, but practicing your professional IVR prompts will keep your instrument fresh and ready for hire when a business in need comes knocking at your door.
If you’d like to learn more about professional IVR prompts and how Worldly Voices produces these and distributes them to the public, please reach out! We’d love to talk about how partnering with our talented studio team is the right call for you.
