Who am I Speaking With?

Some of my readers, and by that I mean my boyfriend and my eleven-year-old cousin, have expressed some confusion over my use of the term “Voice.” Much like the creation of a television show, the creator of a podcast must choose a voice.

Now what do I mean by voice?

In this case, the actual voice used determines the seriousness of the exhibit as well as the audience that exhibit is attempting to attract. If a museum is looking for a younger, hipper crowd, then the voice in the podcast may include hints of sarcasm, humor, some more recent music, and often times, some visual effects.

This is clearly seen in Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe’s podcast of The Last Supper.



Click here to watch!

In his podcast, Mr. Witcombe is informative, interactive, and fun to watch. His voice targets the younger generation. This generation, accustomed to technology of all sorts, needs more than just narration. They need effects, quick wit, and humorous commentary. In many ways, in these podcasts, the information given about the piece being discussed is almost secondary.

On the other end of the podcast spectrum, we have something like the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.



This voice is clearly targeting the more mature and probably savvy museum audience. The narrator speaks with a professorial voice. He is not reliant on anything other than the information he can provide about the exhibit being discussed. Most likely this voice would not be as effective with Mr. Witcombe’s audience.

Interested? Click here to listen.

I hope that this has cleared up some of the confusion surrounding the role of the “voice” in podcasts.