More Than Words: The Role of a Culture Expert in Voiceover
When it comes to voiceover projects that cross borders, having a culture expert involved can make all the difference. A culture expert (or cultural consultant) in voiceover ensures your script and its delivery respect and reflect the target audience’s cultural norms. This goes beyond translation – it’s about insight into humor, gestures, etiquette, and values that are often unspoken. In my work as a cultural consultant for Arabic projects, I’ve seen firsthand how a small cultural tweak can save a campaign from falling flat.
Guarding against cultural missteps: Even global brands can stumble. Remember how some ad campaigns have made headlines for unintentionally offending an audience? A culture expert’s job is to prevent that. For example, a script might include a harmless hand gesture in a Western context – but that same gesture could be offensive in an Arab country. By reviewing scripts and visuals, a cultural consultant flags these issues early. Similarly, certain words or phrases might carry double meanings or unfortunate connotations in another language. It’s our role to catch that before it’s recorded.
Enhancing authenticity: Beyond avoiding errors, cultural expertise enriches the content. Suppose you’re producing an audiobook set in Saudi Arabia. Having a cultural expert involved means character dialogue will reflect local speech patterns and attitudes. The result? Listeners in that culture nod along, feeling “they got it right!” As a bilingual voiceover artist familiar with both Arab and Western audiences, I often advise on nuances like how a respectful tone might differ in Arabic versus English. Sometimes it’s adjusting the level of enthusiasm or formality in the narration to match cultural expectations.
Ultimately, involving a culture expert in your voiceover or localization project is like having cultural insurance. You gain confidence that nothing in your content will be “lost in translation” – literally or figuratively. Instead, you gain plenty that’s added in localization. It shows your audience that you took the time to understand them, which is the first step in earning their respect. In a world where content is consumed globally, this role is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity for any project that aims to truly connect.