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A groseria is a swearword in Spanish, not groceries. I would hope Artificial Intelligence would not make that mistake, but many translations come across my desk that were obviously not done by a human.

I’ve had the occasional client ask for my translation rates and then decide they’ll do it “in house.” Perhaps they’ll use another human and that’s great. But they may use an on-line translation method, like Google Translate.  And, while I admit, the algorithms have gotten better, it’s still no match for the human translation. AI can only do so much.

Take the word “prensa” for example. Sure, it means “press” such as reporters, or others who might have a “press pass” on their windshield.  But it does not mean the motion of pressing down on something, as in the English word “press.” If a client sends me a script that says Prensa 1, Prensa 2, (and YES this has happened multiple times) I know right away no human has glanced at the translation. This gets send back to the client for re-translation.

I’ve seen many correct words for “press” in Spanish; Oprima, Marque, Pulse, Entre are all valid words for pressing numbers on a keypad. Most IVRs I’ve recorded use “oprima” or the familiar form of it “oprime.” It’s best to be consistent when recording a phone tree, so commit to one way to say “press”and stick with it throughout the entire script.

I’ve also seen scripts where sometimes they’ll use “oprima” and further down in the phone tree they’ll use “marque.” This tells me they’ve had various people working on chunks of the translation. This can be fixed but is more of a headache for the one tasked with fixing it than anything else.

Furthermore, I shy away from offering to “fix” a script that’s already been translated. Why?

It’s actually easier to start from scratch than fix someone else’s translation. It could be just me, but the process of going from one language to the other has a flow to it.  Reading someone else’s version of the Spanish and figuring out what they were trying to say in English and then re-translating it back into Spanish is a tedious process for which I charge accordingly.

The bottom line is, it’s cheaper and faster for the client to get the translation done right the first time. This ensures the project will get recorded correctly and make you sound professional, knowledgeable and in touch with the culture of those listening to your recorded messages.

I live in the Northeast. It’s lovely to see the seasons change. We get vibrant fall colors, white winters, green springs and lush summer vegetation. But I noticed years ago that from mid-October to April, my voice changes.  If I listened to something I recorded in June and compared it to something I recorded in November, they were drastically different.  This was no good for my career. My Automotive clients in particular will often use donut recordings. In other words, they would keep the intro and outro that I recorded in the summer, for example, and redo the middle of the spot in December with their new car models and sales info. So my voice had to be consistent.  I was careful to use the same mic, same booth and same settings, but what could I do about my voice sounding the same?

Here are a few tricks I’ve learned over the years that help my voice sound the same year round.

1. I got a humidifier. This helps me breathe better, especially at night.
2. I limit dairy during the winter months. Almond milk replaces milk. It helps me feel less stuffy.
3. I bought a Neti Pot. This apparatus is relatively inexpensive and works wonders by cleaning out the nasal passages.
4. I drink honey mixed with apple cider vinegar. Bragg’s is my personal favorite. This is especially helpful if I have a long narration session or hundreds of IVR prompts to do.
5. Hydrate!!! This is important to do year round, but especially in the fall and winter. My goal is to drink 64 ounces of water daily. It is so important for us voiceover folks to stay hydrated.

Since implementing these few changes, I haven’t had any complaints that my voice sounds different from season to season.  I can enjoy the changing New England scenery and my clients get a consistent sounding Amy.