Medical Narration

MEDICAL NARRATION is a specialization within voiceover work that is critical to hospitals, medical marketing firms, medical device manufacturers, universities, medical research organizations, physicians, medical students, patients, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Medical Narration covers applications from educating medical students, to training physicians on new techniques and procedures, to instructing patients on how to use medical devices or manage their health and wellness.

Medical Narration applications include medical training, healthcare e-learning, medical animations, hospital videos, online medical classes, medical conferences & presentations, pharmaceuticals, and more.  Top pharmaceutical companies, like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Merck & Co., AbbVie, Abbott Laboratories, Eli Lilly & Co, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Gilead Sciences rely on highly technical and accurate narration for the media that supports their R&D and sales.

Professional medical narration has three essential qualities:  clear delivery, complete accuracy, and the ability to engage the audience.

Clear Delivery

Clarity is integral to the delivery of medical information.  Imperfect understanding can cause confusion at best or have serious ramifications that can literally affect life and death.  You need a medical narrator who understands the flow of the material to ensure clarity with natural and logical delivery.

Presenting information in a clear, understandable, logical flow is an art and a necessary one.  A professional medical narrator knows how to place appropriate emphasis on critical words and phrases, use vocal intonation to highlight important points, and of course, speak clearly.  The message must be relayed precisely so that even complex information can be understood correctly and used effectively.

Complete Accuracy

Medical Narration inherently consists of intricate terminology and exact language, and absolutely requires precise pronunciation coupled with a natural delivery.  It is essential to correctly pronounce even the most complex medical vocabulary.  Accuracy is critical.

The fact is, not all voice actors are able to perform medical narration with the degree of accuracy it requires.  The vocabulary created and used by scientists and researchers is, quite honestly, beyond the ability of most people to even attempt to pronounce.  Nonetheless, these words are critical to the medical profession and must be applied correctly and effortlessly by the medical narrator.

Unconvincing narration would be distracting and could undermine the effectiveness of the presentation.  Professional medical narrators will deliver your content without missing a beat.  This often requires meticulous research by the voice over professional to guarantee that every word is applied with absolute accuracy.

Engage the Audience

Medical Narration requires care to engage the audience.  This places demands on a narrator beyond other types of voice over work because of the complex and crucial subject matter.  At its core, medical narration is about our health and our lives.  The content itself can be difficult for listeners to fully absorb.  If the medical narrator does not engage the audience, the message is lost.

A professional medical narrator overcomes this by focusing attention on the audience, rather than on the effort required in delivering the material.  Care and focus on delivery have a powerful impact and ensure a high level of audience engagement regardless of the medical subject being presented.  By focusing on the purpose of the material, a narrator can get past challenging terminology and dry content, and wholly engage the audience.

Medical voice-over professionals not only need to articulate the terminology with precision, but we must also deliver the script in a way that helps our audience fully grasp what is being taught.

How can you tell a story you don’t know?

Medical narration, while not an anecdote or work of fiction, can be at its core a form of storytelling.  It tells of biological processes, teaches how diseases work, or gives background and instruction on medical devices and processes or countless other applications.  To tell this story, we must know the big picture.

This seemingly abstract idea is something that could potentially save someone’s life.

A skilled voice over professional is also an eloquent storyteller, and medical narration offers the opportunity to breathe creative life into important, perhaps even life-changing information.

Though a medical narrator by no means has the same credentials as a doctor or pharmacist, they must sound like a credible authority ‑‑ after all, it is the voice representing the expert.

From the audience’s perspective, the narrator is the qualified professional ‑‑ the “medical expert” teaching this critical information!  Thus, it is absolutely necessary that the medical narrator comes across with complete accuracy, authenticity, precision, and style.

From a storyteller’s perspective, the goal is to provide the audience with a perfect balance of authority, professionalism, authenticity and trustworthiness commanded by an expert.

This is no easy task in such a technical field.

Finding highly skilled medical narrators can be extremely difficult.

Communicating Complex Information with Clarity and Enthusiasm

How do I as a voice over professional rise to the challenge of breaking down complex information and conveying it with clarity and enthusiasm ?

Being mindful of the audience is key, especially when it’s intended for patients.  If I know the material is patient-facing, I’ll maintain a slower delivery pace so the patients can process new information and understand how it affects them.

Also, enthusiasm carries over ‑‑ so if I make it pleasurable, the audience will better identify with complex, and perhaps intimidating, information.  Let’s face it, technical information can easily become dry and dull.  I work on keeping the audience engaged ‑‑ retaining their attention and focus so that they receive vital information.

I put in the work needed to narrate complex subjects with tongue-twisting terminology in a formal yet conversational style.

We all have an audio picture of the caring, compassionate, trusted family doctor ‑‑ and I have that voice.  For patient-facing media, it’s easier for patients to listen to and absorb information if they believe that an actual doctor is speaking.

For media oriented to other medical professionals, even if it’s known that I’m not a physician, my delivery instils more confidence and gravitas in material that sounds like it is being dispensed by a colleague.

When my voice tells your story, whether technical or heartfelt, I deliver your message with the authority, clarity, and warmth your patients and physicians deserve.

When the subject is as important as life-saving medical information, you wouldn’t want to leave that kind of work in just any hands, would you?  You cannot risk mediocre narration.  You would seek out a specialist, the best you could find.  You need a specialized medical narrator with the ability to instil trust and confidence for your audience while communicating your material clearly and accurately.

My pronunciations are guaranteed ‑‑ credibility, clarity, and fluency in medical terminology ensures your audio will be precisely what the doctor ordered.

Go ahead, contact me today and I will make the voice over narration of your medical project a success.

–  Rodney POWELL  { the “Doctor” of Voice Over }