A recent voice-over trend report revealed that demand for female voice is increasing. It showed that the number of new job postings for female voices is growing faster (24%) than the rate of new jobs posted for males (16%). And it’s a trend that is gaining momentum. In a traditionally male-dominated world of voice-over, why might this be happening? Will there come a time when demand for female voice exceeds that of the male voice?
Women don’t just buy for themselves; they also make purchasing decisions for the family and the household. In fact, women drive 70-80% of all consumer purchasing through a combination of buying power and influence!
This makes women the target audience for a lot of products, services and brands. Just turn on the TV or the radio; you’ll find that most of the advertising would be targeted at women.
Women also tend to listen and trust the opinions of other women; there’s an emotional connection and intimacy created by a woman just chatting with another woman (almost like friends). Women like the reliability of hearing from a person who is just like them.
Therefore, if you were pitching products and services to women, it would make sense to deliver the message in a female voice.
People in general, like and trust a female voice more
Voice can be a very important tool to instill trust. And it was found that humans can decide on traits like trustworthiness and aggressiveness with one single word.
Psychologist Phil McAleer recorded 64 different people saying “Hello” and played the voices back to listeners. He found that the higher-pitched female voices were perceived as more trustworthy because high-pitched voices hint at confidence, without being too aggressive. The least trusted voice was the most low-pitched.
The most trusted voices also dropped their voices at the end of a phrase, as this indicated certainty.
Female voices are more soothing and melodic
Soothing voices put people at ease. And when people feel comforted they are more inclined to trust.
Female voices are also more melodic; they are even processed in a different part of the brain. A University of Sheffield study found that female voices are processed in the part of the brain that processes music, while male voices are processed in the back of the brain, in an area known as the “mind’s eye”.
The sound of helpful intelligence
Female voices can be perceived as intelligent, without the domineering and commanding edge of male voices.
In terms of communications content, this works well to persuade people that while the voice-over is an expert, she is also friendly and understanding. She serves as a guide for the viewer as opposed to an authoritarian leader or a boss. For corporate videos, explainer videos, e-learning and training materials, this is perfect.
And this nurturing, helpful trait is also why most of the technology we’ve come to rely on is female-voiced.
Think of Siri and Alexa and Google Home.
Researchers say that most people, male and female tend to prefer the warmth of the female voice, even with their AI.
Female voices make users feel as if technology is being helpful; it solves their problems for them in a soothing, non-confrontational way.
Male voices can be perceived as commanding; telling users what to do instead of pointing out solutions. While people enjoy the help, they still like to maintain some illusion of control over the process, rather than simply being told what to do.
Millions of Songs
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