2017 will be remembered as a year politics took centre stage (for better or worse).

Did you know, though, that choosing the right professional voice talent for political campaigns and advertisements could have a degree of influence on a politician’s success?

That’s according to Rosario Signorello, a phonetician and voice scientist at the Laboratoire de

Phontique et Phonologie in Paris, who has dedicated the last seven years of his life to researching political leaders across the globe and assessing their acoustical patterns.

The aim of his study was to figure out why certain political leaders find success during their careers, and what aspects of their voice make them particularly successful. The results discovered by Signorello and his team are truly astounding, and go a long way to explaining why younger professional voice talent is used on the campaign trail before an election.

Professional voice talent is key to reaching voters

The team’s researchers played clips of older and younger politicians to native and foreign audiences; some of the tests involved dialogues where listeners couldn’t understand the context and content of their subjects’ speeches.

They also varied their tests between politicians with younger-sounding voices to those who have suffered from afflictions impacting their speech, including Umberto Bossi, an Italian party leader whose vocals were affected by a stroke.

Throughout their various trials audiences were more attracted to younger, healthier-sounding voices. Signorello himself says: “It suggests that if you care about your political career, you need to do what you can to maintain your healthy voice. In certain cases, younger political voices were found to be ‘charming, reassuring and creative’ – especially interesting when the context of what they’re saying is taken out of the equation.

That research also goes a long way to understanding why younger voice talent is used when it’s time for politicians to canvas votes. Using youthful voice talent – according to Signorello’s study, at least – is a charismatic way to attract voters of varying demographics, to give a stronger impression of the candidate in voters’ minds and better get their message across, whether over social media channels, radio, television and more.

Voice talent can help you reach out to new audiences

Signorello, though, also points out that there is no ‘best’ voice; no all-in- one vocal that pleases

absolutely everyone and encourages calls to action. “In each example the vocal patterns are so diverse you never find the same answers; all trigger different emotional states and convey different personality traits,” he says.

Which is why, if you’re looking to work with professional voice talent to enhance your promotional materials and cultivate new audiences, it pays to look beyond the vocals. It’s essential to research the market you wish to target; the types of media they’re digesting, are most receptive to, the channels they’re viewing or listening to, and much more besides.

Working with an agency specializing in voice casting, localization, post-production formatting and more can not only help you to discover the best vocal approach for your needs, but also reach out to multinational, international audiences in a language they understand.

Voice Talent Online works with 1,500 voice talents, fluent in more than 75 languages. We speak your language – contact our team today to find out more