Many people have the wrong idea about the government—no need to roll out the long list of negative adjectives. You know what I mean. But at the heart of all government operations are people. Generally, pretty good people who (usually) start out wanting to make a difference and do things that help society in the towns, cities, states, and countries we live in. And those people deserve high-quality government training content, including engaging voiceover narration, the same as any other employee in a private company. Maybe even more so. After all, each one of us is affected by how well public employees do their jobs.
Government can be a slow-moving giant. Plodding along at a snail’s pace makes the tortoise seem like the hare. It’s designed that way. Some inefficiencies are purposefully built into the process. Checks and balances generally keep everything in place. But just because some areas of the process are supposed to be slow doesn’t mean all of them are. There is a difference between slow and steady and broken. Government entities can’t be slow to train employees on important issues like racial equality, health and safety, and new regulations. They can’t be slow to embrace new technologies and improve services that have already been implemented.
The American public sector alone employs over 20 million people. That’s over 15% of the workforce who need to be trained and upskilled. They need to keep up to date with regulations and laws. Individuals can learn and grow, be better at their jobs, and impact lives every day. Twenty million people can benefit from online training and eLearning platforms created with great stories and high-quality, engaging voice over.
Professional Voice Over for Professional Government eLearning
I was frankly disappointed a few years ago after a conversation with a large government body’s head of content creation. “Oh, we don’t hire professionals. We’re not selling anything here,” he told me. “Besides, that’s the fun part.” My reaction? Oh no. Queen for a day syndrome. This person is confusing the ability to read with the ability to perform, teach and engage to help learners reach their KPIs or achieve the goals/critical takeaways of the training. I feel bad for anyone destined to listen to ‘boring’ voices of narrators who are disconnected from the messages and lessons embedded in the script. Is it any wonder gov staff often pass around “cheat sheets” with quiz answers to speed through compulsory training? The content head was correct that eLearning isn’t selling, but he misses the mark in not understanding it’s about changing behaviors, learning, and evolving.
How to avoid and protect against cyber security threats. eLearning, whether destined for the government or the private sector, is extremely important. eLearning teaches how to use new software. It encourages the adoption of new policies and procedures. Onboarding new employees. Transfers information and knowledge that makes employees better at what they do. And it’s most effective when the human element/interface (aka narration) is a professional voice talent—a voice over artist who knows how to make sure that info resonates and stays with your learners.
Imagine if the head of a university, school, or even a corporation uttered that same sentence, “We aren’t selling anything, so we don’t hire professionals.” There are a few government regulators out there who would balk at the sentiment. And if the private sector used it to explain why their employees weren’t adequately trained in health and safety procedures. Well, there would be fines and penalties at the very least.
Voice Over that Understands eLearning and Government Training Complexities
Government employees need to stay up to date with emerging technologies, laws, and regulations. The increased popularity of eLearning is poised to streamline, improve and simplify the process. In some instances, it already has.
As someone with 30 years of experience in government eLearning voice over, I know how effective, high-quality voice over can lend itself to government eLearning subject matter. eLearning content is on the rise, and the list of government eLearning that can benefit from voice over just keeps growing:
- Municipal eLearning voice over
- State, Federal, and International Government eLearning voice over
- Sexual Harassment eLearning voice over
- Diversity eLearning voice over
- Ethic eLearning voice over
- Compliance and Regulatory Training voice over
- Administrative eLearning voice over
- Security and Awareness eLearning voice over
- Health and Safety Training voice over
- Change Management eLearning voice over
Voice Over that Considers the Learner
Considering the learner is one of the most important aspects of any training course. Is it for children, adults? Experts in their field or newbies? Your voice over artist wouldn’t communicate with a child the way they would with a medical professional or government employee adopting a complex subject matter. Giving them insight into the intended audience for your program will provide you with excellent narration. The two most popular choices of voiceover style in eLearning are ‘professional’ and ‘conversational.’
Even the professional style has much more flow and realism than ten, even five years ago. One of the reasons why the ‘conversational’ voice over has become so popular is its appeal to millennials. They make up a third of the workforce and have a casual, no-nonsense approach. Straightforward and genuine, they like to ask questions and get answers.
The tech-literate generation has grown up with fast access to information. They are used to managing change by asking their phones questions and getting answers. They move fast and adapt to change quickly. They are also more likely to want on-the-job training and move on if their job isn’t satisfying, with employee engagement lower in the public sphere than in the private sphere. The workforce’s most technology-driven sector demands training and will move on if they don’t get it, whether they work in government or elsewhere.
Government Training with Entertaining and Enjoyable eLearning Voice Over
When creating training and eLearning modules, I advocate lifting the subject matter, whether the topic is light or complex. Making information accessible to the learner but also entertaining (yep, I went there.) Debate rages around ‘entertaining education’ from in-classroom teachers to SMEs and voice over artists. Happiness helps learning. Students need to move their bodies to retain information better. Fidget spinner yay or nay? Most professionals agree learning is easier for the student when the content is engaging, entertaining, and high quality.
eLearning should be entertaining but relevant to the learning objectives. A big mistake I often see is content where the line between education and entertainment is too cut and dry. A random joke at the end of a heavy passage of information can be nice to give the learner a break. But it doesn’t make the actual educational content any less dry.
It’s one of the reasons voice over shines in eLearning. A professional voice over talent will do everything in their power to add depth and interest to a script. Interjecting personality and warmth wherever they can. We learn best when we are entertained when our brains are engaged. When even dense and challenging material is delivered in a way that engages brains. The only way to make it entertaining is to hire someone who can inject passion and clarity into it.