You know when you go to the doctor or hospital, and you have to deal with various healthcare professionals during heightened and prolonged levels of stress and worry?
Which doctors and nurses do you prefer – the academically smart and correct ones who robotically tell you what’s wrong and send you on your way, or the emotionally intelligent, empathetic ones who smile warmly and speak with concern?
Look, I love a technically correct and very clever solution as much as the next academic nerd, but when I’m stressed about a medical problem, I want the person talking to me to speak like a caring human, pay attention to me, and reassure me and my loved ones that everyone’s doing their best. It makes me feel calm, heard, and taken care of.
That’s exactly how we want people to feel when they’re listening to a medical narration voice over. Whether the audience are healthcare providers learning a new procedure, or patients finding out the details of a complicated new issue, they need to feel the human connection to help overcome the nerves or stress of learning a (sometimes bloody scary) new thing.
Yes, doctors get nervous too. Be nice to them.
What patients value in medical communication
A 2018 analysis by Healthgrades and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) examined nearly seven million patient reviews. It found that 52% mentioned at least one of five qualities: compassion, comfort, patience, personality and bedside manner.
Now, the research wasn’t about voiceovers. But I think those same qualities have a lot to teach us about how we communicate medical information, whether we’re speaking directly to a patient or narrating a healthcare training video.
Five qualities of a great medical narration voiceover
All of these qualities can (and should) translate into effective voice overs for medical eLearning, healthcare or pharmaceutical explainer videos or clinical trial procedure videos.
Compassion
“Sympathetic concern for the sufferings of others”. When explaining a complicated medical diagnosis or the workings of a pharmaceutical product, I (the voice actor) need to remember that human beings are listening to this because they’re suffering in some way. My medical voiceovers sound compassionate because I am compassionate.
Comfort
“The easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress.” A video about a person’s medical condition isn’t going to fix the problem – but a warm and reassuring voice can help ease the distress a little, making the information feel less overwhelming.
Patience
“The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.” The people watching an eLearning course about the new medication they need are likely already anxious. A knowledgeable and appropriately-paced voice explaining patiently how it works can help them absorb all the new information more easily.
Personality
“The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character.” This means: a real human being. We might be okay with robots writing our work emails and doing our vacuuming, but we need real human connection when we’re worried, hurt or confused. A good medical narration voice actor doesn’t just pronounce cool words adroitly; we allow a sense of our own caring personality to seep through the text. And that can make those big words easier to follow.
Bedside manner
“A doctor’s approach or attitude to a patient” – I’m going to assume the patients surveyed here meant they want a helpful bedside manner! And to me, this really comes down to the good old golden rule – treat other people how you’d want to be treated. When I need to listen to complicated or nerve-wracking information, I want the person delivering it to be calm, friendly and warm. So that’s how I try to deliver my medical narration.
Medical narration needs a human touch
When it comes to medical narration, the best voiceover will be a real human one. And I don’t just mean an actual human being – I mean a person who can access their own compassionate nature and naturally connect with care to the people listening.
As well as deftly pronouncing a bunch of big words. 😉
Looking for a medical narration voice actor?
I’m Sumara, an Australian voice actor specialising in medical and pharmaceutical narration. I bring warmth, clarity and technical accuracy to healthcare training, medical eLearning, pharmaceutical education and patient-facing videos.
If you’re looking for a voice that combines professional precision with a genuinely human touch, visit my Medical & Pharmaceutical Narration page to hear my work, or get in touch about your project.