eLearning

The New Kid on the Block

It’s almost hard nowadays to imagine a time when there was no eLearning,  just  “Learning.”  The  “e”  is surely here to stay, but eLearning is, in fact, relatively new.  Once upon a not-too-distant time a person might have had to wait weeks or even months to get their hands on a book that could teach them about the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt or the mating habits of the Eastern long-beaked echidna. And while it may be true that some knowledge is sweeter when we have to work to get it, it’s pretty hard to argue with the convenience of just asking whatever question comes to mind out loud while you’re sitting on your couch and having a disembodied voice answer it immediately.

Learning, Squared

With the explosion of the internet came literally endless opportunities for easy and convenient eLearning. Joe from down the street could learn how to fix his lawnmower, Jane from the coffee shop could find endless tips on crafting the perfect latte, and Riley from middle management could bone up on their leadership skills. The easy availability of video and audio made it even easier, and teachers, thinkers, companies and organizations of all stripes started putting out stupefying quantities of content for employees, students, enthusiasts and random passers by to enjoy. The field of instructional design took off like never before.

It’s About More Than Conveying Information

But creators soon learned that if their content wasn’t presented in the right way, audiences were more likely to daydream or doze off than they were to be educated. Well written and organized materials were nice, and flashy visual content was attention grabbing, but it turned out a major factor in making learning stick was an engaging speaker. And an engaging speaker doesn’t just mean someone who cares about their topic or has a lovely speaking voice (and it certainly does NOT mean a soulless robot - AI voices just don't cut it).  It means someone who can communicate content in a way that makes people sit up and listen, that makes them want to hear more. Greg from Human Resources may know the company’s code of conduct inside out and backwards, but that doesn’t mean he knows how to talk to the new interns about it effectively. If he doesn’t captivate his audience (and let’s face it - he usually doesn’t), half of them will be secretly checking their phones during his speech.

A Voice that Instructs and Inspires

As a professional voice over talent, Brian Arens knows how to deliver even the driest of material in a way that makes listeners take interest. Part of his secret sauce is that he himself would never describe content as dry. He is interested in everything (it’s kind of a nerdy superpower). And while interest alone isn’t enough to ensure a compelling voiceover, it definitely helps when a speaker can get excited about their topic. Another aspect of Brian’s skill is his previous work as a third grade teacher. (He taught these little ones happily for several years before pivoting to voice over full time.) Eight year olds don’t know how to hide their boredom when a lesson doesn’t grab them, and because Brian hates to bore people (especially kids), he quickly learned how to be a good teacher - not through flashy gimmicks or tricks, but through a genuine engagement with his material and with his learners that he now brings to all his eLearning pupils. This engagement has real consequences for instructional designers, because it means better retention (there are studies that demonstrate the superiority of professional narration in this regard). And better retention can lead to a range of benefits, from better educated employees, to a more productive workforce, to a safer working environment.

A Reliable and Relatable Male eLearning Voice Over Talent

Even when conveying the most serious of content, such as potentially life-saving safety information, training has to sound like it’s coming from someone the audience can relate to, like a friendly supervisor or a trusted expert. If there’s no humanity behind it, listeners simply will not be able to connect with the material, and therefore will not retain it. Brian Arens knows how to genuinely connect with the material and to strike just the right tone, so that regardless of whether he’s explaining critical procedures for staying safe when caught in a natural disaster in a foreign country, or an awe-filled and exhilarating science experiment for kids, his audience will be every bit as engaged as he is, because they will not only feel that they can trust him, but that they like him too. It makes a difference - and it’s why instructional designers and eLearning developers for some of the world’s biggest companies return to him again and again to narrate their training content.