Thursday, May 22, 2014

Work Doing Voice Over Commercials

By Marci Glover


There are many aspects to advertising which most people never take into consideration. The audience may be drawn in by the visuals and catchy tunes but one of the most memorable parts of any ad is the vocals. Doing work on voice over commercials is a great opportunity though it takes patience and persistence to become truly lucrative.

One big misconception is that all a person needs to make it in this business is to sound appealing when speaking naturally. However, along with that pleasant timbre, one should also be able to use proper diction, enunciate clearly and have the capability to act through vocal expression. A big part of the job is using inflection and timing to create a believable and sincere narrative.

These skills are used quite often in works such as cartoons, video games, multimedia, audio books, documentaries and movies. They are also the key factor in many advertisements and announcements heard on the internet, radio and television. The average person is exposed to one of these spots nearly a hundred times a day just following their normal routine.

Advertising of this sort is generally placed into one of three primary categories. Local is the first tier and it mainly involves spots for businesses that serve a very confined area and announcements for hometown organizations. The next step up is regional, meaning those heard in a somewhat larger zone, and at the top is the national ads such as those for major consumer brands.

Unfortunately, a large portion of the national tier advertisements are voiced by celebrities or seasoned vocal actors, mainly because their sound is recognizable to the masses. This does not mean that one should underestimate the power, influence and profitability of ads done on the regional and local levels. There is no way a handful of veteran performers can handle every job that comes along, so opportunities will present themselves in all categories.

Very few people in this field are discovered simply because they have amazing speaking abilities. There is a process to building one's talent and becoming as marketable as possible in order to gain a higher level of success. The first step is finding a competent vocal coach who can help improve techniques and give instruction on how to best to control breathing while doing a recording.

Step two is to create a professionally recorded quality demo tape to submit as part of one's resume'. It should be sent to as many production companies, talent brokers and advertising agencies as are in the desired work area. After mailing out the CD packages, it is important to follow up with phone calls, just as one would do with any other job application.

Building success in this field requires one to exercise patience with a fair amount of persistence. Though many of the ads on the national level are reserved for seasoned performers and celebrities, there are still plenty of opportunities available. Working at either the local or regional tiers can be a great way for the novice to gain valuable experience while learning the tricks of the trade, and could become quite lucrative as skills are honed.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment