Monday, June 2, 2014

Breaking Into 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.

Contrary to a popular belief, it takes more than just sounding good when speaking in normal circumstances to make it in this business. In addition to appealing conversational tones, one must enunciate clearly and possess a certain amount of acting capabilities. The bulk of the job is reading a script in such a way that it comes out sounding flawlessly natural with all the necessary emotions.

This is a talent that is used for many things such as movies, cartoons, audio books, documentaries, video games and many multimedia formats. Advertisements for television, radio and the internet are some of the most often heard outlets for this field of work. They are so common that many people do not even realize just how many ads they are exposed to on a daily basis.

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.

Granted, most of the national level jobs are given to celebrities simply because their voices are more easily recognizable. However, it is important to remember that the local and regional ads can be just as lucrative if one remains persistent. There are far more spots available than a handful of famous names can fill, so there are ample opportunities available in all three 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.

The next step is creating an audio audition by having a demo tape recorded in a professional quality studio. For best results, this should be submitted to all available advertising agencies, talent managers and production companies that operate during one's target work zone. The CD and written resume' mailing needs to be followed by phone calls to make sure that they are not easily overlooked.

One way to build a successful career is to be patient, yet persistent. Naturally, the national level jobs are the most desired but it can take time to become seasoned enough to land one of those positions. Taking on a number of local and regional spots to gain experience, hone one's craft and create a work history that shows versatility can be a valuable advantage when deciding to join the more competitive market at the top tier.




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