We live in an age of information and communication. We are bombarded with messages of all types 24 hours a day. From 30-second commercials to hour-long infomercials; from documentary films, to video games; from telemarketing sales messages to corporate presentations; and thousands of others. Much of our time is spent assimilating and choosing to act or not act on the information we receive.

It is well known among marketing and communications specialists that there are only two ways to communicate to an audience: intellectually and emotionally. Of these, the most effective way to reach an audience is to connect on an emotional, often unconscious level. This frequently involves drawing the listener (or viewer) into a story or creating a dramatic or emotional scene that the listener can relate to. In short, effective voice-over performing is storytelling and requires acting skills. The voice-over performer, in fact, can be more accurately referred to as a voice actor.

The Voice Actor

Voice actors play a very important role in sales, marketing, and delivery of information. It is the voice actor’s job to play a role that has been written into the script. To effectively play the role and thus sell the message, the performer must, among other things, be able to quickly determine who the intended audience is, what the key elements of the message are, and how to best communicate the message using nothing more than the spoken word. Chapters 4 through 8 will cover these subjects in detail. For the moment, you only need to know that this type of work requires more from you than simply reading words off a page.

The purpose of voice acting is to get “off the page” with your message. Make it real — connect with your audience — and make the message memorable. You can think of virtually any communication as voice acting!