There are numerous genres of voiceover. A voice actor can get into animation, commercials, radio or even promo for example. Affiliate voiceover and promotional voice overs, more commonly referred to as “TV Promos”, are a consistently evolving class of voiceovers. Having done a few, but not many, promo demos and commercials for various radio affiliates and TV networks, I can tell you that the emergence of streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon prime have challenged the industry to rapidly adapt to new ways of promoting content to their audience.
Promo voiceover is very fun to do. Promotional voiceover allows a voice actor to play around with different personalities and traits that often are hidden in a typical commercial voice over spot. For example, in promo voiceover an actor must maintain a consistent energy, cadence and inflection that is unfamiliar to them. My career is heavily based on commercial and industrial voiceovers. However, I wanted to challenge myself by entering a genre that would be different than what I’m used to. Television voiceover and network promos are much more high-energy than my typical personality, so I use this opportunity to expand my range as a voice talent.
When making my promo voiceover demo I wanted to showcase the different personalities and shades of an authentic “Kabir”. Everything from the Spirit of wry and comedic to hopeful and very dark. The various emotions that network television shows cast nowadays allows one to explore the depths of the human personality. In my affiliate voiceover demo you will hear my authentic sound which is usually cast as “Urban and African-American”. But, you will also hear shades and variations of that “urban voice” sound.
I can confidently and humbly say that promo voiceover is challenging for me. It’s something that I work on and try to get better at. There are many great coaches out there that can teach you the techniques for basic promotional voiceover. But, I’m quickly learning that practice in the booth in conjunction with referencing great promo actors voice over demos is extremely beneficial. The landscape of television voiceover is much different today than it was 15 years ago. The ability for multicultural talent such as myself to get into promo and find our own unique space within it is a true blessing.
As you travel the journey of learning and becoming better in your specific genres of voiceover- be open to new methods that might be different than what you expected. I certainly had to open my mind to a vast array of techniques that I was not used to.
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Pro Tip: If you type “emotional color wheel” into Google you will find a great resource that can help you explore various depths of emotions within oneself. I often find myself and for my microphone referencing this color wheel of emotions in order to warm up before the session.
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