Voiceover Styles

Some like it hard, really hard. Sometimes soft and smooth works better.  But in advertising one thing remains constant; the style of voiceover chosen should always suit the message and the audience.

On commercial radio and TV we most often hear voiceovers from the “Hard Sell” category. These are the workhorse ads. They usually feature retail outlets, seasonal specials, buy-one-get-one-free offers and may include several mentions of a price or telephone number.

“Hard Sell” voiceovers are purposely made to be brash and loud as they have to breakthrough and demand attention in a busy advertising environment. 

At the other end of the voiceover spectrum we have the “Soft Sell”. This is the voiceover style we hear on ads for cosmetics, fine dining and luxury (a.k.a. expensive) items.

Some product messages require a voiceover that encourages confidence in the product or service. Here the style chosen is often referred to as a “Corporate Voice”. You will hear this delivery style on ads promoting medical services, life insurance, aged care and the like.

Advertisers will occasionally use a “Character Voice” to reinforce a brand personality or assist recall. This could be the voice actor portraying a tradesman in an attempt to add validity to a claim about a building product.  If the ad is hoping to convey a message of good value, the character voiceover might be read with a Scottish accent to imply thrift. Similarly, where a product claims to be 100% Organic, it might be given a touch of Sir David Attenborough.

Here at Media Group our recording studios record and produce voice overs daily in every genre imaginable for radio, TV, Cinema, Video Presentations, eLearning and Internet use. In addition to our professional male and female voiceover talent here in Australia, we source international voice artists the world over.