Voice actor Peter K. O’Connell as Santa…or is it REALLY Santa??

Okay, okay — I know it’s not even Halloween yet. But here I am, having been knee-deep in Christmas scripts for a while.

Sorry folks, the holidays have arrived again (certainly for some months now — in the world of voiceover).

For voice actors, this time of year is pure magic. The studios have been buzzing with holiday energy, and as you’ve seen and heard in retail stores (and some media) ad agencies, production studios, and digital media teams are cranking out festive campaigns for radio, TV, streaming, and social.

It’s honestly one of the most fun times to be behind the mic.

Why the Holidays Matter So Much in Voiceover

The holiday season is huge — not just for shoppers, but for brands and voiceover professionals alike. Here’s a snapshot of just how important Q4 really is in the U.S.:

Top 5 U.S. Holiday Advertising & Consumer Facts:

• U.S. consumers planned to spend around $1,595 on average for the 2025 holiday season. (Deloitte)

• Holiday retail sales were forecast to reach about $1.66?trillion, with 92% of consumers planning to shop this season. (ICSC)

• Nearly half of U.S. shoppers planned to make purchases before Thanksgiving, showing how early brands need to start their campaigns. (Circana 2025 Report)

• U.S. digital ad spending was expected to exceed $300?billion in 2025, with digital video (including CTV) growing around 16% year-over-year. (eMarketer)

• For the 2025 holidays, 37% of consumers planned to shop in September/October, earlier than the 32% planning purchases in November/December. (AdRoll 2025)

Top 5 Voiceover / Audio Advertising Stats:

• Holiday-themed audio ads can boost purchase intent and brand recall by 26%. (Audacy/Consumable)

• In Q4 2024, U.S. listeners spent 67% of daily audio time with ad-supported radio, 18% with podcasts, and 12% with streaming audio. (Nielsen)

• Multi-channel holiday audio ads delivered 55% higher conversions, with festive voiceover cues playing a key role. (Radio Ink Q4 Case Study)

• Retailers using holiday-themed audio ads saw a +5.2-point lift in unaided brand awareness and a +5.7-point boost in purchase intent. (Audacy / Radio Ink)

• In-store audio ads with voiceovers influence Gen-Z buying behavior about 5× more than Baby Boomers during the holiday season. (Vibenomics 2025)

The Fun Part: Playing in Santa’s, er…Peter’s Audio Workshop

This is where it gets really fun for us. Around the holidays, we get to lean into all sorts of characters.

I’ve voiced Santa Claus (more times than I can count), elves, reindeer — even the occasional overly excited toy robot. I haven’t voiced Mrs. Claus…yet!

There’s something special about bringing those characters to life — a blend of storytelling, humor, and warmth that keeps holiday advertising feeling personal and memorable.

Why It All Matters for Commercial Producers and Creative Directors

For producers, ad agency creative directors, studio engineers, and digital media creators, the holidays are go time. In my opinion, the only more pressure-filled, deadline ridden time is political season. That’s a special kind of fast and furious.

In Q4, every project has a rush deadline, every brand wants to sound fresh, and every campaign is racing to hit that emotional sweet spot before the year ends.

That’s where seasoned voice talent comes in — folks who can pivot from warm and cozy to bright and energetic, and who can bring characters (and products) to life under tight turnarounds.

So yes — even though it’s technically spooky-season right now, my studio already smells faintly of pine needles and peppermint. And that’s just fine by me.

Here’s to a busy, merry, and microphone-filled holiday season ahead.

The holiday mic is hot, and my studio smells faintly of peppermint. Need a festive voice for Santa, elves, or quirky toys? Let’s make some Christmas voiceover magic — peter@audioconnell.com | 716-572-1800 or 919-283-1516

Tags: advertising, character voices, commercials, marketing, political advertising, radio, tv, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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When people hear I’ve done commercial voice over work for national brands like Duracell, Lowe’s Home Improvement, L.L.Bean, and Crest Toothpaste (among others), they often assume that’s all I do. And hey, I get it—big brands, big reach.

But here’s the thing: I genuinely love lending my voice to local commercials and regional commercials just as much. There’s something deeply rewarding about working with a local business and helping them sound like a national brand—without the national brand budget (but make no mistake, keep the national brand paychecks coming, national brands!) 🙂

A great local commercial example?

A recent TV commercial voice over project I voiced for Next Plumbing, a homegrown company in Lafayette, Louisiana. (You can watch the ad below—it turned out beautifully.)

The production team delivered top-tier visuals, so they wanted a voice over artist who could match that level of quality: warm, confident, and relatable without sounding too “salesy.” As a full-time professional voice actor, I brought the same polish and tone that I use for national campaigns, but with a local sensibility that helped the TV spot really shine.

Whether it’s a regional spot for Ford, Maaco, or even the Cleveland Browns, I approach every job—big or small—with the same attention to the voiceover performance detail. I treat every English language spot or narration the same.

As an experienced voice over talent, I know how to bring a message to life in a way that resonates with audiences. From radio voice over to marketing narrations and explainer videos, from YouTube ads to online promos, I offer dependable, high-quality voice over services that help brands connect with their audience. Business size doesn’t matter.

So if you’re in voice casting mode for your next local, regional, or national campaign, I’d love to help. Your project deserves a great voice—and I’d be honored if it were mine.

Tags: announcers, casting, commercials, narrations, radio, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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The multi-state devastation left over from Hurricane Helene (which hit my state on September 27th) shattered countless lives.

Swannanoa residents walk through devastating flood damage from the Swannanoa River in western North Carolina on Sunday.
PHOTO CREDIT: Travis Long / The News & Observer / TNS via Getty Images

Some of the hardest hit communities include those on the western side of North Carolina, in and around Asheville, where rains and the resulting massive floods left many neighborhoods (and lives) in complete ruin.

While national, state and local agencies and volunteers are working to bring aid to those in need, this recovery will require a lot of time and even more money.

There will be no quick fixes or magic wands to solve the devastation.

To help make people aware of the problem and encourage donations for the recovery effort from Hurricane Helene, I’ve produced an audio public service announcement that is available for broadcast use, web use and podcast use to spread the word of where donations are accepted.

FREE PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA FOLLOWING HURRICANE HELENE

(Please note, in this time audio pirating, no portion of the audio from this PSA may not be use for any other purpose than the purpose stated above). LINK HERE.

There are many worthwhile organizations that are accepting donations to aid the Hurricane recovery efforts. For the purposes of this free recording, I chose the following:

• The North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund – helping Hurricane ravaged communities recover from catastrophic damage – donate at nc.gov/donate
• Catholic Charities USA, where 100% of Hurricane gifts collected will go to support recovery efforts. Visit CatholicCharitiesUSA.org
• The American Red Cross, which is accepting Hurricane Helene donations at redcross.org/donate

If you are don’t work in broadcast or don’t produce a podcast, but know people who do, please feel free to share this post and this PSA with them.

Thanks.

This audio public service announcement (PSA) to support regional and national fundraising efforts for Western North Carolina – as a result of Hurricane Helene – is available for FREE all broadcast (Radio/TV/Cable), Podcasters and Webcasters who support this effort. No other use of this audio is permitted.

Tags: audio'connell voice over talent, commentary, podcast, podcasting, public service announcement, radio, tv by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Here I go again….first with the fauxditions and now Fake ID’s.

Remember some years ago, I produced the fake auditions for the announcer jobs for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (who turned out to create some fake news of his own)?

Then we did Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer!

Well here is ANOTHER fun, creative and totally fake audio project that I think folks will enjoy.

I’m calling it Fake ID’s – where we all produce radio station top of the hour ID’s from the favorite radio stations of our youth.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOUT PRODUCING FAKE ID’S — a creative radio production project hosted by radio imaging talent Peter K. O’Connell:
 
 

As radio professionals and voice talent, we all grew up listening to radio much more intently than our friends…a little less about the music and more about the production and how and what the DJ’s said.

And we all had our favorite radio stations – whether in our home towns or the flame throwing, 50,000 watt Towers of Power stations dialed in to on clear nights (like WLW Cincinnati, KMOX St. Louis, WLS Chicago, KNX Los Angeles or like my hometown WKBW in Buffalo — there are a whole bunch more, but you get the point). Any station, any format…whichever station you remember and were drawn to can be featured in your ID (one entry per person, please).

This project is about creating your version of your favorite radio station’s top of the hour ID (slogan, call letters, frequency, sound effects, music bed, jingle…whatever combination you need with your voice to make that old id come back to life).

Please make the ID for a station and format from at least 10 years ago – nothing current. Also this project is open to men AND women — whether or not the original ID was voiced by a man, for this project a woman’s voice is welcome.

So let’s have fun, let’s be creative and let’s do what we do best.

Please email your MP3 audio submission to: peter at audioconnell dot com.

Tags: fake id's, fauxdition, radio, radio imaging, silliness, video by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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For schools, especially colleges and universities, I can’t imagine anything much more annoying than alumni.

Whether the alumnus is a big donor (not me) or a little donor (sometimes me), donors always seem to want something.

I want some wins for the University of Dayton in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (well, wins for ALL their men’s and women’s sports but focusing now on men’s basketball).

The great news today was that Coach Anthony Grant’s 2024 Flyer’s had a very strong season and became one of two Atlantic 10 teams to punch their ticket into the big dance.

All that means for me is that the Tournament Madness is a little more fun for me and my family.

No, we are not a big basketball family but UD helps make this time of year more fun when they get in the tournament. That’s all.

And the days before the tournament starts (like the days before the regular season schedule of my Buffalo Bills), we can each dream big and imagine all the possibilities of winning it all! 🙂

That’s the way it is with most annoying alums like me. 😉

For the players, staff and families of the team within my Catholic university, I hope they all enjoy this time in their lives in the same way I enjoyed my time at UD in the 80’s (especially my time at WVUD-FM {where this broadcasting and voiceover journey all meshed together with me and UD} – that’s me on-the-air in the back of that graphic).

Win or lose, #GoFlyers // #LetsFly .

Tags: commentary, radio, university of dayton, WVUD by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Community service work is certainly good for the soul but it can also lead to unexpected and deeply appreciated recognition.

In my volunteer work for non-commercial, listener supported Divine Mercy Radio here in Raleigh, I help the radio station with programming and production work.

Last week, EWTN Global Catholic Radio honored Divine Mercy Radio with their Crystal Microphone Award for Best Top of the Hour ID from among the network’s amazing 350 Catholic radio affiliates.

This is the project for which we received our recognition:

Tags: commentary, community, radio, radio imaging, raleigh by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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