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A microphone, a finish line and a Saturday morning that reminded me exactly why I do what I do.

Last week when I did the live announcing for the Apex (NC) Chamber of Commerce’s Run The Peak 10K & 5K race, it was fun on many levels, including a few I had not thought about.

I’ve been doing Live Announcing and Emceeing (like at the Run) for decades.

It’s always a great gig, as is the Voice of God (VOG) work as well. Whether it’s a race, a corporate event, an awards ceremony or a conference, live event hosting and emceeing is one of my favorite things to do as a voiceover professional.

But I had not done anything local in a while, so I forgot how many friends I would likely see at the race.

In addition to the many new folks I met, like the team at Peak City Drone who captured awesome drone footage of the race, I also caught up with some relatively old friends.

Out of the crowd came Aaron Lurie from VMA Studios in Fuquay-Varina, whose photography is more like artistic storytelling. It’s just so sharp, and he has the most infectious, happy attitude. https://vmastudios.com/

Both Peak City Drone and VMA were kind enough to share some of their footage and photos with me so I could cut together a quick one-minute video of my performance as a Live Announcer and Emcee at Run The Peak.

Also out of nowhere I heard someone call “Peter! Hi Peter!” and it was Natasha Gilliam from TLG Film Group! We had a lovely visit and she took some pictures of me that look great and that I am free to use, so you’ll be seeing them on social media. She has real talent because I don’t look like my weirdo self in the shots. That takes artistry!

I was so lucky to reconnect with current friends and make new ones. It made getting up at o-dark-thirty on a Saturday morning completely worth it!

HERE’S THE VIDEO WITH VIDEO FROM PEAK CITY DRONE AND PHOTOGRAPHY FROM VMA STUDIOS:

Tags: commentary, emcee, live announcing, VOG, voice of God, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Look, I’ll be honest with you.

When I moved from Buffalo to Raleigh after five decades, I had a moment of voiceover panic. Do I just… pretend Buffalo never happened? Do I scrub 30+ years of Western New York history from my website and go full North Carolina?

That felt wrong. Really wrong. After all, one does not simply erase Buffalo out of his system. Nor does one want to (#GoBills).

But here’s the other side of it: after 10 years in Raleigh, I think I’ve paid my dues. I’ve survived enough North Carolina summers to earn my humidity badge. I know what “Apex” means without needing GPS. I’ve even stopped reflexively saying “pop” instead of “soda” (okay, that’s a lie, but I’m working on it).

So I figured I should create a dedicated Raleigh North Carolina voice talent page on my website, even though my Buffalo Niagara voice talent page is still very much alive and kicking.

Why the North Carolina Voiceover Connection Matters

Here’s the thing: even though I work remotely with clients worldwide via Source-Connect, local connections still matter. The Triangle area is booming with tech companies, universities, and creative agencies that need commercial voiceover, narration, character voice work and corporate video content. As a professional voice actor now based in Raleigh, I wanted to make it crystal clear that I’m here and available for both local sessions and remote projects throughout North Carolina.

But I’m also still very much a Buffalo guy. That city shaped everything about my broadcasting career, from my first radio station field trip as a kindergartener to decades of work with Western New York clients like Rich Products and the Buffalo News. Buffalo taught me the work ethic and authenticity that define how I approach every voiceover project today.

The Dual Identity Advantage

I genuinely am both a Raleigh resident AND a Buffalo native (I even kept my 716 phone number). This gives me unique positioning as East Coast voiceover talent who can serve clients from Charlotte to Durham to Greensboro to Apex to Cary to Buffalo and everywhere in between.

Whether you’re a producer in the Research Triangle Park looking for a Raleigh recording studio for a directed session, or a Buffalo agency needing a narrator who gets Western New York, I’m your guy. Same voice talent, same professional studio, same commitment to making your project sound great. For me, geography is flexible, but voiceover quality never is. You get that way after 40 years in this business.

Tags: commentary, North Carolina, raleigh, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Let me start with a confession that every solopreneur in the voiceover industry will understand: writing about yourself is excruciating.

I just published a completely revamped “About” page at audioconnell.com. It was one of the hardest web pages I’ve ever written. Not because I don’t have 40-plus years as a professional voice actor to draw from. The awkwardness comes from having to sound braggadocious. Listing campaigns. Name-dropping clients. Talking about awards and testimonials from people in the business.

Ick!! That’s just not who I am.

But here’s what pushed me to finally revamp this page on my website and update this content: the way casting directors find voice talent has fundamentally changed. Traditional search engine optimization isn’t enough anymore because people aren’t just googling “voice actor” and clicking through links.

They’re using voice search and asking AI assistants conversational questions like “Who’s an experienced automotive voice talent with Source-Connect in North Carolina?” and getting direct answers. If your content isn’t optimized for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), you’re invisible to this growing search method that’s adding millions of sessions monthly.

The Uncomfortable Truth
Here’s my struggle: how do I mention that I voiced the Maaco “Uh-Oh, Better Get Maaco” campaign without sounding like I’m showing off? How do I talk about being character voices for Kraft Dinner or doing the Crest “Pro-Active Defense” commercials without feeling like a braggart? How do I highlight my corporate narration and live announcing work without coming across as self-important?

But then I realized: casting directors aren’t reading “About” pages anymore. They’re asking ChatGPT. They’re using Perplexity. They’re having AI tools create shortlists based on specific criteria and user intent. If your website content (like this reconstructed “About” page) doesn’t answer those natural language queries with clarity, you don’t make the shortlist.

The Part That Made Me Squirm
You know what was worse than listing clients? Showcasing testimonials. Geez!!!

Don’t get me wrong, the clients who provided them are lovely and were genuinely happy to contribute. But having to originally request them felt so cringe. Posted them on a “Client Testimonials” page…ack!!!

Now I’ve got to put some of them on my “About” page on top of my testimonials page because that’s what content strategy demands in 2025???? Feels rather clownish for me.

BUT it’s the craziness of how internet search works now. You need authoritative sources and third-party validation scattered throughout your site because AI systems are looking for that confirmation everywhere, not just in one spot.

Something about it still makes my skin crawl. Like stepping on a wet bathroom floor in socks.

The Structure Question
I wrestled with how to organize everything to make AI happy (because evidently that also now part of my job description). Do I lead with my origin story? Do I jump right into the client roster? How do I structure my explainer video samples and voice of god demos?

I finally realized the answer: both. But in scannable sections with clear brand messaging that work for human readers and AI systems alike, optimized for featured snippets and question-based queries.

Why I’m Telling You This
I’m writing this because I know a lot of you are in the same boat I was in.

You know your old “About” page is outdated. You’re not doing any (or enough new) SEO copywriting or content creation to improve your organic traffic. But the thought of writing about yourself, of listing your achievements, of including client testimonials makes you deeply uncomfortable.

I get it. I felt/and still feel/ exactly the same way.

But here’s the truth: if casting directors and producers are using AI tools powered by large language models to research voice over talent, and they are, then your discomfort with self-promotion is literally costing you work.

The page is live now at audioconnell.com/about.

Check it out. See how I handled the awkwardness.

See if it helps you think differently about your own site’s content optimization.

And if you’re still struggling with the braggadocious feeling? Remember: it’s not bragging if it helps the right people find you for the right projects.

Peter K. O’Connell is an award-winning professional voice actor, live announcer, and voiceover coach based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For over 40 years, he’s been “America’s Friendly Neighborhood Voiceover Talent,” delivering versatile, broadcast-quality voice over for national brands, Fortune 500 companies, and live events worldwide. Connect with Peter at audioconnell.com.

Tags: branding, commentary, internet, marketing, technology, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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For this voice actor, releasing a new narration demo feels a lot like opening night must feel for a stage actor.

The anticipation, the butterflies, the second-guessing (and third and fourth-guessing), the sheer panic—it turns out voice actors and stage actors aren’t so different after all! Except voice actors get to have our meltdowns in the privacy of a voiceover booth. Same existential crisis, similar plot line, muuuuch smaller audience.

Oh, one other big difference? Stage actors work with a team on their plays and musicals—other actors, directors, musicians, lighting designers. I produce my own demos, so it’s just me, my producer’s ear and the mic having a very one-sided conversation.

I’ve spent hours selecting pieces that showcase my storytelling range—revisiting past projects, recording new segments, tweaking the edit until it flows. The goal is capturing not just what my voice can do, but the depth I bring to every narration project.

I hope you like what you hear.

I hope you hire what hear.

As Bugs and Daffy sang:

“Overture, curtain, lights, This is it, the night of nights. No more rehearsing and nursing a part, We know every part by heart. Overture, curtains, lights, This is it, you’ll hit the heights. And oh what heights we’ll hit. On with the show, this is it. Tonight what heights we’ll hit. On with the show, this is it.”

 

PLAY THE DEMO ABOVE

Tags: Demos, narrations, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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You’re going to ask “why”? I will answer “I dunno.”

You’re going to ask “how”? My answer is “Not entirely sure.”

You’re going to ask “gobsmacked“? I will respond “Completely!“

All I can tell you is that some days before the Buffalo Bills played the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte back on October 26th, I got a call from newspaper columnist Erik Brady.

If that name is familiar to you, that’s likely because you read one of his many great sports columns in USA Today.

I heard you gasp…because…me too!

What’s an award-winning sports columnist of 36 years from USA Today doing calling me…the MOST UNathletic voiceover actor on the planet???

Naturally he wanted all my professional insights and prognostications on the upcoming Bills-Panthers game (given “all my years playing in the NFL”), right? Right?!

Turns out, no.

Although, Erik’s call was Buffalo Bills–football-related.

Sidebar – Erik is from Buffalo (his family lives in Arlington, Virginia now). We both went to Canisius High School (about ten years apart – he’s older), and his family and mine both spent our summers in Ontario, Canada at Crescent Beach, but in different social circles, given the age difference.

Then he became a famous sportswriter (first in Buffalo at the Courier-Express and then on to USA Today) and I remained…the guy in the padded cell with the expensive microphone. 😀

Erik had retired a while back from the daily grind of sports reporting for USA Today (3+ decades…sheesh!) but is still keeping his hand in storytelling by writing as a contributing columnist for The Buffalo News. Turns out you can’t retire from being a good storyteller.

So back to this out-of-nowhere phone call from the famous USA Today sports reporter.

Erik calls me (I hear you asking “Where did he find your phone number? Was it your website? Did he have your business card?” Nope. He called my brother in Washington, D.C., where the herd of Buffalonians is very strong).

When Erik called, my mind raced and I quickly landed on the upcoming Buffalo-Charlotte football game. I was right.

He was going for the angle of a former Buffalonian, now in North Carolina, attending the Bills game in Charlotte.

Except…

I live three hours away from Charlotte in Raleigh AND I was not going to the game at all because taking five O’Connells to a National Football League game would cost $65,000 for the cheap seats.

Tickets are not cheap. But I am.

The living room TV would be just fine for us to watch that game (Bills won 40-9 and we experienced no traffic on the drive home). #gobillsfromthecomfortofmycouch

Anyway, I pretty much thought that would be the end of our nice conversation…but this guy is a reporter, he’s a digger, he asks questions.

Here’s the other fact…you ask an Irishman like me questions…I’ll give you answers.

I kept thinking (and I might have even said something like), “How is any of this stuff I’m telling you interesting?”

Eh, maybe he had some time to kill before his wife called him in for dinner.

Turns out we had a lovely conversation about our days at Crescent Beach, raising a family in Buffalo, moving to Raleigh, my voiceover business and of course the Buffalo Bills.

Then we had some more conversations a few days later.

I did not make it into the Bills–Panthers article but somehow got this profile article in The Buffalo News instead.

ME: Mind blown!

Publicity and public relations are, as I have often said here, the most awkward, uncomfortable and yet necessary parts of marketing my voiceover business.

If I were an egotastic marketer, I’d tell you that all my strategic marketing and PR efforts culminated in this fantastic profile piece in my hometown’s biggest newspaper.

Nope, not even close.

I didn’t pursue Erik or anyone at The Buffalo News for this story — yet here it is.

Speechless is probably not a good description for a voice actor like me…but it’s pretty much all I’ve got at the moment.

Erik had an idea that begat another idea and conversations gave birth to a feature article. Turns out my “great marketing strategy” merely involved answering the phone.

I am not new to the process of journalism…just new to journalism that shines such a bright spotlight on me.

Thank you, Erik.

I’m going back to the padded cell with the expensive microphone now.

######

ARTICLE: THE BUFFALO NEWS – NOVEMBER 18, 2025

Erik Brady: Even if you don’t know Peter K. O’Connell, you just might know his voice

Peter K. O’Connell is a voiceover talent with a baritone known in the industry as the “Voice of God.” And he has one of God’s emissaries to thank for showing him the way.

“Sister Donna Marie,” he said. “God bless her.”

She was the kindergarten teacher who escorted her class at Medaille School – a long-gone Buffalo elementary school – to visit the radio studio of WEBR-AM when O’Connell was 5, circa 1969.

“I came away from that day knowing that whatever I did in my life, it would involve a microphone,” he said. “I don’t know how, but I just knew it.”

Today, at 61, he owns a voiceover business in Raleigh, N.C. Chances are you’ve heard him, whether you know it or not.

O’Connell did voice work around Buffalo for decades and these days voices commercials for national brands including Disney, Crest, Duracell and iHeartRadio. Last month he emceed an annual convention for voiceover talents in New Orleans, where he was the voice of the voiced.

“It’s been an honor to be requested back to serve as emcee” at voiceover conventions over the years, he said, “but even more so, the unsolicited, exceedingly complimentary feedback from the people there who do live announcing and emceeing for a living, as I do.”

That weekend gig came during the Bills’ bye week. Good thing, too, as O’Connell doesn’t like to miss their games.

“The Bills are ingrained in my family,” he said. “I remember as a kid sitting in the kitchen at our house on Morris (Avenue) and listening to the games on TV. And my father would always say, ‘They’re making my palms sweat again.’ ”

O’Connell attended the third of the Bills’ four Super Bowls, the loss to the Dallas Cowboys at the Rose Bowl following the 1992 season. At the time he was director of marketing for Network, Jim Kelly’s nightclub. Before that, he was assistant general manager of the Buffalo Blizzard, the indoor soccer team.

He was born in Buffalo in 1964 on the night the Beatles appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Sixteen years later, on the day before O’Connell began an internship at WFXZ-FM Radio, John Lennon was murdered in New York.

“I was a junior at Canisius High School at the time,” O’Connell said. “I prepared a script about Lennon, which of course they didn’t need from some kid, but I was ready if they did.”

He interned under Susan Hunt, who would go on to a national broadcasting career, including stints with ABC Sports, PBS and HGTV. “I have always appreciated her patience with me,” he said.

Then he worked on radio at the University of Dayton, which had a 50,000-watt FM station serving three states. Its front office was manned by adult professionals, but students filled many of the on-air roles.

“I learned on the job,” O’Connell said. “I didn’t understand then that voiceover work could be a business. But I learned, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

It was at the university station that he voiced commercials for the first time. Some of those advertisers then asked him to do voice work directly for them, and some of those commercials played on other radio stations in the Dayton market.

That’s when he understood that this could be a career. He returned to Buffalo after college and got into local voice work, including radio spots for Burnham’s appliance stores and the Buffalo Bisons.

“We were still editing reel-to-reel tapes with razor blades and wax markers,” he said. “Now it’s all digital – copy and paste and delete. Sometimes I miss the old days, though the tech today is awesome.”

What was it about that kindergarten visit to a Buffalo radio station that he came away so sure he’d make his life behind a mic?

“I think genetically I was predisposed” to voice work, he said. “My dad once won a state oratory competition when he was at Canisius High School. And my mom always wanted to be in broadcasting, but she was told at the time women didn’t do that.”

O’Connell and his wife, Andrea, have three Buffalo-born children – Isabella, 20; Joseph, 17; and John, 15. They have grown up mostly in Raleigh, but they root for the Bills anyway.

“The Bills’ virus,” their father said, “has been passed on to my children.”

This makes them third-generation palm-sweaters.

-30-

Tags: commentary, newspapers, public relations, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Voice actors, buckle up.

On this Halloween, this is not a trick but it also may not be a treat either.

A seismic shift is coming to the $10+ billion pharmaceutical advertising industry—and honestly, even the big players in this marketing world aren’t entirely sure where it’s all heading.

I recently came across an excellent piece by Maia Anderson at Healthcare Brew that breaks down what’s happening with pharmaceutical advertising regulations, and it got me thinking about the ripple effects on our corner of the ad industry – voiceover.

If you’ve ever recorded one of those rapid-fire disclaimers about pharmaceutical side effects or told viewers to “ask your doctor,” you know that pharmaceutical DTC (direct-to-consumer) advertising represents a not insignificant chunk of commercial voiceover work. Many of these scripts may not be winning creative awards, but they’ve been reliably helping many of us pay mortgages, insurance premiums, and maybe even fund our home studio upgrades.

Now, the entire marketing landscape might be shifting beneath our feet.

What’s Happening?

(Quick note: This post is purely informational—not a political statement. Just sharing the facts of a news story that could affect our industry.)

A recent policy change by the Trump administration has pulled the plug on something called the “adequate provision” loophole from 1997.

Translation?

Pharmaceutical companies can no longer breeze through safety information in TV ads and direct people elsewhere for details. They’ll need to spell everything out—every side effect, every warning—right there in the commercial.

Read that….now think about the scripts we’ve been voicing…now think about “how in the world are they going to say all that in a TV spot?”

The FDA isn’t messing around either. They’ve already sent out thousands of warning letters and roughly 100 cease-and-desist orders to pharma companies about “deceptive” advertising.

The Numbers That Should Get Your Attention

Let’s talk advertising budget reality here, because this hits right at the heart of what affects us as voice actors:

1. Pharmaceutical advertising spending hit $10.1 billion in 2024, with about half ($5.15 billion) spent on TV ads alone
2. In just the first three months of 2025, drugmakers dropped an estimated $729.4 million on commercials for the top 10 pharma brands alone—nearly 30% more than the previous year
3. Industry experts predict these new requirements will make broadcast pharmaceutical advertising “very expensive and very difficult”
4. Ad agencies are warning that if advertisers need to buy 30 more seconds of airtime just for safety disclosures, “that’s going to cut down on your spend and cut down on your creative opportunity”
5. The result? Most TV ads would likely come from only the biggest pharma companies who can afford the longer, costlier ad spots

What This Means for Voice Actors

Here’s where it gets interesting for us and the commercial producers and ad agencies we work with. Longer ads could mean fewer ads. Fewer ads could mean smaller production opportunities and less creative advertising spend. Smaller production opportunities mean… well, you can do that math.

Some pharmaceutical advertising insiders predict a major pivot to “unbranded” advertising—creative ads that talk about conditions rather than specific drugs. Others think marketing dollars will shift toward healthcare professional advertising or patient advocacy. Either way, the traditional :30 and :60 TV spots with our disclaimer voiceovers could become an endangered species. Or maybe not, because…

Nobody Really Knows (And That’s The Point)

What strikes me most about this story—and why it fits perfectly here at voxmarketising where we’ve been covering the intersection of voiceover, marketing, and advertising for decades—is that even the smartest people in pharmaceutical advertising are basically shrugging their shoulders, very unsure of what’s next. One agency managing director summed it up perfectly: “Like everything else with this administration, you just kind of play it day by day and see where things go.”

So what should we voice actors do?

Panic…that’s certainly the best option.

I’M KIDDING!!!!

Stay aware. Keep your VO skills diverse. Don’t put all your eggs in the pharma basket if you haven’t already. And maybe polish up those healthcare professional demo reads—that sector might be getting a budget influx.

The pharmaceutical advertising world is heading into uncharted territory, and we’re all along for the ride.

Stay informed, stay flexible, and keep those mics warm.

I hope this helps.

Tags: advertising, commercials, marketing, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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