By Peter K. O’Connell

When a producer asks me to help find female voice talent for a commercial or social media project, I have one basic rule:

**Don’t be boring.**

Consumers have gotten exceptionally good at ignoring advertising.

They skip it. Scroll past it. Mute it. Walk away from it. Talk over it.

So when I’m helping someone find a female voice actor for advertising, I’m not simply asking whether she has a “great voice.”

I’m asking whether the audience will listen to her.

I start with the audience

Great voice?

Great for whom?

A voice that works beautifully for a luxury brand may be completely wrong for a funny Instagram spot.

A warm, conversational read may be perfect for one campaign while another needs attitude, authority, humor, sophistication or genuine excitement.

So when I’m listening to demos, I’m thinking about the person the advertising is trying to reach.

Would *they* listen?

That’s the test.

I listen for conversation — not “conversational”

Clients have asked for “conversational” voiceover for years.

It’s a perfectly useful direction.

But I’ve also heard plenty of reads that were technically conversational and completely lifeless. Like…dead.

Real people emphasize things, sometimes awkwardly. They react. They think while they’re talking – which is not always smooth and well paced. They have opinions.

When I’m listening to female voice talent for a commercial, I want to hear somebody make carefully written advertising copy sound as though she’s saying it for the first time — straight out of her head with no sign of a script… (P.S. That’s what I aim for in my reads as well, mostly successfully).

Yeah, it’s harder than it sounds…hence the paycheck (voiceover is NOT just talking).

I consider where the commercial is going to be heard

Here’s a hard fact: a traditional television or radio commercial and a social media ad may be selling the same thing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should sound the same.

Digital and social advertising moves fast.

The opening may have to grab attention immediately. The pacing may be different. The performance may need to feel less traditionally “announcery.”

And one campaign may require several versions, alternate reads or pickups for television, radio, streaming, pre-roll or different social platforms.

So I don’t just listen for the voice.

I think about where that voice is going to be heard.

I don’t cast by gender alone

If the creative calls for a female voice, fine.

Now the actual casting begins.

Age range. Energy. Attitude. Vocal texture. Authority. Warmth. Humor. Accent. Pacing. Character.

Those are the things I’m listening for.

“Female” narrows the field.

It doesn’t choose the voice.

I pay attention to the person behind the microphone

Just as I do whenever I recommend another voice actor, I’m putting some of my own reputation behind the recommendation.

I prefer recommending female voice talents I know and, in most cases, women I’ve actually worked with.

I want someone who is professional, prepared, responsive and easy for the producer to work with.

A great audition gets someone’s attention.

Being a great professional is what makes producers want to work with that person again.

Then I let the producer’s ears decide

When I’m recommending female voice talent, I don’t need to decide who the winner is.

That’s the producer’s job.

My job is to help put good choices in front of them.

That’s one of the reasons I created audio’connell’s Female Voice Talent page as a free audio production resource. Producers can listen to professional female voice actors working in commercial, digital, social and other styles and then contact the talent they think fits the project.

There’s no audio’connell booking fee and no commission on the voiceover project.

I just help make it easier to get from:

“We need a female voice.”

to

“That’s the voice.”

audio’connell Voiceover Talent offers producers a free, direct-to-talent resource for finding and hiring professional female voice talent. Browse audio’connell’s Female Voice Talent roster and contact the talent you choose directly.

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