Announcement voice over runs the gambit in style, content, and delivery. It’s used live at events, as the Voice of God at conferences and award shows, in-store, in airports, and theme parks. A voice over artist needs to understand the demands of the event, deliver a message that matches your intent, and speak with your audience in mind.
The benchmarks to look for in any voice over artist tackling your announcer role include:
- Quality audio
- Talent and range
- Experience
- Understands what style to use for your event
- And, why not? Someone reliable with quick turnarounds and a good attitude
Effective In-store Announcements with Professional Voice Over
In-store announcements done by a professional voice over artist is an opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted. Businesses spend a lot of money on getting customers through the door. Why leave them hanging once they arrive? E-commerce is undeniably popular, and it’s becoming harder for brick and mortar to compete. While they are in your store, there is the undeniable advantage of having your customer’s full attention and communicating with them in real-time.
Shoppers are essentially a captive audience. While you don’t want to annoy them with a grating voice or irritating music, you want to alert them to information and create a welcoming atmosphere. When done right, in-store announcements are oddly comforting. A voice over artist should be able to communicate with the customer to let them know about:
- New product launches
- Sales, Specials, and limited-time offers
- Essential information like store hours, social media handles
- Friendly messages such as season greetings
- Upcoming events and promotions
- Social media campaigns and online offers
- Charitable endeavors undertaken by the store
- Good needs events like store anniversaries or employee birthdays
To get the customer’s attention, you need a professional voice over artist with a firm grasp of how to pitch their delivery to enhance the overall experience while also driving sales. You don’t want your customers to feel harassed. Instead, they should be happy to have the reminder. They should like and appreciate your in-store announcements.
An in-store announcer can add significant value! 43% of shoppers who used their phones in-store do so to look for deals or savings. They are on the hunt, so you might as well make it easy for them. And while you’re at it, you can seamlessly integrate messages and promote your social media platforms and online shopping platforms.
Announcement Voice Over for Live Events
Voice of God, or Live Event Announcers for corporate events or award shows, need precision and the ability to reflect the tone/mood of your event accurately. So style, timing, cadence, rhythm should be down pat. A voice over artist who undertakes live events needs to be quick on their feet and ready to take direction. None of us will ever forget when La La Land was accidentally given the gold statue for best picture instead of Moonlight.
My voice over colleague and friend Randy Thomas was hanging out in the background with the production team, handling the situation like the professional she is. The last thing a live event crew needs is a novice announcer instead of a professional voice over artist VOG panicking and trying to correct an error before the team has decided how they want to move forward.
My own experiences as an announcer for live events have been a thrill. Whether live at the event (fundraisers and concerts) or delivering pre-recorded announcements. When looking for your VOG voice over artist, first and foremost, you need a professional who can capture and set the tone for your show. They need to be confident and experienced. What you can expect is someone who may ask questions about the feel of your event/company/organization, will check how to pronounce names, and do the prep (performance) work.
Airports, Bus Terminals, and Trains Stations “Mind the Gap” with Voice Over
Roughly 100,000 flights take off and land every day. That’s around 6 million people hustling to find their terminal and make it into their seats on time. Now factor in train rides, bus trips, and you have a significant number of people who need guidance with a voice that can be heard clearly above the crowd but may also be soothing enough to calm ruffled nerves.
A highly entertaining article by the Guardian goes into some detail on the sheer amount of research and consideration that goes into transit voices and how readily people will complain when they don’t like what they hear. “We anticipated that we’d hear from customers if place names were pronounced wrong,” says Metro Transits Gary Nyberg. “Even if the emphasis is on the wrong syllable, it might sound odd to a customer.” Transit announcers need to be versatile, as the wrong tone at the wrong time irritates customers.
The Announcement Voice Over for Parks and Entertainment
Voice over has formed a part of theme parks and entertainment centers for ages, from the safety instructions to character voices in rides to big event VOGs. The announcer provides vital information and reflects the park’s atmosphere. Parks and entertainment voice over is one of the most fun of the announcer styles. It’s relatable, casual, and sometimes downright weird and wonderful.
It’s a broad category of voice over. A haunted house needs a different announcer style than a kid’s ride or essential safety information. From ballet to boxing and arcades to ice rinks, it steers the customer in the right direction and guides them. The best advice I can give someone on the hunt for a lighter, fun announcer read is to find someone who has their basics down pat.
My experience has ranged from being an “AI” computer voice for a theme park in Dubai to a mystical character voice in a Cirque event to a downhome Dollywood announcer. A professional voice over artist can tailor their announcer style to your needs, from conversational and character-driven to the traditional and epic read.