Uses of Promotional Voiceover In Media

A promotional video showcases a company and/or its products, for the purpose of creating a certain image and increasing sales. It is the “face” of your business/product, and you will therefore want to ensure that its content, look, and sound are just right. Jessica is not locked into only television promos, she is open to any promos.

Promotional Branding

Promos are completely branded and fully produced segments that sell a station (rather than commercials that sell a product). Promos define the sound and type of the station. Promos drive home the attitude of your station’s goals/audience/objectives. Promos sell the brand. Generic promos run year-round and are usually highly produced. Specialty promos promote a specific event and have a start and stop date.

• “Next on the NFL Network, it’s football like you’ve never seen before!
• “Coming up on The Weather Channel, a volcano erupts and scatters a mountainside town with ash.”
• “On Live with Kelly & Ryan, watch Kelly and Ryan compete in workout week, followed by Rachael Ray cooking light, all right here on ABC.”
• “The newest kids’ bedroom craze is coming soon. Design star Kids, season’s premier Sunday April 26 at 8 on HGTV”

Trailers

Movie Trailers are promos for upcoming movies.

Rejoiners

Rejoiner is a radio and TV term. It’s an aspect used to rejoin the host or main content of the program. Rejoiners sometimes play out of a show, and sometimes into a show. Used when the receiving or viewing audience went somewhere, (perhaps listening to a commercial) and are now coming back to the show. Producing these can be as simple as selecting an appropriate piece of music or smidgen from a song and adding voiceover elements.

• And now . . . back to the show!”
• “Coming up after this, Joe Gibbs and Michael Strahan test out the latest in race cars! Next on NHL on NBC!”

Topicals

Topicals are traditionally TV, but are also radio these days. They generally apply towards a news program or news series, where the promo talks about what is on today.

• “WPGC is broadcasting live tonight from the Inner Harbor for their annual crab cake fundraiser for Kids of Johns Hopkins.”
• “Happy Valentines Day from all of us at KYPT.”

Teasers

Teasers are fully produced elements that “tease” or give a “taste” of what’s to come in a certain amount of time in the future. Some stations might put a teaser before their first commercial. The teaser is a method by which we hope to give the listener a reason to stick through the commercials…almost like a treat on the other side. Holding listeners for as many uninterrupted minutes as possible is the key to higher ratings.

• “Next, Time to taste the souffle!”

Imaging

Imaging is a general term for radio sweepers and radio promos. Imaging is how you position a radio station within the marketplace. Imaging defines the station as a product so that the listener knows what he/she will get when tuning in.

Liners

Liners are used by television and radio stations between songs or shows that give listeners or viewers a brief station identifier or promo, generally 20 seconds or less – often just a few seconds long. They are sort of like an interstitial. They can also be little reads at the end of commercial break. They tend to promote a song, a person, a book…, whereas promos promote a show. Liners require more personality – listeners get used to a style – the talent has to brand their personality to the station liner. Liners are sometimes “live” – that is, they are not pre-recorded but rather read presented by a DJ.

Sweepers

Sweepers are more related to radio. They are only a few second long statements or pieces that connect two songs together. The verbiage may be the station ID or a quick radio promo. Sweeps are a huge part of radio since they promote the station the majority of the time in one way or another. Jessica has voiced many “radio drops” for various stations around the country typically for a specific D.J. Stating promos like:

“Rockin’ the classics with Dave Johnson right here on WTBE.”

Stingers

Stingers are sound effects or musical effects that reiterate a thought. They are not an element of imaging like a sweeper, but rather more of a raw audio burst. They are behind the voiceover. Stingers are quick and fast sound effects. A stinger denotes a change in motion…and matches what brand it is tied into.

Station IDs

Station IDs are legal and generic IDs for radio and TV. Station IDs must air a certain number of times per day / per hour. They also must air every hour +/- 5 minutes from the start of every hour. Minimum requirement is the calls and the city of license.

Bumpers

Bumpers are used primarily before the main open and teasing out to the next segment of a newscast. When the bumper is played, a summary of what will air in the upcoming newscast or later in the newscast will be shown. It leads to a new segment and pays less homage to the content that came before. For example, a self-contained segment within a show may have its own specialized introductory bumper that gets played before the content is added. Bumpers may contain partial station identification.

Recyclers

Recyclers are TV or Radio hyping another daypart.

Professional Female Teenage Promo Voiceover

Jessica has worked on several animation and broadcast promos, lending her voice for spots similar to “Sundays at 8pm eastern, only on Cartoon Network,” “Coming up next on Disney channel..” and “The newest kids’ bedroom craze is coming soon! Design Star Kids, season premier Sunday, April 26 at 8 on HGTV.” A majority of her promo work has been very peppy and high energy in nature, as her audience is vastly other teens and young kids watching their favorite cartoon stations, such as Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Boomerang, or PBS Kids. However, Jessica is easily able to switch it up and take on a neutral formal sound for news and weather updates, or a dramatic and intense sound for thrillers and dramas. She is also skilled at comedic timing which plays in her favor for promos for quirky or humorous shows. Her versatility and ability to decipher scripts and appeal to certain audiences make her an excellent choice to be the voice of local, regional, and even national television stations.

Looking for the new voice of your station? Reach out to Jessica for a quote or audition.