Archives for September 2019

How the Right POV Makes for Authentic Climate Messages

Hot or cold, climate change is a sticky message to work with in a political ad. It’s a subject that is as polarizing in polite conversation as religion or, well, politics these days. The right point of view and deft voice over style can make all the difference when diving into the climate pool. As a female political voice actor, I’ve voiced climate ads from both sides of the ideological aisle. As an artist and one who identifies as non-partisan, the key to effectively delivering these messages is finding an authentic point of view (POV).

Controversial Political Ad – The Neutral Voice Over

In the controversial political debate over global climate change, all sides have some common ground. Certain statistics – such as Earth’s temperatures having risen 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since the early 20th century and that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane have notably increased – are just that, stats. Political ads that employ such facts are often most effective when delivered with a neutral voice over. The announcer gets out of the way and lets the words do the work.

That being said, the neutral voice over is not 100% neutral. Story, setting, impact all underlie the message and careful placement of tone, pitch, rhythm and all the other elements of good practiced voice over come together in a subtle, persuasive and convincing way.

In an affiliated genre, public service announcements and informational videos, you may also hear neutral voice over. Often there is wide agreement as to the benefits of actions that citizens can take to contribute to the betterment of the planet, such as recycling, ride-sharing or energy conservation. In these messages, as in political ads, an informative, neutral or neighbor-like voice over delivery is highly effective. These messages don’t have to work hard to win over folks to their cause.

All Voices Count in Climate Change

For a large number of voters, primarily on the left of the political spectrum, climate change is a dire crisis, one where all voices count. Though the alarm had been building for decades, Al Gore gave it a platform in 2006 with An Inconvenient Truth, and since then the heralds have filtered down the generations becoming more impassioned, ringing an ever louder alarm.

Fast forward to 2019 and teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg who has been traveling the globe raising awareness and holding politicians accountable with her matter-of-fact, blunt messages calling for stronger action to combat the climate crisis. Freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez co-authored the Green New Deal with Senator Edward Markey which is being called “an ambitious plan to remake the U.S. economy and drastically reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions”.

These young activists contend that human activities like burning fossil fuels are causing severe climate changes from global warming to loss of sea ice and sea level rise to stronger storms and more droughts. Their message is that immediate international action is needed to stave off dire climate change. Theirs are the generations that will have to deal with the ramifications of inaction.

Embracing their POV to deliver these types of climate change warning ads therefore often involves a voice over able to resonate with younger voters. Finding a cadence that rings true to the millennial voter and the increasingly more community-centered or collectivist attitudinal Generation Z means finding an authentic voice above and beyond the words in the copy. The voice over benefits from an urgency that inspires, uplifts and encourages these voters to take action.

The Bottom Line of Climate Change to the Average Consumer

The other side of the climate change focuses on the monetary impact that inconvenient regulations will have on the average consumer. This bottom line argument declares human-generated greenhouse gas emissions are too small to substantially change the earth’s climate. They contend warming comes from natural fluctuations in the sun’s heat or point to Earth’s homeostatic nature instead.

These messages target the middle-American voter. They highlight that some renewable energy and green alternatives to everyday products are more expensive and place an extra burden on the average voter just to light their homes, fuel their cars or drink their lattes. This frustration at wanting to help the environment but being wary of the ever increasing hit to their pocketbooks is artfully reflected in the voice over delivery for these issue ads. Authenticity here is also key, but people will likely relate to a more exasperated attitude over carrying the extra costs, a sympathetic tone from someone wanting to make changes but unable to to forfeit their pocketbook or a skeptical delivery over whether these inconveniences will have any real impact.

They also target voters who simply don’t want the government telling them what kind of straw to use or what type of light bulb to buy and business owners who feel overwhelmed by regulation. Giving voice to these moms, entrepreneurs, middle-class Americans who are striving every day to stretch their dollars requires a believability and genuine approach in the political ad voice over.

Capturing the POV – Political Ad Voice Acting

The core of voice acting (and political ad voice acting in particular) is capturing the point of view of the target audience. We are hired to cement the emotional bond between issue and voter. To encapsulate the world that the voter exists in and find the authentic delivery that resonates with them. A professional political voice over actor possess the facility to understand the message, analyze the script, find the parts of the message to billboard or underplay to serve the message and the skill to represent that POV and successfully influence voters.

Master the Art of the Attack Ad with a Political Voiceover Pro

Political Ads

In the one-two punch of a political attack ad, knowing how to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” takes a precise set of skills. This is where a professional political voice over is especially effective. Like the proverbial deadly weapon, the right tone of voice, attitude, or turn of phrase can sway voters against a political or ideological foe. Knowing the ins and outs of effective communication, a pro can champion the cage match arena of an attack ad and effectively take the legs out from under an opposing stance.

Candidates, special interests, PACs and other organizations have all embraced “going negative” and much in the way special interest voice over is approached, a consistent, strong voice over that the target audience can relate to regularly earns votes. Getting citizens to come together as a tribe, party or group of villagers requires a central message they can agree on – and identifying the “ogre” and calling for pitchforks and torches and hunting parties has worked for ages.

The Attack Ad Voice Over – It’s All in the Delivery

Appealing to the worsening parts of our nature, unfortunately, is very effective. Study after study shows that negative ads work. And he who goes big(ly) negative, can win the day. Anyone over a certain age remembers Lydon Johnson’s “Daisy” ad against Barry Goldwater featuring the combination of a little girl, and a countdown to a nuclear explosion and the all but stated “message” that a vote for Goldwater was a vote for the annihilation of our children (not to mention the rest of us). Disturbing, but memorable. And potent.

According to an article on the Berkeley Haas School of Business website, research published in the Journal of Marketing Research by Berkeley Haas Assoc. Prof. Clayton Critcher has found that negative ads can be more effective than positive ones, and attack ads have swelled in recent years, from 29 percent in 2000 to 64 percent in 2012, and up to 92 percent the week before the 2016 presidential election, according to the paper. So effective, that in the 2018 midterms overall, 6 out of ten GOP political ads were attack ads. Iit seems like attack ads are the new norm in politics – everybody’s doing it. Or pledging NOT to do it, just to stand out in a proverbial sea of negativity.

But not every attack ad is so overtly dire as Johnson’s 1964 ad. The voice over delivery for today’s combative ads can vary – running from light snark through moderate disappointment all the way to name calling and flat out maligning. It is the emotion behind the message that helps underscore it and an effective voice over declamation serves as counterpoint to the words and images.

For example, in a message highlighting issues an opponent has failed to deliver, or did deliver that have been harmful, the tone might be one of surprise accompanied by sadness from the voice over rather than anger. Or if anger is the goal, perhaps the voice over needs to build to a crescendo. Other attitudes such as sarcasm or disbelief or disgust might be deployed. Discerning the best read for the copy is a special skill. Like a virtuosic musician, a political voice over can determine the proper notes to hit for the message to resonate.

This voice over counterpoint has become a lot more sophisticated. With more and more calls of “fake news” and investigations over election interference, audiences are skeptical of attack ads, but they are still the most effective. To turn opinion, a compelling political ad voice over actor knows when to vocally push a line or the heart of an issue, and when to hold back and let the words do the work.

Treading the Political Boards – Voice Over is Acting

We (political ad voice over artists) are actors. We are hired to play a part. To help create an emotional connection or reaction against or for a candidate or ideology. To embody the world that a voter lives in. And if “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players”, knowing how to represent regular American people, with all their likes and dislikes, thoughts and fears, hopes and dreams for their children brings a level of flexibility and agile facility to any political advertising. Being able to adapt a performance to reverberate from Maine to Arizona, Washington to Florida and all parts therein, makes the political vo pro the “big gun” of choice in a campaign’s arsenal. One that they can use over and over again in their emotional or intellectual appeals to sway supporters.

A successful political ad voice over takes the ability to quickly analyze a script, take direction and drive the message home, whether the vehicle is as heavy as a monster truck or as light as a pair of roller skates. A good voice over actor will take the ad where it needs to go.

What You Need in a Special Interest Voice for Your Political Ad

Political Ads

Special interest groups spend a great deal of time and money getting their voices heard in Washington. Finding a credible voice over to deliver their political ad and drive their message home is crucial to their success. In a very real sense, interest groups are the American people. They work to garner focus on those things the people care about the most. Though it’s hard to quantify the number of groups these days, the Encyclopedia of Associations has around 23,000 entries and a great deal of them qualify as “special interest” – so let’s just agree it’s a lot. For almost every major stance or opinion a voter or politician might take, there’s likely a group lobbying for and/or against it.

Represent, People – Finding America’s Voice Over

If a special interest group seeks to win the argument, they have to sound like the American people. And this includes the delivery, style, and sound of the voice over artist hired to represent them. A political ad voice over pro’s bread and butter comes from an ability to communicate specifically to varied audiences. Not just the words on a page of copy, but the intention, subtext, and emotion underpinning the message. They understand who they are representing, who is listening and who needs the information they’re relaying. They employ a toolkit of deliveries to effectively relate to their listener and be persuasive, and in doing so, can bring other, like-minded people into the special interest’s fold.

To win hearts and minds to any cause, a messenger needs to embody a “je ne sais quoi” that points to a commonality with the listener. And special interest groups vary widely in their constituency. Your hired voice over artist finds the proper attitudes and emotions that appeal both to the politicians they lobby and the citizens they hope to represent. They can be authoritative and businesslike in one message, comforting and calm in the next, fun and engaging for the audience and message after that. The tone of voice that speaks to a coal miner, nurse, teacher, entertainer, single parent, GenXer/Millenial/BabyBoomer, factory worker, CEO, butcher/baker/candlestick maker the artist is one each will relate to and resonate with.

Winning Friends and Influencing People – How Special Interest Voices Get Heard

Just about every special interest group you can think of has a presence in Washington (notoriously along K Street) where their primary raison d’etre is to influence people and policy and control the dialog surrounding their issues.

Lobbying: The Voice of Advocacy

Special interest groups, along with industries, companies, and unions give gobs of money to professional advocates to lobby members of Congress, government officials and federal agencies on the issues they care about. If these lobbyists are successful, the amount of money they will see in ROI (Return on Investment) on the squillions of dollars they spend makes these gobs look like teeny drops in the proverbial bucket. It follows that consideration and thought should then be taken in the care and selection of the voice over artist chosen to represent them. Radio and TV ads, political videos, PSAs, social media content etc, must have a consistent representation in the form of voice over to articulate the message.

PACs and 527s: The Influence of Voice Over

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 has made campaign finance murkier waters, but in general, political action committees, or PACs, control pools of contributions from individuals and distribute them to candidates, political parties and even other PACs. They can also spend money independently on all sorts of political activities, including advertising and supporting or opposing candidates in elections. They are controlled by special interest groups, companies, trade associations, unions, and even groups of politicians (in the form of something adorably called “leadership PACs”), all vying for a piece of the power pie. And here, again, each of these entities needs to invest their political dollars on a voice that epitomizes their outlook and can communicate their stance.

Even nebulous entities like the so-called 527 committees (referring to a section of the IRS tax code), which can take unlimited amounts of money from just about anyone or any corporation and uses that money to engage in the full range of political activity. And their voices can have a strong influence. Consider the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which ran “issue ads” critical of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam War record in 2004. Their message was strong and relatable to the targeted group of voters that they wanted to compel to vote for Bush. Their voice helped sway a Presidential Election.

A Voice Over That Rises Above the Din

With the large number of organizations, corporations, unions, PACs and interests competing for the hearts and minds of voters and politicians alike, how to be heard is crucial for rising above the din. Employing an experienced, competent, compelling voice over to effectively communicate a position across all media platforms is crucial for winning support, affecting policy or swaying voters. To represent values, positions, the American people themselves, you need the right herald – one who understands your message and knows how to deliver it.