In the current issue of my Radio Advertising Letter, I shared a station promo that I thought could be greatly improved by making it half as long.
So I made a couple of quick edits, and the original 53-second promo became a 29-second promo.
Radio Advertising Letter readers: Which do you think is stronger? Why?
Before Virgin Radio officially launched in the UK, they conducted a week of test transmissions. By the end of that week, you could hear Virgin Radio playing on radios inside shops all over London.
Enjoy.
(It won’t be here on Monday. This is especially for you “radio guys” who don’t get out and live normal lives on weekends.)
Recently a subscriber to my Radio Advertising Letter uploaded her voiceover demo and asked for some feedback.
I hadn’t ever had any contact with this person. The only information I had about her was her name, her e-mail address, and her geographic location. Her email address was at a Yahoo.com account, so it didn’t give any clues as to who her employer is.
Here is what I said:
“You asked for my opinion, so….It sounds very much like a radio person, while people who sound like real people get most of the good jobs. You’d profit from some good acting lessons. Virtually all the great VO people have studied acting.”
She replied:
“One of the things I’ve always been told as a DJ is that I’m unradio. Conversational.”
She simply refused to believe that she had “radio” in her voice. Even though I — who knew absolutely nothing at all about her, not even if she was employed at a radio station — instantly could tell she’s worked in radio.
Voiceover mastery is not about your voice. It’s about your ability to act in front of a microphone.
If you want a real voiceover career, by all means purchase the wonderful VO-related products in my catalogue. But more importantly: Take acting lessons.
“Okay, what’s with these reminiscences? Where’s the meaty stuff that teaches us how to achieve bigger ratings, more sales, and immense success?”
Fair question.
Answer: I’m on overload. Spinning so many plates that — Well, when you hear that big crashing sound, you’ll know what it is.
I do have a great treat for any visitors to this blog this coming weekend. And another brutal Monday Commercial Smackdown all ready to go.
Okay, it’s not “ready” ready. But I know what it will be: a commercial for a huge telecommunications company, featuring the ever-popular Mr. & Mrs. Stupid.
But today, a quick story about the dumbest question I’ve ever been asked by a radio station receptionist.
I’m on the air. Hotline rings. Receptionist says, “I’m filling out some forms, and I need to know your middle name.”
“I don’t have a middle name.” (That’s true. My family was so poor my parents couldn’t afford middle names for any of us five kids.)
“Oh, okay.”
Two minutes later, the hotline rings again. “Well then,” she says, “what’s your middle initial?”
One of my favorite on-air moments was when I was a jock in San Francisco. At the time, “Goodbye To Love” by the Carpenters was a hit. That particular song began cold, on the vocal.
As I cued up the record for the 300th time, a quarter-turn to the left, a quarter-turn to the right, the much slower manual speed drastically altered the sound of the Carpenters. In fact, I mused, it kind of sounded like the Righteous Brothers.
Uh-oh. I felt an idea coming on. The kind of idea that makes management nervous but strikes me as funny.
“In just a couple of moments,” I said, leading into a commercial break, “I’ll be playing the world premiere of the brand-new Righteous Brothers record.”
Coming out of commercial, I explained I’d managed to get an advance copy of their newest single, and surprisingly they had recorded the same song that already was a hit for the Carpenters.
“Here, I’ll play it for you. And then you can call in and let me know whose version you prefer.”
And I played the Carpenters’ 45 at 33 1/3 rpm.
I thought maybe people would get a chuckle out of the obvious stunt.
They didn’t chuckle. As soon as the song ended, they called in to vote for the one they thought was better. No one realized I was joking.
The highlight was the caller who said, “You know, at first I thought you were just playing the Carpenters at a slower speed. But when they got to the harmonies, I realized it really was the Righteous Brothers. Nobody can touch their harmonies.”
