Public Service Announcements Voice Over
Commercial PSA's
Creating a Public Service Announcement can serve a serious purpose and often informs and educate. PSAs can offer solutions and quite often they prompt us to necessary action. The key to a successful PSA is connecting honestly with the cause. Like any voice-over character one may take on, there’s a real art to capturing the tone and meaning of the PSA vocally. Most PSAs tend to revolve around serious and sensitive topics, and so it’s important to come across as believable. Voice-over acting means embracing the anguish, ordeal, hope and joy of others.
PSAs Can Be Powerful
The PSA strives in disseminating necessary or important information to the public en masse. PSAs are primarily used by local, state, or federal governments and can extend into the not for profit sectors as well. If you’ve ever worked for a not-for-profit or government organization… or you’ve ever watched TV or listened to radio for that matter…PSAs are familiar to you. Today PSAs are almost a part of TV culture, and we tend to remember the bigger nationwide campaigns for their tagline or character.
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The reason this type of promotion is still effective, even generations later, is because they always strike a nerve with the audience. Agencies make PSAs with the audience in mind — and as the audience changes, so does the content of the PSAs. The only things that stay consistent in the mix are the ingredients themselves. A compelling tale told via story telling style by a strong, believable voice over character. Like with much of my voice-over work, the voice-over narration in a PSA is the element that holds the most power. It’s crucial to striking that nerve with the audience. And without it, they are much less effective.
PSAs Promote Behavioral Change
PSAs can often be emotional tending towards uplifting, and most of all, they’re hopeful. The idea has always been to inspire someone to help, or live a better life of their own. We rarely take a negative approach to the matter, and always an honest one. And that’s why it takes experience and character to perform PSA voice-over: it requires digging into empathy and performing the role as if you’re the one affected. The thing is, no matter who we are or where we come from, we all have issues. PSAs are a matter of scratching the surface and getting into what’s underneath. They’re about talking human-to-human to those who may need help or encouragement.
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Hiring a Voice-Over for Your Own PSA
Performing for a public service announcement can be challenging for a voice-over artist. Each PSA requires its own story and character, finding that perfect tone and digging into my empathy to tell the perfect story. please reach out to me for a sample of your PSA project.
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