ABSTRACT
Commercials are Not About Selling IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STORY Single voice copy is written for a solo performer who will deliver the entire message, with the possible exception of a separate tag line which may or may not be voiced by a different performer. Because there is only one character speaking, any interaction is implied, either between the character speaking and any unheard other characters or between the performer and the listener. The most often thought of form of single-voice work is commercials. However, the vast majority of single voice work is in narration. Radio and television commercials are all about the advertiser’s story. A well-written commercial will put the advertiser’s message or product in the context of a compelling story that will motivate or inspire the listener to take the desired action. Advertising copy writers will write a commercial script to reach a specific demographic group or target audience. This group is usually referred to by gender and age range, for example: women, 25-35 or men 30-45. However, your performance must be focused on speaking to only one person. Knowing the broader demographic can help, but the fact that the copy writer and you, as the actor, have differing intentions, can be somewhat confusing. If you ask the writer or producer specifically who you are speaking to (the one person), she will probably not know what you are talking about or may reply in terms of the demographic group. You need to be able to quickly determine your audience based solely on the script and, if you are lucky, any additional information the producer might provide.
