The Directory: Types of Voice Over Work

If you think of other types of voice over work, please tell us, and we’ll add it to the list!
Please send your suggestions to training@edgestudio.com with the subject line: “For the Genre list.”

14 types of promos, with examples
Note that delineation between the numerous types varies, as categorizing them is not an exact science. Studios, stations, and voice actors tend to toss these terms around loosely, and different terms are often used for the same thing … and sometimes the same term is applied to different things! Plus there’s a lot of “gray area” and overlapping of terminology. As you can imagine, it can get confusing.

Here are some general specifications to help you wade through the terminology mire and help you clearly define your voice over work.

1. Promos

DEFINITION: Promos are commercials which contain segments of shows to promote it. They’re used for radio stations, television stations, concert tours, book launches, exhibit openings, event openings, and so on. Promos DEFINE the vibe of the show and event. They drive home the mindset of the station’s goals/audience/target. They sell the brand. Generic promos run year-round and are usually highly produced. Specialty promos promote a specific event and have a start and end date.

NETWORK PROMO
April’s jammin’ and ABC’s got the stuff…with “special” episodes of all your favorite series. Plus a great line up of all your favorite blockbuster movies. All right here on ABC.

CONCERT TOUR PROMO
Friday night, 8pm, Hampton invokes the wrath of the Defenders of the Faith. Judas Priest. Heads will roll at the Hampton Coliseum. Cellar Door presents: Judas Priest.

BOOK PROMO
From the pens of Stephen King and Peter Straub, the masters of suspense. The most chilling and sinister tale you will ever read. Dare you enter the Black House? On hardcover, from Random House.

KID’S VIDEOS
Kids love to learn, play and explore with new Nick Jr. videos! Available now on VHS and DVD.

COMEDY PROMO
Next on Cheers, yuppies take over the bar, followed by Three’s Company, all right here on Comedy Central’s Back To The 70s!

CABLE PROMO
The hottest show to hit Vegas is opening soon. Design star, season’s premier Sunday July 22 at 10 on HGTV.

SPORTS PROMO
Next on ESPN, it’s Major League Baseball like you’ve never seen before!

MOVIE PROMO
Coming up on Lifetime, a mother faces a gives up her sanity to save her son.

NEWS TALK
Tonight, go where no cameras have gone before. Inside America’s top secret prison for terrorist. 60 minutes season premiere.

NEWS STORY PROMO
Earn thousands a week without leaving home. Sound too good to be true? Wait till you see what we uncovered. Fox 5 Problem Solvers tonight on Fox 5 news at 10.

REALITY PROMO
Can a man sweep a woman off her flippers? Perfect Proposal. Getting down on bended knee just took on a whole new twist. New Daytime Series. Weekdays 1:30 pm. TLC

PREMIER PROMO
From Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Two families on a mission to destroy each other. Two Lovers caught in the crossfire. Skin. In a battle like this…everything gets exposed. Premieres Monday, October 20 9 PM / 8 Central on FOX.

NEWS TALK PROMO
Martha Stewart. Love her? Hate her? Either way you’ll finally hear from her. Martha Stewart in her only interview speaks exclusively to Barbara Walters. Tonight on 20/20. 10 PM / 9 central.

MOVIE PROMO
Every airline has a story. Airline Premiers Monday. Only on A&E.

2. Re-Joiners

DEFINITION: Re-Joiner is a radio and TV term. It’s an element used to rejoin the host or main content of the program. Re-joiners sometimes play out of a show, and sometimes into a show. Used when the listening or viewing audience went somewhere (perhaps listening to a commercial or a special content segment) and are now coming back to. Producing these can be as simple as selecting an appropriate piece of bed music or snippet from a song and adding voiceover elements.

UN-BRANDED
And now, back to the show!

REGIS AND KELLY
Coming up after this, Regis and Cathy Lee/Kelley show off the latest fashion! Next on Regis and Kelly!

CARTOON NETWORK
Next on Cartoon Network: more of the Scooby Doo marathon! Hey, Scooby! Save a Scooby-snack for me!

OCEAN MYSTERIES – DISCOVERY CHANNEL
You’re watching the Discovery Channel. Up next, sea creatures so foreign, they look like science fiction – on Ocean Mysteries Deep Secrets. And later, Lock Ness and Giant Squid on The “X” Creatures.

3. Topicals

DEFINITION: Topicals are generally promos for news-series that mention what is on later that day. Topicals had traditionally been used on television, but in recent years have moved into radio, too.

KUUR
KUUR is broadcasting live tonight from Joe’s Market for their annual Lobster sale.

20/20
Tonight, Hillary Clinton. She’s got strong views on raising children. What about her own image? Hillary Clinton on twenty-twenty this Friday.

4. Teasers

DEFINITION: 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. They often do not contain elements of the show. 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 continuous minutes as possible is the key to higher ratings.

HOLLYWOOD MINUTE
Next, It’s The Hollywood Minute!

LORD OF THE RINGS
In three days the journey continues. The Lord of the Rings. Two towers.

BAND OF BROTHERS
There was a time when the world asked ordinary men to do extraordinary things. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg present, Band of Brothers.

A & E’S AMERICAN JUSTICE
They’re kids committing awful crimes…Are they homicidal monsters…Or are they abused minors. Do they need us to get tough, or get treatment? American Justice, Wednesday on Channel 12.

AMC
Go back to high school without really going back to high school. Back to school movie marathon Sunday August 29th.

5. Imaging

DEFINITION: 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 (consumer) knows what he/she will get when tuning in.

OLDIES
103.4fm – the Oldies Station – Always Old, Always Gold… WWWX-FM!

HARD ROCK
Rock doesn’t get harder than 101.5 The Rock.

CLASSICAL
You’re listening to your favorite classicals on 89.1 FM.

SMOOTH JAZZ 105.9 FM RADIO
Have you listened lately to Easy 99.5? Easy 99.5 is the only station that plays today’s soft hits without the hard stuff … Whitney Houston, Elton John, Amy Grant … Easy 99.5 plays today’s soft hits … Turn on Easy 99.5 and find out what you’re missing. You’re gonna love it!

COOL ROCK 99.5
Have you listened lately to Cool-Rock 99.5? Cool-Rock is the only station that plays today’s cool hits. Nirvana. The Verve. The Dave Matthews band. Turn it on and find out what you’re missing. You’re gonna love it!

NPR — ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
Consider the news from a whole new perspective. Journey beyond the headlines to a world of news and knowledge on National Public Radio’s … All Things Considered. Whether it’s a superpower summit, or an expedition to the top of Mount Everest, we give each story something that’s missing from most news broadcasts … time. Refreshingly intelligent and insightful, with commentary that challenges and ideas that inspire. Take a journey through today’s news. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. We think you’ll find the difference … considerable.

6. Liners

DEFINITION: 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 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 actor 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.

WYZN
You’re listening to the soft sounds of WYZN. Easy listening throughout the Bay area.

STAR FM RADIO
Hot new music, the sound of the future, today, 94.7 STAR FM

LIFETIME
Lifetime…Television for women.

7. Breaks

DEFINITION: Breaks are commercials for the show.

WABC – STATION BREAK
You’re talking about it — we’re talking about it. News Talk Radio 77 WABC!

HALLOWEEN
Happy Halloween from all of us at KSNO.

CBS SPORTS 1
This CBS Sports telecast is brought to you by Wells Fargo…. together we’ll go far.

ESPN ON ABC: BCS
The following is a special presentation of ESPN on ABC… home of the Citi BCS National Championship.

8. Billboards

DEFINITION: Billboards are commercials for the show’s sponsor.

VISA
Tonight’s show is sponsored by Visa, it’s everywhere you want to be.

HONDA
This is brought to you by Honda.

9. Sweepers

DEFINITION: Sweepers are radio positioning statements or station recall pieces that connect two songs. Usually between 3 and 10 seconds long, they segue between songs and give listeners a brief radio station ID or radio promo. Sweepers are the MAJORITY of a station’s imaging library. In commercial radio, sweepers are often between songs to aid listener recall of what they’re listening to. It images the station brand in the midst of music flow. Radio sweepers are also known as radio jingles, radio bumpers, radio sweeps, and radio stingers.

PLUTO FM
Keep listening, as we play more ‘80s best hits, on Pluto FM!

SMOOTH JAZZ RADIO
You’re listening to Smooth Jazz 105.9 FM, the smoothest place on your radio.

105.5 “THE COCKROACH”
You’re listening to 105.5 “the cockroach”
Playing all of today’s greatest bands! like The Beatles! (music) Iron Butterfly! (music) and the gran daddy of them all Papa Roach!!! (music) 105.5 The Cockroach! Modern Music for the Modern World!

WGN NEWS
You’re watching WGN News…
with Jackie Bange, Bob Jordan, Jim Ramsay and Rich King.
This is Chicago’s Very Own WGN News at 9.

10. Stingers

DEFINITION: Stingers are short audio clips that are used in the midst of a show. They are used to punctuate a punchline in a show, introduce or end a section of a show, or link various sections of a show together (commercial to program, song to song, and so on). The audio clip can be a sound effect, voice-over, or musical effects. Stingers are very quick, often just a second or so. Stingers are also known as “sounders.”

INTEL
Intel’s logo sound at the end of every commercial (the three little notes you associate with Intel).

SEINFELD
The funky bassline that plays between scenes.

11. Station IDs

DEFINITION: Station IDs are legal and generic IDs for radio and television stations to identify themselves on-air, typically with a call sign and or brand name. They are mandated by the FCC, and must air a certain number of times per day / per hour. They also must air every hour +/- 5 minutes from :00 (top of hour) Minimum requirement is the calls and the city of license.

RADIO
114.3, New York.

WKRP
This is WKRP in Cincinnati.

KTLA
You’re listening to the Golden West Broadcasters, channel 5, KTLA Los Angeles.

SESAME STREET
Sesame Street is brought to you by a Raisenberg television cooperative agreement from the US Department of Education through the Public Broadcasting Service and by the Cooperation for Public Broadcasting and viewers like you. Thank you.

12. Bumpers

DEFINITION: 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.

BIKE SHOW
Coming up … Bob gives us the latest news in the mountain bike world along with this week’s top five bike websites. It’s all coming up on The Bike Show!

13. Recyclers

DEFINITION: Recyclers are promos that hype another daypart. This term is more often used in radio.

KPPM
Hey it’s Walt from the KPPM Morning show. Join me tomorrow as I make fun of Kale Donovan and his bad haircut.

DOLLAR STORE
Don’t forget to listen on your drive home with Walt this afternoon, as he gives away another gift certificate to The Dollar Store.

BASKETBALL
Sunday…The Duke Blue Devils continue their ACC Basketball season against the Maryland Terps. Sunday…ACC basketball…on CBS.

ANIMAL PLANET – KING OF THE JUNGLE
Tomorrow at 8, Animal Planet brings 12 Animal experts through the most grueling job interview on the planet to see if they have the knowledge, the courage, and onscreen personality to win a killer prize: their own television show. Jeff Corwin hosts “King of the Jungle: The Rumble Continues”. Tomorrow at 8, only on Animal Planet.

THE ROYALS
The Royals are coming to America. Meet the Royals. The new Royal-ity TV. Hosted by Davy Jones. Sundays at 10 / 9 central on A & E.

14. Movie Trailers

DEFINITION: Trailers are promos for upcoming movies, typically with various segments of the movie and credits.

AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Tri-Star Pictures invites you to meet a truly appalling individual. From Academy Award Winner James Brooks, comes a story about the people you can’t live with becoming the people you can’t live without. Jack Nicolson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinear and Cuba Gooding Jr. As Good As It Gets.

RETURN TO ME
A Moonstruck inspired comedy says Rolling Stone. Tell a friend and run to see this one, says Dish Network. It’s absolutely delightful. Four stars! And Jeffery Lyons Raves, “It’s a guaranteed good time.” Return to me, rated PG, starts Friday, at most theaters.

LITTLE MAN TATE
His heart belonged to his mother. His mind belonged to the world. But all he wanted…was to belong. Academy Award Winner Jody Foster stars in, and directs the one TIME MAGAZINE calls an audacious winner! Wonderful performances, Wonderful acting, Wonderful story…raves Gene Shallot of TODAY. This is one of the most charming films of the decade. Jody Foster…Diane Weist…LITTLE MAN TATE….Now playing at all theaters.

LOVE ACTUALLY
From the makers of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill. The ultimate romantic comedy. Love Actually. Very romantic. Very Comedy. In theatres on November 7th. Love Actually.

ANNE PERRY MYSTERY
A shattered romance. A scandalous lawsuit. A savage murder. A suspenseful new case for Victorian detective William Monk. Presenting Anne Perry’s latest murder mystery, “A Breach of Promise.” Kirkus Reviews calls it, “A banquet for history buffs.” Critic Kay Hellman says, “Perry’s Victorian England pulsates with life and…wonderfully memorable characters.” Watch “A Breach of Promise,” rated R, in theaters everywhere.

THE PIANO
From the Academy Award winning creator of “The Piano” comes what Newsweek calls a gorgeous, fascinating, and audacious film. The Portrait of a Lady “is truly mesmerizing,” raves Rolling Stone. “Riveting and superbly rendered by director Jane Campion.” … “A master work,” applauds the Village Voice. “It’s sexy, edgy, and sublimely satisfying. The best film of the year.” The Portrait of a Lady, rated PG-13, now in select theaters everywhere, January 17th.

TWISTER
Dedicated to science. Driven to succeed. Now…the one thing that brought them together…could tear them both apart. Helen Hunt. Bill Paxtson. “Twister”. Rated PG-13. Starts Friday, May 10th at a theater near you.

LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK
Lifetime Movie Network has more of what you love. More of your favorite movies and your favorite stars all day, all night, and all the time! Lifetime Movie Network, the only all-movie network for women! Your favorite stars, your favorite movies, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Lifetime Movie Network, your movie’s on!

Please add to this list!

 If you think of other categories or genres of voice over work, or kinds of work for voice actors, please send an email to training@edgestudio.com with the subject line: “For the Genre list.”