Last year, it was a goal of mine to learn a new skill in voice over.  I’d been trucking along with the skills I have for years and it was time to learn a different genre and add it to the list of types of voice over jobs I do.  I took some promo classes and learned how different it is from other voice over work; the style in which it’s written, the way you read it, even the way the pay is broken down, is completely different that most voice over jobs. 

Another thing I noticed was different, is that it’s damn near the only job left that’s almost completely dominated by men!  Just take a look at this article.  Granted, it was written in December of 2015, and thankfully, things have started to change.  But my first assignment in my first promo class was to watch and write down all the promos I saw on TV that week – and it was pretty shocking to hear these sweet old grandpa voices trying to inform me about sassy, all-female cast, TV shows.  Mom and Two Broke Girls, for example, had this cheesy old announcery, Casey Kasem voice trying to get you excited to watch them.  The content in these shows is full of things I would be mortified to talk to my grandpa about – everything from one-night-stands to sex toys to tampons, so it just doesn’t make sense to me that this genre hasn’t evolved like the rest of voice over, and hired more women where appropriate.  ABC realized this, and is the first network to have a female voice the promos for their Thursday night line up.  I mean, of course(!) it makes more sense to have a relatable female telling you about Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, and Grey’s Anatomy.  The audiences for these shows are like 75% female!!

But while ABC is awesome for being brave enough to change things up, voice over promos for network TV still has a gender gap wider than the Grand Canyon.  The glass ceiling has only been cracked!  The first domino has barely tipped.

This promo demo is an attempt to break through the glass ceiling that TV promos has on female voices.  I had the amazing and talented Macha Creative produce it for me and while we picked some clips you might expect to hear me voicing (the hip voice for Ozzy and Jack’s World Detour), most of them are my take, as a woman, on an exciting show that I’m suggesting you watch. 

Let’s change this ginormous imbalance – hire me;)  My voice will pump people up about a show and make viewers want to watch, I promise you!!