When you are producing political ads for your next campaign cycle, it may be time to look for a new voice–or in some cases, new voices.
It’s important to find voices that not only represent your current constituency and likely voters, but also the diversity in your voting area. Using a diverse range of voices, and even some new voices, can keep your campaign fresh and help your message resonate with a greater audience. This is especially true if you are a new candidate or have a new message. Breaking into a community that has historically voted a certain way or for a certain type of candidate can be daunting, but a plethora of voices in your campaign messaging can help you break ground.
Why The Right Voice Matters
But how do you go about finding that voice talent? Here’s the thing. You don’t want to just grab someone from your campaign that looks the part and can maybe pull it off. You need professional talent that can speak consistently throughout your campaign messaging and can deliver your message clearly, concisely, and cleanly in your video ads.
You also want someone whose voice really reflects the tone that you need in your message. There are positive, upbeat, hopeful political campaign videos that share an exciting view of the future and change to come; and there are negative, attack videos that highlight the reasons not to vote for your opponents. Each message has a very specific purpose. A professional voice actor can help you truly broadcast that purpose in tone and demeanor so that the hearers get it, not just in the words, but in the emotion and connection with the video.
How To Find A Diversity Of Voice Actors For Your Campaign
Okay, so you get it. You need more voices in your campaign. Maybe there’s a target audience that you want your message to resonate with. Maybe there’s a niche that no one else is talking to. Maybe it’s just time for more voices to be heard. (We certainly think it’s that time.)
There are so many places to find great actors of diverse backgrounds and experiences, if you just go looking. That’s my first suggestion. Be willing to look. Be willing to work with new agents or new organizations. Don’t just keep turning back to the same sources that you always have. If now is the time for change, that starts with small changes—like being willing to hire voices you’ve never hired before. Take a chance.
Second, I have a number of great resources for you:
- BlueWave Voiceover is a great place to start for diversity of progressive voices. There’s a database of different voice talents that you can search if you’re looking for something specific. They specialize in working with Democratic and progressive voices.
- The African-American Voice Actor Database has been around since 2019 and is a great place to turn if you want to highlight Black voices. Now more than ever, I encourage you to turn here for new voices to liven up your campaign ads.
- Voquent has a sample database of non-binary voices, which are not only under-represented, but according to this article, bring a certain distinctive quality that can perk up a listener’s ears and help them tune in a little longer.
- If that wasn’t enough, here’s a spreadsheet developed by Edward Hong that showcases literally hundreds of BIPOC voice talent with a wide range of accents and native languages.
Choosing a Millennial Voice
The millennial vote has been a topic of much discussion over the last number of election cycles. It’s a politically active and engaged generation that has recently begun aging from the “youth” vote to the young professional vote, with growing families. While their engagement continues, their concern for the future, for the sake of their children and their careers, grows. On one hand, millennials have now peaked in their numbers of electorate voters, with GenZ now the up and comers.
But now is not the time to overlook the Millennial voice. As mentioned, Millennials are very engaged in the world around them and many times are not necessarily beholden to one candidate, but rather to a cause or a message, according to this article. Speaking to their concerns, in a Millennial voice, can be a way to connect with that voter base and help them see that your cause is their cause.
Furthermore, while the numbers aren’t growing in those now eligible to vote by turning 18 (as we leave that to GenZ), there is a bump in growth in naturalized Millennials becoming citizens. In other words, the Millennial electorate is becoming more diverse. And the Millennial voice is therefore becoming more diverse. Have I convinced you yet that now is the time to hire from the databases I shared above?
Is It Just Acting?
On the other hand, you will find some actors say that it’s acting and they are equal opportunists. Here’s an interview from the Today Show with a couple of voice actors who worked on national campaigns in the 2016 and prior. This article makes the same argument.
However you will note that the hook of these articles is “here are the voices you’ve always heard but didn’t know.” That’s fine and rather interesting.
But I want to make a different plea. Maybe it’s time for the voices you’ve always known but haven’t heard. Maybe it’s time to shake things up. It may take some time to find a voice actor who connects with your viewpoints, while reflecting the diversity that your campaign needs, but that time is a worthy investment. There are a wide range of voices in every camp. It’s time to find them and hire them. They deserve it, and we want to hear from them.