The Holy Grail for Not-Shit Radio Ads

Here are the headlines, but listen above for the full conversation with all its brilliant tangents. 

Do

Let your imagination go wild.  

Don’t 

Start your ad with, “At XXXX we know….” Or end it with “Which will you choose?” Because we’ll know you can’t be bothered to come up with anything new.  

Do

Read your script out loud, with feeling, to check it’s not over-length. 

Don’t 

Say “WWW DOT”, “BACK SLASH” etc. etc. No one will remember it.

Do

Find the perfect voice based on TALENT. Put some effort in - Get out to comedy clubs or the theatre more and find new and diverse voice’s to cast. 

Don’t

Cast your favourite actors from TV shows. You may want to meet them, but that’s not a reason to cast them. And plus, it’s what everyone else is doing. 

Do

Try and get as many legal claims covered in the body of the script to avoid overly long terms and conditions. 

Don’t 

Assume kids talk at the same speed as you…   

T   h   e    y        d     o    n  ’   t

Do

Invite your client to sign off your script before you arrive in the sound studio. 

Don’t 

Invite your client to arrive or join a voiceover recording half way through. Either they come or they don’t. If you’re worried they’ll try and direct the talent, chances are they’ll soon be doing your job in-house. 

Do

Consider recording on location and in binaural 360 audio. 

Don’t 

Get one actor to pretend to be three different people, it never sounds good. 

Do

Push the boundaries of audio production. Use the sound designer who’s sitting behind the mixing desk.  

Don’t 

Title vocal sounds as SFX because you don’t have the budget. Assuming your sound studio will have the recording of a Granny saying, “Here boy, here boy. Good dog,” is quite simply baffling. 

Do

Use the sound booth for more than a place for your voiceover to sit - use props and the space to act in. 

Don’t 

Use the booth as your personal office for the rest of the session, your focus should be on the job you’re doing. 

Do

Give your voice time to read and understand the script. 

Don’t 

Give them a 30 page brand bible and a 10 minute background story. If the words aren’t enough, you’ve failed.