They'll Do It Every Time

I received an email today from a friend who was on his way to the local TV station to make a commercial and he wanted to "run his copy by me" for any suggestions (and by suggestions he means free advice). I looked at the copy and saw it was deficient in one area and included some additional information better suited to graphics that could be cut from the copy. That's when it all began.

Oh, he took my advice and made the changes, but then decided he had lots of time he wasn't using, so he added about thirty words to, what I thought, was a complete thirty second spot. He said he was amazed at how many words he could get into a thirty. I suggested he was probably reading the copy silently to himself (he was). "Try reading it aloud...and like you mean what you're saying." I said.

How often people who write their own copy make these simple mistakes...he had included a phone number which, in a thirty, can take a lot of time as each number is a word (people forget that)...that's seven words (in our area it's actually ten words because you have to use an area code for every call). Then he tried to cram as many words as as possible into the spot forgetting TV offers three modes of communication: sound, graphics and pictures.

I offer tips for copy writing on www.smooth-male-voiceover-talent.com for those who decide to write their own. In more than thirty years of this business, I've noticed most beginners make the same mistakes and they'll do it every time.