Big G Kids Cereals "Grow Up Strong" :30 TV

• This is a spot where the imagery is more interesting than the copy. As a VO, your job is to give energy to boring copy. • The PLATITUDE OPENING that nobody can disagree with... "To do well, kids need to eat well." No need to convince the audience of this...it's an obvious yes. • The Long Awkward Unrealistic Line with lots of information crammed into it ("Did you know it's the only leading line of kids' cereals . . . " To make it less awkward, make it more spontaneous, like thought. • In this read, you're addressing someone one-on-one at arm's length, putting the performance out in front of you, BEYOND THE MIC. Your read can sound spontaneous and "like thought" and conspiratorial across-the-fence-to-your-neighbor....without being INSIDE YOUR HEAD on something as fun/light/casual as a kids' cereal spot. • "Did you know" means you're talking to ONE PERSON. Listen to Mike's pickups at 14:56 and 15:16. Just a little turn of the dial to make it less announcerish and more matter-of-fact makes it a better and more believable read.

VO: To do well, kids need to eat well. And eating well means getting enough whole grain and calcium. And General Mills Big G kids cereals can help. Did you know it's the only leading line of kids cereals with at least 8 grams of whole grain and a good source of calcium? Cereals they already love, like Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Give your kids more of what they need to be their best. Grow up strong with Big G kids cereals.

Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop :30 TV

• Comment On The Action. You're always responding to something on-screen. You're never just existing as a disembodied head in a vacuum...you always have an opinion and point-of-view on the situation. You are reacting to it in real time. We don't get to SEE you in VO, so we have to HEAR your opinion and point-of-view. Go TOO far . . . we'd rather pull you back. Give me the COMPARE-AND-CONTRAST on "the LEADING spray mop." • You can "shrug" without actually walking your pitch up every time . . . that can get a little too singsongy when EVERY line in the spot is a shrug (The REAL VO on this spot falls down that trap.) • "Hairpin turns" or "U-turns" in the copy often happen in the first beat, or transition from first to second beat, when we go from Problem to Solution, and hear the product for the first time. The product/solution line is often a non sequitur...something pretty darn random and unrelated. Instead of being fed that Solution off a teleprompter, let's hear you think of it for yourself. (If you need to pause for a beat, think and PICTURE IT, I can always shorten the pause later in editing...that's what's great about VO. You're not playing to a metronome click, you can go at your own pace.) Give yourself time to think of the product/solution. You can't choreograph it ahead of time--it's got to sound like spontaneous thought. "Come to think of it...this idea just occurred to me..." is always so much more compelling than someone reading a pre-determined script.

Put another way: Who's more interesting, A) the guy in the bar who feeds you the same pick-up line you've heard 10 times or B) a guy who makes a wry observation that just popped into his head? Probably B! Now with voiceover, you don't have to be a writer and come up with wry observations on your own...but you get to breathe life and energy into a flat-on-the-page script. Make it your own by making it spontaneous.

VO:

Every time you clean with the leading spray mop, it costs you. So try Reveal from Rubbermaid. The bottle's refillable – you use whatever cleaner you like. The reuseable microfiber pad cleans deeply – then just toss it in your regular wash. So why waste money on costly refills? Reveal saves you $50 dollars per year. Try Reveal. Only from Rubbermaid.

Subway "That's A Lot" :30 TV

• When giving a list of related ideas that build on each other, you can give each idea its own space. When that Lexus car commercial says "Escape convention, escape definition, escape compromise," those ideas build upon each other, but they all deserve to be treated as their own separate thing. We don't want to hear that you're rattling off a list . . . we'd rather hear each idea as it comes to you. We don't know what's coming next! Same goes for something as ridiculous as kiddie pools full of grease, water coolers full of grease, and bird baths full of grease. You can consider each one separately as the image comes to mind. (Eww, gross.)

VO: In one year, U.S. restaurants can produce up to 1.4 million pounds of grease. Enough to fill 3300 kiddie pools, over 33,000 water coolers, or 111,000 bird baths. [Over a burger on-screen] Of course, a lot of it ends up right here. Skip the grease. Go for the breakthrough taste of the new Subway Oven Crisp Chicken. Always baked, never fried. Merely 7 grams of fat, and the newest part of a Subway Fresh Fit Meal. Subway. Eat Fresh.

Head and Shoulders Hair Endurance :30 TV

Another great example of a COMMENT ON THE ACTION spot.

VO: Hairstyles come, And hairstyles go. But to get the most our of every style, you've gotta have hair. Hair that's full and thick. Excess buildup on your scalp can leave your hair looking thin. New Head and Shoulders Hair Endurance for men has a hydrating formula designed to remove buildup and help restore your scalp to health, Leaving you 100% flake-free hair that's fuller and thicker-looking, guaranteed. New Head and Shoulders Hair Endurance Respect the scalp. Get the hair.