Commercial vs Narration Voiceover: What's the Difference

Clients sometimes assume any 'good voice' can do any voiceover job well. In practice, commercial and narration work call for quite different skills.

Commercial: short, persuasive, energetic

Commercial reads are short and built to move someone to action — book, buy, call, click. The pacing is tighter, the energy is up, and every word is doing persuasive work.

Narration: sustained, clear, authoritative

Narration — for documentaries, audiobooks, eLearning, corporate training — asks for a steady, trustworthy voice that can hold a listener's attention over much longer stretches without becoming fatiguing.

Need commercial or narration voiceover?

I record both styles regularly, in NZ, AUS, US and UK accents, with a 24-hour turnaround. Get in touch for a quote.