It's all about the message. In both situations, the goal of the sound engineer is to engage the viewer's (or listener's) feelings. A well-directed film scene makes the viewer believe in what is happening; a perfectly voiced dog food ad by the narrator makes the buyer choose this particular brand of food for their pet. Independent film director Steve Pack writes: '...our goal is to tell the story dramatically, evoking empathy, not moralistically and narratively, which means the actor (narrator) must convey, live through a specific scene, rather than explain it.'
To practically force a potential client to buy your product or service, you must make the narrator imitate the action or motivation for that action, just as your client will later do. A competent director will always insist on 'stopping talking about the results, advantages of a particular product or service, and starting to visualize the process itself!' In other words – don't talk about the goal of your journey; convey the state of the trip itself.
But how to apply these rules in practice? In the same voice recording for a dog food audio ad? In this case, we move away as much as possible from using adjectives and adverbs in the audio spot text, turning to verbs – that is, direct action! It's no secret that dog food smells bad to humans. So, let's say our dog food is called 'Dog Spirit'. It's a wet, canned food. 'Dog Spirit' is a unique selling proposition whose smell won't leave any dog indifferent! Yes, when you open a can of genetically modified dog food – 'Dog Spirit' – the smell of the food is perceived only by the dog and leaves it not indifferent! It's a flavored food, devoid of any odors, which will even charge your old 'Zhiguli' with energy!
The audio spot is recorded, but further study of your audience and sociological surveys show that people do not find it funny that dog food smells bad and your new product eliminates the unpleasant smell. In this case, an exact copy of this audio spot will help, but with an authoritative delivery of the voice-over voice, which conveys the feeling of relief that the consumer will feel every time they feed their four-legged pet with 'Dog Spirit' canned food.
This is when His Majesty verbs come to the aid of our voice-over voice. Instead of telling the narrator: 'When you get to the line where people get relief from the absence of the bad smell of dog food – convey the feeling of relief,' tell the narrator: 'When you get to the line where people get relief from the absence of the bad smell of dog food – convince the listener to agree with you.'
Using verbs in the narration, the narrator will not have to convince themselves that they are happy and feel relief. The narrator will convey already matured personal conviction of the benefits of using the odorless food, 'Dog Spirit'! This is called motivation to action, both on the set and in the audio spot!
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