Will the roaring twenties be back again?

It finally happened this morning! What, you all ask in unison? Since January, I have been telling many of my close voice over friends and colleagues that I suspect there is a voice over dam that is ready to break. There is a pent-up feeling that the world is soon going to give out the loudest sigh of relief and say let’s get back to some form of normality. And to do this, the business world is going to have to tell everyone that they are ready and waiting for your business when things get back to normal.

Before you are up in arms and ready to accuse me of Covid-19 blasphemy, I am not saying that Covid-19 has ended, and we should all get back to normal and start breathing in each other’s faces. I only read scientific data, I do not espouse it (well maybe I do to my close family and friends). No, I am saying that the signs are beginning to show that there is light at the end of this shit stenched tunnel we have been living in for the past year.

Love or hate capitalism, it will always show you the future. If there is money to be made, someone will find a way to make it. Therefore, what happens in business is a usually a good indicator of where the world is at. Look at the voice over world for the last 12 months. “We are in this together”, “these unprecedented times”, “now, more than ever”. The tone was set by business. Without realizing it, we as voiceovers are at the forefront of setting this tone and therefore have an insight into where we are headed by the auditions that we receive. They tell a story of where we are heading as a country, and I suppose, a global community.

So, what happened this morning? I received my first audition request from my agent for a script that is basically saying we’ve been caged in for a year and now it’s time to get the hell out and enjoy the world again. It’s for a major hotel chain ad in the UK and it’s a sarcastic look at how mundane the last 12 months have been and that is time to BOOK A BREAK! It was refreshing, optimistic and I am sure just the start of many more to come.

There is going to be a huge demand for voiceover to tell the world we are open again. You must be ready for it. Get with your coach, practice and prepare for a wave of optimism. It IS coming. If the Spanish flu taught us anything it is that there was a euphoric roaring twenties after the flu had run its course. I don’t know if we will go back to flapper girls and the Charleston but I think we are going to have a pretty darn good time. And I look forward to telling the world to just go out and have fun!