Commercial voice over is voicing for either television or radio commercials. The voice over artist is selling and promoting a specific product. In this type of voice over, there is strict adherence to timing. All commercials are 15, 30 or 60 seconds. The voice over artist must shape and pace their performance to fit the needed timing.

Character voice over includes video games, cartoons, game apps and toys. Advanced acting skills are a necessity because the voice over artist is asked to physically and vocally become someone else. This is by far the most strenuous and demanding of all areas of voice over but also, as many voice actors will tell you, the most fun. Character voice over is only enjoyable, however, if you have a natural affinity for this kind of work. Voice over work in this category can be either time specific or time general, depending on the project.

Narration voice over is by far the broadest of the 4 categories. Narrative voice over includes ADR (automatic dialogue replacement), voicemail, corporate industrial video, audiobooks, documentaries, e-learning, point-of-purchase marketing and more. In narrative voice over, adherence to timing is understood in a more general way. There is no 15, 30, or 60-second rule that must be obeyed, but there is still a general sense, depending on the project, that the finished product will come in around a certain timeframe (for example, around 5 minutes or 30 minutes).

Movie Trailer/Promo voice over promotes upcoming movies and television shows, as well as the television and radio stations themselves. For instance, all programming for a local affiliate radio or TV station needs voice over. Timing can either be specific or general, depending on the project.