The Unsung Heroes of Hold: My Journey in On-Hold Messaging
Before the bright lights of South Florida radio, there was a unique and incredibly formative chapter in my voice over career: working for a company in Fort Lauderdale that specialized in on-hold, "while you wait" entertainment messages. It was a world of precision, endless loops, and surprisingly, a brush with rock and roll royalty.
This was a few years before I truly dove into News, Weather, and Traffic for major South Florida radio stations like WIOD and WINZ. Looking back, that time in the on-hold messaging industry provided some of the best experience I ever got with my voicing talent. It was a masterclass in clarity, pacing, and delivering a consistent message, all while keeping a captive audience engaged.
What made this experience so unique, and frankly, a bit wild, was the technology of the time. This was long before digital audio workstations and instant uploads. Everything we did was edited on tape reels. Imagine splicing and dicing tiny segments of magnetic tape, sometimes with a razor blade, to create seamless loops and perfect timings. It was raw, tactile, and demanded an incredible attention to detail. Every breath, every pause, every inflection had to be just right, because once that tape was duplicated and sent out, it was going to play thousands of times over.
And speaking of interesting collaborations, during my time there, I actually worked alongside a member of the band for Marilyn Manson. South Florida in the 90s was a hotbed for diverse musical talent, and it was fascinating to see how different creative minds approached the craft of audio, whether it was for shocking industrial rock or soothing on-hold messages. The dedication to sound, however, was a common thread.
Today, if you've ever called just about any of the many Ford Dealerships in the Midwest United States, there's a very good chance you've heard my voice. From welcoming messages to details about service specials and new models, my voice has been guiding callers through their wait times for years. It's a testament to the longevity of those early recordings and the foundational skills I developed in that Fort Lauderdale studio.
That period, working with antiquated (by today's standards) but effective technology, taught me invaluable lessons about voice control, script interpretation, and the subtle art of keeping listeners engaged even when they're simply waiting on the phone. It was a grind, but it laid the groundwork for everything that came next in my broadcast journey. And it's a reminder that sometimes, the most unexpected detours can lead to the most valuable experiences.