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When you begin to think of it logically, you know how important it is for your audio project to have the correct voice behind it. After all, voices are powerful. Despite the fact they often take a backseat in our minds to a person's appearance without the perfect voice, looks ain't nothin'. And if the voice is all a person has to go on – for instance, in a radio commercial – then the voice becomes the most important thing in the world.

A person who understands just how to use their voice can control another person just by talking. This is a startling concept the first time you consider it, but when you consider some of the most famous voices in the world, you will understand what a true statement that is. Consider, for example, the actor Michael Wincott.

He's a good-looking guy, but of course in Hollywood that doesn't mean a whole lot. Good-looking guys are a dime a dozen. But this guy gets role after role after role based on the way he uses his voice He has a voice that can keep you up at night, long after the movie is over, because you're just a little worried that the latest Michael Wincott character may just be waiting to pounce. Remember the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo? He was the warden with the whip and the gravelly voice. Fans of the movie weren't quite sure which was more frightening, the whip – or that voice. That voice is what gets him contracts.

Then there's Clint Eastwood. Of course, that unflinching, squinty stare of his is something to write home about. But what do people do when they're attempting their best Eastwood impression? They give some love to the stare, but mostly they give kudos to the way he said, “Come on punk. Make my day.” Like Wincott, Eastwood has a gravelly characteristic in his voice. But in his younger days, he knew where all the pauses were supposed to be, and that made him something worth watching. He was worth watching because he was worth listening to.

Another actor who understood the concept of using his voice was Marlon Brando. Now this guy had a nasally cotton-mouth voice that, untrained, would have grated on the ear. But he became an actor. He trained that voice. He took something that stood out and made it a trademark. The rest, my friend, was timing. When he said, “I made him an offer he couldn't refuse,” as the Godfather, he didn't just parrot good dialog – he said it with emphasis. With weight. What we are responding to isn't something these guys do inherently. They've been schooled. Therefore, when they delivered those lines, the audience never knew what hit them. But they knew that it was profound.

Unfortunately, Michael Wincott, Clint Eastwood and Marlon Brando won't be available for your project, but they make great models to study when you are learning how voice overs affect audiences. You want to use some of the same principals in picking out your voice actor, or in determining whether to use one. You are not the only one with a message for the public. There are thousands of other messages out there as well. You will have to seduce listeners, and that means getting and holding on to their attention. A powerful voice can do that.