Wall to wall dialogue.

That’s what they called it in the old days. 

Maybe they still do.

An on-camera role in a commercial with lots of dialogue – that’s wall-to-wall dialogue.  Lots usually means 6 to 8 lines, which, compared to a movie or a play, isn’t much at all, but in a commercial it is.

Yes, sometimes there are more than 8 lines. 

Usually the text is extremely well written; precise; and makes all the key points that the product client wants to make. 

But because the speech isn’t natural dialogue it could trip you up. 

A good method to learn the dialogue is to ask a made-up question before each line and then answer it with the written one. 

Let’s take a car commercial for example. If the first line is: ‘Everybody wants freedom,’ your possible question could be: ‘What’s one thing that all people want?’.  

Make up the questions so you like them and answer the questions as if you’re speaking to someone you know, love and trust.. 

The next line might be: ‘It’s a rare automobile that responds to nature.’ which is a big jump in thought from the first line. The writers are expressing the ideas that the car company thinks will help sell cars. Often the lines don’t seem to connect.

Asking the questions allows you to make your own truthful connection. A flowing series of questions and answers.

The question could be: ‘Can any car take all kinds of weather?’ which provokes the bridge thought No,‘It’s a rare automobile that responds to nature.’. 

Although the speeches in commercials might not flow naturally and logically, you can always answer fresh to each line by setting yourself up with an inner monologue question.

Try it. 

See if it assists you in speaking wall-to-wall dialogue.