British Male Voiceover

In this blog I bang on about how cool it is to have a British Voice and how as a Voiceover Artist, there are lots of ways it can be expressed. 

There’s something about having a British Voice that seems to appeal to certain categories of Voiceover work. Now as a British Male Voice Artist myself, I need to close that opening statement with a bit more humility.

 

 

The Queen’s English

The truth is we Brits are a little under-stated and self deprecating as a nation and only a relatively small section of society speak what is often referred to as ‘The Queen’s English’. In fact to most of us, it’s actually an accent that sounds a bit strange.

 

What Is Received Pronunciation (RP)

A more common term these days is Received Pronunciation or RP, which is widely regarded as the standard British Voice by folks from other parts of the World. It’s a style that’s well suited to documentaries and factual content, with some stellar names over the years. 

You’ll sometimes also see the expression: ’Mid Atlantic’, which featured quite a lot in the 40s and 50s (think James Stewart), but often what is meant these days is British RP. 

The British Isles are quite small, but with a population of over 60 million. Trust me, when you drive on any of our roads, you soon get a sense of how congested the place has become.

There isn’t really a truly British standard accent as there are so many regional variations. In fact, the difference can be quite staggering over a relatively short distance. 

The Liverpool Accent is distinct from a Cheshire accent, with the same being true for a Manchester accent. The fact that they all share a piece of Earth with an area of just 40 square miles is quite remarkable.

There are accents in the UK that are simply impenetrable to those from other shores and often require sub-titles. Most folk from the UK get by, but a strong Geordie, Scots or Cornish accent can also leave us scratching our heads if we don’t live round the corner.

This is perhaps why the British RP accent was taken to represent a ‘British Accent’ by production companies from overseas. After all, clarity is important and there are strong stereotypes associated with the neutral sound of a British RP Voice that can be leveraged.

 

The Benefits of a British RP Accent

I’m told that a British Male Voiceover, if delivered with a warm, clear and engaging tone, carries a degree of authority on an international stage. It’s associated with being trustworthy I hear, but best not to take my word for it.

With just a little bit of over-pronunciation and a focus on purity of delivery, it can sound quite posh (a little like what people refer to as the Queen’s English). This can be useful when advertising high end brands that want to send out a message about quality and prestige.

This slightly forced version of British English is heard everywhere from premium car commercials, to luxury villa promos and high end jewellery adverts. There’s an implied association with British Royalty that lends credibility to these areas of advertising.

 

What Do We British Associate With Accents ?

Here’s where the stereotypes are all turned on their heads. The British people don’t associate the Queen’s English with quality and prestige necessarily, more like privilege and inaccessibility. 

The perception in the South of England is that everything between London and Scotland is called Yorkshire, where dragons live. People in the North may accuse someone from the South West as being a ‘Cockney’, which may be evidenced on the basis of not having a Northern British accent and having a preference for lager, rather than ale ! 

You see ‘real men’ in the North drink ale, unlike those from the South that enjoy lager which is often diluted with lemonade. 

Northern British Accent

 

There’s a general stereotype in the UK that the further North you go, the friendlier the people are. It’s not based on anything factual and it’s just a narrative that gets generated by folk from the North (not surprisingly). 

As I’m originally from the North, I’ll add some fuel to the fire here. It’s normal in the North to say hello to a lone stranger if you pass them by in countryside. However, down in ‘that’ London, you’re likely to be looked at with suspicion and a stranger will check the location of their wallet.

The North is more rural and has strong historical links with the working class. There’s nothing in that which makes you more friendly per-se, but the historical legacy of needing closer family bonds and a reliance on community has led to an association with greater warmth and approachability.

If you’re making an ad in the UK for a care home company, encouraging ‘normal’ people to get vaccinated, or making an appeal on behalf of a charity, don’t be surprised if you hear a Northern British accent.

Southern British Accent

 

When people refer to a Southern British accent, they generally mean from the South East of England. The neutral RP British Male Voice is a southern one; more specifically from some parts of London and the area just South of London that stretches across the Home Counties. It’s an accent that derives historically from the educated Middle Class.

It’s also the accent that is assumed when words are spelled phonetically in British dictionaries. That said, it’s no longer fair to say that it belongs to any specific area though, due to the amount of demographic shift. However traditionally it was associated with Oxfordshire, Surrey, Northern Hampshire, West Sussex and maybe a bit further West too.

The British RP belt stops abruptly when you reach the coast though, where strong regional voices are heard once more (Portsmouth, Brighton, Essex etc). 

 

North South Divide

The British Voice can be used as a powerful label that can say something about who you are and what you stand for, if thats what you’re going for. Whether it’s England, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, the differing accents and turns of phrase within these shores have always been historically tied to assumptions around status. Not surprisingly this has always generated a very large amount of unconscious or conscious bias. 

It even suggested political allegiance for a long while, but thankfully thats no longer the case. As for Ireland, well they wouldn’t forgive me for including them in a discussion about the British Voice, so I’ll just say its a uniquely beautiful and warm accent, worthy of a whole blog on its own.

 

British Voice Stereotypes

 

However, the stereotypes around regional accents and British voices are so deeply embedded within our society that even today they play a part in the choice of accent for say, a commercial. A British Voiceover comes in many different forms and is a powerful tool in the world of branding. 

Even a gentle regional British accent can facilitate a vicarious association with a cohort of society.

Need a nice chap to promote your business expo or a ski chalet retreat ? Best to choose a shandy swilling Southerner.

Need someone to convey sincerity and warmth ? You may prefer a nice Northerner.

 

This British Male Voiceover

 

My name is James Fowler and I’m a British Voice Artist. I grew up in the North and have lived many years in the South of England. This has given me the breadth of range to cover warmth, clarity, character work and beings from outer space.

I’m equally happy chatting with clients over a pint of ale, a lager and lime, or an online virtual cup of tea. Neutral RP is my standard voice now, but I do like to dial up the Northern tone from time to time. I love a character voices too and I once did ‘Julius Caesar’ with a Caribbean accent. 

If you’d like to know more about the British style of Voiceover, please feel free to drop me a line. Equally, reach out if you have a voice in mind for your next video, audiobook or promo.

Cheers

James