When selecting a voice for your project, it’s vital to consider the audience and tone of your message. For example, a commercial advertising cologne for middle-aged men needs to be more conversational and authoritative than say, an explainer video explaining how to mount your TV.
Many people associate British accents with sophistication and intelligence. This is partly down to stereotypes and social psychology but can be exploited in your marketing. If you’re promoting a luxury product, for example, using a British male voiceover can add to the perceived value of your offering.
However, if you have a global audience or non-native English speakers, the British accent might not be the right choice. Studies have shown that General American accents are most intelligible to non-natives. This is probably because the accents closely resemble their own. In contrast, Received Pronunciation is not as easily understood by non-natives.
In this case, it’s worth considering a more neutral or universal voice such as a North American accent. That’s why I often provide voices for international projects. I recently lent my voice to a wind turbine for Ahola transportation in Finland (it was fun to play a cheeky Finnish robot), and also narrated a series of commercials for Sussex Beds on ITV. My other work includes character voiceovers for long-running games like Smite (fun to roar as Martichoras, the legendary human-gobbling monster), and commercial narration for the BBC, Sky News, Channel 4 and more. british male voiceover