| When you think of Britain and the | | | | In the most recent US Census (2000), |
| British, images of pomp, chivalry, | | | | there were 824,000 citizens of British |
| royalty, tradition, authenticity, and | | | | birth living in the United States, the |
| power come to mind. To some, the UK | | | | majority of which prefer to live outside |
| musters romance, dignity and prestige, | | | | of large cities scattered throughout the |
| reminiscent of Jane Austen novels or the | | | | country. |
| strength, bluntness and grit of a book | | | | The article also reported that a fifth |
| by Charles Dickens. For others, perhaps | | | | of all British people who live in the |
| it's fashion, cosmopolitan airs, trend | | | | United States are living in the state of |
| setting ways, stoicism, and dry wit. | | | | California with only a slight margin |
| Whatever their reasons, thousands of | | | | living in metropolitan Los Angeles and |
| companies in Canada and the US are | | | | the surrounding area. Additionally, most |
| strategically hiring voices from across | | | | British people living in America have |
| the pond to represent their corporate | | | | American spouses. That's quite a |
| images. | | | | number, which makes even more of a case |
| Why is that? Let's look at some of the | | | | for British talent in the Americas. |
| reasons why some companies find British | | | | People hear their lilting, distinguished |
| voice talent more attractive to sell | | | | accents and find them comforting and |
| their product or service. British voices | | | | pleasing not to mention sophisticated. |
| are in the mainstream and in most cases | | | | Surely if there are that many people |
| are respected for their perceived | | | | living in the US and Canada, some of |
| intelligence and vocal eloquence. | | | | them are personalities who are in the |
| North Americans have always had a love | | | | media or use their voice to make a |
| affair with the British. Starting in the | | | | living. Those individuals are seeking |
| early days of settlement in the New | | | | work opportunities and promoting their |
| World and confederation of both the | | | | British voices as an asset and |
| United States of America and Canada, the | | | | differentiator, offering refinement and |
| British have played a major role in the | | | | exotic appeal. |
| development of the land and | | | | To sum up, here are the key reasons why |
| establishment of policy, culture, | | | | people opt to hire British voices in |
| government and education. | | | | North America: |
| The British, among other nations, | | | | - Elevate their company status |
| principally the French, gave us a | | | | - Help connect with people on an |
| heritage and shared connections with | | | | intellectual level |
| trading partners. Tens of thousands of | | | | - Give perceived refinement to a product |
| these brave people opted to stay in this | | | | or service |
| new found land to nurture, protect, and | | | | - Tap into the sentimentality of people |
| establish their own communities. | | | | of British heritage |
| All loyalties aside, another aspect that | | | | - Differentiate themselves from standard |
| influences people to hire a British | | | | North American branding |
| voice talent is that many high profile | | | | - Present listeners with subtle yet |
| celebrities in Hollywood are from | | | | persuasive marketing |
| England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. If | | | | British voice-overs and what they embody |
| you stopped to think, you could likely | | | | are very powerful without seeming |
| name at least 20 people who hail from | | | | salesy. They establish and engage. |
| the UK in the movies. | | | | British voice-overs can be elegant, |
| To illustrate, Scotland has given us | | | | heroic, strong, graceful, jovial, |
| Russell Waters, Sean Connery, Ewan | | | | quaint, condescending, posh, school |
| McGregor, and Dee Hepburn. Ireland has | | | | masterly, didactic, forceful, and |
| yielded Peter O'Toole, Pierce Brosnan, | | | | influential among other adjectives. |
| Liam Neeson, and Colin Farrell. Wales | | | | The dialects in Britain are numerous |
| has given us Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ioan | | | | with each nook and cranny possessing |
| Gruffudd, Richard Burton, Sir Anthony | | | | their own twist on the Queen's English. |
| Hopkins, and Christian Bale. England, | | | | If you went from one end of the nations |
| perhaps the most generous of them all | | | | capital to the other, you will be |
| for celebrities, produced greats over | | | | exposed to several completely different |
| the decades like Sir Laurence Olivier, | | | | dialects; such is life in the bustling |
| Dame Julie Andrews, Dame Judi Dench, | | | | city of London. |
| John Cleese, Helena Bonham-Carter, | | | | While it is true that other accents |
| Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and more. | | | | embody those attributes, somehow (likely |
| A statistic published on January 27th, | | | | due to shared heritage and the |
| 2007 in a British newspaper states that | | | | entertainment industry), the British |
| there are currently 678,000 landed | | | | manage to pull them off with a more |
| immigrants from Britain living in the | | | | universal style, making them citizens of |
| United States today. This is merely a | | | | the world as well as the lands from |
| conservative estimate. | | | | which they came. |