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