Region neutral? What about Nation neutral?

Scott Wallace

As always, I will preface my post by stating that I am NOT a voice actor, just a pre-wannabe who has been obsessed and fooled around with recording/engineering etc since childhood. A nutcase if you want to put it that way.
I understand from these boards how important it is no matter where you're from in the English speaking world to present yourself with a 'region neutral' accent, but what if you're nationality is also very ambiguous?
I live in Australia, born to an English mother and American father.
I've tested this almost daily for two years now, broadcasting a make pretend pop music show over the internet. NO ONE can accurately guess my location. I've been called English, American, South African, New Zealander, Scottish, Irish - everything BUT Australian.
So what do I go with? Do I try to retrain my natural mic voice to focus on one nationality? Or do I leave it alone? What works best in the broadcasting business? Are the clients/stations very specific about their needs for the on air personalities or are they just happy to have a person that can get the job done well?
Also, if i have to choose a nationality to focus on from the above list, which will require a lot of dedication and hard work on my part, which one would be the best option?

Dan Powell · Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007, 12:34 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi,

Actually I'm in a similar boat and wanted to throw my ten penneth in too if that's ok?

I've been to Australia and been asked what part of Australia, Canada, America or (occasionally) UK I'm from. My question is the same really. Though I've been doing a lot of amateur work using various American (and other) accents should I be concentrating on either just American while I get started or English?

The reason I'm asking is because most of the work on this site is seemingly for US voices so do I therefore do an 'U.S.' voice demo or 'U.K.' or a mix of both?

Sorry if I'm jumping on your coat tails Scott but just thought I might be able to get both our questions answered in one post.

Tom Greenlee · Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007, 18:12 (GMT) Post subject:

You are correct about most leads on this site require North American neutral accent. If people are having a hard time determining where you are from, it's because you have an accent of some sort....just not distinguishable as to what sort. A neutral North American accent is one where if someone heard you it would be unmistakable that you are US North American speaker....the neutral accent part means you don't have any US regional accent, your words are pronounced in ways that do not distinguish you as being from the south...northeast...New York etc...so it is impossible to determine where in the US you originate. Just as an example you can listen to any of the files I have posted in the demo of the day thread. I have what is considered a neutral North American accent. There are many others here as well that have posted files, that also have the neutral accent. Now....having an authentic accent other than neutral that you can turn on and off is always a big plus and opens the door to many more opportunities. Master the one that seems to come most naturally to you and then work on the others, so you can turn them on and off at will.....That would be awesome.