Documentary narration: Does accent matter?

[Curious World]

I've posted about narrative before, but this is slightly different. I've watched a lot of independent docs on YouTube, and as expected most are from US YouTubers. The English speaking world pretty much "gets" the accents and terms they use, as we've grown up with US entertainment all our lives. Also, they are often more enthusiastic, which helps hold your attention.

But are US YouTubers and YouTubers from other countries ever put off by the often lower toned narration of the British? I mean, inherently, we Brits aren't as outspoken or as enthusiastic, but that's just the way we are. I guess what I'm trying to say is, would my slightly monotined narration bore people, and make them want to click off before watching my videos to the end? My watch time count would suggest that might be the case.

 

[wasabiroots]

Nah~ My monotonous voice seems to do alright but I have to say, the retention becomes better with time. I don't even have a US accent nor a British one. Though people do seem to say I have a tinge of a Scottish accent which I find funny.

Niways, I don't know about others but I started with bad retention as well as shown here:

So don't get discouraged just yet. Give it a few months, improve what you can and if its still showing no improvements by then...then worry.

 

[Kate's Adventures]

I don't see a problem myself, as long as the content is interesting and the voice is clear, I don't think accent necessarily matters.

 

[StacyPancakes]

Definitely not. In fact, as an American myself, I as well as many many Americans love British accents. That's why we all have good impressions of other peoples accents because our accent is boring so we practice different ones. As far as for US viewers I think a British accent would on docs would lengthen retention time because even if the video was boring or something they would stick around to listen to the person talk with an accent.

 

[Shendijiro]

Don't be discourage by your accent! As long as your voice is clear and it's understandable everything will go fine. Remember as well we all start with low retention and with time it will go up! I have noticed that, also if you're consistent with your videos your retention will improve. Look at this:

The big ones are from when I was super consistant with my uploads.

 

[subversiveasset]

Most of the actual documentaries (not just youtube) I watch have non-US English accents. I actually think of that as bit of a plus factor. I would definitely listen to a podcast of Sir David Attenborough talking about his morning breakfast!

 

[JesusGreen]

If anything people often like listening to things that aren't in their native accent. I know an oddly large number of US folks who watch British TV, shows, etc just for the voices actually. Personally I don't care what accent someone has if I'm watching for the information, all I care is about it being understandable.

So if your audience are going to be global and not just people in your area, then talk a bit slower than you would in a normal conversation. Even from one side of England to the other, if you put someone from right up North with someone from far down South together, and have them both talking at their normal speeds, sometimes a word or two will get lost in translation - and for England to the US this can be much worse. If you enunciate things fully and talk slowly enough though, no-one should have the slightest problem understanding you, and they'll probably enjoy the narration.

If you do have a particularly thick accent that you think might cause some problems in understanding for say people whose first language isn't English, then add CC/closed captions to your videos.

Hope this helps! PS for what it's worth, although I don't make documentaries, I'm British, and most of my viewers are in the US, but no-one seems to mind the accent.