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Does A Strong Accent Lower Views on Youtube

What should I do for my Youtube Channel?

  • Do it myself

    Votes: 6 100.0%
  • Pay Someone for Voice Over

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Pay Someone for Animation

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    6

AFMKelvin

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I want to start making youtube videos but I'm afraid to because I have a strong accent in English. Well is not that strong but it's noticeable. Even though I was born and raised in the US I've lived in neighborhoods where the majority talked Spanish even my classmates. So between school and home I would talk Spanish around 80% of the time. This gave me a heavy accent when I speak English. I want to start making youtube videos to grow my blog but I'm still undecided if I should do the talking or hire someone on fiverr. The cheapest and easiest way would be for me to do the talking. If I hire someone on fiverr it would slow down my work and it would cost me more money. I was also thinking about doing animation but that's even more expensive. For the Youtuber's on this forum what your opinion? Should I wait to save money and pay someone to do it for me or should I do it myself? Thanks for your feedback.
 
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PureA

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Arnold did OK...

You'll be fine. Your accent is not going to stop you from being successful. Did anyone before you create successful youtube videos with an accent?...

If anything it is a USP, and you will be more memorable.

Worst case scenario if you have amazing content but your accent is 'letting you down', your audience will let you know, and outsource from there.

Ready, fire, aim.
 

GoGetter24

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Depends on the nature of the content. If it's just you explaining things, yes it's a problem. At the very least have a good microphone, and have good graphical content, but probably get some accent training too if it's a strong accent. If people feel any displeasure due to difficulty understanding, they won't watch.

On the other hand if the content is something else (FPS Russia comes to mind), then the accent doesn't matter, or coulds even be a feature.

Using the above example of Arnie: he didn't get famous for his dialogue. He got famous for being a macho hulk. His famous lines are all super short, "I'll be back". They were just flavour upon the exisiting feature. Can you imagine him having being cast as a wordy type?
 

J.Sark

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Arnold did OK...

You'll be fine. Your accent is not going to stop you from being successful. Did anyone before you create successful youtube videos with an accent?...

If anything it is a USP, and you will be more memorable.

Worst case scenario if you have amazing content but your accent is 'letting you down', your audience will let you know, and outsource from there.

Ready, fire, aim.

This is great advice in my opinion.

Schwarzenegger tells his story on his biography, and how everyone in the film industry told him he would never succeed in movies with such a strong accent... (let alone as a political leader!!).

OWN IT!

The region where I come from, I have a very strong accent myself in my own country (some people get ashamed of it, because it's a more rural area), but I'm really proud of it. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you are ashamed of it, people will notice. If you are proud of it, people will notice too.

It's just a shift in your thinking, and what in the beginning you might see as a hindrance might become a very valuable asset.

Now that being said, if getting a voice over will help you reach more people, it might be a good idea, but you said it will slow things down. So start rolling and adjust from there.
 
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journeyman

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Yes, I think a strong accent will drive some people away from a youtube channel. I have definitely been guilty of this I, the regular channels I watch are all native speakers.

Should this be a reason for you to not do it?
No.

By doing it you will build a new skill and push your comfort zone.
Go for it and If you get more self-conscious about it down the line consider doing accent-elimination courses.
 

ZF Lee

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Provide subtitles for your videos.

Sometimes, even for speakers with no accents, they might speak so fast that I can't catch up at all.

Another plus of having subtitles: some folks might want to watch videos on silent mode because they may be watching it on a train or in a shared apartment. You can cater for the audience who prefers a reading stance.

I'm thinking you could write up a text script of the dialogues in your videos, get a guy from Upwork or Fiverr to insert the subtitles at the suitable timings. Or you can do the subtitle work yourself, which is a load of hard work, as I have done it before! High school video project, for which I got screwed over by parents for burning the midnight oil over a 'non-studying' work lol.
 

WJS

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I want to start making youtube videos but I'm afraid to because I have a strong accent in English. Well is not that strong but it's noticeable. Even though I was born and raised in the US I've lived in neighborhoods where the majority talked Spanish even my classmates. So between school and home I would talk Spanish around 80% of the time. This gave me a heavy accent when I speak English. I want to start making youtube videos to grow my blog but I'm still undecided if I should do the talking or hire someone on fiverr. The cheapest and easiest way would be for me to do the talking. If I hire someone on fiverr it would slow down my work and it would cost me more money. I was also thinking about doing animation but that's even more expensive. For the Youtuber's on this forum what your opinion? Should I wait to save money and pay someone to do it for me or should I do it myself? Thanks for your feedback.

If people can understand your English then it shouldn't be a big problem. Having said that, only other people can decide if you have a strong accent and if they can understand you. Maybe post one video here and let us hear your voice?

Aside from the alternatives you've mentioned, you can also consider using text to speech. It won't sound natural but it won't have any accent either.

You should probably focus more on creating great content instead. I've watched youtube videos with really terrible accent, simply because the content was really interesting. If your video has a lot to offer, people will overlook the minor details.
 
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Supercar

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As long as your clarity is not an issue, accent will not keep you from becoming successful.

You have to have a good content. If you have it, then people will watch you. If you do not, then people will not watch even the cutest girl that you hire.

You can pretend your are Antonio Banderas. Just act classy and look educated. Do not let Americans think that since you have an accent you are also stupid. Throw in some college-level words, if you have to.
 

AFMKelvin

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Arnold did OK...

You'll be fine. Your accent is not going to stop you from being successful. Did anyone before you create successful youtube videos with an accent?...

If anything it is a USP, and you will be more memorable.

Worst case scenario if you have amazing content but your accent is 'letting you down', your audience will let you know, and outsource from there.

Ready, fire, aim.

Thanks for your feedback. That's a good way to look at it as a USP.
As long as your clarity is not an issue, accent will not keep you from becoming successful.

You have to have a good content. If you have it, then people will watch you. If you do not, then people will not watch even the cutest girl that you hire.

You can pretend your are Antonio Banderas. Just act classy and look educated. Do not let Americans think that since you have an accent you are also stupid. Throw in some college-level words, if you have to.

I always wondered that can a pretty girl make a youtube video about anything and still get a lot of views?



Yes, I think a strong accent will drive some people away from a youtube channel. I have definitely been guilty of this I, the regular channels I watch are all native speakers.

Should this be a reason for you to not do it?
No.

By doing it you will build a new skill and push your comfort zone.
Go for it and If you get more self-conscious about it down the line consider doing accent-elimination courses.

Exactly that's why I asked because I can't stand the videos that are made in China but in English. I don't like listening to them because their accent is so strong even if the content is good I'd rather read subtitles than listen to them speak.

But I'll try it since I'm on a budget now. If I see that the videos are getting a lot views for the content then I'll hire someone for voice over or animation. Thank you.
 

jlwilliams

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Yes, an accent will hold you back at least a little. I wouldn't let that stop you from getting started. Let NOTHING stop you. Still, many people will click right past you. I don't mean to be disparaging, but I know that an accent is the kiss of death for phone sales and it isn't helping you. Is that right? Is that how it "should" be? Well, it is the way it is.

Arnold took classes to reduce his accent, stopping where he wanted to be because it fit his brand. Depending what your personal brand is, that may work well for you too. More likely, speaking two languages without accent is probably better.

My advice is start with what you have. Then look into hiring a coach to help you with your diction. It can cost less than you may think and it will improve your marketability in the US. Many, many people have improved how they are perceived by putting work into their language skills. It works. It's usually cheap. It's a little coaching and a lot of practice. You can hit this out of the park.
 
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Ocelot

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I think it's not the accent so much as how well you can speak English.

When I click on a tutorial and the guy is Indian for example, often times they will misspeak, mispronounce words and use odd phrasing. This can be very distracting and makes them hard to listen to.

If you look up Gleb Alexandrov on YouTube, he has 86K subs and does tutorials. I would say his accent is strong and quite weird. But he speaks in proper English, meaning you can still easily understand him. He also has good content and an engaging personality. That's what matters.

There are many more like him on YouTube. Yes you will lose a few people because of your accent, but some people are bound to just not like you for some reason or another anyway, it can't be helped.

People will want to see your personality, so you should do your own voiceovers.

You can 100% make a success of it with an accent.
 

kudos_whitehat

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I want to start making youtube videos but I'm afraid to because I have a strong accent in English. Well is not that strong but it's noticeable. Even though I was born and raised in the US I've lived in neighborhoods where the majority talked Spanish even my classmates. So between school and home I would talk Spanish around 80% of the time. This gave me a heavy accent when I speak English. I want to start making youtube videos to grow my blog but I'm still undecided if I should do the talking or hire someone on fiverr. The cheapest and easiest way would be for me to do the talking. If I hire someone on fiverr it would slow down my work and it would cost me more money. I was also thinking about doing animation but that's even more expensive. For the Youtuber's on this forum what your opinion? Should I wait to save money and pay someone to do it for me or should I do it myself? Thanks for your feedback.
Nahhh man the accent doesnt matter. Its all about personality man, and how you show it. Because every unique way is something special for you. So dont be afraid of it, just make videos. As an audience id not have a problem in it [emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]

Sent from my SM-T815Y using Tapatalk
 

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