Alexa, Amazon’s popular voice assistant, has a pleasant enough voice. The Artificial Intelligence behind it has created a plain, neutral and easily understood voice, that let me be honest here, isn’t for everyone.
While you can’t change the default female voice completely, you can tweak it slightly by adjusting the accent and language.
Amazon has some fun features and Alexa skills, like using the Celebrity Voice Skills for your favorite celebrity voices too. They can’t be used for day-to-day commands, but they’re quite fun to play with.
If you want to know more about just what you can do with Alexa’s speech, this article sets out to walk you through all the tricks and tweaks you can do with the Alexa voice function.
How to Change Alexa’s Accent or Language
Change the default language through the Alexa App. If you don’t have the app installed yet, you can download and install it for both iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
You can also access the same functions through a web browser by navigating to alexa.amazon.com and logging into your account. The app vs. desktop browser layouts will be different, but the steps are the same.
- Open the app and tap the three horizontal lines icon (hamburger icon)
- Depending on the app version, this will either be located in the top-left corner of the app, or down towards the bottom-right
- Select the Settings option then Device Settings
- Select the Echo device you want to change the accent or language on.
- If you want to change multiple Amazon Alexa devices, then you will need to change each one individually.
- Scroll down until you see the Language option and tap it to select.
- This section will display the language and accent options that are available for your Amazon Echo device.
- Common English accent options available are American, United Kingdom, Canadian, and Australian.
- Or you can select a completely different language altogether from the list of languages. There are plenty of accents available.
- I should point out that you may lose some functionality when making language or accent changes.
- To return to the original accent and language use the app to reverse the changes.
As far as changing the voice that is used for the regular and normal commands, there’s nothing else available. But there are some real voice options using Skills with famous voices and specific questionsa and commands.
For example, you can have some limited command functions using the Samuel L. Jackson skill, which I cover in detail later in the article.
First though, in the next sections, I will discuss some other voice tweaks and skills that the Amazon Assistant can perform.
How to Make Alexa Talk Slower
It is also possible to change the voice speed. You can make Alexa talk slower, or faster, using voice commands only. Interesting enough, there are no options to change speed from within the Alexa app.
Change the speed with voice commands with these simple voice commands:
- Alexa, talk slower
- Alexa, talk faster
- Alexa, return to default speed
How to Make Alexa Whisper
In whisper mode, Alexa will respond to any whispered commands with a whispered reply. This is a fun, default voice action in a hushed voice range.
Whisper mode can be activated through the app or by voice command.
To activate it, the command is -“Alexa, Activate Whisper Mode.”
To activate it using the Alexa app, use the following instructions: –
- Open the Alexa App and tap the three-line icon (the hamburger), which is located either at the top-right or bottom-left corner, depending on which version you are using.
- Select Settings
- Scroll down to the Alexa preferences section, select Voice Responses
- Tap the slider next to the ‘Whisper Mode’ heading, it turns blue once this is activated.
It may take a few minutes for whisper mode to become active on your Echo smart speaker, but once it is, you’ll be able to exchange whispers with Alexa.
Alexa Celebrity Voices and How They Work
Alexa celebrity voices are good for a fun time with iconic voices. There are a range of cool voices of celebrities to pick from including:
- Samuel L. Jackson
- Gordon Ramsay
- Morgan Freeman
- Pikachu
- Jarvis
Mostly, these aren’t voices that will replace Alexa’s standard voice, but you can activate the skill and ask the “celebrity” a bunch of questions for a bit of fun.
For instance, if you fancy receiving a barrel-load of bleeped out abuse, you can ask Gordon Ramsay this question: “Hey Gordon, What do you think of my hamburger?”
Gordon will then leave you in no doubt at all that he believes your hamburger is below par.
How to Change Alexa’s Voice to Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson is a voice that you can use to replace Alexa’s standard voice. It does cost $4.99 to purchase the Samuel L. Jackson Skill from the Amazon store though.
Once you pay, you’ll be able to use the dulcet tones of Samuel on your Amazon Echo Show 10 and also use “Hey Samuel” as the wake word.
Since Samuel L. Jackson can get a bit animated, you have the option to disable explicit responses!
To purchase the Skill with voice commands:
- Ask Alexa to “Introduce me to Samuel L. Jackson”
- You will then be prompted to buy the Skill
- Although this voice will take over much of female Alexa’s duties, it won’t work when using features like shopping lists and reminders.
Once you have the skill installed you will be able to ask questions and issue commands like
- “Hey Samuel, play some music.”
- “Hey Samuel, tell me a joke.”
- “Hey Samuel, what time is it?”
- “Hey Samuel, quote Pulp Fiction.”
How to Change Alexa’s Voice to Gordon Ramsay
This isn’t a replacement voice assistant for Alexa’s standard voice, but it is a skill that can be installed to ensure you are always well insulted in the kitchen. To enable this skill use the steps below.
- Open the Amazon Alexa App and tap the three horizontal lines icon.
- Tap Skills and Games and type ‘Gordon Ramsay’ in the search box.
- The top option should be the correct choice to enable the skill.
Your smart speaker now has the ability to insult your kitchen skills, at any point Gordon can unleash a tirade simply by asking – “Alexa, ask Gordon Ramsay what he thinks of my boiled egg?”
How to Change Alexa’s Voice to Pikachu
For Pokémon fans. there is also the opportunity to have a conversation with Pikachu.
Simply follow the exact same steps as for Gordon Ramsay, but search for “Pikachu” instead. The top result should be the “Pikachu Chat” by the Pokémon company, select it to add the skill.
Now you can activate the skill by saying “Alexa, ask Pikachu to talk.” You are now able to have a chat with a real live Pokémon.
Which should be a welcome relief after Gordon Ramsay’s savage critiques!
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