Is your accent holding you back?

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Just seen this on the telly Some claim that their accent is holding them back at work
Well no worries on this site as nobody does any work

My question . Is your accent holding you back in business ?

Only about three people have ever spoken to me on here and one does proudly speak with a Devon "business" accent .
I don't need to try to change the way I speak as it is honest and genuine and I can communicate at all levels

A global sales rep at a local paper mill once told me that accents are irrelevant when doing international business as so many people speak differently and it is an achievement if you can speak another language even in a Devon accent !

So how do you verbally communicate ?

 

[Newchodge]

Just seen this on the telly Some claim that their accent is holding them back at work
Well no worries on this site as nobody does any work

My question . Is your accent holding you back in business ?

Only about three people have ever spoken to me on here and one does proudly speak with a Devon "business" accent .
I don't need to try to change the way I speak as it is honest and genuine and I can communicate at all levels

A global sales rep at a local paper mill once told me that accents are irrelevant when doing international business as so many people speak differently and it is an achievement if you can speak another language even in a Devon accent !

So how do you verbally communicate ?

I genuinely speak RP, a result of speech therapy as a child because of a bad lisp and speaking at 3 or 4 times the speed that others used. Interestingly, when I speak Spanish I am told I speak like someone from Madrid.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I genuinely speak RP, a result of speech therapy as a child because of a bad lisp and speaking at 3 or 4 times the speed that others used. Interestingly, when I speak Spanish I am told I speak like someone from Madrid.

That's fascinating because for the last 10 years I have been learning Greek. People on Kefalonia have said that my accent is perfect

 

[Ozzy]

My question . Is your accent holding you back in business ?

I have an accent of no particular origin, as I moved around a lot of a youngster from Wales and welsh speaking school, to Kent, Devon, and everything in between including London. So never really picked up an accent as such, but that is an accent in itself.

I did, however, originally have issues in business because I have a few 'tisms ' like walking around barefoot in the office, and being a bit uneducated for the big business meetings. Interestingly though, the more 'successful' you get, and the 'bigger' your business gets, the more these things would get overlooked and what was odd becomes interesting.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I have an accent of no particular origin, as I moved around a lot of a youngster from Wales and welsh speaking school, to Kent, Devon, and everything in between including London. So never really picked up an accent as such, but that is an accent in itself.

I did, however, originally have issues in business because I have a few 'tisms ' like walking around barefoot in the office, and being a bit uneducated for the big business meetings. Interestingly though, the more 'successful' you get, and the 'bigger' your business gets, the more these things would get overlooked and what was odd becomes interesting.

I can relate to that as I wasted my time at school but the more you do it .The more you know how to do it

 

[gpietersz]

I have at least two accents depending on who I am speaking to, plus some between them. I grew up speaking PR at school and Sri Lankan English at home. I automatically switch not just accent, but vocabulary and idiom too, so well that people in Sri Lanka think I have lived there all my life, and people in the North of England call be a southerner etc.

I think the impact of accent on work is highly unpredictable. You can be resented for sounding too posh, looked down on for sounding too common. Some accents come across as more trustworthy to some people. There might be an advantage to fitting in or standing out.

The big problem is being hard to understand. I have seen Geordies struggle in the northwest of England and a strong Geordie accent is very hard for people from outside the UK to understand. I know of at least one who had to cut short an year abroad partly because no one understood her.

I think for most people being able to communicate clearly, using the right vocabulary, idiom, cultural references, etc. for the people you are talking to is a lot more important. Especially so if you are are dealing with other countries and cultures.

 

[NickGrogan]

I have almost every accent, if I talk to someone for more than a few seconds then my accent/vocab will change to match them.

So my wife can tell if I'm on the phone to someone from London/Birmingham/New York etc just by my accent.

Happens in face to face conversations too, which can be a bit odd if I am talking to two people with different accents at the same time.

Its completely unconscious and I can't stop/control it.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

I have almost every accent, if I talk to someone for more than a few seconds then my accent/vocab will change to match them.

I once attended a sales course, a section of which - a sales pitch - was filmed for playback and dissection by the class. I came across as softly spoken, sounded like a Vicar, and had lost my Essex/East London twang!

Apparently we start to lose the ability to decipher the beginning and end of words from the age of 45, the millisecond delay making a difference to whether you hear clearly or apologise and ask for it to be repeated. Add that to difficulties with accents!
My missus is always asking me to go 'hopping' and hates it when I ignore it when she says I can't have another 'ear'.

 

[Motivational]

I wonder whether it’s sometimes less about the accent itself and more about the confidence we attach to it.

It reminds me of some of Jez Rose’s work around personal change and his RESET Framework: Recognise, Engage, Simplify, Evolve and Trust

In business, improving how we communicate doesn’t necessarily mean changing our accent or trying to sound like somebody else. It might simply mean becoming more aware of how we come across, adapting to the audience and communicating with confidence.

I’ve always thought a distinctive accent can actually be an asset. People remember people, not perfectly polished voices.

Another thing to question might be: should we change how we sound to fit the business world, or should the business world get better at listening to different voices?

 

[Michael Loveridge]

Another thing to question might be: should we change how we sound to fit the business world, or should the business world get better at listening to different voices?

I would think it's somewhat easier to change one's own way of speaking than change the entire business world's way of listening!

 

[gpietersz]

Its completely unconscious and I can't stop/control it.

Same with me. I do not even know that I am doing, and if I do try to do it I sound like I am faking the accent very badly.

 

[MikeJ]

I never consider myself to have a strong accent (West London, but lived in Scotland for 20+ years and now in Northumberland) but I do tend to speak fast, and have got used to looking for signs that people are struggling to understand me. That was particularly the case when speaking to foreigners. Remembering to speak slowly, clearly, and use words that people are likely to understand is quite important - some people like to use long words because they think it makes them sound clever. In fact, it just means people may not have understood you.

 

[Newchodge]

I still have to translate for my brother (St Albans) when he visits us in Geordieland.