I have been writing about accent anxiety and bias in the workplace on and off, for around fifteen years. Accent bias still persists, although sociolinguists say there are some signs of improvement, pointing to the wider range of accents now heard on radio and TV news broadcasts.
In Britain, the biases people have about certain accents largely come down to class, sociolinguists say.
People “draw conclusions about everything” based on someone’s accent, “and they do it really fast,” says Dr Mary Robinson, a research associate in language variation and change at Newcastle University.
Dr Robinson says “everyone makes assumptions based on accents”. But when accents are used as a basis for discrimination, she explains this can be a tricky area because they’re not a protected characteristic.
She says that, for example, recruiters in job interviews might use excuses like: “They didn’t sound intelligent.”
Dr Amanda Cole, a lecturer at the University of Essex, says there is a “hierarchy of accents” in the UK, with accents from industrialised urban areas like Glasgow and Birmingham often seen as low status.
All this can lead to extremely able and experienced personnel choosing not to speak out in the workplace for fear of being judged. An accent that doesn’t carry sufficient gravitas can be immediately discounted, along with potentially important views and opinions also being trashed.
We can work on changing attitudes about accent, which is a good thing. Accents are rich, diverse, colourful and can represent a wide variety of lives and experiences which are good for the workplace as sources of new thinking. Ideas are the lifeblood of most organisations. New products and services are essential to keep an organisation not only afloat but ahead of the competition and these ideas are voiced by you, the staff, in the workplace.
What must be acknowledged, however, is the importance of clarity and good communication. Just because someone speaks with a non regional accent, it doesn’t mean that person can communicate well. Conversely, having a regional accent doesn’t mean you’re naturally a gifted speaker.
Accent biased anxiety can be ameliorated by good voice coaching. Voice coaching does not have to be focused on changing the speakers accent, however. You can become a confident, authentic and persuasive speaker with a regional accent.
Accepting and believing in yourself, in your credibility and your subject knowledge are the first steps to becoming an excellent speaker, regardless of your accent. With the help of a speech and voice coach, like Debbie Chatting at Voice Synergy, you can develop your confidence and presentation skills. You can learn how to pitch your voice to gain attention, how to use new voice patterns to attract attention and interest and how to use techniques like pauses to cut through the noise.
If you wish to add clarity to your spoken voice, this can be achieved through specific exercises, regardless of your accent.
Finding your value, believing in your worth to the workplace and learning to feel grounded and confident are the first steps to being an excellent communicator.
For more information and to book an informal chat to discuss your voice coaching, particularly if you are feeling accent anxiety, please get in touch.