Accent the positive
In UK broadcasting over the last 15 years regional accents have been eagerly accepted at the expense of “received pronunciation” (RP) and some presenters have been dismissed for allegedly sounding “too posh”. But, is the same true in business?
Research by Professor Khalid Aziz has found that in British business RP still rules and there is widespread prejudice reported against people with regional accents. The research shows that senior British bosses believe that someone with an overseas accent, including American, Continental European, Indian or Asian, is more likely to succeed than someone with an accent from the English regions.
In a survey of several hundred senior UK executives, 79% believed that a strong regional accent is a disadvantage in business. By contrast business people with a “home counties” are considered to be generally successful by 77% of those in business, followed by those with an American accent (73%), a Scottish accent (63%), a Continental European (52%) or an Indian or Asian accent (25%).
In contrast, 64% of business people regard those with a Liverpudlian tone as being generally unsuccessful, followed by those with a Birmingham or West Midlands accent (63%), a Cockney accent (52%) and Geordie or West Country accents (48%).
So, even if you have a brain the size of a planet and the looks and personality of George Clooney or Jennifer Lopez, if you sound like a soap star from East Enders you are likely to face often unspoken prejudice at interview or assessment centre.
Many will recall the fortunes of Eliza Doolittle in the film “My Fair Lady” being turned around after being trained in RP and we know that politicians use voice coaches to develop and perfect a tone that will win over the electorate. It appears that if you want to succeed in business you may need to do the same.
With acknowledgments to Azis Corporation and The Marketer.