Last week a workshop participant came to me after my presentation to tell me that she was very embarrassed to speak publicly because of her heavy accent. (Even though she spoke 3 languages fluently, she was embarrassed because she spoke one of them with an accent!)
I told her to begin her next presentation like this:
Good morning. If you haven’t yet heard my accent, you soon will. That’s because I’m presenting in English today. If I were speaking in Italian, French or Russian, I could speak with almost a perfect accent. I’m still a bit rough with Mandarin, much like I am with English. I hope that you’ll honor me by asking me to repeat anything that I say that is too heavily accented to be easily understood. With that, the first point….
When I speak in the deep south, my New York accent can sometimes get in the way of the message. I’m likely to bring it up to my audiences by saying something like: Some of you may have detected a slight northern accent (and they all laugh!). Yes, I’m a Yankee. But I think it may be okay because my husband is from North Carolina – Thomasville – and he has said that I’m officially Southern, by marriage. One very proud group of Southerners actually gave me a standing ovation!
Powerful presenters remove obstacles between themselves and their listeners. They help their audiences and buyers feel comfortable so that they can hear. If you have an accent, help your buyers/listeners get past the obvious. You don’t want them sitting there not hearing because they are either trying to place the accent (hmm, I wonder if she is from Jersey or Long Island), or turning themselves off because they have to work too hard to understand, or their bigotry gets in the way.
Take the offense. Help others feel safe. Set yourself up for success.
Here are 5 more public speaking tips for non-native speakers.
What are your ideas to overcome speaking with an accent?
This is fantastic advice, Sue. I’m going to share this with some of my ESL colleagues.
Removing the obstacle that might get in the way of successful communication with the audience is the mark of a skillful presenter, whatever that obstacle might be. It reminds me of “introducing the elephant in the room” advice from Randy Pausch (covered in my recent review of his lecture).
In addition to removing the obstacle, your advice is good for another reason. It establishes the speaker as having a remarkable quality (speaking several languages) in a very innocent way. The unspoken connection is that what they are about to say in the presentation will be remarkable too… and this will make the audience listen more intently!
Thanks, Andrew. In fact, addressing the audience in this way also lets them know that just because a person has an accent, doesn’t mean they aren’t brilliant! Too many people, still today, think that people with an accent aren’t as smart as a person who speaks without any accent. Hah! How many native American speakers speak multiple languages? I want people to feel empowered by their strengths.
Hi Sue,
Great advice (thanks for the link to my article as well). I’ve never thought of addressing it head on at the beginning of the speech.
Thanks,
James
Thanks, James. Any time there is a “distraction” – something that prevents listeners/buyers from listening to content rather than focusing on delivery – I recommend talking about it. I gave a presentation wearing identical shoes, except that one was navy and the other was black – and they both fit the right foot. (I had left the correct color, left shoe home.)I knew the people in the back of the room couldn’t see but those close to the stage… they could see the insole squish out with every step. I had to say something so that I could focus on them rather than how stupid I felt. I made some sort of joke – brought their attention to it – and then could let it go. It relaxed the people in the front too.