CorpComms Magazine

Cheryl Cole was ignominiously fired from the American version of X Factor because, it was reported, members of the audience found it hard to understand her Geordie accent, yet had no such problems with Welsh presenter Steve Jones. As Received Pronunciation loses ground and regional accents are increasingly heard on television and in the boardroom, how can communicators manage if their boss sounds incomprehensible? Three experts offer their advice on how to cope when messages are lost in translation.

Andrew Harvey, founding partner, HarveyLeach

While not many of us will end up being the hot new presenter on a prime time television show in the US, the important thing to learn from Cheryl's dismissal is to remember your audience.

When it comes to accents and media interviews, there are two potential pitfalls. If you have a regional accent, this is fine when speaking to your fellow countrymen as these are part of the patchwork of broadcasting. On a few occasions, though, it may be impenetrable (BBC News has been known to sub-title Scottish trawlermen) in which case elocution is the only route. It worked for Margaret Thatcher...

However, as English is the international language of business and communication, the accent of someone for whom English is a second language is a much more common problem. On the whole, the British are very sympathetic to interviewees with foreign accents because, let's face it, we don't exactly excel at foreign languages ourselves. Indeed, we often actively court these accents - we like sports pundits from abroad like Peter Schmeichel, Boris Becker and Michael Holding.

But if the accent does start to become a barrier to communication, speakers can overcome any specific linguistic hurdles, such as pronunciation and grammatical tongue twisters, with careful and thorough preparation - practising out loud and in front of a mirror for example. Taking it slowly also makes all the difference as it allows your audience to digest what you are saying more easily.

On the whole, speaking in a second language leads to simpler words, simpler constructions and a simpler message, which is no bad thing. You shouldn't be afraid to use straightforward language - we recommend doing this to all spokespeople whether accent is a problem or not, especially when speaking to a global audience.

However, if the accent continues to cause serious problems with your listeners, it is probably time to consider stepping down as the spokesperson. This is a hard decision to make but if you don't, you may find yourself doing more damage to your reputation than you would do by not saying anything at all.

Stephen Watson, chief executive, CTN Communications

With much of the BBC moving north to Manchester, expect to hear an increasingly diverse range of voices and accents on the airwaves. While the middle England listeners of Today and The Archers will consider this to be a betrayal of the licence fee, the real UK and its regions are culturally very different.

None of this will provide much comfort to Cheryl Cole in her quest to be adored, let alone understood, by an unforgiving US public. Why there should be so much angst about her accent is a mystery to me. Most US television viewers multi task while lying horizontal on their sofas, consuming convenience food and playing video games. If they have time to notice that the lovely Cheryl has the necessary talent to speak, albeit in a language they barely understand, I suppose one would say that it is broadening their cultural horizons.

In business though, being heard and understood is pretty vital. Displaying strong communication skills is a prerequisite of business leadership. Being genuine and true to yourself is also a key component.

Trust and reputation are built around authenticity. I've rarely come across business leaders who have a hang-up about their regional accent. It says something about who they are and their own personal DNA. It's their brand. Of course, it doesn't diminish the need to be articulate. A colourful accent will still need to be projected with passion and impact.

A more frequent concern for business leaders is being understood in a second language. The world expects executives to be word perfect in English, irrespective of where they come from. For some this is a real challenge. Vocabulary can be acquired and committed to memory.

But failing to master the delivery of English can often be a huge handicap. Practice makes perfect, as they always say, so I now often find myself helping business leaders overcome this most basic of cultural and communication divides.

Roddy McDougall, Trinity Management Communications

As a young reporter in the 1980's I phoned the National Coal Board to check a story. When the press officer called back, she asked for someone called 'Woody McDibble.' Until then I'd thought my Scottish accent was gentle enough for everyone, certainly in Britain, to understand. It obviously wasn't. Cheryl Cole, you have my sympathy.

Having a strong accent is nothing to be ashamed of. It's an intrinsic part of the human who's speaking and helps to make him or her different, interesting and unique. Smooth off the roughest edges and you risk losing the essence of the person by forcing them to speak in a way that feels uncomfortable and artificial. At the same time, it's no good having a speaker whose audience struggles to make out what's being said.

So, short of booking in for a course of elocution lessons, what can be done? Like everything, preparation really does pay off. Go through the speech or presentation with the speaker in advance. Identify troublesome phrases or words and work on them. If there's no improvement, see if they can be expressed differently in a way which the speaker can enunciate better.

Avoid complicated, long words. Keep them short and simple. Then get the speaker to rehearse. Out loud. And give honest and direct feedback. If you, someone who knows the content, can't understand what is being said then what chance have outsiders?

Check if it really is the accent that's causing the problem. Could it be the delivery? Is the speaker mumbling into his shoes rather than projecting properly? Little tweaks here can help too.

Then, particularly if it's a live event, your speaker should acknowledge right from the start that he has a strong accent. This does two things: it's disarming, a little human touch which gets the audience on his side; secondly, by alerting them, they're now tuned in for potentially difficult words. Forewarned is forearmed after all.

Remain vigilant after the presentation too. I remember one European chief executive who spoke English with a strong, southern Mediterranean accent. His business encompassed retail and wholesale. While his praise of people working in retail was faithfully recorded in the transcript of his speech, those employed in wholesale appeared throughout as 'old sailors'. Thankfully, the draft was corrected before it made it to the company's website...

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet