Posts Tagged ‘Canadians’

Dealing With Accents

In our previous article we discussed accents and the problems that they can cause for speakers. We talked about how important it is for our audiences to understand us – if they can’t understand then there isn’t much point in the presentation.

It is also important, however, to remember that an accent is part of who someone is. By asking someone to rid themselves of an accent we are asking them to rid themselves of part of who they are. If I’m going to listen to someone speak, then I want to hear their entire message – not just the words, but the entire message that is being communicated. Part of that message comes through in the way that they naturally express themselves.

I also need to keep in mind how biased I am. I mentioned that Canadians believe themselves to be the most unbiased people. In fact, they believe it so strongly that I would call it a bias…

In general, Canadians also believe that they don’t speak with an accent or have any regional nuances to their language (eh?). Of course we actually do, we’re just (once again) biased.

When I was a teenager I spent a couple of summers living in Texas. I was shocked when my peers started to make fun of the way I spoke. It started when they poked fun at my stereotypical use of the word “eh” and went on from there. At the time I would have expected it to be more appropriate for the “bland accent free Canadians” to make fun of the typical southern drawl - but such was not the case. When I stopped to think about it, the nuances that they were pointing out about my speech were actually correct.

What does this mean? Well once again, I have to realize that I am personally biased. When I’m listening to a speaker’s accent more than the message because it “sounds different” I have to remember it may only sound different compared to my preconceived notions of the language. Those preconceived notions may or may not be accurate. It’s quite a dichotomy that I have created here. I started off talking about the responsibility of the speaker to be understood and ended up talking about the responsibilities of the listener. So the question is, “Who is responsible for dealing with the accent?”

The answer of course is both the listener and the speaker. It is the listener’s responsibility to make sure that they are listening to the message, not the accent. It is the listener’s responsibility to accept differences in the way we speak. It is the listener’s responsibility to remain as unbiased as possible.

It is however the speakers responsibility to make sure that they are speaking in a manner that the audience can understand. Just as the use of vocabulary and background information is important, taking an accent into consideration is also important. The speaker needs to make sure that their accent isn’t interfering with the audience’s comprehension. So what if it is? What does the speaker do then?

In our next newsletter I will discuss with you a few ideas that can help reduce the impact of an accent without removing it. These will assist the speaker in communicating their entire message – being able to articulate both the words and the emotion effectively.

My father was from Scotland – so naturally he spoke with a Scottish accent. In fact, it was a thick Scottish accent.

That wasn’t a problem in Scotland, but it became one in Toronto, Canada. As my father aged he developed a neurological disorder that among other things affected his speech. He began to slur his words.

With just his accent some people had difficulty understanding him – but for many, the additional slurring made him incomprehensible. Unfortunately, as a result of this, many people gave up trying to communicate with him. Others looked to his family members (such as me) to help interpret what he was saying.

I was fortunate in that I had always heard his accent. I was so accustomed to it that I literally did not (and could not) hear it. I simply heard my father’s voice. So when he began to slur his words I didn’t have the problem of the slurring on top of the accent. I merely heard my father’s voice slurred. As result, I was able to understand him more than most.

In my late teens and early twenties I knew another gentleman who grew up a few miles from my father and had a very similar accent (or so I was told). For me there was no comparison – his accent was as apparent as could be. It obviously wasn’t just the accent but the accent as part of my father’s voice that I was accustomed to.

I find accents very difficult to qualify. I immediately recognize one when I hear it, but what is it that makes someone sound different – at least different from what I am used to.

By the way, I’m always shocked when someone points out that Canadians have accents – of course we don’t (eh?). We have the most bland and neutral voice in the whole world. We are also the most unbiased people in world… (That previous statement should be read with sarcasm). If a Canadian ever claims that they don’t have an accent just ask them what the largest city in Canada is. The answer will come out something like Tar-ranna – as opposed to Toronto.

The reason accents are so important is because individuals, including our audiences, often subconsciously evaluate someone’s intelligence based on their ability to communicate. Even more honestly, we judge someone’s intelligence on our ability to understand what is being communicated. If we want to have a maximum impact on our audience we have to look for areas that might impede our messages effectiveness – such as accents. This obviously happened with my father and his slurred Scottish accent. It frequently happens to others as well.

In my next post we will discuss what we as public speakers can do to minimize the impact of accents.

One final thought – of course this article is not meant to focus on Scottish accents (or Canadian accents) any more than any others. I am simply using some specific examples from my own history to illustrate a problem that we all might encounter.