05 Jun Your Accent Is Not the Problem
By Jorge Barria
This is part of a series on leadership communication in a changing landscape, drawn from thousands of client conversations. More than most, Speakeasy appreciates that this territory is nuanced. What follows is what our experts are seeing.
I have a foreign accent.
I say that because I don’t see it as something I need to hide. It’s part of me. It tells people something about where I come from, the languages I grew up around and the experiences that shaped how I communicate.
But I also know what it feels like when people don’t understand you.
Earlier in my time at Speakeasy, I would sometimes have clients ask me to repeat myself, especially over the phone. I’ll be honest—that wasn’t easy. I was teaching communication, clarity and delivery, and I was being asked to say something again.
It was a humbling experience. It also helped me separate two things that often get treated as the same.
Accent is one thing. Clarity is another.
Most People Have an Accent
When people say someone has “an accent,” they usually mean the person does not sound like them.
But most of us have accents. Some are regional. Some are national. Some are shaped by the first language we learned. Some are shaped by where we went to school, where we live now or who we spend time with.
An accent can be memorable. It can be part of your presence. It can be part of your story.
It’s not a communication problem by itself.
The real question is whether people can follow what you are saying without having to work so hard that they lose the message.
That is where clarity matters.
Clarity Is Something We Can Work on
Clarity is not about removing who you are from your voice.
It’s about articulation. It’s about enunciation. It’s about opening the mouth enough so the words have shape. It’s about pace, because when we speak too quickly, the listener has less time to process.
This is true for anyone. Native English speakers can be unclear. People born and raised in the same country can have a hard time understanding one another. When I first came to the United States, I already spoke English, but I still had moments when I struggled to understand people because of the way some words were mumbled or compressed.
This isn’t only about accents. It is about making the message easier to receive.
For me, one of the biggest changes came from focusing on opening my mouth more and enunciating more intentionally. It sounds very basic, but it made a real difference.
It also helped me slow down.
That’s one thing I like about enunciation—when you give words their full shape, you naturally take more time to say them. You become clearer and slower at the same time, without making speed the only thing you are thinking about.
The Goal Is Not to Change Who You Are
I have had many clients tell me at the beginning of a program that they don’t want to change who they are. I understand that completely.
My answer is always that the goal is not to change who you are. The goal is to complement who you already are.
You can keep your identity and still become clearer. You can keep your accent and still slow down. You can keep the sound of where you come from and still use your eyes, your hands, your pauses and your presence in ways that help people stay with you.
The Listener Has Work to Do, Too
This isn’t only the responsibility of the person with the accent.
Native English speakers also have work to do, especially in global organizations. They can slow down. They can use shorter sentences. They can choose simpler words. They can avoid idioms that may not translate. They can give people a moment to think before jumping in.
They can also listen differently.
There is a difference between listening for the message and listening for the mistake.
If you are only listening for the word that sounds different, you may miss the point. If you are listening for the message, you give the person more room to be understood.
That is especially important for leaders.
Leaders set the conditions for the conversation. If people feel judged for how they sound, they may participate less. If they feel heard, they are more likely to contribute. In a global company, that difference matters.
Clarity as a Business Differentiator
Clarity matters even more when people are working across countries, languages and cultures.
Being able to communicate clearly across cultures is good for business, but it’s also good for the person. It makes you more adaptable. It makes it easier for people to trust you, work with you and see you as someone who can operate in different environments.
That isn’t only about being fluent in a language. It is about being able to relate to people through that language, even when they come from a different culture, country or background.
That is a skill. And in a global company, it can make you more marketable. It can open doors.
How Speakeasy Helps
At Speakeasy, communication development happens in a very practical way.
For professionals who speak with an accent, we may work on pace, articulation, enunciation, eye contact, gestures and presence so the message is easier to follow without asking the person to lose the sound of who they are.
For native English speakers, we may work on clarity, conciseness, listening and audience awareness so they don’t make global colleagues work harder than necessary.
In both cases, the purpose is the same. Help people communicate with more clarity, confidence and connection.