New Study Says Foreign Accents Hurt Speaker Credibility: What Can You Do?

Now here’s something interesting for anyone who gives a speech in a foreign language or writes for someone who does. A new study from the University of Chicago finds that foreign accents make speakers seem less truthful.

I’ll leave it to others to debate why this is so. I’d prefer to look at the clear implications of the research for speakers and, importantly, what we can do to overcome this problem.

Aristotle told us that a persuasive speech consists of three elements. Ethos (credibility), Pathos (emotional appeal), and Logos (the logical appeal). Lacking any one of these can doom a speech, but arguably Ethos is the most important.

Without credibility, the audience may be skeptical from the beginning and, literally, tune out both the emotional and logical appeal of your words. In other words, they simply may not hear what you’re saying.

The very success of a speech hinges on the speaker’s credibility. Nothing else matters so much.

So what can we do to improve our speaker’s credibility? Here are seven simple tips you can use to help non-native speakers be more credible.

1. Establish credibility before you talk. There are two distinct – and extremely underused – ways you can do this. First, if you’re speaking at a planned conference or event, make sure that any promotional material that’s sent to the audience ahead of time establishes your speaker as an expert on the topic. It should demonstrate the speaker has the right pedigree to tackle the subject AND an understanding of the audience’s needs. Secondly, the speaker’s introduction – while short, should reinforce the same messages: this is the right person at the right time to talk on this subject
2. Demonstrate you care. All speakers should explicitly show, in the first few minutes of speaking, that they understand the audience’s concerns and are going to address them. Reinforce the fact that you share their values.
3. Demonstrate mastery of the subject. Very close to the front, you must demonstrate through words that the speaker understands the subject matter. This doesn’t have to be a litany of dry, recited facts. Just a simple “here’s what I’m observing” paragraph can go a long way toward establishing the fact that the speaker is paying attention. Got an “ah-ha” statement to make? Use it at the beginning.
4. Borrow credibility. It’s an old trick but it’s effective. You can actually borrow credibility by quoting someone – or something – the audience has a natural affinity toward. Perhaps it’s an business titan or well-known celebrity. Perhaps it’s the Bible. Perhaps it’s one of your industry’s trade magazines. As long as the audience respects the original source, you can use that respect and admiration to enhance your own credibility.
5. Mind the non-verbal. We spend so much time with words that we sometimes forget that the non-verbal is – dare I say – often more important. Make sure your speaker makes good eye contact and is in a body-open type posture. That means no crossed arms, hands are away from the body, hands aren’t locked in a podium death-grip and their head is up. Format the script to ensure their head doesn’t fall into their chest when trying to read the last few lines on the page and build in some natural pauses so the speaker can look up easier.
6. Write short sentences. Help non-native speakers by crafting sentences and phrases that are easy to pronounce. When you meet to discuss the speech with your non-native speaker, notice their speech patterns. Most people learn foreign languages in simple, direct sentences. Long sentences with parenthetical material and lots of phrases aren’t natural to them. Amend your writing accordingly and help them feel comfortable at the podium.
7. Encourage confidence with the material. Nothing tells an audience “I don’t care” like a speaker who’s unfamiliar with the speech. Mumbling through the script or telling stories that are too long or off-point erodes credibility very quickly. So make sure your foreign speakers practice.

Most of this boils down one simple tenet of good speechwriting: respect your audience. Remember the old Lee Iacocca comment about what makes a great speech. In the book "I gotta tell you" edited by Matthew Seeger, Iacocca says: I've been asked many times what makes a good speech. Good writing, practice, something worthwhile to say - all of them are important. But I think if a speaker begins with that deep sense of obligation to the audience everything else falls into place." 

Comments

[Techquestioner]

I would also have foreign speakers practice speaking slowly with slightly longer than average pauses between sentences and paragraphs. My biggest problem listening to speakers with heavy accents is that they tend to speak too fast. I'm busy running a mental playback with a filter for their particular phonetic shifts to make sure that I'm hearing what they said correctly. I need the extra long pauses to finish the playback of the last sentence before I'm ready to listen to the next one.