Does Your Accent Hold You Back? Here’s What To Do.

A person’s accent determines how they pronounce their words. Some are easily understood, others are not. Everyone has a unique accent that is developed at a very young age. Accents are affected by where you live or who is a part of your life. Whether your accent is proper posh British or backwoods West Virginia, your accent makes you who you are.

It’s important to remember that an accent does not effect your communication skills and it should never hold you back from pursing your dream job. As long as you are easily understood, there should be no problem. In fact, many people view accents as an added bonus because they can be viewed as entertaining or intelligent. Accents are cool.

If people have a hard time understanding your accent or you’re self conscious about it, you should do the following:

• Ensure a mastery of the language
• Practice
• Tape yourself speaking
• Get a speech coach
• Associate with people who speak like you want to speak

Don’t let your accent hold you back and hurt your self confidence. In the technology savvy global workplace, accents are everywhere. They are part of what makes the world so exciting. Be yourself and embrace your accent.

Your accent makes you who you are. Your skills and experience are the reason you will get hired, your accent will not change that. Master the language you need to speak and your accent may even help you find and land the job.