Accent Bias: How You Speak Determines Your Competence

Have you ever gone quiet in a meeting when you knew you had the right answer? Or softened your tone to avoid being "too much"? You were muted — and it wasn't your fault.

This week we're joined by Heather Hansen, global communication specialist, TEDx speaker, author of Unmuted, and PhD candidate in Linguistics. Her viral TEDx talk "2 Billion Voices: How to Speak Bad English Perfectly" has sparked a global conversation about how we judge, silence, and underestimate voices.

We unpack:

• Why women learn to mute themselves from childhood — and how "being a good girl" costs us our career
• The truth about accent bias: how your voice triggers instant judgments about your competence and warmth
• Why "executive presence" is often just code for performing whiteness and maleness
• Singapore's unique and complex relationship with English
• The language lottery — and why monolingual English speakers don't know they won it
• Why connection beats perfection in every conversation00:00 - Who decided what confidence sounds like?03:01 - How early language management begins for women05:15 - Confidence versus socialized behavior in applying for jobs07:34 - Muting in global leadership and cross-cultural challenges15:38 - Race, accent, and bias16:35 - How language and accents influence behavior and opportunities18:23 - The emotional and social implications of accent bias21:15 - Power, status, and language in the workplace23:38 - The necessity of unmuting women’s voices in leadership28:36 - Singapore’s multilingual reality and language policy39:41 - Tips for understanding diverse accents in multicultural environments55:02 - The empowering message: Press unmute and claim your voice

Resources & Links:

• Unmuted: How to Unmute Your Voice and Speak Up with Confidence (book)
• Heather Hansen - Official Website
• Powerfully Likeable by Dr. Kate Mason

Connect with Heather Hansen:

• LinkedIn

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