Speak with Impact: Overcoming Accent Concerns with Valuable Ideas

6 Dec 2023 · 2 min

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1:47

A short motivational talk by TJ Walker advising speakers not to overfocus on changing their foreign accents. Instead, Walker urges speakers to prioritize clear volume, energy, diction, and—most importantly—delivering valuable, memorable ideas so listeners understand and remember the message. He argues that if content is useful, others will overlook an accent.

Chapters

I have so many clients come to me and say, tj, I'm worried about my accent. I know my foreign accent's a problem. It's really holding me back. And I know I have to change it, right? And they sound great to my ear. They sound clear, they sound distinct. Yes. They have an accent that's different from mine, but their volume is good, their energy is good, their diction is good. So before you tell yourself, well, I can't be a good speaker, I can't be a good presenter, I can't become CEO because of my accent, you might actually be wrong. You need to ask people not what they think of how you speak or what they think of your accent, but when you speak and present. Ask them what you're saying, if they understand your message, if they remember your message. Guess what? You don't have a problem with your accent. Your problem is up here. You just think you have a problem. Instead of focusing on changing your accent, focus on presenting ideas that are truly valuable to other people. If people can understand you and they hear your ideas that think, wow, that's interesting. That's useful. I'm going to remember that. I'm going to put that to use in what I do. Then you're going to be a great speaker, a compelling speaker, and no one is going to care about your accent. So if you want to change it and go to accent reduction school for two hours a night for the next six months, you could. But you're much better off speaking to people on a regular basis, helping them and the accent you already have.