Cold Calling - Is Foreign Accent a Problem?

[VolAgent]

From eastern Europe like Polish, Russian or Ukrainian.

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Eastern European and calling med supps in California or Texas.

California, I doubt it will matter.

Rural Texas? I suspect will hurt more than help.

Ultimately there is only way to find out.

 

[EugeneM]

If the accent hurts the accuracy of the conversation or extends it in any way then yes.

 

[joe90]

Yeah, F2F is a different story. The accent might be an advantage, no doubt about it. I lived in England for 5 years before coming to the U.S., so I brought a mix of British-Polish accent with me... It certainly opened many doors for me. EVERYONE wanted to know what that accent was and what I had to offer!

However with time passing by, my English side of the accent has disappeared... :-)

Speaking as a brit, who actually prefers London patios to received pronunciation, ive thought about this a lot. here is the thing. posh people in Britain talk in a certain way. i can mimic that and lean into it to an extent, but its not worth doing if you haven't grown up here. what is worth doing is checking out the bbc news and following every word they say. what defines the BBC isn't that they are posh. what defines the delivery is they use received pronunciation and tend to pronounce every word in a correct manner. some African nations do this and are better speakers than the English, but, the rhythm of accent is a give-away, and if there is one thing people are racist, classist and even sexist about, it is who they trust with their money. especially English people. (and i do mean English, not Londoners.)

i think america is much more inclusive. i think a good bit of training in received pronunciation, and you wont need a British accent. it does the job for you.

your accent always will come through, but you will sound educated and refined, and being a little bit exotic will maybe even help.

 

[goillini52]

Speaking as a brit, who actually prefers London patios to received pronunciation, ive thought about this a lot. here is the thing. posh people in Britain talk in a certain way. i can mimic that and lean into it to an extent, but its not worth doing if you haven't grown up here. what is worth doing is checking out the bbc news and following every word they say. what defines the BBC isn't that they are posh. what defines the delivery is they use received pronunciation and tend to pronounce every word in a correct manner. some African nations do this and are better speakers than the English, but, the rhythm of accent is a give-away, and if there is one thing people are racist, classist and even sexist about, it is who they trust with their money. especially English people. (and i do mean English, not Londoners.)

i think america is much more inclusive. i think a good bit of training in received pronunciation, and you wont need a British accent. it does the job for you.

your accent always will come through, but you will sound educated and refined, and being a little bit exotic will maybe even help.

I think England has more different accents than the U.S. Seems like every major city has their own. London has quite a few. You're not a Scouser are you?