Drop your accent to get ahead in business

David Woods, 22 January 2009

More than a third (35%) of employees admit to dropping their accents to impress their boss.

According to Bury Technologies, 16% of employees have faked their accent in job interviews and 11% change it for presentations.

The survey shows 42% of those with regional accents have found it hard to be understood - 30% over the telephone and 14% face to face.

Liverpudlians are the most willing to fake their accent, with 33% altering it for an interview - but not one Irish person surveyed was prepared to change how they spoke for either a business or personal scenario.

David Crystal, professor of linguistics at the University of Bangor, said: "Life is one long linguistic balancing act where we try to find an accent that reflects who we are without making ourselves difficult to understand or jeopardising how we are perceived."