Speak Like a CEO by Oliver Aust: Become a Top 1% Communicator
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Your accent isn’t the problem – this is
Published about 1 month ago • 3 min read
This week in the world’s #1 newsletter on leadership communication:
Your Accent Isn’t Your Problem – This Is
On the Show: The Status Game Running Your Work Life
Book Recommendation: The Book I Expected to Hate
Your Accent Isn’t Your Problem – This Is
Most non-native speakers (and many native speakers) think the problem is their accent. It isn't. Everyone has an accent, including native speakers.
What actually determines whether you get heard as a leader comes down to something else: your articulation.
Articulation is two things: the clarity of your words, and the clarity of your sounds.
First: the clarity of your words.
Compare these two: "I think what we probably need to consider, especially given the constraints we've been operating under, is potentially revisiting some of the assumptions around the timeline."
Versus: "We need to revise the timeline. Here's why."
Same idea. Completely different impact. That's word clarity.
Second: the clarity of your sounds.
This is where your native language (or dialect) leaves its fingerprints on your English – and where a little focused work pays off disproportionately.
As a German speaker, I started out with average high school English. When I moved to the UK to study, I realized that I needed to practice the “th” sound (which doesn't exist in German) and the “v” and the “w” – which are pronounced the other way round in German.
Mixing up sounds created tiny moments of friction that undermined my message.
Every language has these. Spanish speakers often merge V and B sounds. French speakers may drop the H. Mandarin speakers sometimes swap R and L.
Yes, it’s normal, but it is worth working on.
The question to ask yourself is: which sounds in English are hardest for speakers of your native language? Often it’s just two or three. Practise them deliberately.
Whether you are an English native speaker or not, it's not your accent, it's your articulation. Clear words AND clear sounds. That's what gets you heard.
It’s not salary. It’s not strategy. It’s story and status, says Will Storr – one of my intellectual heroes and author of The Status Game, The Science of Storytelling, and A Story Is a Deal.
In this week’s episode of Speak Like a CEO, we break down how great leaders create loyalty, unite people behind a mission, and communicate in a way that makes people want to follow them.
Will explains why humans live in two worlds – the world of survival and the world of story – and how understanding this duality can transform the way we communicate, lead, and persuade.
From the evolutionary origins of storytelling to the impact of identity and status, he unpacks how your narratives can become the foundation of your success.
I dislike cooking and have zero interest in the restaurant business. Therefore I ignored “Unreasonable Hospitality” when it came out in 2022. But since so many people recommended it to me, I finally relented.
And – to my surprise – I loved it. Because it isn't really a book about running a restaurant. It is a book about the pursuit of excellence as a team.
Will Guidara, together with Chef Daniel Humm, recounts how he turned Eleven Madison Park from a struggling New York brasserie to the top food spot in the world.
They did it with extreme dedication and “unreasonable hospitality”. If a guest mentioned that they missed out on a New York hot dog, they would go and fetch one from a food truck. They would study their guests' online profiles every day – just so they could welcome them by name as they entered the restaurant.
Whatever you do for a living, “you can choose to be in the hospitality business and overdeliver on people's expectations. You have an opportunity to make magic in a world that desperately needs more of it.”
Their focus on culture and communication was equally unreasonable. “Language is how you share your vision with others. Language is how you create a culture.”
“Public speaking is a leadership skill. Being able to communicate your own excitement is a powerful way to engage the people who work for and with you, and to infect them with energy and a sense of purpose.”
Here’s another one I love: “Grace is affirmation, but criticism is investment.” No matter where you are in the hierarchy, to be able to graciously receive criticism means you allow people to invest in your development.
And my favorite: Set goals as if you knew you could not fail. Will and Daniel wrote on a napkin that they wanted to be the #1 restaurant in the world. That was in 2010. They didn’t reach their goal until seven years later.
I leave you with one thought for the weekend: If you can focus on 5-10 year goals, truly exceptional outcomes are possible.
Have an inspired weekend,
Oliver
PS: Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: private coaching; my 10-person cohorts; transforming your organization’s communication.
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