12. Your Accent, Your Fate with Heather Hansen

14/10/2025 54 min Temporada 2 Episodio 2
12. Your Accent, Your Fate with Heather Hansen

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Episode Synopsis

In this thought-provoking episode, Hossan and Stanley dive into the world of accents with international speaker and communication coach Heather Hansen (@heather.hansen) — TEDx speaker, author of Unmuted, PhD candidate in linguistics, and founder of Global Speech Academy.Inspired by Singapore’s national pledge, what if we added just one word — accent — to that iconic line: “Regardless of race, language, accent or religion…”Wouldn’t that be a more inclusive promise?In this conversation, we explore:Why accents are more than just sounds — and how they carry deep social, cultural and emotional weightWhat it was like for Heather adjusting to life (and lah) in Singapore, and the hilarious catch-no-ball moments she facedWhy we form biases around certain accents — and how these snap judgments can hold people backHow even positive bias can be damaging, and where imitation crosses the line into mockeryWhat TV shows like Mind Your Language got wrong (and right) about accent representationThe global implications of accent bias in hiring, leadership, and cross-cultural communicationAnd what YOU can do to check your own linguistic assumptions — and help build a world that listens betterDon’t forget to subscribe, like and add The Leong Form to your playlist to get notified of new episodes that spark real conversations about life, language and all its hues and accents.

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