Recently the president of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama was at the Ghana Diaspora Townhall Meeting in the United Kingdom. They discussed inter-alia, government and accountability, the economic agenda to shift Ghana from a raw material exporter to an industrial hub, the introduction of a convenient E-visa system, and financial opportunities to encourage diaspora investments.
During the interactive session, an 18-year-old lady stood up to ask a question with a rapid British accent. President Mahama playfully stopped her, asked her to slow down and lightheartedly requested that someone translate the question into ‘Ghanaian English’ so he could clearly understand.
When a snippet of their engagement popped up online, we all enjoyed their interaction and had a good laugh pertaining to the president’s sense of humour. However, after the incident, I began to think deeply into what happened. It appeared that many people only enjoyed the humour but they didn’t pay attention to the important lessons from the meeting.
As I continued to think about it, I remembered a youth event I attended a few months ago where participants from different backgrounds were interacting before the program began. As our conversations progressed, one young lady switched accents depending on who she was speaking to. She spoke in a familiar local accent while chatting with her friends.
Minutes later, when she was introduced to a visitor from abroad, her speech changed dramatically. The white man was literally struggling to get most of her ‘borrowed pronunciations’. He kept interjecting her speech with ‘pardon? Pardon? Pardon?’ When he left, the young lady immediately returned to her original way of speaking. Virtually everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter and we could see sheer embarrassment in her eyes.
In the case of President Mahama, though he was in the United Kingdom, he didn’t change his accent to impress anyone. He remained authentic throughout the conversation. Yet, he got his message across perfectly. What does this teach us? This shows that you can be a good communicator without necessarily sounding different.
Learning to communicate effectively is valuable. Developing language skills is important. In a global world, clear communication creates opportunities. But, the desire to intentionally sound global for the purpose of impression is where the problem emanates from. When growth becomes a rejection of who you truly are, you end up embracing a false identity.
Accent culture has robbed many of their true iidentities.For generations, certain accents became associated with power, prestige, education, professionalism, and economic opportunities. Most people started copying blindly. We can become globally competent while remaining locally grounded. It’s high time we asked why we are adapting. Is it because communication requires it or we believe our natural voice is inadequate?
If your sense of worth depends on sounding like someone else, you will constantly fear being exposed. But if it comes from knowing who you are, you can learn new ways of communicating without losing yourself in the process. Once again, I ask you again: whose voice is this? Is it your original tone or is it a borrowed one to sound confident?
Come to think of it, true confidence is not in sounding like someone else. It is in being able to enter any room, communicate effectively, and still feel completely at home in your own voice. The most powerful voice is the one that remains authentic while continuing to grow.
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