New Study Reveals Insights about Accent and Trust

A fascinating new Cambridge University study has revealed that some British people are better at detecting when speakers are putting on a fake accent.

Listeners from regions like Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, and the north-east of England are much better at detecting fake accents compared to those from London, Essex, or Bristol.

Participants from Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland identified fake accents with an impressive 65–85% accuracy, while participants from southern England managed only 50–75%.

But why is this the case?

The researchers suggest that historical cultural tensions in areas like Belfast and Glasgow have strengthened regional accents, making them significant markers of identity and social cohesion. This contrasts with cosmopolitan areas like London, where diverse cultural influences may have diluted the sensitivity to accent nuances.

Accents, Trust, and Human Evolution

It's reasonably rare for me to work with native British or Irish English speakers on accent softening or accent reduction (whereas I work with all kinds of people on general speaking skills, as part of my Effective Speaking course).

I would attribute this to the sort of cultural and social dynamics described in this study - there are strong historical reasons why someone from Belfast, or Aberdeen, or Limerick, might not want to be accused of trying to sound 'more English'. The English were (still are?) the out-group, dominating and oppressing from a distance.

When it comes to accent softening for non-native English speakers, there's usually a lot less cultural baggage that comes with the process of changing your pronunciation.

But to an extent, it's the same for international professionals: how do you refine your English pronunciation for clarity without feeling like you're "faking" the accent?

Accent Softening vs. Accent Reduction

For non-native English speakers, accent softening isn’t about losing your cultural identity—it’s about improving clarity. Many of my clients, from French, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Chinese backgrounds, work on mastering British English vowels and consonants to enhance communication.

Dr. Jonathan Goodman, who led the Cambridge study, highlighted that trust is often built on speech patterns that feel familiar:

I've written here before about the links between accent and credibility; how likely people are to trust that what you say is true, based on how you pronounce it.

This new study was carried out not by a linguistics department, but by a research centre for human evolution.

They're exploring what makes humans tick, and the tendency to place our trust in the speech of other humans who make a sound we recognise, a sound we feel comfortable with, is in our DNA.

This reinforces the idea that improving pronunciation can help professionals connect with their audience without sounding artificial.

Why Received Pronunciation Works for Professionals

Received Pronunciation (RP), also known as standard British English or 'BBC English,' is a useful foundation for improving clarity. Because it's so widely recognised, not just in London and the southeast but around the world, and versions of it are spoken so widely, it's very flexible and forgiving, accommodating variations influenced by a speaker's background or first language.

For professionals in London and the south-east, the good news is that audiences here are less likely to get distracted by minor variations in your accent. This aligns with the study’s findings that southerners find it harder to distinguish “real” from “fake” accents due to exposure to diverse English variants.

You Don’t Have to Be Perfect

The takeaway? You don’t need a flawless British accent to excel in professional environments in this or any other English-speaking country.

You don’t need to sound like Kate Middleton to be taken seriously in your London office.

Instead, focus on enhancing clarity so that your speech resonates with your audience’s expectations.

So, for non-native English speakers considering accent training, remember: it’s about being understood and building trust, not about losing your authentic self.

Just don’t try faking a Geordie accent in Newcastle—local listeners might catch you out!