Hillary Clinton was mocked and ridiculed for using an exaggerated Southern accent while addressing a church audience in Selma Alabama on March 3, 2007. When I listened to the audio (as posted on the ), it does, indeed, sound contrived.
What’s going on here?
One. If you are a national politician in the limelight, you will always be criticized for any change in style, no matter how unconscious your efforts. The easiest way for a reporter to make a name for himself or herself is to point out some notable change in your appearance/presentation.
Two. It is only human nature to start to talk in a way that sounds more like the people you are around and respect. (I feel it myself when I go down south to North Carolina, where I was raised. I do have a slight Southern accent that appears when I am among friends with Southern accents. I’m convinced this isn’t phony or contrived—it is unconscious. When I go back to New York City, most traces of my Southern accent seem to disappear.)
Politicians, more so than most people, are skilled in the arts of seeming likeable and making people feel comfortable. What makes people feel comfortable? Looking and sounding like they do. Charismatic people often mirror those around them, not just body language but vocal patterns too.
The irony here is that many people do change their accents slightly depending on whom they are around. They aren’t doing it intentionally; they are being authentic. But grizzled political reporters will latch on to this accent change as proof that a politician is inauthentic, phony and is just putting on an act to pander to voters. So, the only way for a politician to avoid criticism for being inauthentic is to be inauthentic and put on the “act” of always talking the same.
Are you still with me? I know it’s a little confusing.
My advice? If you’re not a politician, be glad. Don’t try to ham it up if you are talking to people with an accent different from your own, but don’t try to hide it either if you feel yourself speaking more like your audience.
If you are a politician on the national stage, my advice is to try to sound the same, no matter who is in your audience. It’s just not worth the grief if you are caught on national TV sounding like you are putting on an act, even if you aren’t.
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