On this episode of the Coaching Studio

In this episode of The Coaching Studio, I sit down with Heather Hansen to talk about something most of us don’t notice until it’s right in our face: how quickly we decide what someone “knows” or how competent they are, based on how they sound.

Heather shares her path into linguistics, starting with being a talker as a kid, competitive speech and debate, then studying language and society, and eventually building Global Speech Academy in Singapore. You can hear the through-line: she’s been tracking the power dynamics of English as a bridge language for a long time, who gets listened to, who gets dismissed, and what it costs people to constantly translate themselves into “acceptable.”

We dig into her book Unmuted and the framework behind it, because the ability to speak up is not just about confidence. Heather breaks it into three overlapping parts: conscious communication (reading the room, culture, timing), confident communication (skills and self-trust), and connected communication (belonging and psychological safety). When one piece is missing, people get too loud, go quiet, or start self-editing until they disappear.

Then we go deeper into accent bias, and Heather doesn’t sugarcoat it. “Perfect English” isn’t how global business actually works, and a lot of what we treat as “professional” is just power and familiarity dressed up as standards. She shares the real tension she lives with in her work: helping individuals succeed inside a biased system while also trying to change how the system listens.

We also talk about what this means for coaches and leaders. Heather points out that we’re listening to layers, pace, pitch, emphasis, tone, and then we assign meaning fast, often without realizing it. And in global workplaces, misunderstandings happen all the time because people assume understanding instead of checking for it. Her practical takeaway is simple and strong: don’t ask “Do you understand?” Ask people to reflect back what they’re taking away and what they’ll do next.

Finally, we touch on what’s coming fast: real-time translation and “accent translation” tech. Heather’s take is nuanced, yes, it can reduce harm and open access, but it also raises real questions about identity, inequality, and the cultural misunderstandings that don’t disappear just because everyone sounds the same in an earbud.

This was one of those conversations that changes how you listen the next time you’re in a meeting, on a Zoom call, or coaching someone who doesn’t sound like you. And it ends with a book recommendation I loved, and a big question about what we hope people remember about us when we’re gone.

Go check out Heather’s books!

Heather’s recommendations

Heather Hansen helps the world’s top global companies build innovative, unmuted cultures where every voice is valued. Her niche expertise is in global communication, accent bias and linguistic inclusion. Heather is founder of Singapore-based training firm Global Speech Academy, is an External Trainer for NUS Business School’s Executive Education programs and is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at NTU Singapore. Heather was named to the Thinkers50 Radar in 2024 – an exclusive list of up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas are expected to make an important impact on the future of management thinking. She was also recognized by the Association for Business Communication for Excellence in Communication Consulting and DEI Training for her work curbing accent bias at NASA. Heather has contributed to three books and authored two of her own, the most recent being ‘Unmuted’. Her forthcoming book ‘Accent Matters’ is the first comprehensive guide on how to mitigate accent bias at work.