"Oh, You’re So Articulate!" Accents & The Compliment We Never Asked For #31

Happy Monday!

I hope you all found my black History and Excellence lessons in February helpful and informative?

Ah, the infamous phrase that Black professionals hear far too often in academic and corporate spaces: “Oh, you’re so articulate!”Said with wide eyes, a tone of astonishment, and sometimes even a slow nod of approval—because apparently, the ability to string coherent sentences together is a party trick we should add to our LinkedIn skills.

Let’s be honest, when was the last time Bob from accounting got a standing ovation for properly conjugating verbs? Exactly. Yet, for some reason, if you’re Black and you speak with clarity, suddenly you’re the reincarnation of Shakespeare.

The Accent Audit: When AI and Humans Team Up Against You

Now, let’s take a moment to discuss accents. AI struggles to understand them, and apparently, so do some coworkers. If you have even the slightest trace of an African, Caribbean, or non-Western accent, get ready for the “Huh? What did you say?” Olympics.

We’ve all been there. You introduce yourself, say something insightful, and then someone tilts their head like a confused puppy and asks, “Where’s your accent from?” Ma’am, I just gave a PowerPoint presentation, not a TED Talk on dialectology. Can we focus?

Even voice recognition software isn’t safe from this bias. Have you ever tried using Siri or Alexa with a Nigerian, Jamaican, or Ghanaian accent? You ask for directions, and next thing you know, you're being rerouted to Antarctica! AI bias is real, and at this point, I’m convinced my GPS is actively working against me!

“Wow, You Speak So Well!”—The Backhanded Compliment of the Century

Here’s the thing—when someone says, “You’re so articulate,” what they’re really saying is, “I had such low expectations for you, and wow, you exceeded them!” Imagine going to a Michelin-star restaurant and telling the chef, “Wow, you can cook!” Yeah, exactly.

Even worse is when they follow up with, “Where did you go to school?” Oh, so now my ability to speak means you need to trace my entire academic history like it’s a National Geographic special? Or how about the classic, “You don’t even have an accent!” As if accents are stains you need to wash off before stepping into corporate spaces. Newsflash: Everyone has an accent. Yours just happens to be the default setting in the system.

From Microaggressions to Macro-Irritations

These so-called compliments aren’t harmless. They reinforce a deeper issue—that intelligence, professionalism, and eloquence are not automatically associated with Blackness. It’s exhausting to constantly prove that you belong in the room while also doing the mental gymnastics of deciding whether to educate someone on why their words are problematic or just let it slide for the sake of office harmony.

Let’s not even talk about code-switching. The amount of energy it takes to dial down the “Wahala” and turn up the “Corporate English” deserves a salary increase. And if we slip up and let our natural speech rhythm show? Brace yourself for, “Omg, you sound so different outside of work!”

Call to Action: Let’s Fix This Mess

So, what can we do to move past this? Here’s a simple guide for those who mean well but just don’t get it:

1. Retire the phrase “You’re so articulate.” Instead, engage with the content of what’s being said, not just how it’s delivered.
2. Expand your perception of intelligence and professionalism. Eloquence is not exclusive to a single racial or cultural group.
3. Normalize different accents. If you can understand actors from British period dramas, you can understand your Nigerian colleague.
4. Hire diverse voices for AI training. Because honestly, my GPS should not be sending me into the ocean just because I said “turn left.”

Key Takeaways:

• Articulation is a skill, not a surprise.
• Accents are not obstacles—they’re cultural assets.
• Stop giving us gold stars for speaking English. We’ve been doing it just fine.

At the end of the day, true inclusivity means valuing people for what they bring to the table, not being shocked that they can speak when they get there. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go teach my voice assistant to recognize “Jollof rice” instead of “jolly fries.”

Happy International Women’s Day and let’s keep making workplaces more inclusive—one less microaggression at a time!

Happy Reading!

Olunosen Louisa Ibhaze