A little while ago, a number of newspapers, radio stations and TV programmes reported the result of some research which I found pretty astonishing…
Apparently, people who speak with a Yorkshire accent are perceived to be the most intelligent – beating even those using Received Pronunciation…the Queen’s English.
Now I said that I found this astonishing. You see I’m the proud owner of a Yorkshire accent and I have to say that my experience is not that it conveys an impression of great intelligence to the world at large. In America – for reasons that I don’t understand – it gets you identified as an Australian. In most of Europe, it gets you stared at blankly. But in England…
Well it gets you treated as a little bit thick…
And if not thick, simply fair game for reference to every regional stereotype under the sun from cloth caps, to whippets, to tripe and onions – none of which I have worn, owned or eaten.
I don’t want you to think I’m complaining though, because I don’t mind any of this one little bit. It’s all harmless fun, and being underestimated can have distinct advantages. I only mention it because of the research reported in the media, that doesn’t fit with my experience.
Anyway, this morning on the way to work, my local radio station ran an interview with the academic who carried out the research, and he was asked how he’d arrived at his conclusions. Here’s what he did:
He got a photograph of a 20-year-old girl and then showed it to respondents. At the same time, he played a tape of ‘the girl’ speaking a prepared script. Respondents were all shown the same photograph, and heard the same words, but they were spoken by people with different accents: Received Pronunciation, Yorkshire and Birmingham. As a control, one group of respondents was just shown the photograph with no voice.
They were all then asked to make an estimate the girl’s intelligence based on what they saw and heard, by giving a mark out of ten. The result was that the ‘Yorkshire girl’ was seen as most intelligent, followed by the girl using Received Pronunciation. The silent girl was considered more intelligent than the Brummie!
Suddenly it all became clear. The headline summary – the Yorkshire accent is perceived as the most intelligent – came from this very flimsy research survey, which I’m sure the average 10-year-old could pick enormous holes in. Very briefly…
1. It only tested three accents.
2. It only tested reaction to a young girl’s accent
3. There are dozens of different ‘Yorkshire accents’.
4. Voices have an impact, as well as accents. It’s perfectly possible to find someone who sounds intelligent or stupid with exactly the same accent.
I could go on, but the purpose of this isn’t to criticise the research. It’s to demonstrate how easy it is to get the results of some research or a survey, into the mainstream media – provided the subject matter is interesting enough.
The media weren’t really interested in the methodology. They were simply interested in a result that flew in the face of conventional thinking. If RP had come out in front, I doubt anyone would have reported it.
The lesson for you and I, is that if we can come up with a unique piece of research connected to our business, which throws up some interesting results, there’s a good chance of getting it reported in the media. No scientific or research knowledge required.
The key, I think, is that the results need to be both interesting and surprising. If you manufacture toothpaste and find that 7 out of 10 people prefer your brand to a rival, that’s hardly newsworthy. It’s not interesting and it’s not particularly surprising.
But if you found out that 7 out of 10 respondents to your survey had used someone else’s toothbrush without telling them, then I can see that getting some coverage. It would be surprising and interesting because of the human angle, which anyone could relate to. It’s all about asking the right questions, or testing the right things, in the first place.
This is definitely worth thinking about. It’s cheap and easy to do. All it takes to get a big publicity pay-off, is a little imagination.
Kind Regards
John Harrison
PUBLISHERS NOTICE
Dear
Streetwise Customer,
This is not illegal. Perfectly legitimate. It’s all perfectly above-board.
Why isn’t everyone doing this?
I have no idea. Anyone can. You just need to be bothered. Anyone could, but most people don’t, because they either aren’t motivated, or don’t know how, or are too sceptical by nature to believe it’s possible.
If you find yourself having to live and work a little more remotely in the coming weeks and months then now is the time to take a look.
Available now for the first time as a fast digital download.
For more information on something that’s simple, and easy to use from the comfort of your own home CLICK HERE.
Dear Streetwise Customer,
Kind Regards
John Harrison
P.S. This comes with a 100% cast iron money back guarantee. There is absolutely no risk to you to take a look.