HEATHER HANSEN is an award-winning author in the field of global communication helping companies build innovative, UNMUTED cultures where every voice is heard and belongs. Heather is founder of Singapore-based training and consulting firm, Global Speech Academy. She is the external consultant and trainer on accent bias and linguistic inclusion for NASA and is an External Industry Expert in Communication for National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. Heather has been named to the Thinkers50 Radar 2024 Class - an exclusive list of 30 up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas are expected to make an important impact on management thinking in the future. She has contributed to three books and authored two of her own, the most recent being the multi-award-winning book, Unmuted: How to show up, speak up and inspire action. Her next book, due out in 2025, is a comprehensive guide on how to manage accent bias and promote intersectional inclusion at work.
Heather is the external consultant and trainer on accent bias and linguistic inclusion for NASA, as well as an External Industry Expert in Communication for National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School's Executive Education programs.
Heather has been named to the Thinkers50 Radar 2024 Class - an exclusive list of 30 up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas are expected to make an important impact on management thinking in the future.
Originally from the United States, Heather has spent over half her life abroad, mainly in Denmark and her current home, Singapore. Her work has taken her to 18 countries on four continents, and her clients come from every corner of the globe. She has been coaching and training her global clients online since 2012.
Heather's 2018 TEDx Odense talk titled 2 Billion Voices: How to speak bad English perfectly is referenced by many university professors and English language specialists in their own teachings.
Heather has been featured in media outlets across the globe, most notably, NPR, ABC, CNA, Quartz, Forbes, CNA, and Business Insider. She regularly appears on global podcasts and webinars.
Heather is currently pursuing a PhD at Nanyang Technological University Singapore where she is researching the impact of accent bias on multi-national/lingual/cultural organizations.
Heather is author of the multi-award-winning book, Unmuted, published by Bloomsbury Business in March 2022. This book outlines her framework for successful global communication in multinational companies.
She is also the author of Powerful People Skills and has contributed to three other books published by Marshall Cavendish International. Heather’s next book (coming in 2025) is a comprehensive guide on how to manage accent bias and promote linguistic inclusion at work.
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Accents at Work: Overcoming accent bias and building a linguistically inclusive workplace
As we strive to build more inclusive workplaces, we often overlook a fundamental component of inclusion: how we speak. Accent bias is the last acceptable form of discrimination in our society, mostly because so many people don't know it exists. In this eye-opening talk, you'll learn all about accents - who has them, how we get them, and why we seem to prefer some accents over others. You'll learn how these biases affect the way you listen to and interact with the people around you, and how you can become a more inclusive communicator.
Takeaways:
- All about accents - common language myths
- Where accent bias comes from
- How accent bias shows up at work
- When bias becomes discrimination
- How to become a more inclusive communicator
Unmuted Inclusion: Creating an Unmuted workplace where every voice belongs
As we communicate in global environments across languages, cultures and all kinds of difference, we need to learn ways to be more conscious and inclusive. In this keynote, Heather will show you how to apply the Unmuted Framework to create an Unmuted organisation where every voice is heard and belongs and each person’s talents shine.
Takeaways:
- Pressing Unmute
- Helping others Unmute
- Balancing voices for Unmuted Inclusion
The Unmuted Organisation: Show up, speak up and inspire action in a changing world
Professional communication has become more complex than ever. With the increasing prominence of online communication, we often find ourselves - quite literally - muted.
Join this high-energy, interactive keynote to learn how to have your voice heard. We need new voices, new perspectives, and a new brand of leadership. We need you - UNMUTED.
Takeaways:
- The Unmuted Framework
- How to Show Up - Conscious Communication
- How to Speak Up - Confident Communication
- How to Inspire Action - Connected Communication
Unmuted
(Published by Bloomsbury Business in March 2022)
Powerful People Skills
(Published by Marshall Cavendish International)