Heather Hansen

This episode is a cautionary tale of linguistic privilege. What? You say. Listen on and find out, as Chris interviews Heather Hansen – a Global Communication Expert and author of the book ‘Unmuted’. She spends a great deal of her professional life helping people to feel more confident speaking in a second language (in particular, English). But, as she explains, the main root problems lie with the native speaker, not the person trying to improve.

Listening to this is a cold-shower wake up for native English speakers – challenging us to rethink how we communicate with our global community, and to use language and stories that others will understand. As Heather explains, so many good conversations and sources of insight and innovation are stifled when we fail to account for the people that have had the bravery to learn our language. And, as all good teachers do, Heather’s got some great tips, advice and sources of learning to help everyone improve their global communication.