(no subject)
Mom and I have decided that Jean-Luc Picard (a Frenchman) and Benjamin Sisko (an African-American from New Orleans) both sound so Shakespearean because Starfleet cadets get elocution lessons. When you're giving orders verbally, being able to project strongly and articulate clearly is a must, and it's simpler for personnel (human and alien) whose first language is not English to understand if they don't have to compensate for a zillion different regional accents and pronunciation quirks.