Whenever I speak to a new international client about their situation & needs, there is usually one word that consistently comes up. It is a word that is critical in their mind to reach their ultimate goal of being an effective & professional communicator in English: in meetings, presentations, writing, or whatever their personal business situation.
Have you guessed the word?
It is confidence.
It is critical to the clients that I work with because they want to deliver professionally & connect well with their international teams. They already have reached a good level of English to operate in their role. But now they want their English communication to enhance their performance, complement their professional development & boost their growth on their career journey.
I have worked with 100s of clients from all over the world who wanted this too, and my programmes have supported them towards achieving their performance, self-development & promotion goals.
So how do you build this English communication confidence?
First, it is important to understand why there is a lack of confidence in the first place, or why it is not fully present all the time.
In my experience, there are 3 key reasons why international professionals struggle to achieve Business English communication confidence.
- Trying to improve your English confidence with a school learning approach. This is usually based on memories of sitting in the classroom, not saying much, just focused on writing, reading & grammar and waiting to be asked to speak.You may still have the feeling that there are only 2 possible ways in English communication: the right way & the wrong way to speak.I know that some of my clients still experience at times this feeling of being judged by how they speak English & worry about making mistakes, even when they have reached a good level of English communication skills & operate daily in English for work.They feel embarrassed or awkward to speak up in English, which reduces their confidence.
- Feeling limited by your range of expression to show your full capabilities & talent, to demonstrate your expertise & potential. You may feel like you are still translating in your head as you speak, forgetting key words or speaking in basic language, so you cannot express yourself exactly as you want, and with your full personality.And this feels frustrating, like you are stuck & blocked, and people cannot get to know you fully, either professionally or personally.
- Finding it challenging to speak spontaneously, especially in senior management meetings or with larger groups. You may hesitate to speak up & be heard, there are unnatural pauses in your conversation, & you do not feel fully part of the discussions.This feels uncomfortable, stressful, like you are exposed.
Do you feel like this too?
If you recognise the challenges in 1, 2 or all 3 situations above, then you could also be struggling with your English communication confidence.
If so, I can reassure you are not alone, and there is a lot we can do to support you with these challenges to help you towards becoming the confident English communicator you aim to be for your current job role & in your future career.
Today I am giving you the opportunity to download for free my 8 Keys to Confident Business English Communication, where I will share with you my simple but effective strategies that you can implement yourself right away.
So you can overcome these challenges and start improving your English communication to boost your performance, self-development & career growth without wasting your time on scrolling or googling for English learning ideas which are unfocused, theoretical & disconnected from your goal.
Download now the 8 Keys to Confident Business English Communication
