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It's obvious in the 21st century, English is the international language for business. If you're a non-native English speaker, you've heard it your whole life. "English opens more doors." "Study English for your future." "You need English for a good job." Blah blah blah The problem is nobody really shares exactly how English speaking can be good for your business other than "talk with clients" or "job interviews". If you have a business where you are selling (or thinking about selling) products or services in English, and you're NOT doing at least one of these things, you're missing out on sales. Period. "If you're not doing at least one of these things, you're missing out on sales." In the following list, you will learn 3 simple things you can add to your organic outreach to increase sales and improve your English at the same time. 1. Create Video Content Written content is great to do for your organic and paid marketing. We have to write posts on social media, emails, and in messages. However, many people avoid making video content, and this could be hurting your sales. There are many reasons that people avoid going on video from feeling nervous or being unsure if they are saying the right things. The power of video content is two-fold. 1. It builds more of a connection with your audience because they get to hear your voice and see your eyes. 2. You are in control of your message. Imagine this sentence: "Why did you do that?" This sentence could be interpreted in SO many different ways depending on your INTONATION. The thing is, the person doesn't necessarily read your posts in the intonation you write it. They are reading your text based on THEIR emotions, not the emotion you're writing it in. However, in video, you are in greater control of your message. 2. Go Live or Create Stories This is similar to the first way, but going live is a whole different animal. Whereas with recorded content, you can adjust the lighting and edit out your mistakes, with live, you present as you are. Meaning, you only get one try. This can make you more nervous, but it can also be to your advantage because you don't have to spend hours editing your video trying to make it "perfect". You just present your content, and then move on to your next task for the day. Going live has 2 main advantages The first advantage of going live is that you build a stronger relationship with your core audience because they get to join you in real time and engage. Another advantage is the algorithms (especially Facebook) love live video and will show your live video to more people. In addition to these, going live will help you ultimately get over your nerves in talking in English because you have to get over it. It's called trial by fire. Stories on Facebook and Instagram are another really good way to use video, especially if you get nervous and uncomfortable, because they disappear after 24 hours! 3. Audio Messages You're probably communicating to potential prospects in messenger or DMs in order to get them on a call. Adding voice messages to this process will build instant rapport and connection with them because you are in greater control of your message. Going back to the first point of being able to control how your message gets delivered. Being able to hear your voice, the prospect will be able to hear your empathy and realize that you're a real person, and you're not just sending a copy-paste message to random people, but you're talking directly to them. Try some of these in your business If you still feel uncomfortable with your English, and you'd like to have complete control of your fluency and master your English, book a call and let's talk. We will ask you a few questions about what you need, your goals, and what's blocking you. Then we will decide if we're a good fit to work together. If you're on Facebook, join our FREE Facebook group English Speaking Mastery For Business And Life. 
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This could be the result of many factors including cultural norms, limiting self-beliefs, childhood traumas, etc. It may be surprising, but these types of beliefs about your English ability may be affecting more areas of your life than just English. They may be affecting your business in different ways, they may be affecting your personal relationships, they may be affecting your mental health. Why? Because if we look at our confidence in English by itself, we're not looking at the whole picture. We're only looking at a part of a bigger puzzle.
How is your English speaking confidence like an ant hill? It goes deeper and it's more complex than you might think. It's probably connected to other things that you may not see. So, what can you do? If you're looking to improve your English speaking confidence, one question will help you dig deeper into the problem... "Is English speaking the only area where I struggle with self-confidence?" Depending on your answer to this question, your next steps will be different. If the answer is, "Yes, it's about the only place I struggle with this issue." Maybe you feel confident in the kitchen if you're a good cook, or you feel confident in your own language, or you feel confident performing a skill that you've worked on. PERFECT! Let's borrow from the places that you feel confident, and apply the same principles that make you confident in those areas in your English speaking. On the other hand, if the answer is, "No, I struggle with confidence in most areas." PERFECT! Learning to communicate in another language is a new opportunity to be a NEW YOU. Maybe you notice yourself thinking or behaving in different ways in a foreign language than you do in your native language. This is no coincidence. Your brain is literally working in different ways and using different brain muscles to speak in foreign languages. This is a perfect opportunity to craft the person you want to become! You wish you were more outgoing, more reserved, more honest, less emotional, etc? Communicating in a different language is a perfect opportunity for that! Accelerate your English fluency FAST. Book a call and let's talk about your goals and what's holding you back from accomplishing them.
WHAT TO EXPECT? On the call, I will ask a few questions about what you want, what's stopping you, and what you're trying. If it seems that I can help you, I'll let you know what I offer, and there will be no pressure to buy. For some people, this call alone has given them a lot of clarity.
"It's not what you said, it's how you said it." This is a common line in relationships, but the words are true in any area of life. You could say the exact same words with different intonation, and it may completely change the meaning of what you're saying. Let's take this example: "What are you doing?" Depending on what word gets stress and emphasis, it completely changes the message. It could be:
So, what does this have to do with price? When you're on a sales call, and then it comes to the part where you are giving your price, many people who are unsure or not confident about their price raise their intonation at the end after they give their number (especially if it's a new price for them). This conveys uncertainty in yourself and your product. "The investment for the entire package is $4800?" (almost as if you're asking the prospect if it's ok that you charge that) INSTEAD, try this trick: Practice saying your price until you use a nice, even-sounding tone. Look around the room before you jump on your call, and identify things that you see as fact. Then use that same intonation as when you say your price. "I have a coffee mug next to me. There are 6 books on my shelf. My shirt is blue. The investment for the package is $4800." You'll be amazed at what this does for your messaging and your confidence. If you're curious about diving deeper into using your English in a more effective way and feeling like you're actually in control of what you say and how you say it, book a call and let's talk.
In our call, we'll ask you a few questions about your current English level, your goals, and what you're currently doing to improve your English. We'll also share the basis for The English Mind program, which are the 3 lies that most non-native speakers believe that's actually holding them back from real life fluency. If you're motivated and a high-level speaker, sign up for a call and let's talk.
Over 15 years of teaching English, I've been surprised at how many ADVANCED level speakers feel insecure when faced with an English speaking situation. (I've also been surprised at some lower-level speakers have such arrogance, but that's for another post on a different day.) The three things you need to have in the right order are: 1. Know your expectations 2. Have a plan to reach your expectations 3. Take actions to move forward to your expectation 1. Let's talk about expectations first. What do you want to be able to do when you're speaking English? Some of our insecurities come because our expectations are either a bit off, OR... even worse... we don't have any. I've heard some very advanced natural speakers say things like, "I want to be native." Sorry... you're not.... but, you have a greater opportunity that you don't seem to realize. You can think in English in a much different way that a native speaker will NEVER be able to do. Celebrate that! 2. What are you doing to reach your expectations? Once we've identified an expectation from ourselves,- some people might call that a goal- the next place people get stuck is figuring out which steps will take them where they want to go. I talk to non-native English speakers every day. Many times, we'll have very similar conversations. Non-native: I feel frustrated with my English because the words don't come out of my mouth the way I want them to sound. Me: That's very common. What are you currently doing to get past this? Non-native: Well, I <talk with co-workers/ watch Netflix or YouTube in English/ read books>. Me: And how is that working out for you? Non-native: Good I think. Me: ... But you told me just before that you're frustrated because you can't do what you want. This happens all too often. Like the classic saying goes, "A goal without a plan is a dream." 3. Put some feet on your plan. Once we know what we want and we've created a plan of attack for the goal at hand, it's now time to take specific action towards making your expectations become a reality. The most common place non-native English speakers get stuck at a higher level is not knowing how to continually improve. This can be very discouraging and frustrating because you know you have the level, but there is something missing that you can't put your finger on. Hopefully from points ONE and TWO, you can start to identify this within yourself, and you will be able to experience significant breakthroughs in your thinking. However, there are still a little problem of HOW to improve your English by yourself. I like how Mike Tyson put it when he was on top of the world: "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." - Mike Tyson You could have your expectations in order. You can have a plan to continuously improve your English. But, mark my words, there will be things that get in your way and make your progress difficult. Your kids will get sick, the weather will be bad, there will be problems at work, you will be hungry, it will be Thursday... excuses show up in the strangest forms. Anyway, life will throw a lot of darts and arrows at you in your journey to improve. Unless you have a strategic plan and a way to stay disciplined, your goal of becoming a fluent English speaker who doesn't have to spend a lot of mental energy translating in your head will spend another year on the back burner. That's just the way it is. So, here's the key. Focus on the next couple steps. And TAKE THEM. You have a grand vision for yourself and your future, but if we stand at the bottom of the mountain constantly looking up, we can become discouraged from even starting. Instead, put your head down, grab a guide if necessary, and take your first step... whatever that is. I'll leave you with a powerful quote from one of my favorite philosophers, Bruce Lee: "If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done. Make at least one definitive move daily towards your goals." - Bruce Lee If you would like to talk about your specific goals and to learn how you can think directly in English without the self-doubt, hesitation, and constant paranoia of making mistakes, book a call with us and let's see where you are and where you want to go.
This will be a no-pressure call where we will ask you some questions about your English history and future, and maybe even assign some specific training to you depending on your needs. After this, we will decide if we're the right fit to work together. Let's chat and get this monkey off your back! |
Jesse J. SweedJesse is the founder of Sweed Academy and The English Mind. He specializes in showing high-performing professionals how to think and speak directly in English without hesitation and self-doubt. 
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