“Vera is much more than a teacher. She is also a coach and a mentor, who helped me refine and develop my English skills and guided me in my career!”.

That’s ET’s real words when I asked her for feedback about our coaching together.

She struggled with English a lot. The suffering came mainly from having to deliver presentations, often in front of very large audiences. And all that in a language other than her native tongue. Double the challenge.

Want more? She works in a predominantly male-dominated industry (finance).

It’s all about confidence (or better, the lack thereof). She had what it takes to nail it but fear and stress crept in every time she had to do public speaking.

At the end of the day, any type or format of communication with others can be considered a public speaking event, more or less, be it leading a meeting or call, delivering a corporate presentation, or even a TEDx talk.

Towards the end of our coaching, ET (she kindly asked me to write her story discreetly) became a whole “different” person and professional. Further below you will read about her challenges and how she managed to overcome them and improve her English communication skills (including formerly perceived as intimidating presentations).

Read her story below & compare her situation with yours. I am sure you will find a lot of common points.

Her challenges

Two were ET’s main challenges with her Business English.

First, her lack of confidence. She did not feel confident enough to speak or speak up when needed. It’s a feeling of “something blocking the words coming out of your mouth”. It’s a very peculiar feeling because you know that your English level is good and you may have an opinion and strong arguments. But when the time comes, you feel blocked or even freeze (then replay the incident in your mind, creating more discomfort that leads to disappointment, frustration, and more fear fueling the lack of confidence) .Confidence comes from within, and ET needed to work on that.

Second, ET works in a predominantly male environment and that created extra challenges as she often was the only woman (still, unfortunately) in the room. She didn’t have to feel like that, as she is a very talented female professional. Yet, social prejudices (like, the world of finance is for men) still create barriers or at least make it uncomfortable for amazing women to let their personality and talent shine.

What worked for ET

Meetings and presentations (often in front of a very large audience) are the main business occasions where ET must speak in English. And she needs to do that naturally and confidently.

Mindful preparation works best. And it did work for ET, as she used all the tips and tricks we’ve discussed together to improve her meeting and presentation skills in English.

As I always advise my clients, practice makes perfect (or even more mindfully, practice makes progress). ET knew her thing before a presentation, but perception versus reality had a huge gap.

We worked on her rehearsing her presentations many times before hand, each time focusing on a specific issue, either technical (like speech flow, body language, etc.) or mental (how to collect herself after finishing a section, ways to recharge and refocus when something does not work out well, etc.).

Dry run presentations are test presentations; it’s about delivering the presentation in front of other people (but not the final audience on the big day). It’s a real-life test that helps identify both your weak and strong points.

With ET, we worked on improving her weak points, as well as enhancing her strong points. That’s another very mindful activity; we often focus on our flaws while we forget we also have strengths we can capitalize on. ET felt better and stronger in the end.

Vocabulary is also often an issue. Usually, it’s not that your word pool is poor; it is about refining the vocabulary to suit your specific needs. It’s also about learning new vocabulary in a more mindful way, so that they can live in your mind permanently and be accessed and used when in need.

ET worked on her vocabulary by focusing on the words she needs to use the most to convey her message with confidence. Presentations and meetings also require filler words and phrases to maintain the speech flow. Plus, she learned how to mindfully handle situations where she froze and could not find the word to use.

How you can benefit, too

As in the case of ET, I empower non-native English-speaking professionals to claim what they deserve in their career by breaking down their language blockage in a safe, kind and trustful environment.

Mindfulness is part of who I am and what I do, and I find that it helps people like you get themselves together and regain their lost confidence in their English communication skills.

You can benefit from this mindful approach tremendously because it helps you

• acknowledge where you stand at every point, feel OK with it and take it from there
• be present when speaking in English
• have a kind, non-judgemental attitude towards yourself and the learning experience

My approach and method go beyond books, vocabulary and memorisation. It’s about aligning body and mind, learning the tools and creating the mindset for speaking English naturally and confidently, for good.

If you trust me with improving your English communication skills, you will

Overcome the language blockage. Even after the first session, you will feel that you speak and communicate in English more naturally. Focusing on improvement and correcting mistakes will make you feel as fluent in English as in your native language. It’s all about learning to express yourself. Let go of feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Save time. Progress is real and comes fast. You get my full attention during the one-on-one sessions, and their duration is optimal. Not too short to lose momentum, not too long to make them unproductive. Just the right balance for the most progress.

Save money. Instead of investing money now and then to improve your communication in English, I teach you the tools and the mindset to learn how to communicate confidently, once and for all. You won’t need to have any more English lessons in the future. My method has a long-term effect.

Be in control. With our recorded practice exercises, you can track your progress from session to session. Thus, you know if and how much progress you make and remain in control of your learning experience and return on investment.

Improve your health and well-being. Falling short of your expectations and goals because of the language barrier has a toll on your physical and mental health. I help you overcome the fear of expressing yourself and the self-doubt that you don’t deserve more chances at work and life. Reversing your blockages and maintaining your headspace has a positive effect on your mind, body and soul.

Boost confidence. Preparation and positivity are the keys to success. If you prepare for an unplanned interview, chat or meeting, on the spot, you will feel more confident that you will make it. Maintaining a positive attitude that you can do it, using the tools and mindset I provide, will make sure you will nail it every time you need to express yourself and/or stand up for what you believe.

At this point, I only have one question: Which version of ET would YOU like to be (become)? The troubled one at the beginning, struggling to express in English and feeling fear and doubt? Or the confident leader she transformed into, in the end, able to deliver and lead meetings and crucial presentations, letting her personality and talent shine?