Case Study: How Remo boosted his confidence with English at work in just 12 weeks
“I now feel empowered. It’s OK not to be perfect with your English!”.
The lack of confidence when you speak English at work can be why you feel something’s holding you back.
The tricky thing is that you don’t realise it. There come all sorts of false beliefs to block your way to speaking English naturally and confidently.
You may feel your English level is not high enough, and you need to go back to a language school and study grammar or vocabulary again.
Or that you will mess up again next time you are about to write that important email or report or conduct a job interview to hire new talent.
Imagine the candidates meeting you as their future employer and watching you mumble or whisper what you want to ask them. Not a good impression at all, and the outcome can be disappointing.
Or you even beat yourself up for failing at that important meeting or presentation.
These are all very common self blockages that stand in your way and hold you back from expressing yourself in English effectively and claiming what you deserve in your career.
Now, let’s talk about Remo G., one of my dear clients, whom I saw transform during and after our sessions together.
First of all, let me assure you that this is a real story, and Remo G. is a real professional I worked with. It’s just company policies that usually prohibit mentioning the names of their employees to a third party service.
In any case, Remo’s challenges have been real, and I’m sure they will resonate with you 100%. Read on!
Remo’s challenges as a non-native English speaking CEO
“It’s my first time in 14 years that I work in a company where English is the primary language of communication!”.
That usually comes as a shock. You see, quite often, highly skilled professionals (like Remo) know English, and their level is good.
They usually do so on certain occasions only (like a meeting or a call with international clients or stakeholders). That sounds like pretty easy task, right?
Although a lot may be at stake, you still have the opportunity to switch to your native language and make things right.
But when you jump to a working environment where you have to speak and write in English all the time, the game is very different.
Remo is now 32 years old and working as the head of one of Switzerland’s leading automotive companies. He is Swiss, so he is used to being multilingual.
Still, having to communicate in English the whole time at work has been a great challenge.
When he approached me, and we had the free Clarity Call, I quickly came to identify and understand his challenges.
Simply put, too much time and effort to communicate in English resulted in a loss of energy.
And you know, if you are a CEO of a highly competitive company, there is no such luxury.
Remo mentioned he spent too much time preparing for meetings, calls, and presentations, so he could feel prepared and confident.
He also worried too much about mistakes. Especially in written communication, there is usually no way back. Once you type and press that SEND button, everything’s done.
You cannot undo a wrong selection of words that may sound inappropriate or offending.
But even in oral speech, speaking perfect English and sounding like a native is a utopia. It can never happen. And why go on a quest to perfectionism when it just suffices to express yourself in a clear, concise and effective way?
Remo (as so many professionals out there, like you) worried too much about mistakes in grammar or vocabulary. And this created a self-blockage.
It was like a repeating pattern in his head “You will make mistakes, your level is not good enough. You don’t have what it takes, and you will mess up again!”.
Although you may never truly realise it exists, this repeating pattern can hold you back for good.
It creates a lot of stress and anxiety and puts you into a vicious cycle of fear and self-doubt, as in Remo’s case.
A real story: giving feedback in English is a great challenge
As a CEO, Remo has a great responsibility for his people. He has been tasked with building a solid team for the Swiss market, and he is regularly involved in hiring new talent and people management.
Conducting job interviews with diverse people from Switzerland and beyond, even non-native English speaking professionals within Switzerland requires plenty of skills.
Not only do you have to identify the right talent and follow all the appropriate HR practices, but you also have to be extra careful with how you ask for things and how you give feedback. Especially if all this takes place in English, a language other than both sides’ native one.
On one similar occasion, Remo found it extra hard to communicate negative feedback to a collaborator effectively.
Delivering unpleasant news is immensely challenging itself. Remo struggled to find the right words, and this caused stress and anxiety. That, in turn, made him sound a bit inappropriate (not on purpose, of course) and not mindful and empathetic enough towards the collaborator.
As a highly communicative and social person, Remo felt extremely bad he couldn’t deliver it properly.
Plus, he lost quite a lot of energy with everything that happened. Instead of focusing on the right things as CEO, he spent time and mental energy managing this situation.
Something that could simply have been a business-as-usual occasion turned out to become a struggle.
That’s one of the reasons Remo decided to take action. First, he booked a free Clarity Call with me to get to know me better and investigate his options.
In his words, he “appreciated the mindful approach, not (me) pushing to close a deal and move on”.
We talked about his challenges, struggles and goals with business English (and beyond) and found a sustainable way towards confidence and real progress.
What worked for Remo
Here is how we approached the road to Remo’s success.
All it took me was to ask Remo the right questions, make him feel comfortable (even online) in a kind, safe and non-judgemental environment and come up with a customised strategy we started implementing right away.
1. Effective writing practice
Writing in English is an essential skill nowadays when online messaging and social media make up a large part of how professionals communicate. Remo found it exhausting to write good texts in English, either for their website or his LinkedIn profile or for an important email or report. Vocabulary is one thing, and I guided him on boosting his English vocabulary mindfully and sustainably without memorising words. Furthermore, whenever he had to write an essential piece of content, we would work on it together. He wrote it, then we broke it down and checked if he got his message across clearly, concisely and effectively. Questions like “What was the purpose of this?”, “What was your goal by writing this?” or “How could you say that better in English?” helped him understand how to express himself appropriately. That is to use as few words as possible to define the meaning in the best way possible. Practice and coaching helped him nail it!
2. Mindful speaking
As a CEO, Remo is used to speaking English most of the day. Oral speech might sound more straightforward than written speech because you can correct any mistakes you make (unlike in writing). However, this is not the case because speaking takes place live with people in front of you, on your screen or at the other end of the line. Business meetings, presentations and calls are part of his everyday routine, and interviews for hiring new talent for his team are also on his daily agenda. With a lot of guided practice, Remo worked on exercising mindful leadership and conversations with his people and job candidates. The selection of the right words plays a crucial role and syncing mind and body to signal professionalism, leadership, and empathy simultaneously. Body language is important, breathing patterns also help with that, and mindfulness helps you control what you say, how you say it, and where to focus on.
3. Brainstorming peer
Working in a highly competitive and innovative business, Remo needs to present new ideas, concepts, and people to his boss at the company’s HQ in Germany all the time. Presenting requires a very well thought out structure and storytelling. Others don’t know what you have in mind or how an idea has been formulated in your head. You need to start from point A to point B clearly and understandably, outlining the goals, the details, pros and cons. We practised Remo’s brainstorming together to guide him through this process of getting his message across effectively and efficiently. I was his brainstorming peer! With practice, he managed to go deeper in his analytical thoughts in English, something that would sound unimaginable a few months ago. A great presenter and spokesperson needs to be able to both analyse and synthesise. Doing this in a language other than your native one adds a lot to the challenge, but Remo managed to do it: forward and backwards. From perception to the specifics and from the details back up to the greater picture.
The results: “I feel empowered!”
I feel so happy and fulfilled to hear him say this. Because this is my goal as an English language coach. To empower you to speak English naturally and confidently, be yourself and shine your personality and talent.
In just 12 weeks (my 90-day coaching programme), Remo managed to
– Excel in writing. Remo can now write any important report or email quickly and confidently without the fear of messing up or writing the wrong thing. “Less is more” is his motto now, and this helps him express himself in writing effectively and efficiently.
– Improve and refine his vocabulary sustainably. It’s not about memorising new words and expressions anymore (that cost him a lot of time). He now knows how to find, look up new words, learn how and when to use them and integrate them in his speech (oral or written) mindfully and for good.
– Boost his confidence with English. Remo has now gotten rid of his fear of inadequacy and failure. Through mindful training and coaching, he knows that his English level is good enough. He has what it takes and has to practice, iterate and improve. This is how real progress is made.
– Let go of perfectionism. Mistakes are OK and part of the learning process (and curve). He learned that there is no perfect English and even if there were, that would not be the prerequisite to speaking English. Even natives make mistakes, and it’s totally fine. Remo learned to embrace his mistakes, learn from and make friends with them. Every mistake takes courage and is another step towards sustainable progress.
– Manage his time and energy by focusing on the right things. By reaping all the benefits mentioned above, he can now control his time and energy, focus on what matters the most at his work, and not worry about the linguistic part. He now speaks English naturally, and this helps him be himself and perform at his natural best.
How you can benefit, too
As in the case of Remo, 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 Remo 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 he transformed into, in the end, able to lead his team and company to great heights while accomplishing his own personal and professional goals?
If anything of the above hits a nerve, let’s talk about it and sort things out. You can book a free, no-obligation Clarity Call here and chat with me for 30 minutes.
You may find it very short, but my years-long experience helps me quickly identify your pain points and challenges and provide some first-level guidance on the areas you must improve.
Book your free Clarity Call today, and let’s see how you can transform to the best version of Remo in the story.
The call is free, and you have no obligation to work with me or commit to anything. It will just be our first touchpoint, and I am looking forward to chatting with you!
