11 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF SPEAKING ENGLISH

have you ever been afraid to speak English you know that nervousness that comes over you when someone walks up to you and asks you a question in English have you ever experienced this feeling if so today I'm going to give you 11 techniques to help you overcome this fear are you ready well then I'm teacher Tiffany let's Jump Right In technique number one focused on communication rather than Perfection I'll say it again because it's so important focus on communication rather than Perfection you see this technique emphasizes the importance of getting your message across rather than

worrying about speaking flawlessly in one of my previous lessons I mentioned that it's okay to make mistakes and this technique emphasizes that same point you have to focus on communicating your idea your thought or your opinion instead of focusing on each and every word that you're saying and making sure that your mistakes are not that bad or that your grammar is perfect focus on communication rather than Perfection we're talking about letting go of your fears now there are three reasons why this is so important important here's the first reason this will reduce anxiety and help

you speak more freely many times when you would feel that that fear coming over you and that nervousness and that anxiety it's because you don't want to make a mistake let that go and you'll experience freedom from anxiety reason number two you you'll learn faster by actively using the language even with mistakes again when you stop worrying about mistakes you'll start speaking more freely and you'll actually start to improve because you'll be using what you have learned and reason number three it builds your confidence as you successfully communicate your ideas when you focus on communicating

rather than Perfection when you focus on getting your thoughts out instead of making sure each and every word is in the right place you'll actually be able to feel more confident in yourself you'll feel confident because people will start understanding what you want to say so technique number one is focus on communicating and not on perfecting communic ation over Perfection you got me excellent all right here we go technique number two technique number two is practice positive selft talk and affirmations now this technique is something you've probably noticed that I use in each and every

one of my video lessons my goal is to help you speak English with confidence so in each video not only do I want to teach you English not only do I want to help you understand certain expressions and terms I actually really want you to be confident in yourself so I always remind you that you're intelligent you are learning another language your brain is amazing why because positive selft talk and affirmations will help you release your fear you see it's important for you to use encourage ing words and phrases to boost your confidence and motivation

in learning English there are three specific reasons why this technique works so well the first reason is it helps you overcome negative thoughts that may hinder your progress listen I've been where you are when I was studying Korean it was very difficult and there were moments when I would hear a voice in my head saying ah this is too hard you keep making mistakes ah this negative voice is going to be present but you have to stop it again by speaking to yourself in a positive way reminding yourself hey you've come a long way you're

intelligent you are smart enough to learn this language reason number two positive selft talk can improve your overall learning attitude when you remind yourself that you can do it the next time a new term is brought to you the next time you hear something that you've never heard before instead of feeling dejected in instead of feeling depressed you'll say to yourself ah I was smart enough to learn the last term I'm smart enough to learn this term and reason number three it reinforces your belief belief in your ability to master the language exactly what I

just said before you have to speak to yourself in a positive way don't put yourself down when you make a mistake remind yourself it's okay I'm on this journey I can do it affirm yourself and speak positively to yourself we're talking about overcoming your fears and finally speaking English with confidence technique number three this technique is also very important start with small achievable speaking goals I'll say this one again start with small achievable speaking goals you see it's important for you to set manageable objectives for your englishspeaking practice gradually increasing difficulty over time let me

be honest with you what happens sometimes is that English Learners will set very high goals it's very good to set goals for yourself but for example I want to learn a thousand English vocabulary words in 5 days now it's a good goal to learn 1,000 English vocabulary words but 5 days that's a bit short right you have a life you're working you have a family so it's important to say set smaller achievable goals because when you set these large goals and don't achieve them you suddenly start to feel down you start to experience this fear

when you go to speak because you weren't able to achieve other goals so it's important to set small achievable goals and as time goes on you increase those goals here are three reasons why this technique is so important it prevents overwhelm and keeps you motivated you won't be overwhelmed by the 1,000 words you have to learn in 5 days and you'll stay motivated because you'll be achieving each of your goals reason number two you'll build confidence as you consistently come on now consistently achieve your goals it's amazing what happens to you when you do what

you said you would do I'll say that again it's amazing what will happen to you when you do what you say you will do this builds confidence reason number three it allows you to track your progress more effectively writing out your small achievable goals and checking each and every one off the list technique number four again effective ways to overcome your fear record yourself speaking and listen back to track your progress now we talked about this in one of the previous lessons the importance of recording yourself whether it be a video or an audio clip

and then going back and listening to yourself use audio or video recordings to monitor your speaking skills and IDE identify areas for improvement this will help you overcome your fears because you're recognizing the points at which you struggle the patterns the words Expressions that really cause you to feel a bit uncomfortable here are three reasons why this technique is so powerful reason number one it helps you become aware of your pronunciation and intonation many times English Learners and maybe even you experience fear because they feel like the individual they're speaking with will not understand them

maybe they have a stronger accent maybe they feel like their pronunciation isn't that good in order to remove that fear record yourself and then review what you recorded and you'll start to improve your pronunciation reason number two you can track your progress over time and celebrate going back to affirmations celebrate your improvements and finally it allows you to practice self-correction and develop a critical ear recognizing your mistakes and correcting them before you get into a conversation technique number five practice speaking in front of a mirror to build confidence I absolutely love this one getting in

front of a mirror and talking to yourself it's going to feel odd it's going to feel weird and awkward in the very beginning but it works one of my students in the speak English with Tiffy Academy told me that Tiff I stand in front of my mirror and my husband says you look crazy but my English is improving and I said keep standing in front of the mirror so again this is a very powerful technique you use a mirror to observe your facial expressions and your body language while speaking English and you'll be able to

self-correct here are three reasons why this is so powerful reason number one it helps you become more comfortable with how you look while speaking when you can see yourself you'll be able to recognize ah when I say certain things this is how I move let me change this let me adjust a bit reason number two it helps you practice maintaining eye contact and confident posture this is powerful again it helps you practice this eye contact and keeping your posture in the right way eye contact is powerful if all of a sudden for those watching watching

this lesson on YouTube if all of a sudden I kind of looked away for the entire lesson and you didn't know what was going on you'd feel a little bit awkward now when I look at my screen as I'm teaching you I always make sure to come back to you and give you eye contact because eye contact is important when you're speaking to or with someone reason number three again speaking in front of a mirror is important because it allows you to focus your mouth movements for better pronunciation you noticed that right again for those

watching you noticed I slowed down and you saw my mouth moving in a specific way you can watch your mouth movements when you practice in front of a mirror technique number five let's move on now to technique number six technique number six is view errors as a natural part of the learning process rather than something to be feared or avoided this technique is Embrace mistakes as learning opportunities again Embrace mistakes as learning opportunities this is something we spoke about two or three lessons ago our entire lesson was about making mistakes it's okay to make mistakes

here are the three reasons why this technique is important important it reduces anxiety about making mistakes which allows you to speak more freely when you're not worried about mistakes you won't experience any fear you'll just start talking reason number two you'll learn more effectively by analyzing and correcting your errors again you'll learn more effectively by analyzing and correcting hey I'm made that mistake let me understand why ah now let me correct my mistake fear gone reason number three it Fosters a growth mindset essential for long-term language learning success you're focusing on improving yourself by allowing

yourself to make mistakes technique number seven prepare and practice common phrases for various situations first word again prepare you see learn and rehearse frequently used expressions and sentences for different context when you keep a notebook we talked about journaling in one of our previous lessons as well when you keep a notebook and you write down new phrases you've learned or these common phrases and expressions used in real life and then practice them when you're alone in front of your mirror when you're recording yourself then when you get to an actual conversation your brain says Ah

we've practiced this before let's use these Expressions here are the three reasons why this technique is so powerful reason number one it builds your confidence in handling everyday conversations it's all about confidence this is why as an English teacher I focus so much on helping you feel more confident my friend listen you know a lot you've studied tons of books I'm going to leave that in there you've taken many courses you know a lot now it's time for you to use what you've learned in a confident way reason number two you'll be able to respond

more quickly and naturally in common situations when you practice ahead of time reason number three it helps you expand your vocabulary and improve your fluency the more you practice the more you'll be able to use these expressions and words in real life technique number eight gradually expose yourself to more challenging speaking scenarios listen if you don't want to be afraid if you want to feel prepared you have to practice ahead of time so again you have to expose yourself to more challenging speaking scenarios in other words progressively engage in more complex or intimidating English speaking

situations those situations that normally would cause you to pull back instead now go directly into those conversations make an effort don't be afraid of making mistakes why is this technique so important reason number one it helps you build resilience and adaptability in your language use you can do it believe in yourself reason number two you'll expand your comfort zone and improve your overall communication skills you'll get better the more you are stretched and reason number three It prepares you for real life situations where you'll need to use English this technique is going to help you

a lot because it's going to show you just how good you can be technique number nine set realistic expectations for your Lang language learning Journey now this ties into our earlier technique where you have to set small achievable goals now we're talking about setting realistic expectations earlier I mentioned trying to learn 1,000 English vocabulary words in 5 days that's not really realistic you might be able to memorize them but using them so again understand that language learning is a gradual process and avoid setting unrealistic goals my friend please set goals but make them realistic if

you're working if you have a family if you're busy make goals that actually can be integrated into your life here's why this is so important reason number one it prevents frustration and helps maintain your motivation for the long term when you set achievable realistic goals reason number two you'll appreciate your progress more when you have realistic benchmarks ah okay I learned two words today great tomorrow I'm going to learn two words excellent and I'll remember the words I learned yesterday reason number three it allows you to enjoy the learning process without undo pressure again it

allows you to enjoy the process without this extra pressure set realistic goals we're talking about techniques that will help remove fear from your English experience technique number 10 celebrate small victories and progress in your speaking skills listen this goes back to affirmations and positive selft talk celebrate yourself listen I can celebrate you but I also want you to celebrate yourself acknowledge and reward yourself for improvements no matter how how small they may seem I get it again I understand where you are I was studying Korean and I also had a hard time encouraging myself and

reminding myself hey Tiff you're doing good hey Tiff you've achieved a lot I want you to celebrate your small victories reason number one it boosts your motivation and encourages you to keep practicing don't stop you got this move forward reason number two you'll develop a positive association with learning and using English there's going to be this positive feeling this happy feeling this good feeling as you study English and reason number three it helps build your confidence and resilience in the face of challenges when you're constantly encouraging yourself reminding yourself that hey you're doing a good

job celebrating your small victories when challenging situations arise when you are faced with a very difficult expression or word you won't feel dejected or sad you'll tell yourself hey I can do this this is why the technique is so important technique number 11 engage in regular listen closely self reflection on your language learning progress sometimes it's good to just stop and look over your journey where you've come from where you are things you've enjoyed learning things that have helped you the most people that have helped you on your journey stop and reflect periodically assess your

strengths weaknesses and overall advancement in English speaking see how far you have come why is this so important reason number one again to remove the fear that is attached to English at times it helps you identify areas that need more Focus or different learning strategies we are all different we are all unique as human beings your learning style might not be the same as your friend's learning style and as you reflect on your journey you'll recognize which strategies work and also which areas might need different strategies reason number two you'll gain a clearer understanding of

your learning style and what works best for you reason number three it allows you to set more targeted and effective goals for future Improvement you see how these techniques are all intertwined when you reflect on your journey you'll be able to set more achievable goals you'll be able to encourage yourself and have positive selft talk because you know where you've come from and where you're trying to go this technique is powerful I really hope you enjoyed this lesson and I want to remind you if you want to keep studying with me don't forget to go

to www.english vocabulary.com each and every day of the week from Sunday to Friday I send out an email totally for free with topical English vocabulary words I want to help you improve and this is an achievable goal each day five new words related to a topic so if you want to join the email list totally for free go to www.english vocabulary.com and my friend I'll talk to you next time you still there you know what time it is it's Story Time hey hey I said it's story time all right so I want to tell you

something that happened to me oo it's been about 10 or 11 months now so my previous car I had it for about almost 20 years loved it my Honda great car but the time came for me to get a different car my Honda was dying so the car that I decided to purchase was a Lexus IS now it's very sporty and it had four doors so I had two qu two things I needed first it needed to be like a sports car second it needed to have four doors I said okay you know my nieces

are getting bigger and my two door my sports car before I was like yeah they're getting tall now I need to switch my car out so I was at the dealership speaking with the individual and I had chosen my car loved it still love it to this day and while we were standing there talking you know going over the details going over the paperwork we were standing outside and she was handing me the keys I saw a man approaching us right he was on a bike he was coming towards us but it looked like he

was going to deliver something he had a bag kind of on his bike with him it was an electric bike so as he was coming towards us we kind of you know stepped to the side just a bit to allow him to proceed on his way and as he got closer I noticed that he was staring at me a bit more than he was staring at the representative I was speaking with I was like okay you know so we keep talking and he passes us and then he puts on his brakes and so of course

the woman I was talking to we both stopped talking and kind of looked at him and he put his bike in reverse and he looked at me and he said I know you and I said uhoh here we go the vibe I was getting was hey girl how you doing and I was like ah I I didn't want I was like I'm trying to take care of business and I was like I I don't know if you know me or not he said no no I know you and that's when I saw his look change

in his eye he said teacher Tiffany and I was like ah I was like yes yes I'm teacher Tiffany he's like oh my goodness and he proceeded for the next two minutes to just say Tiffany you've helped me so much I was able to come to America America I'm able to have this job now because of your lessons and the more he talked the more warmth I felt come over my heart I absolutely love meeting students in person in real life and to hear him say that his life changed simply because of my YouTube lessons

made me want to create more lessons made me want to help more this young man was extremely nice and he said Tiffany I just want to thank you so much and I said no worries we took a picture together and I actually posted on my Facebook my private Facebook page about this young man and I said these kind of interactions make me want to work harder these types of interactions make me want to do more to serve you so wherever he is I want to say thank you so much for stopping thank you so much

for pumping your brakes and putting your bike in reverse and saying hello I hope you enjoy enjoy this story and I'll talk to you all next time