Transform your confidence, communication skills and career!

Welcome to the latest edition of the Good Enough Newsletter 👋.

Before I commence a coaching program, I conduct a 30 to 45 minute free online consultation with my potential coachees.

Last week I reviewed my notes from the last 5 years to identify the main reasons for them requesting my help.

It essentially came down to 3 main things:

1) To improve their communication skills to progress their career in an international company.

2) To improve their interviewing and networking skills for a job or career change.

3) To be and feel more confident and fluent in their communication.

If you are reading this it may be that you are in a similar situation? 🤔

If so, the following tips will help you.

How To Improve Your Communication Skills

Acceptance

Like most things in life, mindset is key.

Unless you are fortunate to have been introduced to other languages at a young age it may be useful to accept that your English may never be as good as your native language.

This may not sound very aspirational to some, but it is probably more realistic.

This acceptance can bring a calmness that “good enough” English is ok and you can relax and enjoy your English learning journey, which could well be a lifetime!

Simple, concise and clear language

The most important thing for business professionals is to be effective communicators and to be understood.

It is not about using complex language.

The best communicators use simple and concise language that is easy to understand.

Focus on the right things

Unfortunately, in my opinion many business English language learners are focusing on the wrong things such as complex grammar or vocabulary and phrases that they are unlikely to use regularly.

This is why I have devised the Good Enough Business English 3000 program.

The reality is that you only need to know about 3000 words (the Business English Essentials as I call them) to be effective in most business situations.

This is only 10% of the 30,000 words of a typical native speaker!

Think of it like the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule. 80% of the English you use in business comes from the core 20% of your learning.

Therefore, focus on the right things and get very comfortable with the language and techniques you use in everyday business situations such as expressing your opinion, checking your understanding, asking powerful questions, negotiating and so on.

Non-verbal communication

Non-verbal communication is equally as important as verbal communication.

Effective communicators understand the importance of body language and facial expressions when explaining, motivating and inspiring.

Mindful or conscious communication

An understanding of mindful (or conscious) communication is a game changer.

Much has been written recently about active listening for example.

Once you get the concept of mindful communication it will help you become a much more effective communicator by you being more self-aware and paying better attention.

Audience engagement

Force of personality and perseverance will go a long way with engaing your audience.

However, learning simple techniques to relax your audience, to engage their attention immediately and to tell stories to humanise the experience will transform the quality of your meetings and presentations.

Cultural sensitivity

Understanding the cultural background of the people you’re communicating with can help avoid misunderstandings.

It’s important to respect cultural differences in communication styles.

How To Improve Your Interviewing & Networking Skills

It is very common to feel nervous about an interview or networking event, particularly if it is not in your native language.

The following tips will help you:

Practice makes perfect!

The good news for you concerning interviews is that in my opinion you can prepare for 80% of interview questions. I call them the “usual suspects”.

I should know as I was a headhunter for over 10 years! 😉

This means that you can pretty much predict most interview questions and prepare for them. Practice makes perfect!

It can be difficult and time consuming to secure an interview.

So, do not waste all your hard work.

It is not sufficient to turn up and hope everything will be alright on the day.

As you know “failing to plan is planning to fail”.

Mock (or practice) interviews

Find a trusted friend or coach who you can practise typical interview questions with.

It will help you to learn to structure, order and articulate your thoughts confidently.

With practice your interview answers will flow naturally.

Research preparation

This is key. Research as much as you can about the company and the job.

You can access a lot of basic information from the company website and the internet such as financial results and the company's strategy, corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy and details of employee benefits and training.

Check the website Glassdoor to see the reviews of ex-employees.

Also, make sure you are clear how your skills align with the job responsibilities specified.

STAR technique

The STAR technique (situation, task, action, result) is a very useful technique to help you in competence-based interviews which are used by many HR professionals and recruiters these days.

In fact, some companies such as Amazon communicate in advance of the interview that they expect you to use this technique.

Even if the technique is not specifically required in an interview it is a great and simple way for you to order your thoughts when explaining your skills and experience for a particular role.

Interviews are a two-way street

Remember interviews are a two-way exchange of information.

The best interviews are the ones that feel like a conversation.

So, do not wait until the end of the interview to ask questions. Show your enthusiasm and initiative by asking questions as the interview progresses.

In general the interviewer will appreciate it and it will make their day more enjoyable, and it will also help you to build rapport with them.

The ability to listen attentively and ask relevant questions is key here.

Personal introduction or elevator pitch

For interviews and networking, it is always useful to have a short and longer version of your personal introduction or elevator pitch depending on the situation.

Again this is something that can easily be put together and practised.

Follow-up

Develop the good habit of following up your interview with a thank-you email.

It immediately differentiates you from most of the other candidates.

It also allows you to confirm your interest in the role, to clarify any oustanding points and confirm next steps.

How To Improve Your Confidence and Fluency

A lot of confidence can be gained from the preparation and practice already mentioned above.

Confidence is in the mind and there are methods and techniques that can be used to overcome any mental blocks you have experienced in your English communication skills learning.

I personally incorporate mindfulness techniques into my coaching to help with this by creating a safe space to explore any thoughts or belief patterns that are maybe holding you back. Usually with examination and more awareness they fade away.

In terms of fluency it is quite difficult to coach somebody to be fluent per se.

However, in my opinion, there are a combination of a few simple methods and techniques you can follow to allow your language to flow better and for you to appear more fluent in business situations.

In my coaching sessions I focus on the following:

👉 The ability and language to structure and order your ideas and thoughts.

👉 Phrases and expressions to introduce your main points and transition from one point to the next.

👉 The use of a variety of phrases to express your opinions and ideas.

👉 How to be comfortable with small talk.

👉 The use of connecting words and phrases to maintain the flow of your conversation.

👉 The 3 methods to check your understanding and to avoid saying "can you repeat that please".

👉 The ability to stay "on message" and language and techniques to "get back on track" if you digress.

👉 Language delivery. The use of pauses, tone (mood of your voice) and intonation (the rise and fall of your voice) to help your langauge to appear more natural.

I hope you have found these tips useful.

Until next week!

Wayne

P.S. If you are interested to go deeper into these techniques you may be interested in some of my communication and career coaching programs, or one to one coaching sessions. If so, please click below for a free consultation 👇

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