Shadowing Practice: 7 Dressing Mistakes that make you look Junior - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Looking junior impacts how seriously you are taken.
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Looking junior impacts how seriously you are taken.
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But yeah, but that's what she is, she's a gold digger.
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She's a gold digger.
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It impacts your negotiating power and therefore it impacts your ability to develop your business.
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I'm so out, I'm so out, so out, so out.
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I used to work as a lawyer on the Champs-Elysées in Paris
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and I've grown up spending my summers in my grandparents' chateau in the south of France.
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Today, I help female entrepreneurs dress better so they can stop being underestimated.
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In this video, you're going to learn seven dressing mistakes
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that make you look more junior and how to correct them so you can be taken more seriously.
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And the first mistake is to wear a fully professional look.
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When you started your business,
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you might have thought that going full-on professional look was the best way to be taken seriously by your customers.
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Looking professional might have gotten you some credibility at your corporate job,
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especially if you were at the beginning of your career.
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But today, as a business owner,
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you need to show that you lead, not just execute.
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This fully professional look conveys much more that you are following orders rather than giving them.
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And the reason is that it's very bland.
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It's very classic and there is not much personality or leadership that transpires from a fully professional look.
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Leadership is more bold, it's more confident, it's more individual.
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The more professional you look,
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the more worker be you're going to look to your customer,
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unless you are a lawyer or an accountant.
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Even then, I'm sure you would rather convey that you are a bold leader,
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lawyer or accountant, rather than a classic one.
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Looking very professional also conveys that you need to prove that you're competent and serious.
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And who needs to prove that they're competent and serious?
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Juniors.
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When you're established, it's not something that you doubt,
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and it's not something that you believe others doubt either.
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Therefore, you don't feel the need to dress fully professional because your authority is already established.
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What you need instead is a professional look that also conveys your personality and leadership style.
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The easiest way to do that is to have a classic professional base
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and have accessories or colors like I'm doing right here
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or shoes that convey your personality and that have a bit more of a statement.
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If your whole outfit says professional,
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it's not going to say much about you,
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it's going to look boring.
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But if your outfit looks professional with a tweak,
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with a bold statement, then you're going to look professional but also confident and you're going to appear as somebody with leadership.
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That's going to make a big difference in how you are perceived by customers and potential business partners.
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Everybody wants to work with someone who is ahead of the curve.
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and by dressing in a way that is different and expresses your personality,
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you show that you are that person.
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Second mistake that makes you look junior is that you're wearing the wrong makeup.
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Either no makeup at all, either too heavy makeup.
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If you're not wearing any makeup at all,
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obviously if you already look junior,
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you're going to look even more junior.
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But at the opposite of the spectrum,
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a too heavy makeup in the attempt of making you look older
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is actually going to make you look tacky and a bit out of place.
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The reason why it looks tacky is because when you wear a lot of makeup,
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you're conveying subconsciously the idea that you're insecure about yourself because you need to hide your real complexion,
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your real lashes, under a lot of product.
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If you naturally look young,
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it's going to make you look even more that you're trying to compensate and that you're trying to look older,
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therefore that you're insecure about looking young.
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A lot of makeup can also make you look like you are sexually available,
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which is probably not your first intent.
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Instead, what you should be aiming at is a no makeup makeup look.
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The makeup is going to make you look older because simply enhancing your features is going to age you a little bit,
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but it's not going to make you look like you're trying to look older.
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And that's a very important difference.
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The reason why this makeup is perfect is because its objective is simply to make you look better.
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Not to make you look younger,
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it's not to make you look older or sexier,
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it's simply to enhance your natural features.
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And somebody who enhances her natural features is somebody who is confident,
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regardless of her age or the age people think she is.
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I have a lot of customers who do look younger and it's always the makeup that I recommend.
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At the beginning it might feel a bit intimidating because it's a makeup that makes you look like you're almost wearing nothing,
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but it's a makeup that is going to make you be taken seriously in an instant.
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The third dressing mistake that you might be making that makes you look more junior is wearing a backpack.
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Because a backpack has a childish school connotation.
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It also has a hard worker connotation with the idea of carrying heavy things on your back.
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Looking mature and established is conveyed through ease.
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And if you carry all your heavy things on your back,
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you're not conveying that status and that ease.
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The best alternative is to switch to a classic work bag.
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Your backpack should have a classic shape,
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be made of leather or vegetable leather,
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be in a muted color,
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and be obviously spacious enough to carry all your things.
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It can be as big as it needs to be as soon as it meets the other criteria.
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If you really, really need to wear a backpack for health reasons
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and only in that case because it does really make a difference especially if you naturally look junior and young.
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Pick a backpack that meets all of the criteria I just described.
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Fourth mistake is wearing clothes that don't perfectly fit you because
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if you look young and on top of it you wear clothes that don't fall perfectly on you,
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subconsciously it brings to that idea of I'm wearing my big sister's clothes or I have outgrown my own clothes.
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It also conveys that you haven't learned to dress properly yet,
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which is something that also conveys junior instead of mature.
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It also conveys that you don't have a very sharp attention to detail,
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which is something that somebody more experienced and more established would definitely have.
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And it's definitely the most important thing that you should have in mind
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when you're meeting customers or investors or potential business partners in person.
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Anything that is ill-fitting, regardless of how much you spent on it or the brand or the quality of the material,
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is going to look bad.
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It catches the eye negatively and creates some sort of uneasiness that you're not necessarily able to pinpoint,
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but that is going to make you look much more scruffy and way less professional,
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reliable and expensive
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if you're wondering to what extent your appearance is impacting the
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development of your business i have created an audit based on my experience
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and hundreds of thousands of data points using ai to give you the exact number
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that you are losing every month due to your presentation this audit is completely free and the link is in the description.
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Fifth mistake, colorful nails.
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I'm so sorry.
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As fun and joyful as they may be,
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colorful nails definitely make you look more junior because they're colorful.
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They have a childish connotation because they are using the visual codes of cartoons,
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of candy wrappers, of anything that you would see around children.
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So if you already struggle with looking junior or being taken seriously in general,
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colorful nails are unfortunately too ban.
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You can definitely have fun with your nails for private events,
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but professionally this decreases your authority by 3000.
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The best option is a natural nude,
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same color as your nail and basically very discreet.
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Something to make you look like you take care of your nails,
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but your nails are not the show.
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If you love color
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and color on your nails is one of the reasons why
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you feel happy showing up for your business every day then pick a muted tone
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and limit yourself to some kind of cherry red.
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That is the only color that remains professional.
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Simply be aware of the fact that it has a sexy connotation. So
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if you're adding some red on your nails the rest of
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the outfit should be extremely classic with no kind of sexy whatsoever.
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Mistake number six, which might sound completely counterintuitive,
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is wearing very high heels,
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especially if they are pointy,
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if the heel is thin,
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and if they are above seven centimeters.
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These heels are sexy, they convey a kind of dominating power
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which clashes with somebody who naturally looks junior even more so
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if you are short because then it shows
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that you need those heels to feel at the same level as everybody else meaning
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that you naturally don't feel
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that you are at the same level as everybody else instead
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it's the same logic as for the makeup wear heels
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that a woman who is established would wear seven centimeters is the maximum height to still be classy elegant
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and not sexy and seven centimeters is also what is the most flattering for the leg line past
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that point it can look awkward unless you have a very specific type of leg
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but as a matter of principle seven centimeters you know
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that you're always safe regardless of your natural leg line rather go for a wider heel than a thinner heel
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because a wider heel is not going to have as much of a sexy connotation
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but it's still going to bring some femininity and some adult-ness into your appearance.
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If you find high heels uncomfortable then choose rather heels
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that are lower so four centimeters is still very comfortable you pretty much don't feel it
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but it still adds that level of femininity professionalism and elegance to any outfit.
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And finally, the seventh mistake is not a dressing mistake,
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but I couldn't help if I didn't mention that.
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And that is your behavior.
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Oversmiling, too much eye contact,
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high-pitched voice, upspeak, filler words.
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You could be dressed in the most confident way humanly possible,
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if you use those behaviors the magic would just break.
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That is something I've been teaching my clients inside the Authority Vault,
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which is my dressing program for women who are scaling towards their first million.
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You might have learned that smiling is a great way of being welcoming,
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of making people feel comfortable,
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and that's probably something that you do a lot with your customers or your employees depending on where you are.
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But smiling too much actually hurts your authority because somebody who smiles a lot is somebody who is eager to please.
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If you want to convey confidence and authority,
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you shouldn't look like you need to be liked.
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Smiling should be reserved to the end of a sentence.
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Same logic with eye contact.
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A lot of eye contact shows that you are eager to please,
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especially that deep eye contact.
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A normal amount of eye contact is when I'm talking to you,
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I am looking at you in the eyes,
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but when I'm thinking or forming my thoughts,
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I can look on the side and then get back to you.
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Filler words are all the,
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I think maybe it would be better,
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that might just be me,
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I might be wrong, but these are all words
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that you should ban from your vocabulary because people assume competence based on the amount of certainty you convey when you speak.
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That is the confidence of the white man.
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So that is something we can definitely learn from men.
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It is to speak with much more confidence even though inside we might not be a hundred percent sure.
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Second to last is upspeak.
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So that is when you speak like that and you end your sentences on a high.
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If you make your statements sound like questions,
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you do not sound confident and sure of yourself.
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So combined with the fact that you naturally look junior,
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you are thrown into the she's young,
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she's fresh, she doesn't know what she's doing category.
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And that obviously hurts your business.
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And finally, the one that I have found to be the most impactful
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and that you can put into practice in three seconds,
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and that's something I've done with my clients inside the authority vault,
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and the results are always immediate,
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that is to lower your pitch.
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Because if you speak like that,
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you're not going to be taken as seriously as if you speak like that.
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You should place your voice at the lower part of your range.
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It doesn't mean going way too low,
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because obviously it's going to sound awkward.
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It should be just where your voice is comfortable.
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You can find it by doing a simple mmmmm.
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That's where you should place your voice.
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If you run your business in a different language than your mother tongue,
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then you might speak higher up in that second language,
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especially if it's English.
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So make sure to bring that lower voice placement into your business language as well.
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Thank you for spending this time with me.
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If you would like to know how your appearance is impacting your business,
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I invite you to take the audit in the description and I will see you very happily in the next one.
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A bientôt!
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills by focusing on the topic of dressing styles that can affect your perception in professional settings. You’ll learn about key dressing mistakes that may make someone appear more junior and the importance of conveying confidence and leadership through personal style. This lesson emphasizes the use of tone and clarity while connecting your speech to everyday contexts, making it valuable for anyone looking to advance their professional demeanor through better communication. As you engage with the content, aim to enhance your conversational skills, enabling you to express yourself more effectively in English-speaking environments.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Professional look: Attire that conveys credibility and authority.
- Leadership: The act of guiding and influencing others.
- Convey: To communicate or make known.
- Bold statement: A strong expression of personal style or confidence.
- Makeup: Cosmetic products applied to enhance or alter appearance.
- Perception: The way in which something is viewed or understood.
- Competent: Having the necessary ability, knowledge, or skill to do something successfully.
- Junior: Referring to someone who is perceived as less experienced or less authoritative.
Practice Tips
To maximize your learning experience, take a few steps to integrate shadowing techniques with this transcript. As you watch the video, use a shadowing app to play segments of the audio, and try to mimic the speaker’s tone, pace, and intonation. Since the content flows at a dynamic yet conversational speed, you may need to repeat tricky phrases multiple times to get comfortable with the pronunciation. Focus on phrases like "professional look" and "bold statement" to ensure you grasp the nuances of these expressions.
When practicing, pay attention to how the speaker transitions between ideas. This will help you develop smoother speech in your own English speaking practice. Shadow speak along with the video, emphasizing clarity and expression of confidence, just as the speaker does when discussing the importance of style and leadership. By correlating your shadow speech with the topics covered, you’ll not only improve your speaking skills but also gain insights into effective communication strategies relevant to professional settings.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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