Shadowing Practice: How to Sound Instantly Confident in English - Learn English Speaking with Video
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You don't sound unconfident because your English is weak.
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You sound unconfident because of a few habits no one has ever corrected.
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Have you noticed this?
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You start a sentence with confidence and you end it sounding unsure.
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You add extra words.
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You over explain.
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Do you see yourself doing this?
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The worst part is you know you're capable, but still somewhere you're lagging in your confidence.
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In this video, I'm going to show you the exact words and seven speaking habits that make people sound calm,
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confident, and taken seriously even with very simple, day-to-day, regular English.
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No fancy vocabulary, no pretending, just small changes that change how people listen to you.
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I want to tell you something personal.
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When I started speaking English, I knew my vocabulary, I knew my grammar, but somehow I still sounded unsure.
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See, I'll tell you how it used to exactly happen.
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I remember that feeling, though I don't get it anymore, but I remember that feeling very distinctly still in my heart somewhere here.
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I still, like, I can imagine how I used to feel back then.
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What used to happen was that I would see a scenario where there was an opportunity to speak because as a learner,
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you're always hunting for opportunities to speak to people because, you know, without speaking, you can't improve.
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Because I personally took it very personally.
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It's sounding stupid, but I actually took it very personally.
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Learning to speak fluent English was like my ultimate goal of life.
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I knew that something was there in this language.
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The moment you start speaking English with fluency, people see you differently.
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I don't know why.
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I'm not in favor of behaving that way.
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I don't think I am that person who values other people.
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This is how they speak well or how fluent they are in English.
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I don't think I do that.
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But I know other people do.
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And many people in our country especially do.
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So I knew vocabulary.
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I knew grammar.
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And there were opportunities.
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And I was not somebody who would hide behind a curtain or, you know, minus themselves from the scenario and think that, OK, fine, not today, not today, tomorrow.
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I was not that person.
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If I see an opportunity, I will try.
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I've always been this way.
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So what I would do is that I'd go up, I'd try and initiate a dialogue.
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But there was this deep pounding in my chest.
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My heart would like, it's like it's about to explode out of my chest.
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that is the feeling I used to get.
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I was very nervous and something in my head used to tell me
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that okay if you start this you will have to end this it's going to get hard it's going to be difficult.
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Will you be able to talk properly or will you end up making a joke of yourself?
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These feelings constant all the time in my head.
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So I was unsure.
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I knew English.
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I was going to a good school at that time.
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But I don't know, something used to happen, not because I did not know English, but because of how I was speaking.
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Once I corrected a few habits, something changed dramatically.
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People stopped interrupting me.
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They listened differently.
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They used to see me different.
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And suddenly I saw respect for the way they were treating me, for the way they would look at me and that is what I want for you.
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So I've got seven pointers.
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Please, whatever you're doing right now, just stop.
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Stop.
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This video is important.
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I have some of the most amazing things to talk about with you.
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I've got my list here.
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I don't want to miss out anything.
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I have it here, but this is just to ensure that I do not miss those seven things.
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Every single point is important.
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And if you're not confident, this video carries that load.
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It has that seriousness in it that if you listen to it till the end,
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you will end up feeling that you can get confident.
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It will make you confident with a few things that you will have to correct in yourself.
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Of course, just watching this video is not enough.
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Of course, you will have to bring those changes
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that I'm going to be talking about and it will make you confident
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and super confident okay what you have to do is those
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seven things either you write them down somewhere on a piece of paper
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or maybe after watching the video come back to the first point
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and then write those just the pointers down stick it somewhere on the cupboard
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or somewhere so that when you get up you see the list in the morning
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and you get up with an intent in your head
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that I'm going to work on my speaking progress on my speaking ability, my capability.
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I am going to be more confident this year.
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I want you to do this.
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Okay.
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So this is my point number one.
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And that is to stop asking for permission to speak.
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You don't even know it, but you do it.
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Most people don't realize this, but they ask permission before they speak.
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I just wanted to say, sorry, but maybe I'm wrong.
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But the moment you start your sentence like this, you're telling the listener that whatever you're about to say is optional.
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They can choose to not listen to you or they may choose to not take your advice seriously.
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You're giving that consent to them.
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Confident people don't sound loud.
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They just sound certain.
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Instead of asking for permission, enter the sentence directly.
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I'll tell you a few changes.
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Okay.
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I just wanted to say,
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I think or I believe and then you say your I just wanted to say this dress isn't looking good on you.
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I believe this dress is not suiting you well.
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How about you wear that?
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Sorry, but here's my point.
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Maybe I'm wrong, but one thing to consider is, and you see the difference.
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Just a few changes to the starting of the sentence and the whole seriousness of the sentence is changed.
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How other person is perceiving you, their perception changes with the starting of your sentence.
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Sorry, but I think this might not work.
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No, instead say, I don't think this will work.
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Why are you sorry about unnecessary things?
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Okay, it's the same thought, but completely different impact.
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Confidence begins at the first word of your sentence.
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Remember that.
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If you've ever felt that people don't take you seriously, even though you're capable, the next habit is usually the real reason.
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Most people never notice it.
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So here's my point number two for you.
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Silence sounds confident.
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Fillers don't.
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When people feel slightly nervous, they try to fill the silence.
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They find silence very uncomfortable.
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I'll show you a few words on the screen somewhere here.
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Actually, basically, kind of, maybe,
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you know, these words don't add any meaning.
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They are absolutely useless.
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Basically, why do we use basically so much?
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It adds nothing to the sentence.
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It's such a weak habit.
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Get rid of it right now.
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stop using basically.
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It makes no sense.
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Basically is a real word which should be used in proper places and shouldn't be thrown around.
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Just like that.
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Wherever you feel like, wherever there is silence and you want to fill the silence up, you use basically.
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No need.
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It just adds doubt.
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It shows the other person that you are not confident about what you're speaking.
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Silence, on the other hand, makes people uncomfortable, but not the person who's confident.
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Silence doesn't make the person who's confident feel unsure or uncomfortable.
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No, instead of filling the gap, just pause and continue.
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A pause tells the listener, I'm choosing my words.
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I know what I'm speaking and I'm taking my time.
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Okay, I'll show you an example.
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I basically think this is kind of a good idea actually.
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You tell me, does this sentence sound confident to you?
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How about you say, I think this is a good idea.
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It's the same thought.
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It's the same sentence.
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I just removed some unnecessary words.
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That's all I did.
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And the impact of the sentence changed completely.
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The pause did the work.
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So if you take a pause, I think this is a good idea.
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The pause will do the work.
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Not extra words.
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Pauses signal thinking.
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There is no harm in pauses.
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Fills signal insecurity.
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Remember this.
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There's one habit that quietly makes people doubt you.
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Even when your English is correct, it's how you end your sentences.
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And this is what brings me to my point number three, which is ending your sentences should be appropriate.
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Don't leave them hanging.
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Many people unknowingly turn statements into questions.
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I finished the report.
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We can do this tomorrow.
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This upward tune.
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We can do this tomorrow.
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Why do you have to take it upward?
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We can do this tomorrow.
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Listen to the difference.
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We can do this tomorrow.
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We can do this tomorrow.
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Which one would you choose if you're a confident person.
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You're telling something.
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We can do this tomorrow.
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You don't have to take it upward as if you're asking for consent again.
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The upward tone removes certainty.
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Listen to this.
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When your statement goes up, your authority goes down.
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It tells the listener you're seeking approval.
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End your sentence flat and complete.
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No apology, no hesitation.
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I'll send the email today.
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I'll send the email today.
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You see it?
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It comes with practice.
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Don't worry if you're making this mistake.
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Happens to everybody.
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No big deal.
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Awareness is important.
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If you're aware you're making this mistake and
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that is why people at your office do not take you seriously
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or they think they can discount you or they think your approval doesn't matter on things,
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probably Finally, these are small changes that are waiting to take place in your heart, in your way you speak.
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Same words, completely different confidence.
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Confidence is not volume, always remember.
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It's how you finish a sentence, okay?
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Volume does not matter.
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If this is already changing the way you hear your own English, subscribe to this channel to ensure you receive updates on better spoken English.
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You'll notice these habits everywhere now since you're watching this.
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If this feels hard, you're not broken, okay, let me say this clearly.
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If this feels uncomfortable, that's normal.
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These habits are learned early in classrooms,
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in homes, in environments where we were taught to be polite to people, not powerful. So
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if you recognize is yourself here oh this is what i
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do oh my god i've been making this mistake you're not behind you're just becoming aware okay and
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that is fantastic for you point number four is replace i
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think with structure there are too many i think i think
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i think happening typical particle i love the woman she's amazing she's beautiful she's outstanding in every way
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but she uses too many I think.
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I think, I think every single sentence starts with an I think.
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It is not good.
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Many capable people overuse one phrase.
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I think is probably the most common one.
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I think, I think this will work.
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I think we should do this.
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It sounds harmless.
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Of course it is harmless, but overuse makes you sound unsure.
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When you keep saying, I think, it sounds like you're still deciding even when you're not.
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I think this will work.
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The reason this will work is I think we should do this.
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What matters here is, you see the difference?
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I'll give you one more example.
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Instead of I think this is a good strategy, just simply say this is a good strategy because it reduces risk.
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Okay, just place your reason.
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Point number five, over explaining weakens your presence.
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oh my god i was such a culprit of this i used to do
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that a lot a part of me somewhere still seeks validation
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of others this is something i'm working on you know politeness is taught to us as little children
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and it's good to be polite nothing against
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that this video is not being anti-kind no no it's not
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i don't want you to be rowdy i don't want you
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to be arrogant no i just want you to be good to yourself.
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Subconsciously, these habits are hurting you.
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They are hurting your chances in life.
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And that is why I'm making you aware through this content.
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As a person, me, I do this.
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I say something and then I feel that the other person hasn't understood.
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And I would go on and on, explain, explain, explain.
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And it's after a point, it starts to feel as if I'm seeking the approval,
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as if I'm not even sure about what I'm talking or I don't believe in what I'm talking.
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Or if they say yes, suddenly I'll feel relieved.
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All of these things happen when you over explain.
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Many intelligent people do this without realizing it.
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They explain and then explain and explain again.
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I'll give an example.
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So yeah, I think this works because I tried it earlier and it kind of helped.
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And what I mean is, now this one is an over explained sentence.
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This approach works because I tested it and it gave good results
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and I feel it might be helpful for us to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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No. How about you say it differently and say, this approach works.
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I've tested it.
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Simple.
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Notice what changed.
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Not confidence.
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The trust in the statement completely changed.
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You used minimal words.
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Overexplaining is completely avoided and the person listening to you will trust you more.
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Imagine a doctor talking about a therapy
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that they're going to be trying on you and they go on and on and on and they blabber like fools.
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Will you be able to trust that doctor or
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if there is a doctor who is confident and speaks in the minimum possible words, gives you confidence and moves on with their work.
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Don't you feel you will trust that doctor more because you will feel, okay, I don't understand, but he knows what he's doing.
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So I'll just go ahead with him.
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So that's the thing.
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That is the change of trust we're talking about.
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The most confident person in the room usually speaks the least.
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Always remember that.
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Okay.
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Moving on to point number six, use calm words, not emotional ones.
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Emotional ones, they probably stem from your deep insecurities
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and probably showcase how you feel and they are better at portraying your emotions.
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But calm words are more important.
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They make you sound somebody who has authority.
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Sound like one of those.
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Many people confuse confidence with intensity.
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But confident speakers sound calm, not emotional.
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Emotional words don't make you sound strong.
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No, they don't.
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They make you sound reactive.
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Words like amazing, terrible, very, extremely, really.
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These words, they definitely do add feeling, but they reduce authority.
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So should we completely eliminate them?
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No, you can't.
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It's the way you talk.
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I'm not asking you to completely get rid of them.
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I'm just asking you to limit them.
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Use them, but not too frequently.
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What matters is intentionality.
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These words should come from intention and shouldn't again become filler words for you.
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Be intentional with your tone.
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Be intentional with your words.
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Be stingy on choosing words that undermine your authority.
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Stingy is conduce.
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Okay.
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Be stingy on using words, on choosing words that bring your authority down.
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Undermining is bringing it down.
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You can't completely do without them.
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I get it.
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I understand.
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Even I use them.
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But you can be more aware and use them less often.
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The awareness alone changes how you sound.
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Okay.
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Confident speakers use neutral, grounded words instead of emotional words.
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They choose calm ones like effective or unnecessary, appropriate, sufficient, reasonable.
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See the difference?
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This is extremely bad.
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This is unnecessary.
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See the difference here?
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That is what I'm talking about.
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Instead of bringing emotion into everything, oh my God, this is extremely bad.
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Just simply say, this is unnecessary, not extremely bad.
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Don't force your opinions on everything.
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It's the same message, very different presence.
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Emotion pulls attention to how you feel and calmness, it pulls attention to what you're saying.
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And we're talking about becoming confident in the way we speak.
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Confidence doesn't sound excited.
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Okay.
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Confidence is calmness.
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I know who I am.
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I know what I can do.
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I know my business.
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I know why I am here.
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Okay, it sounds settled, not excited.
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Sometimes, okay, but we're talking business here, right?
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We're not talking about daily regular life, the way you're behaving with your family or your friends.
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We're talking about business, the real world of money, relationships that are transactional.
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And there's no harm by the way.
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You will always have relationships that are purely transactional.
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There's no harm in that.
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You will have relationships that bring you happiness and then you'll have relationships that bring you work, that bring you growth, that bring you progress in life.
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It's okay.
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We've got to maintain a balance between the two.
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Point number seven, the last one and probably the most important one on the list.
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Stop putting yourself down even as a joke.
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Many people weaken their confidence before anyone else gets the chance to.
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They do it casually.
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They do it jokingly.
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My English isn't great but I'm not very smart but I might be wrong but
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these lines they don't make you sound humble please get out of
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that thinking they make people lower their expectations of you we don't want
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that okay listen to this again we don't want people to lower their expectations
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when it comes to work we want people to think we
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are capable of more the way you speak about yourself trains
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people on how to treat you confident people don't announce their flaws like that.
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They simply speak.
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If something isn't perfect, you don't need to explain it.
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Silence is stronger than self-defense.
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Let your words stand on their own.
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One simple rule to remember, never reduce yourself before the world does it for you.
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You get my point?
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Talking about yourself as if it's okay to laugh about you
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or it's okay to make fun of you will give other
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people permission to do the same to you some other day and you won't like it when they do it to you.
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So it's better you learn it now.
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If you don't want somebody else to tell you, hey, your English is really poor.
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Don't say it to them.
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Don't tell them that this is how you feel about yourself.
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Oh, my English is very weak.
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Don't tell them because they will use it against you one day, whenever it is comfortable or convenient for them.
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And you won't like it that day.
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Stop talking about your flaws like that.
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It is not making you sound humble.
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It's not making you a good person.
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No, it's making you foolish.
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Let's not be foolish.
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Let's be smart.
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Okay.
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It's about sounding settled.
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It's about sounding calmer, relaxed, not excited.
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We don't want to be perfect all the time.
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We just want to be calm.
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We want to bring that presence with us where people can trust us.
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People should think, people who are working with us, they should think that I'm a person who can be trusted upon with a harder task.
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And that is how you grow in life, right?
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It's how you start a sentence, how you pause, how you end it, and how much you trust your own words.
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You don't need new vocabulary.
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You need simple new habits.
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Start with one habit today.
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Pick one today.
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Choose another tomorrow.
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Come back to this video to remind yourself on the rest of the points, okay?
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Practice it consciously and notice how people listen differently to you.
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If this video has helped you, save it and share it with somebody you love talking to, somebody who feels like home.
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You'll come back to it more than once.
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So it's better you save it somewhere.
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Probably just WhatsApp the link to yourself.
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Okay, thank you.
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I'll see you in the next one.
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If you like it, please, please hit the like button because
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that is how it will help the video to go to other people and we want that.
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Okay, see you.
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See you in the next one.
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Bye.
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Who Will Benefit from This Video?
If you’re an English learner who knows grammar and vocabulary but still feels unsure when speaking—whether prepping for IELTS speaking practice or just aiming to sound more confident in daily chats—this video is for you. It’s perfect for those ready to move beyond "knowing" English to owning it, focusing on small habits that transform how others perceive you.
Key Phrases to Add to Your Toolkit
The video shares relatable expressions that feel natural, not forced. For example, "hunting for opportunities" (actively seeking chances to practice) and "making a joke of yourself" (embarrassing yourself) are simple yet powerful. These phrases help you sound conversational, which is key for english speaking practice. Another standout is "lagging in confidence"—a subtle way to describe that nervous feeling without overcomplicating it.
Mastering Tone and Rhythm for Confidence
Confidence isn’t just about words—it’s about how you deliver them. The speaker emphasizes avoiding "trailing off" (ending sentences weakly) and over-explaining. For pronunciation, focus on steady pacing and clear intonation. A great way to practice? Try the shadowing technique: repeat the video’s dialogue aloud, mimicking the speaker’s tone and pauses. Use a shadowing site or simply play short clips and "shadow speech" in real time. This trains your mouth and mind to speak with calmness, even when nervous. Over time, these small changes will make you sound more assured, whether in a job interview or a casual chat.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to exactly · used to feel · used to happen |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | If I see an opportunity, I will try · if you start this you will have · if they say yes, suddenly I'll feel |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has ever corrected · Have you noticed · I've always been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is changed · be thrown · are learned |
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.