Shadowing Practice: The 3 Things You Need to Speak Confidently at Work - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Do you ever find yourself choking on your words in a work meeting where you go in,
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Do you ever find yourself choking on your words in a work meeting where you go in,
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you know what you want to say,
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you're prepared, but then when it comes time to actually saying it,
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it doesn't come out the way that you want it to?
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You know what I mean.
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Instead of sounding smooth and clear,
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your voice gets shaky, your heart beats a thousand miles a minute,
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your hands tremble, you're overfilled with anxiety.
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and instead of saying things in a clear,
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calm, confident way, you are saying things out of order,
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your words are kind of jumbled,
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and people are feeling a little confused by the end of you speaking.
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So if this happens to you often,
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you've probably gotten to a point where now you ask yourself,
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I know I'm good at what I do,
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I know my stuff, so how do I sound polished
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and professional when I'm speaking in work meetings and come across as composed and confident in my communication?
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In this video,
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I'm going to share with you my key process on how you can go from quiet to confident at work.
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The same process that I've taught thousands of professionals over the years in enhancing their communication.
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And it all comes down to three key things.
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Knowing these three things and how you communicate will eventually help you to advance your career to that manager,
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senior manager, director level role.
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I'm an author, a speaker,
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a leadership and communication coach.
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My name is Linda Rayner,
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and I wrote the book, The Quiet Achiever.
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It's a bestseller in Canada, US, and Singapore.
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And this is what I teach.
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Like my other client, Sahidi,
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who initially felt unsure and low confidence in the way that she was sharing her story,
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how she talked about herself,
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how she communicated, to then being able to move up in her career
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and go from manager to lead to a senior manager role in product management.
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If you have gotten to the point where you recognize that communication is the thing that you want to address and enhance,
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then type the word confident down in the comments below,
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and I will be sure to send you the link to download our free confident communication at work guide
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so that you can go from quiet to confident yourself.
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So firstly, let's talk about the exact reason why you are really struggling to sound polished,
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professional, smooth, composed when it comes to speaking up at work.
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Because as I teach in my program,
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self-awareness is the key to change.
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And that reason is this.
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Deep down, you don't feel as though you belong in the room.
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This is something that I often see with quiet achievers,
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especially when they have to go into meetings with management,
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senior management, directors, executives, people at the C-suite level.
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A lot of quad achievers get extremely uncertain and insecure in these settings
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because you're feeling as though you don't belong in the room.
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You feel as though they know so much more than you.
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And if you say something wrong,
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they're going to judge you for it.
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They're going to criticize you and it's going to impact your ability to get promoted.
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You might say to yourself,
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they're going to judge me if I say something wrong or stupid or they know more than me.
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So I have to sound perfect or I won't be considered leadership material.
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But this is what happens.
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And this is why self-awareness is key,
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is that if you are not aware that you're actually carrying these beliefs
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and these preconceived notions when you're walking into these meetings,
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what happens is that it impacts your ability to communicate confidently.
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Because when you are subconsciously feeling less than the people around you,
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you will energetically shrink.
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You will try to make yourself small because you don't feel your belonging there.
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You don't want to become the center of attention because you feel vulnerable.
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You feel uneasy within yourself.
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And like I said, that then impacts the way that the words that you want to speak come out of your mouth.
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It impacts the delivery.
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It impacts the level of conviction that you have.
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It impacts how calm you are.
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and ultimately it does mess up your ability to sound composed professional and polished.
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How do we change that?
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By understanding the three key components you need to have
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when preparing for any interaction or meeting at work
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and these three components are the exact things
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that I teach in our quiet to confident program
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that has helped professionals to elevate their communication and be able to be seen as leaders in their careers.
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Now before I get into them remember to comment the word confident down in the comments down below
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so that we can send you the link so you can get access to our confident communication at work guide.
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And again, this guide will teach you the exact steps
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or the frameworks that you need in order to go from quiet to confident in your workplace
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and be seen as a leader in front of your coworkers and boss.
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Overall, the three-part formula that you need to have before preparing for any interaction,
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meeting, team meeting, or conversation is this.
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What, who, and how?
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The first component is what,
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knowing what your expertise is specifically.
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A lot of the times as quiet achievers,
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you may be second guessing the amount of knowledge that you have.
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You may feel that you don't know everything.
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You pay more attention to what you don't know than what you do know.
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And because of that, there's an insecurity that I don't know enough.
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I need to learn more.
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I'm not sure fully.
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And what happens is when you walk into meetings with that feeling that you don't know enough,
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you're not leaning into being the expert at what you do.
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And what happens is you're then not able to answer even
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the most simplest questions sometimes related to your own work because you're worried that you already don't know the answer.
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And this is where that needs to shift.
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You need to understand that you are an expert at what you do.
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Out of everyone else in your company,
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you are the one doing your job and you're doing it well.
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As a Quiet Achiever, we know that.
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You know your stuff.
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You know the technical aspects to your work.
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And if you really think about it,
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even though you're sitting in a meeting with executives and directors and senior management,
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they don't know the level to the extent of the work that you've been doing.
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They don't know the level and depth of your work the way that you do.
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And because of that, you can lean in on that.
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If you anchor in that knowing that these executives,
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these directors, they don't know everything that's going on with my work.
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I know everything that's going on with my work.
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So when I go into a meeting,
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I'm going to anchor in my expertise.
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I'm going to have my point of view coming from my expertise.
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I know what I know.
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If you know what you know,
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you can speak to what you know.
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And there's going to be topics that are discussed in a meeting where it's not fully related to what you fully know.
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However, if you know something related to that,
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because you're doing work that relates to that thing.
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So as an example, they're talking about a certain report,
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and you don't really work on that report.
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However, you work on a certain set of data that then gets funneled into that report.
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You can speak to that part of it.
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You can say, well, when it comes to this report,
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this information does get funneled to that,
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and that helps it to do this,
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this, and that, if that's relevant, if that's needed.
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Of course, there's awareness and situational awareness that needs to happen when we're talking about sharing our ideas and opinions,
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and that we can talk about in another video.
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But the idea is there is that you need to know what you know.
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You can't question what you know.
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And in the case that you don't know the answer,
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you can always simply say,
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I don't have that answer right now,
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but let me look into it and I'll get back to you this afternoon.
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I'll get back to you tomorrow.
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I'll get back to you in a couple of days,
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whatever the case may be.
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So that component of knowing what you know is extremely important in being able to communicate confidently.
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Let's move on to the second key component,
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and that is who is at the table.
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In other words, who will you be talking to?
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Who is the audience?
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Who are the other members of this meeting?
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who are the people that you're going to be interacting with.
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If you understand your audience,
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if you know who they are,
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meaning you know their job titles,
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you know what they're responsible for,
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their roles and responsibilities related to the project or topic at hand,
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you know what their motives are,
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what their goals are, what their intentions are,
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what they want to achieve from a company perspective, from a team perspective.
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You also know and are aware of their concerns that really helps
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that helps to shape your messaging as an example think of a VP of Finance
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or a senior manager of Finance
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if they're in the meeting they're probably more concerned about how your project is going to impact the budget
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or the finances how it's going to impact the forecasts let's just say on the other hand
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if you're also meeting with a senior manager
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or director of operations they're going to be concerned about how your project impacts the specific timelines for the resources
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that they need to get the operations and the supply chain
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and all of those things done another example could be
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if you're going to be also talking to
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or meeting with the senior manager of marketing
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or the director of marketing they're going to be concerned about how this project is going to increase brand recognition
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so you see how each individual even though they all are working at the same company they all have slightly different goals,
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they all have slightly different concerns.
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And when you're coming in to speak at a meeting,
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you need to understand what their goals,
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what their concerns are so that you can position your messaging appropriately.
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This is all about knowing your audience,
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knowing who you're talking to.
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And that is the second key component to sounding polished professional and speaking clearly and confidently at work.
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And as a quick reminder,
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if this is stuff that you like,
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if you like learning about this,
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make sure that you type in the word confident down below in the comments
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so that you can get your free Confident Communication at Work guide where you'll learn how to go from quiet to confident.
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Now the third component to confident communication is how.
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Meaning having a clear structure in how you're delivering your message or your idea or your recommendation.
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A lot of quiet achievers don't have the right structures in place in mind
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when they're sharing an idea and opinion and this is what causes your communication to sound jumbled.
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It causes ideas to sound sort of out of place and you're not able to deliver in a smooth,
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composed, calm way.
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And it can leave the people that you're speaking to feeling a little confused.
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They feel a little lost in what you have to say,
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and they don't fully get the point of that you're trying to make.
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Now in our Quiet to Confident program I teach several key frameworks
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when it comes to delivering ideas
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but the easiest one I can share with you right now is one
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that I talk about often and that is called SAY.
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S-A-Y.
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How do you say what you want to say in a clear and confident way?
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You start with S and that stands for see the situation.
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You need to get people on the same page as you when you're in a meeting before you share an idea.
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A lot of the time,
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Quiet Achievers, we just jump into, this is my idea.
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This is the recommendation.
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And we don't give any context.
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Seeing the situation means being able to share with them what's the context of what you're about to share.
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Meaning you want to share with them what you're seeing.
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So you can say something like,
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what I'm observing is, what I'm hearing is,
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what I'm seeing is, whatever you want to say that resonates with you,
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but you want to start off with that.
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So you're going to share what you're seeing,
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what you're observing based on what everyone's describing.
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And then you would move on to A.
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A stands for assess your thoughts or analysis.
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Provide them with what is going on in your mind right now from a thought process perspective.
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So you've shared just now what you've observed.
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What I'm observing is that a lot of the deadlines
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that we're trying to meet are not going to be met
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or what I'm observing now is that the costs are being overrun in many areas for this particular project.
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Okay so what is your thought process about that?
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Meaning what does that mean?
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What does that imply?
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What is that going to lead to?
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What are your thoughts around it?
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Share.
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I'm sure you have an opinion in this area.
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You have a thought process.
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Share what that is and to help you,
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you could use words like this means that,
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this implies that, this could lead to,
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and then share what your thought process is.
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From there, you would then move on to why, which is your recommendation.
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Now is the time where you can share what your idea or your recommendation is.
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Like I said, many quiet achievers coming from non-Western backgrounds,
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if we were raised as children of immigrants or we're immigrants ourselves,
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a lot of the time we are taught to be very blunt
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and direct with sharing an idea and we'll just jump into sharing the idea.
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Okay, this is what I think we should do.
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This is what I want for us to do.
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This is what I recommend.
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When it comes to working in a Western workplace,
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you need to give the context.
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So you're going to say what you observe.
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You're going to assess your thought process.
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Then now everyone has an idea of what you're thinking and what you've been seeing and observing.
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Now they'll be more likely to buy into your idea.
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So now you can tell them what I recommend is.
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The best path forward is.
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Here's my suggestion on what we do next.
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These are some phrases that you can use to help you to share your idea or recommendation.
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And I promise you, you will be much more likely well-received
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if you're able to articulate your idea or opinion in this way than
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if you were to just blurt out your idea abruptly.
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Communication is honestly, I would say, the key to success.
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It is the key to future growth and advancement.
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If you cannot communicate confidently,
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you will not be heard and others will not be able to offer you the support
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and the opportunities that you need to get to where you want to go.
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Type in the word confident down in the comments below
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and we'll send you the link to our confident communication at
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work guide where you can take yourself from quiet to confident and help you to advance in your career.
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Context & Background
Communication in the workplace can often feel daunting, especially for those who identify as quiet achievers. In a recent video, communication coach Linda Rayner shares valuable insights aimed at professionals who struggle to express themselves clearly and confidently during meetings. Many individuals find themselves well-prepared with information but falter when it comes time to speak, leading to feelings of anxiety and self-doubt. Linda emphasizes that self-awareness is crucial for change, urging viewers to understand the root of their struggles. She highlights that many feel they do not belong in the room during high-stakes situations, particularly when addressing management and executives. By addressing these emotional barriers, individuals can transform their communication skills.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “Let’s look at the data together.” - This phrase encourages collaboration and shows openness to different perspectives.
- “I appreciate your feedback.” - Expressing gratitude for input fosters positive communication and shows respect for others' opinions.
- “Can you clarify that point?” - This question demonstrates active listening and a desire to fully understand.
- “I’d like to share my thoughts on this.” - A polite way to interject signifies confidence in your ideas.
- “Moving forward, I propose…” - Using this phrase helps in steering discussions towards action and solutions.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To tackle the speaking difficulties mentioned in Linda's video, you might consider incorporating shadowing techniques, which can significantly enhance your speaking abilities and improve English pronunciation. Here's a step-by-step guide to get started:
- Select a video: Choose Linda Rayner’s video or any other relevant content where professional communication is demonstrated. This will serve as your model for shadowing.
- Listen and repeat: Use a shadowspeaks approach. Play a segment of the video, pause, and imitate the speaker's intonation and pacing. Focus on how they articulate their thoughts.
- Record yourself: After practicing, use a shadow speak technique to record your own voice while replicating the phrases. Listening to your recordings will help in identifying areas for improvement.
- Analyze and refine: Compare your recordings with the original video. Pay attention to aspects such as clarity, tone, and confidence in delivery. Make adjustments as necessary.
- Use a shadowing app: To further enhance your practice, consider using a shadowing app. These tools often come with features that aid in improving pronunciation and intonation.
By incorporating these techniques into your daily practice, you can gradually build the confidence you need to excel in workplace communication. Remember, consistent practice will lead to noticeable improvements in your speaking skills, ensuring that you can present your ideas clearly and confidently in any professional setting. Start your journey to better communication today!
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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