Speak with Authority in English

If you are a professional or a business owner or a content creator, you know how important language is. You know how important it is to be able to persuade, to convey a clear message, to engage people, to get people excited about something, to make people feel something about what it is that you're saying.

Now, these things are sometimes challenging in our first language, let alone in a second language. Because when you do all of that, or you try to do all of that in English, there are things that get in the way, like your confidence and your fluency and your experience in the language, and even the knowledge of how to do all of that in a language that is not your own.

In this video, I'm going to talk about how you as a professional or a business owner, can develop authority in English as a non-native speaker, especially when speaking to native speakers.

If you're new to my channel, then hi, my name is Hadar. I'm a non-native speaker of English, and I am here to help you build confidence in English, speak with authority, and speak with clarity and freedom. So check out my website for more content at hadarshemesh.com or follow me on social media for daily tips and practice.

A few days ago I got a call from a friend who was asking for advice. He said that one of the consultants in his company is a non-native speaker, and he wanted to help him and he had a really short period of time, like 30 days. He wanted to help him show up with confidence within that period of time, because he was supposed to start offering service to native speakers. And he was afraid that this person is not going to be taken seriously, or maybe they won't listen to him as much as they would to a native speaker because of his accent.

So I asked him to send me his recording so I can give my feedback and tell him what I think this guy should work on. But I also had an opportunity to think about this concept of the first impression and the impact that a speaker has on the listener. And when do people really pay attention to someone else? And is it always about the accent or are there other things that we need to take into consideration when we want to build authority?

So usually people believe that for you to be able to build authority in English, you have to speak flawlessly. So no mistakes. But also the closer you sound like a native speaker, the more advantage you have and the more authority you have.

Now, as someone who has acquired an American accent, I know the advantages I have as a speaker of English with an American accent. I know how it's being perceived by my students, by non-native speakers and by native speakers. But at the same time, I also know of a lot of speakers who are engaging, persuasive, they have strong influence and impact on their listeners, and they don't sound like natives.

Think of powerful speakers that you know that have a foreign accent. Can you think of someone? Would you like to have the same confidence and fluency level that they do? If the answer is yes, then maybe acquiring a native-like accent is not the only way to build authority and ownership in your English.

Now I'm going to say something important. I teach pronunciation. My business is founded on helping people sound clear and confident, and yes, get closer to having an American accent. So why am I making this video? I'm making this video to help you understand that it's not all or nothing. It's not only "when I start speaking with a native like accent, people will start taking me seriously". No. And it's not "if people hear my mistakes, then they're not gonna take me seriously". We don't wanna go there.

At the same time, we also wanna make sure that you do understand the things that are important for you to build authority. And one of those things is clarity. And to achieve clarity, you want to understand the pronunciation of English. You want to understand the clash between your pronunciation and the expected pronunciation. You want to understand that and be in control. So that when you are not under understood, you know what to do. You know how to get people's attention back. You know how to use the rhythm and the stress patterns that people expect so that you are able to say what you want, be heard, and get what you need. But at the same time, like I said, there is so much you can do to build authority and confidence in English. And it's not just about sounding like a native speaker.

When you interact with someone new, the first minute or maybe five minutes of the conversation, they're the most meaningful. If you do really well in the first 60 seconds, it doesn't matter so much how you do afterwards – the person will already have a positive opinion about you and your English and how well they understand you. If they struggle with understanding you right at the start, they're going to form a belief that it's hard to understand you or they're going to have an opinion about how you communicate. And then it's going to be harder to change that opinion.

And this is why I always say, when you go and introduce yourself to someone, or when you work in English and you have to answer the phone or say something, or when you speak in a meeting, always focus on the beginning. Make sure that you're clear, that you apply everything that you've learned about pronunciation and rhythm and stress, if you have, within those first 60 seconds of the conversation. Because it's a lot easier to work on your clarity and pronunciation and intonation and rhythm and vocabulary when you prepare and when you know what you're about to say, especially if it's something that is repeated. And usually in business we do have our regular pitch, how we introduce ourselves or what we say when we first start a conversation.

So when you focus on nailing that down, like really getting clear on how to say those things that you usually say. It's the 80-20 rule, right? Like focus on the 20% to get you 80% of the results. What is the 20% of the things that you say, and how can you improve that? The questions, how you introduce yourself, how you talk about what you do, how you answer the phone, how you ask questions, right?

If you only focus on that, the impact on how people perceive you and your English is going to be so much bigger and so much better. And it's a lot easier to do that if you're really focused than to improve your English in general. Now, don't get me wrong, I think you need to do that anyway. It's going to give you a huge advantage in life and for yourself. If you are constantly confident in how you speak and your fluency is at a certain level where you can express yourself and you can say what you want and you can ask questions and interact and communicate. So all of that is great. You want to do that.

But if you are pressed for time and you don't have a lot of time and you work and you have to prove yourself, maybe you started a new job or maybe you're applying for a new job, then focus on the 20% and really, really get that really well. Like nail that, nail those phrases, nail the pronunciation of how you talk about yourself. Focus on the areas where you're not clear. And enhance your vocabulary, now you have so many tools to help you do that with ChatGPT and with other AI tools. So really focus on knowing how to talk about yourself and what you do.

The next thing is that it's not all about your pronunciation. Because like I said, there are people who are charismatic speakers and they have a very, very distinct non-native accent. Charisma, engagement, energy, and attitude are the non-verbal clues that we get when someone speaks, and we wanna take a minute and think how we can improve in those areas as well.

At least give it some thought. Think about how you're being perceived when you speak. Think about your facial expressions. Think about whether or not you smile when you speak. A lot of times people are so stressed that they look so serious. And that doesn't communicate ease, that doesn't communicate confidence. It communicates stress. And then people might have the wrong assumptions about you and your English just because of how you show up. Right?

Now, showing up with ease requires a mindset shift, and I talk a lot about mindset. In fact, I have an entire program about English mindset. It's called My English Mindset. I'm going to link to it below, because it's super effective in helping you step into a healthy growth mindset. But apart from that, you also need to be aware of how you show up physically: what happens to your shoulders, what happens to your face, what happens to your voice, right? So these are the things that you wanna be mindful of, and you want to make sure that whatever it is that you're saying is aligned with whatever your body is saying and whatever your face is saying. Okay?

So how you show up and the way you look and the way you communicate something and your facial expressions really send a message and do you need to be aware of it and you can actually practice it? I kid you not, it's really old school and I usually don't recommend it. But even just looking at yourself in the mirror and just speaking to yourself in the mirror and just seeing how you are being perceived 'cause a lot of times we're not aware of it.

Or a tool that I use that is extremely helpful is making videos. Make videos of yourself and watch the videos and see how you show up. Because a lot of times we think that we are perceived a certain way, and then when we look at ourselves, we're like, "Oh, I didn't know that that's how I sounded, or that's how my voice is carried". You know. "I can be more intentional about it". Okay? So awareness is key, observation is key, and that is how you can improve your performance.

The last thing I wanna talk about is the energy of your speech. A lot of times when people are afraid of saying the wrong thing or trying to be right, they really restrain their speaking energy. I've been talking to thousands and thousands of students throughout the years. And whenever I speak to someone, especially when there are more people in the room, I see how the energy of speech is about to come out and they're kind of like pushing it down. They stop themselves, they pause, their voice is not full and not fully expressed. And it always feels like they're really pushing down their what I call speech energy.

And the thing is that people feel it. It's energy, okay? It's like... it's something that comes out of you when you speak. It's expressed in your voice. And when you're trying to be right and when you're afraid or when you are, um, not sure of yourself, what happens is that you come across as hesitant, like you're second guessing yourself, is not confident. Even if you may be confident, but you are just trying to get it right, that will affect how you communicate.

And that my friends, is not less important than pronouncing every single sound right. So the energy of your speech, which is your voice and the flow, and how you get to the end of a thought, is critical. It's really, really important. Your mindset and how you show up and how confident you are, your facial expressions, your body language – that matters too. And not trying to change everything about your English if you need to improve in a short period of time, but instead, focus on the 20% – your introductions, the questions that you regularly ask, the sentences that you regularly say, the words and the phrases that you usually use at work – that is what you need to focus on rather than working on all the words with all the R sounds in English.

But if you're an intermediate, upper intermediate speaker, you already work in English, maybe you create content in English, maybe you wanna start a business, maybe you already have work relationships with people from all around the world, then the strategies that I shared with you today are going to make a huge difference in how you are perceived. And remember that your listener, whether they're native speakers or not, are interested in what you have to say, not how you say it.

If you focus too much on how you say it, they will start noticing it too, and then that becomes the main message, okay? How I say it, being too mindful of the mistakes, apologizing every other second for your English, then your English becomes the topic rather than what it is that you wanna say. So just something to keep in mind. And again, you can have authority and ownership in English, even without sounding like a native.

Remember that. And if you don't believe it, then ask yourself, how is this belief serving you? Is it helping you move up the corporate ladder? Is it helping you build confidence when speaking to other people? Is it helping you pursue that dream that you've always had? And if the answer is no, then change it.

If you have any other suggestions or tips, and you're watching this on YouTube or on my website, share your thoughts in the comments below. And if you are listening to this on the podcast, then come on over to Instagram at @hadar.accentsway. Send me a DM, tell me what you think. And let's all talk about your experience building authority in English as a non-native speaker.

And if you want to improve your pronunciation, I also have a free 14 day pronunciation plan where you get a lesson every day, practice drills, audio recordings so you can improve your pronunciation gradually with a clear plan, you won't fall off track and it's absolutely free. So I'm going to put the links to both things in the description.

Alright, have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day, and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye.