Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"

Do you bore people when you speak English?

Maybe you are outgoing or even funny in your native language but do you feel that you don’t know how to be yourself in English?

Today get 6 ways to keep people hooked when you speak English.

We got a great question from a listener about this problem and we want to answer her question today.

“When I was in my country and speaking in my native language I was feeling confident but here I am not.

People around me are nice but I worry about my English. I can’t talk much so I can’t show my confidence. Generally I use my body language and my smile and I do my job and finish quietly. Every day is the same.

I am from Turkey and I am married. I have been staying here for 15 years. I just moved from Ohio to Chicago. I started work here. Before I was learning English from home. When I got my job here in the US I felt the need to speak English and I don’t want people to feel bored when they speak with me in English.”

-AEE Listener

We feel a lot of empathy for our listener here because we know how it feels to live abroad and to feel that the people around us don’t know who we really are. There are a few things we can do to stop boring people in English.

How to NOT bore people in English:

  • Surround yourself with the right people: It starts with who we choose to be around. You don’t have this choice at work but in your personal life you need to choose people who see the world in a similar way so that they can really understand you and appreciate you.
  • Say things in different ways: Build your vocabulary so that you don’t repeat the same phrases over and over. You want to show a variety of phrasal verbs, expressions and other ways to say things. We offer this in our course The Charismatic Connector.
  • Vary your tone of voice: The way to do this is to feel what you are saying. Say what you mean and mean what you say. If you don’t feel excited about something then talk about it less. Listen to a lot of native speakers and see what words they emphasize so that you can mirror their speech patterns and variation in tone of voice.
  • Ask more questions: Seek to understand people’s motivations for why they do things and what they believe. Find one common interest and dig deeper. This is the way to keep people hooked on you and the conversation by getting to know them better and asking them questions.
  • Use interjections: Use “hey” or “wow” or “woah” or “no way”
  • Have an opinion: “Oh actually I disagree…” or “I feel that….” You should strive to have an opinion because it keeps people engaged. It creates a more interesting conversation. Don’t always agree with people. People will value and respect you more if you can say that you disagree.
  • Open your eyes: Keep updated on what’s going on in the world. Have your own experiences out in the world. Build hobbies and interests outside of your work.

Leave us a comment.

What other tips can you offer to make sure you don’t bore people in English?

Let us know in the comments below.

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