How to practice and prepare for your communication challenges online
It can help as a non-native speaker of American English to do regular practice around your communication challenges. This will prepare you for when you don’t have the time to craft the perfect response or think about what you want to say. Just practicing on a daily basis will keep you in the “zone” so that when you need to speak up, you can without reluctance and stay fast on your feet and eloquent with your speech!
How to practice?
- Note words you find challenging to pronounce:
Intercultural
Interdepartmental
Inventory
Parallel
Development
Distributor - Look up the words phonetically and write them out. Record yourself saying them on your phone. Mark the stress in your handwritten notes.
- Now put the words in common phrases you use daily:
“It’s an intercultural experience.”
“We have interdepartmental dependencies.”
“Inventory is taken on a quarterly basis.”
“These processes are running in parallel.”
“The new application is still in development.”
“We are still looking for a wholesale distributor.”
When possible, add other words near them that are also challenging to say. The idea to “load” the sentence, making it progressively harder, so that as you practice, you will get better at saying common expressions you use frequently with less effort.
Remember to keep modifying the sentences, adding new ones and changing the content to keep it engaging.
Record yourself to hear how you sound and how much you are progressing.
Work on only one area each time. For example, if your “r” sound is challenging to make, focus only on that the first time through. Once it is getting better, focus on word stress or endings or another specific area.
Don’t be hard on yourself. Remember that in real time, no one will notice every mistake you make. Your goal is to minimize the number of mistakes and keep your audience engaged rather than distracted.
If you want more guidance, reach out to us for Coaching!
