Lacking Confidence When Speaking English With Foreigners? It’s Much Better Than You Think

The first thing I’ll say is that I’m a native English speaker. The second is that while my English is pretty good, my 2nd language, Mandarin, sucks! And this is after living and working in China for over 20 years now!

As a result, I have huge respect for anyone who is able to learn a 2nd language, without even having lived in that country before. Not only is this incredibly impressive to me, it describes millions of people in the market I’m in who are able to speak English far better than I can speak Mandarin.  Yet, I constantly meet local professionals who are self-conscious and hesitant about communicating with a foreigner like me in English. You shouldn’t be. If you’re a non-native, English speaker who relates to what I’m saying, I hope the perspective I’m about to share will raise your overall confidence and approach when speaking English with the foreigners you deal with at work. 

No need to overthink your words, grammar, and/or accent

From the point of view of a native English speaker, here’s the most important thing I’ll say about your speaking English to a foreign manager or executive like me. As long as you can express your thoughts to me and the main point(s) of what you want to say, I don’t really care how your English sounds. It doesn’t matter to me how slowly you talk. I don’t care that your accent or grammar isn’t perfect, as long as you can make yourself understood. 

I emphasize this point because many people I meet who are non-native, English speakers get too nervous worrying that their English isn’t good enough when speaking to a foreigner. They overthink it and focus too much of their attention on their words and sentences. But for me, I’m fully aware that English is your 2nd language.  I just need to understand the main point(s) of what you want to communicate to me.

It’s about the quality of your thoughts and ideas

What I pay attention to most is if what you have to say may be interesting to me. As long as you have something interesting to say then I’m going to make every effort to listen to you and give you every chance to say it. It’s the quality of your thoughts and ideas that I care about most. Actually, this is the case whenever you’re speaking with your boss, your senior management, or a client, no matter what language you’re speaking, or whether you’re talking to a foreigner or not. 

One candidate that I interviewed for one of my career development book, Develop Yourself As A Future Executive, Today, understood this well. In his job, he often had to communicate with senior managers, many of whom were foreigners. For a long time, he would always get very nervous speaking with them in English.

Finally, he figured it out. He realized that these senior managers were not judging what he said by how fluent his English was. Instead, they were assessing what he had to say. If his ideas were good and his thought process was solid, then whatever he said would sound good. He began to place a greater emphasis on citing facts, references, and background information, which, low and behold, helped make him much more easily understood by others. By focusing more on what he was saying and making sure that it had merit and weight, he became more confident and much less nervous when speaking to others in English.

We’re not as critical as you think

I can absolutely confirm this. I’ve been a part of many meetings that have involved non-native, English speaking professionals presenting something to other foreigner managers and executives. Not once have I ever heard someone say afterwards, “I don’t like his proposal, his accent is too heavy.” Or, “His grammar isn’t good enough for me to consider his recommendation.” 

If anything, it’s the opposite. As a foreigner who is working in another country, I can tell you that I really make an effort to understand what you have to say. I’m not interested in being critical of your English skills. I just want to understand your key points and ideas. I believe this is the same for many other managers and executives who communicate often with non-native, English speakers.

So if you want to communicate more effectively as a professional in your second language, if you want others to buy into what you say at work and in business situations, then focus on the quality of your thoughts and the validity of what you say. In fact, this is the key to communicating effectively in any language you’re speaking in.

What experiences or tips do you have to encourage others who may feel overly self-conscious when communicating in their 2nd language to native speakers?

与外国人说英语时不自信？不，你比想像中好多了。

上周，我同事跟我分享了一个知乎上的问题“怎样出色完成 1 分钟左右的英语自我介绍？” 这个问题让我联想到中国职场人如何跟外国人用英文交流的问题，特别是那些重要的，比如说，你老板，你的经理或者是客户。

作为一个母语是英语的人来说，我认为用英文做自我介绍有几件值得注意的事。只要你能把你想说的说清楚，我并不在乎你的英文发音怎么样，也就是说，就算你的发音带有口音或是有一些语法错误，我也觉得没什么关系。

不要过虑你的英文用词，语法，口音问题

我强调这一点是因为我相信许多人在给外国人讲话前会过于紧张，过于在乎他们的英文说的好不好，但是我认为，我能够理解你想表达的意思就好，我理解英语是你的第二语言。

通常，我比较在意的是你说的话会不会引起我的兴趣，无论你讲中文还是英文，这一点都很重要。在一分钟内给对方留下好印象，以下三点是我的建议：

1） 说点对方做过的事或者他感兴趣的事，举个例子，“I read/heard that your company focuses on/is known for/values talent that/etc. . . .”这些话可以表明你是有备而来的，对公司的业务很熟悉。

2）对于对方正在做或者对方感兴趣的事，发表你的见解，举个例子，“I’ve been following your company/industry/technology/etc. and understand that you’re paying more attention to/expanding in/trying to/etc. . . .” 这些话表明你对这个公司从事的事情非常有兴趣。

3）说说你做过的跟他们公司业务相关，或者你做过的与他们比较感兴趣的领域有关的话题，举个例子，“I’m doing an independent study/working on a project/doing some research related to your company/industry/technology/etc. . . .” 这些话可以表明你能够给公司创造价值。

当你想要快速给对方留下好印象时，多数人都会说一些自己的特质，但是，说一些对方正在做或是对方感兴趣的事，往往会事半功倍。 因为这表示你做了充分的准备，你对此的兴趣，和你对他们来说有可能产生的价值。而所有这些，都是雇主对你有兴趣的好理由。

和你的想法和观点相关

事实上，以上我分享的观点和方法也同样适用于在如何在工作中运用英文，比如说，跟外国高管用英文交流或者用英文做presentation。

在工作情境中运用英文道理也是一样的。你的口音，语法，或者你说得有多慢不重要，只要你言之有物，而且能说清楚就行。特别是， 当你在跟你的上级和高管交流时，你们的谈话质量大过你一口流利的英文。

以前我在写《DYFET智慧——成就未来经理人》书的时候，准备素材的时候认识了一个求职候选人。他跟我说，在他的工作中，他经常需要跟高管交流，很多高管都是外国人。很长一段时间，在跟他们用英文交流时他总是非常紧张。

最后，他发现，那些高管并不会因为他的英文说得不够流利而对他有偏见。相反地，他们在意的是他的想法和思维。如果他的想法足够好，他的思维逻辑够严密，那么不管他的英文表达是什么水平，在高管眼里他听上去都是好的。更多地关注自己想要表达的想法和确保他们是有价值和意义让他变得越来越自信，说英文时也会更自信，不会那么紧张了。

我们绝不是你们想的那样吹毛求疵

我可以确认他说的绝对是对的。我曾经参加过很多会议。这些会议也有很多外国经理和高管参加。我从来没有听到过他们哪一次开完会后说“我不喜欢他的提案，他的口音太重了。” 或者 “他的语法还没好到让我愿意考虑他的建议。”

那些外国经理人和高管并不会对你们的英文能力指手画脚，事实上，他们在这一点上非常宽容。作为外国人，我们非常努力地想要听懂你们想说什么。我们对你们的英语技能不感兴趣，也不想评头论足。我们知道，英文是你们的第二语言。我们只想知道你们的关键点和想法。

所以你作为一个专业人士，如果想要有效地交流，如果你希望别人在工作中相信你说的，集中精力在你的想法的表达上吧。事实上，任何一门语言的交流都是这样的。

你在鼓励他人勇敢大胆地与外国人交流的方面有什么建议吗？