How to gain confidence in English Skills?

By Dr Birbal Jha

Your confidence is your feeling and faith in yourself that you can do something very effectively. Whether it is handling a project, accomplishing an assignment, performing a task, maintaining a relationship or leading a group, in all the cases what enables you to come forth and take up something is your confidence.

Hence, confidence is a stimulus. Your confidence is reflected in your language that you tend to communicate through. In previous articles, I have dealt with the significance of English communication skills.

Now, I will be talking about building confidence in English speaking through this piece. Let’s learn the concept of effective communication skills. The simple philosophy is that when you understand and you are understood with the desired message being conveyed and the result is achieved, your communication is regarded as effective and a success.

Resultantly, you stay confident. In oral communication, the sounds are the basic elements of any language. Each of the sounds deserves minute attention and practice. There are 44 sounds in the English language. They are limited in number. You need to learn how each sound of the English Alphabet having 26 letters is produced and pronounced. It is very scientific.

Your English sounds have to be of global standard. They must have global acceptance. Speech productions in different languages vary. For example, the letter ‘F’ is pronounced allowing front upper teeth to fall on the lower lip and air pushed out and the sound is made. This is unlike Hindi ‘F’ sound wherein both of the upper and lower lips are allowed to touch and the air is pushed out.

The pronunciation of ‘S’ and ‘Sh’ also need special attention. Being phonetically impressive adds value to you. It makes your communication easy for others to understand. It boosts your confidence level when you are acknowledged and appreciated. In other words, you can mitigate your inferiority complex with public applause. Therefore, it is more advisable for you to master all 44 English sounds. It is not difficult. It is easy.

People take interest in you when you are very clear in your pronunciation and overall communication. Next to the sounds is the usage of words. It matters a lot how and where you can use a particular word. For example, you can say ‘he is a good chap’ to describe the merit of the person. But saying ‘he is a well chap’ is wrong. Such an expression is not there in English. It is unEnglish. Grammatically speaking, good is an adjective whereas well is an adverb.

Hence, you can say ‘the chap is well’ to mean he is in good health. Take another example; you visit your friend’s house. You are offered some home-made food to eat there. You find the dish very delicious. “You are a good cook.”

You tend to appreciate saying this sentence to his wife. She will feel offended if she knows good English. Rather, you should have said, “You are good at cooking.” ‘To be a cook or driver’ means one is into that profession and renders his or her service to others for money. However, ‘to be good at something’ is the merit of someone. You need to learn such niceties of English in order to bolster your confidence else you will be on a shaky ground.

You need to learn how to frame sentences naturally. It is well-structured and well-devised in the English learning system. You need to learn the mechanisms of sentence-framing and organizing your thoughts and conveying the messages clearly and effectively. Building confidence is not a one-day affair.

It takes time, energy and money. It seeks rigorous practice under the guidance of skilled professionals. Many of the candidates do not know how to present themselves in different places and platforms. They cut a sorry figure because of their poor body language, poor presentation skills and poverty of thoughts. Many a time your oral communication does not reach the audience properly. It needs to be supplemented by body language that includes, posture, gesture, facial expressions and movements of body parts.

For example, saying that ‘he is awesome’ must be supplemented by raising your thumb. While using the WhatsApp you may come across a good number of emoticons- signs of expressions. What are these? They constitute body language. Research says many of the interviewees get rejected at an interview which is an assessment of inner and outer outlook of personality through interactions.

The interviewer tries to judge the confidence level of the candidate whether he or she is suitable for a specific role. God has blessed each of us with a unique identity. The proof is that our thumbs never match, never matched and will never match. You must be confident of yourself that you stand out unique in this crowd of the world.

Further, you need to do a significant job to re-establish your uniqueness God has bestowed upon. Try to wear a glimmer of a smile on your face. It gives you a confident look. It allows your body and face to shine. This is something that cannot be bought in the market. This is an art.

Hence, it is harnessed. Confidence gives you energy and strength and the power to do something. You can prove yourself what you want to do when your confidence is held high. Hence, you need recharging. Boosting your confidence level depends on many factors.

Remember that you cannot blame the mirror if the dust lies on your face. Having a corrective approach is worth appreciating.

(Dr. Jha is a noted author and the Managing Director of Lingua Multiservices Pvt Ltd. It’s his personal views)