Communicate Clearly and Confidently in English - Videos on Stress, Intonation, and Communication Skills • Page 16 of 18 • English with Kim

Why You Should Ask “Could You Please Clarify…?” Instead of “Explain”

Need more information in a professional situation, business meeting, seminar, or conference? Ask for clarification, NOT an explanation. Imagine yourself in this situation: After listening carefully to your colleague’s presentation in a business meeting, you realize you still need a little more information before giving your feedback. You understand his overall ideas, but would like a few more details, so you ask him this question: “Could you please explain this to me?” But for some reason, … Read the article and watch the video lesson

Get Your Number Stress Right: How to Pronounce Numbers Clearly in English

It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginning English learner or totally fluent; chances are you have a little trouble pronouncing numbers correctly. If you’ve ever had to clarify whether a discount is fifteen percent or fifty percent, if your son is thirteen or thirty, or your date of birth, the time, or the year, it’s likely the issue wasn’t actually your pronunciation of the word, but your word stress. Let’s talk about number stress, and how important … Read the article and watch the video lesson

Seven Ways to Use Your Voice and Breath to Communicate Clearly in English

I have excellent news for you: sounding professional is NOT about having perfect pronunciation. When you’re trying to increase your authority, be taken more seriously, and achieve success in a professional or academic setting, you may obsess over these things: how your accent sounds to other people what you are (or rather your mouth is) doing wrong, or identifying the ways in which you don’t sound like a native speaker. Does this sound familiar? I know … Read the article and watch the video lesson

The Five Most Essential Conversation Skills in English (& Why You Should Learn Them)

You already know that improving your speaking skills can have a positive impact on your personal life and professional opportunities. Understanding the natural flow of English conversations gives you confidence that you can handle a wide variety of social situations. When you first start taking English classes focused on speaking skills, you often learn basic functional phrases that help you navigate simple conversations with a partner. These usually involve turn-taking (deciding who will speak … Read the article and watch the video lesson

How to Find Focus and Improve Your English More Quickly

Think back to when you first started learning English. Your very first experience studying the language was probably when you were in school. You might not remember exactly what you first worked on, but chances are you started with classroom vocabulary. When you’re learning in the classroom, your teacher is completely in charge of deciding which skills you need to focus on, choosing the most essential language so that you can start communicating, and structuring your learning plan. For … Read the article and watch the video lesson

Nine Ways to Improve Your Intonation for Better Conversations in English

What happens when you’re not really worried about choosing the perfect words to express yourself anymore? After all, you’ve been speaking English both professionally and personally for years, and you know you’ve got a great vocabulary! If you’re like most non-native English speakers I work with, that’s when you start stressing about your pronunciation, wondering how you can finally get those tricky vowels right, and looking for ways to improve how you sound. This is great, but … Read the article and watch the video lesson