Will a 5 Minute Per Day “Mirror Exercise” Ever Build Speaking Confidence?
I am an Australian native English speaker living in Colombia for about two years now.
I work for a local University as an assessor of English teachers across 33 primary schools. On a Government Project in the Colombian coffee region. Responsible for assessing teacher's level of English and teaching their students.
I made all kinds of excuses for the class that my Spanish was not perfect.
I was not speaking perfect Spanish, and the truth behind it is I was that I knew a lot more than what I gave myself credit.
They were not a problem. I was.
SO I took a look in the mirror.
I decided that I was going to confront this head-on because I knew that I could speak Spanish. I had a lot of knowledge over the two years.
So I would give up and sell myself short and would fear judgment when speaking publicly.
So what did I do about it?
I found a hack that helped me and shifted the whole game. I'm going to share it with you because it's essential to make this a habit daily to practice.
So here is what I call the “The Morning Mirror Hack”:
Step 1: First thing in the morning, stand in front of the mirror.
Step 2: Hold eye contact with yourself, and you talk to yourself as if a normal conversation in the language you are learning.
Step 3: Practice "Self-Talk" to build confidence in expressing the language for only 5 mins per day.
Remember, learning a language is a mindset game, and it's about being confident in your mindset. People are like a mirror, and if you practice self-talk in front of a mirror, you will be able to manage this situation.
Don't hide from the mirror.
Don't be shy, stand up, and pretend you're in front of that mirror whenever you speak in public or front of anybody new. In a short time, you will notice how the perception of you changes.
The idea is you feeling more comfortable with you. You're going to need fewer skills with the language when you’re confidence makes that shift and still be understood.
So simple.
Write down several descriptions of how you usually feel while speaking. Then think about English grammar expression, and how you think about your confidence?
Write down some notes, and when you finish the 5 mins practice each day, see if you can act as if you're addressing those areas in front of the mirror.
Try this for a week to start. Notice that there will be a significant change within a week.
You will be aware of how small you were thinking about it. You now know you can change fast, your confidence in how others perceive you, and how you see you.
Assert Awareness when doing this.
Hey look, not everyone wants to speak with people who don't speak their native language. It doesn't always happen.
So, I'm going to remind you of a basic distinction for feeling more confident in conversations here's what you do.
Remind yourself of that every morning, when you do this exercise.
"Fail Faster."
Failure is a privilege. Helps you learn faster, would you learn faster then if you hide and try to look good all the time? No, of course not!
In parting, don't care what people think, care what you think, embrace failure.
If you have any questions, contact me for further help.
Kent.
January 24, 2020
