These solo episodes are intended to be shorter – with a thought, a question, something practical to try.

I talk so much about discovering our voice in another language, but I also started reflecting on the way I communicate in my first language – in writing and on the podcast. Finding what feels natural and conveys the right message is a journey too, especially if you have previously worked somewhere else where it was necessary to write in a different way.

Of course I focus more on working in our additional languages because that’s what my clients are doing with English. But at the same time, it’s good to reflect on the ways in which we communicate in our first language too. There’s so much talk about optimising and improving, that sometimes all the individuality is gone from a message – and that’s really sad.

I don’t believe we should just write as we speak. Sometimes that’s really hard to read, especially if your going in three different directions at the same time and it becomes hard to follow.

But I do believe that people are looking for human connection over perfection – whatever that is – in our first or any additional language. And in my case at least, for a while, I was living with professional restrictions that don’t apply now!

And of course, if you are looking for support with being more visible in English, let me know using the contact form and we can arrange a time to discuss it. I have a number of group and individual programmes in which I accompany people on this visibility journey. Also check my home page – if you’d like more details about the individual programmes.

I recently met Urmi Hossain online and we decided to record a conversation together discussing Urmi’s experience of living in different places, speaking multiple languages on a daily basis, and exploring other people’s stories of culture, language, migration, and identity.

In this conversation, we talked about:

🎧 Urmi’s language story and her relationship with each of her “almost five languages”
🎧 How the settings in which we learn languages can affect how we communicate in them.
🎧 Urmi’s experience of adapting to both living in a new country and working in an additional language.
🎧 The importance of curiosity and open-mindedness when you’re exploring a new culture.
🎧 Reframing the stories we tell ourselves and our relationships with our multiple languages.
🎧 Urmi’s podcast “Stories Beyond Borders”, why she decided to create it, and the voices that she wants to amplify through her platform.

Find out more about Urmi, her book and her podcast on the show notes page https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode320/

| Today I’m bringing you a conversation with Helen von Dadelszen from Present Potential Sàrl.

We covered a lot of ground in terms of using our voice, speaking in front of others, dealing with stage fright, and often doing all of these things in an additional language. Some of the key topics are:

🎙 Helen’s story and how she became a language coach
🎙 How we sometimes create a persona in another language that doesn’t reflect who we are – and what we can do about it
🎙 The fact that many of the things that people don’t like about their voices are actually things that we can change
🎙 How we can build confidence
🎙 How we can deal with stage fright and last-minut nerves before we have to speak in front of others
🎙 Helen’s book – courageous action that talks about how we need to take action in order to build our confidence..

What’s some courageous action that you’ve taken recently, or that you’re planning to take, in order to speak with more confidence in your first language or an additional one?

Here's where you can find the show notes page with Helen's links: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode321