Name: Your English Confidence: How to Increase It In 3 Steps
Uploaded: 2026-02-07T15:36:35.000Z
Duration: 13 min 22 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Maybe you've heard me say confidence is a choice.

Adverbs of frequency

But what does that really mean, especially for your English?

Because, yes, of course, confidence can be a feeling.

I'm sure you've had moments when you felt confident, like sharing your expertise at work, maybe making a tough decision, or chatting with neighbors and friends at a party.

We all have moments when we feel like, I've got this.

But if you are confident, do you then always feel confident?

Like when everything you planned changes?

Or when you're giving your first big presentation in English, doing a job interview in English?

If you feel nervous in those moments, does it mean that you're not confident?

In those moments, confidence isn't a feeling, it's a decision.

A decision to rely on what you know to trust the strategies you've built, or recognize where you need the support to grow stronger.

Next time, I want you to write this next thought down.

Confidence is the choice you make, the action you take, no matter how you feel in the moment.

And that's the skill we're going to figure out how to build today for your English to start.

I want to dig into this a little further.

English Confidence is not always about feeling calm, ready, or sure of yourself.

In fact, if you wait to feel 100% confident before you speak, you might be waiting for a very long time.

Again, real confidence isn't about how you feel in the moment.

It's about what you do, especially when you feel uncertain.

It's the action you take when your heart is pounding.

It's the strategy you use to speak when your anxiety makes your brain want to freeze.

It's the moment when you try, even if it's messy or scary.

Now, of course, that doesn't mean that you just ignore your nerves.

When I talk about English fluency with my students, I say that it's about speaking in a way that is clear and smooth, with you in control.

The truth is, confidence is built on evidence, not just some belief or positive thinking.

It's the evidence you get when you've practiced, when you've shown up for yourself, when you've and for your goals consistently, or when you've recovered after a hard or awkward conversation.

What's one moment in the past month when you took action even Though you felt nervous, that's what confidence looks like.

Now, to keep that confidence going, I want to challenge you to rethink nervousness.

Instead of thinking that nerves mean something is wrong, I want you to try this.

Feeling nervous doesn't mean that I'm unprepared.

It doesn't mean that I'm weak or that I've failed.

And it definitely doesn't mean I'm not confident.

And when it shows up, it usually means that this moment matters, like a presentation at work, a conversation with someone important, or an interview for a job you really want.

They're a signal saying, hey, pay attention.

But here's the mistake we often make, myself included.

We think that we have to get rid of all of our nerves before we can perform.

But confident speakers don't wait for comfort.

And then they prepare with intention, instead of shutting down or giving up.

So before we move on today, I want you to take a moment and focus on this.

Confidence isn't the absence of nervousness.

It's the ability to read your nerves and respond with a plan.

So why do I still freeze when I have to speak?

There are usually two reasons, and it's important to know which one you're dealing with.

Reason number one is it's a pressure problem.

But when the moment comes, you feel rushed.

You may be afraid of judgment, so your brain locks up.

And it needs a different kind of practice.

You have to learn how to function under stress, not just when you're comfortable and alone.

We're going to talk more about that in a moment.

Sometimes the nerves you have are pointing to something different.

The fact that you haven't practiced enough yet.

Maybe you just haven't had the opportunity.

Or maybe you've practiced passively with reading, listening and reviewing, but you haven't used what you've learned.

You haven't used the language in real time, where mistakes happen.

And that matters, because confidence without preparation, that's not confidence.

when something is important to me, I want to minimize my risks I want to prepare with intention.

But preparation without practicing under pressure doesn't transfer to real life.

If you don't prepare for real life situations, you can't use what you know when it counts.

You have to practice in situations that increase the anxiety just a little bit.

Situations that help you learn to be in control, step by step.

So pause for a moment and ask yourself, am I freezing because I'm overwhelmed and feeling pressured in the moment, or because I haven't really trained for this kind of moment?

This question isn't about judging yourself or feeling bad.

It's about clarity, because clarity gives you a way to move forward.

I want to briefly revisit this truth that we keep talking about.

Confidence isn't something that you're born with.

And it's not something that you just decide to have one day.

It's something you build, just like a skill.

Practice with purpose, not just repetition.

It builds your memory and the ability to do something automatically.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Your English Confidence: How to Increase It In 3 Steps

awkward

anxiety

pretend

strategy