Talking about confidence 💃😎🕺Real Easy English

0:00 Hello and welcome to Real Easy English,

0:03 the podcast where we have real conversations in easy English

0:08 to help you learn.

0:09 I'm Beth.

0:10 And I'm Neil.

0:11 You can watch this podcast and test yourself with a worksheet,

0:15 which you can get free on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

0:24 So, Neil, how are you today?

0:27 I'm very well actually.

0:29 How are you feeling about our recording today?

0:31 Feeling confident?

0:33 I'm feeling confident.

0:34 Are you feeling nervous?

0:36 Not at all, no.

0:37 I'm feeling confident.

0:38 Well, today we're talking all about confidence.

0:42 So, listeners might be familiar with the adjective 'confident',

0:46 which means being certain about something–

0:49 feeling good about yourself.

0:51 But 'confidence' is the noun, and it's that feeling of being certain,

0:57 maybe about your own abilities or about a situation.

1:01 OK.

1:01 That's a good description, Beth.

1:04 Would you say you are a confident person?

1:08 I think it really depends on the situation.

1:11 So, if I am speaking with you like this,

1:17 I'm very confident– I know you.

1:20 But if I'm around people that I don't know as much,

1:24 then I usually feel a bit more shy.

1:27 Yeah.

1:28 What about you?

1:29 Are you generally confident?

1:31 I think, like you, if I think I know what I'm doing, then I'm confident.

1:37 But if I'm doing something,

1:39 especially with people who maybe know more about that thing than I do,

1:46 then that can be nerve-racking– make you feel nervous–

1:51 and then not be confident.

1:54 Yeah, definitely.

1:55 I remember, like, being in a class, in a classroom

2:00 and if I feel like this topic is just,

2:04 I don't know, then I would not feel confident at all.

2:08 I'd definitely feel nervous.

2:09 What other types of situations would make you feel shy or nervous?

2:14 I think apart from meeting new people– I always feel a bit nervous with that–

2:20 I'm generally quite confident.

2:23 So, if it comes to something like public speaking

2:27 where I have to talk in front of a lot of people,

2:31 if they're people I don't know, I don't really have a problem.

2:36 I'm quite confident.

2:38 But if I had to speak to a room of people and I know the people,

2:43 that would make me more nervous.

2:45 I don't know if that's weird.

2:48 Maybe.

2:49 I think I'm probably the opposite.

2:51 Really?

2:52 If I talk to people I don't know,

2:55 I don't feel very confident unless I'm very well prepared.

2:58 I think, being prepared is a good way to boost your confidence.

3:04 Yeah.

3:05 I remember watching a video,

3:07 about a lady saying, if you want to improve your confidence,

3:11 to boost your confidence, you should stand in a power stance

3:16 and think about all the good things that you're going to do,

3:20 and it will make you confident with your hands on your hips.

3:23 And she said, if you're going to do public speaking,

3:26 or something that's really...

3:28 can be quite scary,

3:30 she said, even just go to the toilet,

3:32 stand in the toilet and do it on your own.

3:35 And apparently it increases your confidence.

3:38 Well, I must try that.

3:40 So, Neil, are there any situations where you wish you were more confident?

3:47 Maybe.

3:50 I mean, I have a lot of experience of driving,

3:52 and I'm quite confident driving.

3:54 But driving abroad– driving, especially in a foreign city,

3:59 can be nerve-racking.

4:02 And yeah, I think it would be nice to be more confident driving abroad.

4:09 I was just thinking about language learning.

4:12 I wish I was more confident when it came to speaking,

4:16 but I feel so shy and nervous.

4:18 If I'm...

4:19 unless I'm in, say, like a language class, then I'll be OK.

4:22 But if I'm in the real world and I have to speak to someone in Spanish,

4:26 for example, I get really nervous.

4:30 I have so much respect for people like our audience

4:34 because they speak a foreign language,

4:36 and that's a really hard thing to do.

4:39 Nerve-racking.

4:39 You need confidence.

4:41 And, you know, well done to you!

4:44 Because...

4:44 because it's not easy.

4:46 It's not easy at all.

4:54 Let's recap some of the vocabulary we heard during the conversation.

4:58 We had 'confident' which means certain or comfortable.

5:03 And we also had the noun 'confidence', which means that feeling or quality

5:08 of being certain.

5:09 We heard the word 'shy', which describes a person who feels nervous

5:14 or uncomfortable around other people.

5:17 If something is 'nerve-racking', it's very stressful or worrying.

5:22 If something 'boosts your confidence', it makes you feel more confident.

5:27 And that's it for this episode of Real Easy English.

5:31 Head over to our website for more episodes– bbclearningenglish.com.

5:36 Join us then.

5:37 Bye!