Leading in English is not about mastering complicated grammar structures or using elevated vocabulary. It’s not about erasing your foreign accent. It's about awareness, nuance, and comfort. And you can develop all three.
What Does Advanced Fluency Even Mean?
For business professionals, advanced fluency is about effectively using English as a communication tool to successfully fulfill their roles.
Communication is purpose-driven. You use your words to build relationships and trust, to lead and motivate, to convince and persuade, to achieve results and get the deal. How well you communicate affects how successful you are in your job.
However, mastering a foreign language for professional effectiveness is hard.
There are three aspects that are essential for effective communication:
Cross-cultural awareness
Nuanced comprehension and production
Cultural and linguistic comfort
As a non-native speaker who already possesses good English skills, focus on these three areas to reach the next level.
1. Cultivate Cross-Cultural Awareness.
Be mindful of your own cultural norms and values and how they influence what you say.
In addition, understand and consider your counterpart’s cultural norms and values. Appreciate the motivations behind their decisions and actions (even if you don't agree with them). Here are some questions to explore:
What matters to my foreign partners, team members, and clients?
How can I get their attention and engage them?
What is appropriate in different professional and social situations?
What cultural references and non-verbal cues am I likely to encounter?
What does my counterpart know and think about me and my culture?
Cross-cultural awareness is built on in-depth cultural knowledge. It doesn’t just relate to culture on a country level. It can also refer to groups defined by other parameters, such as age, interest, professional affiliation, etc.
Cross-Cultural awareness is crucial for developing the second key component of advanced fluency: nuanced speaking and writing skills.
2. Hone your Ability to Understand and Produce Nuance.
Nuance is expressed in many ways: through words, grammatical structures, tone, timing, and non-verbal cues. It's used to convey subtle differences in meaning and intent.
In our native tongue, nuance is second nature to us. We acquire it along the way. Most of the time we are not even aware of the fine distinctions we make when we speak. In a second or foreign language, nuance is much more challenging. It can be hard to even notice subtle differences.
But it's just as important.
If you cannot detect or create shades of meaning, several things can happen, such as:
You miss out on important information.
You misinterpret messages and, as a result, respond the wrong way.
You struggle to be forceful and respectful at the same time.
Your communication lacks empathy.
You offend a partner or team member and put relationships at risk.
You are not effective.
You may even fail in your project or job.
Here's an example of a phrase that can easily be misinterpreted:
You’re in a meeting with an American partner and raise an important point. Your partner’s answer is: “Great point. We’ll take that under consideration.” While this may sound like your point is being seriously considered, it can mean the opposite. If you cannot detect the true meaning of the statement, you cannot respond effectively.
Learn and practice techniques used to create nuance. I recently wrote a blog about verbal hedging, which is just one of many widely used verbal techniques to make nuanced comments and requests.
3. Develop Cultural and Linguistic Comfort.
Imagine communicating with ease: Speaking (and writing) does not cause you stress. You don’t have to struggle to find the right words. It doesn't take forever to formulate your ideas. Others have an easy time following you. In addition, you are familiar with cultural practices and have started to internalize those that are important for your role. You no longer feel strange or inauthentic with the new linguistic and cultural behaviors. You feel good.
When you feel good, you come across as more confident. You are more convincing. Your comfort level doesn’t just impact how you yourself feel, but how others perceive you.
Compare the following two exchanges:
Anne: Paul, how did your presentation go?
Paul: I made it through. You know how much I hate public speaking in English. I’m just glad it’s over.
Anne: Maria, how did your presentation go?
Maria: It went well! I felt that I really connected with people in the room. I was actually having fun!
Who do you think was perceived as more confident and convincing? Paul or Maria? And how would you rather feel? Like Paul or Maria? I think the answers are pretty obvious.
Comfort does something else for you: It allows you to shift your attention from worrying about language to focusing on what matters: the presentation or negotiation topic and your audience or counterpart. Your comfort level impacts your ability to zero in and reach your goals.
How Coaching Can Help You Develop Fluency:
As a non-native speaker you know that the journey of language learning is not a straight line with clear letter-number milestone markers. Even though you may progress from A1 to A2 to B1 etc. or from beginner to intermediate to advanced, becoming fluent in another language is more like sailing across a chaotic ocean. A1, A2, B1, etc. are just distant buoys that often don’t capture the true experience.
And they don't reflect your performance and effectiveness as a leader. Maybe you completed a B2 or even a C1 course and are "officially" at an advanced level. Yet, you still struggle to communicate with impact.
That's where coaching comes in.
Coaching is not concerned with categories, such as A1 or B2. It is focused on your specific needs and goals, which are different from other people's needs and goals. The International Language Coaching Association (ILCA) defines language coaching as “a learner-led process aimed at creating optimal target language acquisition while working towards effective international communication skills in order to reach future-related goals.”
YOU, the learner or coachee, are at the center of things. Topics, course materials, activities, and strategies are determined by your current performance and your performance targets. The primary goal is not to get you from B to C, but to turn you into an effective communicator. Coaching is specific, customized, and purpose-driven – just like your communication as a leader.
I am a communication coach with more than 30 years of cross-cultural experience. I focus on effective communication in American English and I can help you become a confident and effective English speaker. Contact me for a free 30-minute consultation on your language and culture coaching needs. I look forward to hearing from you.
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