My background is as a traditional Business English trainer and for the first few years, I did what everyone else did: improve people’s grammar, teach them fancier vocabulary, talk about how to do business internationally without offending anyone (especially how to avoid embarrassing misunderstandings with British people as if that were the biggest priority in all our lives). I was delivering precise, personalised training, the best methods, the most state-of-the-art materials.

The problem? It didn’t work.

My students should have seen great results and made amazing progress. But that is not what happened. They improved, yes. But they still felt like crap.

After an amazing presentation in English, they couldn’t forget the one stupid mistake they made. They delivered a precise and clear argument that we had prepared together and they were still convinced everyone thought they sounded stupid.

The problem with traditional training methods is that they make you afraid of making mistakes and make you think that there is one right way to say something.

If this sounds familiar, then you have also tried improving your English “the traditional way”:

• You had to learn grammar rules and then practice them with idiotic sentences that had nothing to do with you or your interests.

• You had to learn lists of “useful vocabulary” that you understand when you hear it but can never remember when you need to use it.

• You had to learn from native speakers and were taught to imitate them as much as possible so that you “sound natural”.

If these things have worked for you, congratulations. (Why are you here?)

But if you are here because you want to try something different, because that stuff hasn’t worked for you and if you are tired of feeling like English is holding you back, keep reading.

When I saw that traditional methods weren’t getting my clients to where they wanted to be, I began to experiment.

I ditched the Business English course books that were boring me to death anyway and created my own materials instead. I stopped playing the awkward little ‘games’ I learned in my teacher training and turned to my performance theatre skill-set instead.

Also, I let go of the idea that I myself had to be and look “professional” all of the time and dress like everyday was a job interview. I allowed myself to show who I am instead. And –boom!– there was the natural confidence and all the fun I’d been missing.