This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 339.
Avoid being a nervous wreck with this vocabulary.
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Aubrey, how's it going today?
I'm great. How are you, Lindsay?
I'm doing well. The weekend is coming soon.
So I'm excited for that.
But Aubrey, when is the last time you are really genuinely nervous?
You know what? I am currently really nervous for my son who is going to perform a speech.
He is memorizing a big chunk of Obama's yes we can speech, which I'm so excited for him to perform in this speech competition.
He's worked so hard, but I'm nervous for him that he's going to forget or get tripped up.
And that is so cute.
First to be nervous for a child who's worked really hard then for when I'm nervous for myself.
Oh my gosh. That's adorable.
Yes. I wish all the best to your son.
I hope he does well.
I hope he feels successful no matter what happens.
Maybe there's a little mistake here and there, but the important thing is to come away feeling that sense of accomplishment.
And I'm trying to give him that message no matter what happens, no matter how you do proud of you for putting in this work, but I know he's going to be disappointed if it doesn't go well.
So I'm really nervous memorizing is a tough one.
That's a really tough one.
Yeah, he's doing well though.
He's putting in a ton of work.
I'm excited. I'm hopeful.
Yes, I love it. So this episode today, we are talking about this getting nervous because it's something that happens to all of us.
I know I can get nervous often, right?
Nervous, anxious in certain contexts and we got a great question from our amazing listener, Elaine, just about this topic.
Exactly, right? And especially at work, there are so many situations you're in where it's high pressure.
You might get nervous.
You might feel that anxiety, but just like you said, Lindsay, this is such a human feeling that it's a great thing to connect about if you can share that you were really nervous that somebody else for sure was in the same boat.
This is a great connection skill.
Yeah, so I'm going to go ahead and read the question from Elaine and then we're going to offer some answers and some advice.
Yes, I can have a conversation with foreigners, but every time I talk to them face to face, I always have terrible butterflies in my stomach.
I think now what I need to do is expand my answer without fear and the mantra of your podcast really helps me a lot focusing on connection, not perfection.
I'm grateful for this.
Thank you. Hope you have a good day, Elaine.
Okay. So it's a great question.
It was not a question really, but it's a great comment because we want to address this, this fact that we are getting nervous sometimes when we're speaking a new language.
It's totally normal.
Absolutely. And I love the vocab she used to say feeling butterflies in my stomach.
We're going to share a few expressions that you can use when you're sharing that you're nervous.
There's fun idiomatic language to throw in when you have this conversation, but I love this idea too Lindsay.
I hope you guys are following Elaine's example because if you do believe in connection, not perfection like we do, that is one of the best way to eliminate some of these nerves.
When you're chatting in English, when you're at work, when you're working in English, the more you are concerned about the connection and the real goal, the less nervous you will be.
Exactly. And then to take that one step further in the right situations, when it's appropriate to actually articulate that you're feeling nervous, sometimes is the fastest way to connection.
Not always, right? It's not always the right moment.
Like with your son standing up in front of a group, maybe it's not the right moment to say that he's nervous, right?
But it's true. You make a good point.
Like before the presentation, if you share with a trusted colleague that you're nervous and they're going to encourage you.
That could be the best thing to sort of break that, you know, those nerves and set you up to do really well.
And relieve stress because your colleague might say, oh, I understand.
I was nervous last week when I gave my presentation.
I get it. It's totally normal.
You'll be fine. Maybe that's all you need is so today.
Being able to articulate this is our take away skill.
Right? That's what we're going for.
Yeah, exactly. And you want to do it with interesting vocab.
So we have three fun idioms for sharing that you're nervous.
The first was used by Elaine in this up in this email butterflies in one's stomach.
I say this a lot. Oh, I have butterflies in my stomach when I'm nervous.
Yes, this is a really common.
It's such good imagery and it's really common in our cultural context.
We use this a lot. You do hear this in English a lot.
Here's a sample sentence.
Do you ever get butterflies in your stomach when you have to present in meetings?
I remember getting these a lot when I was a kid, not so much as an adult, but as a kid, I used to get them a lot.
Yeah, I think it's more for high.
Like if you were to do a Ted talk, maybe right?
Something that's a lot more high pressure.
I know I would have those butterflies in my stomach.
Yes, right shaded tasks is the average meeting you're running.
Maybe not so much, but also if you're you know, you're doing business out there in a second language, then you might be getting butterflies in your stomach just about the language, right?
Yeah, if I had to lead a meeting in Spanish or French, I know I would have butterflies in my stomach.
And this can be confused.
I think I actually confuse this sometimes with feeling butterflies, which is when you're developing like romantic feelings for someone and it's a different feeling, right, Aubrey?
Yeah, this is really tricky.
So we use butterflies two different ways, idiomatically in English, so you want to be careful to to separate them.
This one, we always have this chunk.
Oh, I have butterflies in my stomach.
That means I'm nervous.
And then if you say I'm feeling butterflies or I have butterflies just by itself, then that usually implies you have romantic feelings about someone you're excited about someone you've met.
Nice. Good to know the difference for sure.
so that's the first one and we're super impressed with the lane's use of again, the butterflies in the stomach, very high level, lots of imagery.
We love that. Absolutely.
Our number two here is nervous wreck.
I love this too. You might say, sorry, I keep stumbling over my words.
I'm a nervous wreck and it just means I'm feeling very nervous.
Like sometimes if you just state it, if you just admit it and then it'll calm your nerves a little bit.
Oh, it works for me.
If you just articulate what's going on, it definitely brings the parasympathetic nervous system to the forefront and starts to calm the body.
I think absolutely that happens for me as well.
Yeah, or I'm a nervous wreck whenever I'm asked to perform without note without notice.
So any kind of improv type thing could be anxiety provoking.
Right? I think this is the case for a lot of people.
If you're asked to speak up to share something in a meeting and you weren't prepared for that, then immediately we get those butterflies in our stomach might be a nervous wreck as you weren't prepared.
Right for sure. We should always try to be prepared in those meetings.
If we think that's the kind of thing that happens, you know, be ready for anything.
Yeah, you're ready for anything.
Number three is a bundle of nerves.
Tell us about this one.
Aubrey. Yeah, so same.
It's very similar to nervous wreck.
We would refer to ourselves as a bundle of nerves or to someone else, you know, you could say she seems like she's a bundle of nerves.
I hope she's able to calm down and do her best.
I could imagine saying this about a daughter that I see about to perform and I see that she looks really nervous.
Maybe her hands are shaking.
Yeah, or even even last night.
I was watching a town hall that Kamala Harris was doing on CNN and the people that were standing up asking questions.
You could tell they were nervous because they you could tell that they were having like the voice where you can tell someone's a little nervous, right?
Their hands were shaking a little bit.
And so it's such a human experience.
Absolutely, right? All of these example sentences or sharing where you could have a conversation at work or in your daily life sharing that you get nervous when you get nervous sharing using this fun vocabulary.
It's a great way to connect because we all have this in common.
We have all been there.
Yes, one hundred percent.
So we'll take a quick break and then we will be back for a roleplay.
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Alright, Aubrey back for a roleplay.
So here we are waiting for a meeting to start.
Maybe we're in a meeting space a meeting room.
Yes, it's a pretty high print.
Maybe it's like a board meeting like potentially.
So I'll start us out you're presenting today, right?
Are you a nervous wreck?
Yes, I'm always a bundle of nerves when I have to speak in front of a group.
Same. I always get butterflies in my stomach.
You always do such a great job though.
You are going to crush it.
Thank you. I feel better already.
I always wonder about this when it comes to lawyers in the courtroom before they go.
If they're like a trial lawyer before they go into the courtroom and fit, you'll go in front of the judge.
Do they, you know, how do they feel right?
I imagine those like rookie lawyers, right?
Their first couple years probably get super nervous, but then the seasoned attorneys who've been doing it for years and years, maybe not so much.
That's my, yeah, for sure.
Probably true for a lot of professions, right?
Yeah. It's just days on the planet.
It's experience for juries.
I'm sure they're a nervous wreck.
Worse than being a lawyer for sure.
Yeah. Scary a lot on the line.
A lot on the line. But you know, the only way, the truth is the only way to get to the other side of that is by doing the thing, right?
If we cancel the surgery or we cancel the court case or something, it's just going to make us more nervous when the next one comes up.
Yeah. And we have to do it.
This is such a good connection method because we've all been in that situation.
Sometimes higher pressure, higher stakes for others.
So then maybe us, but it's still going to be an interesting conversation to share.
And even this, like you see this little role play before a meeting, what a great bonding experience for me to be able to, you know, bolster you to be able to help you get to be encouraged that you're going to do a good job.
Exactly. Exactly. This is the connection moment right here is articulating how you're feeling.
So I said, you said, are you presenting today, right?
And you said, are you a nervous wreck?
And maybe you just said that maybe not because you could see it on my face, maybe just because you would be that way, right?
Right, exactly. I can imagine just starting this if I know someone's presenting, asking this, even if they don't look nervous and they might say, no, I got this.
No problem. Yeah. Don't don't be triggered.
If someone asks you that and then think, oh, do I look nervous?
That makes you more nervous.
No, often what someone says comes more from them.
It says more about them than about you.
That's the truth. Yeah, that's a really good point.
Yeah, I would say this because I would know that I would be nervous in that situation.
It doesn't mean they look nervous.
And it's also sometimes just a way to start a conversation, right?
You know someone's presenting.
I'm just like trying to say something to chat before the meeting, of course.
Yes. And then I said, yes, I'm always a bundle of nerves when I have to speak in front of a group.
Yeah, yeah. It's a great thing to say about yourself.
You could say, I'm a nervous wreck.
I'm a bundle of nerves.
These all they're pretty light hearted, right?
There's not this crazy negative connotation of something you should be embarrassed or ashamed about.
They're really not just saying like I do get nervous.
Yeah, maybe a little self -deprecating kind of yeah, just talking about yourself in a way exactly.
And then what else Aubrey and then I said, Oh same.
I always get butterflies in my stomach and then I'm immediately encouraging you.
You're gonna do a great job though.
You're going to crush it.
This is a really fun expression, meaning like you are going to be successful.
You're going to do well.
Yeah, that's a bonus for today.
I love that expression.
You're going to crush it.
I don't know modern way of empowering someone these days right in English.
There is another episode.
Our listeners could check out right away.
Soon as today is episode is done.
What is it Aubrey? Yeah, right here on Business English 335 scroll up.
Don't let your business English vocabulary come to a grinding halt.
We shared some more interesting idioms in that one.
Idiomatic language can really up level the way you speak at work.
I love that idea. And I think for today's takeaway, it's don't suffer in silence, right?
If you are nervous, first of all, know that it's a universal feeling.
It makes you human.
It's an opportunity for connection as long as you do articulated at the right moment with the right phrases.
Absolutely. We have all been there.
So it's a great way to connect with others and to build that trust to be able to admit something that you know, not necessarily weakness but something that we all feel as humans to, that you can bond over.
Yeah. And maybe we can also start to envision ourselves, you know, five years down the road being that seasoned attorney or that seasoned surgeon.
And we've gone through these nervous sessions of the courtroom trial or the surgery because we knew we had to get to the other side to become a seasoned professional.
And now we're not as nervous anymore.
Right. Yeah. That is at the other end of things, right?
Right. This is why a lot of people choose sort of someone more experienced in a field to look up to, to ask questions because they, you know, they will have good advice on how to overcome those nerves.
So finding a mentor, interesting idea, that could be a good way to go about that too in our profession.
So thank you to Elaine for sending in this fantastic comment question and send us your questions, guys support at allersenglish .com.
All right. Absolutely.
Awesome. Thanks, Lindsey.
Have a good day. Aubrey.
Take care you too. Bye.
Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast, just for you, the high -achieving global professional.
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