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Real Easy English

Easy level

Talking about confidence

Episode 250711 / 11 Jul 2025

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Neil and Beth have a real conversation in easy English about things that make them feel confident or shy. Learn to talk about how confident you are.

Vocabulary

confident
describes someone who is certain or comfortable about something

confidence
the feeling of being certain or comfortable about something

shy
describes someone who feels nervous or uncomfortable around other people

nerve-racking (or nerve-wracking)
describes a situation which is stressful or worrying

boost your confidence
increase your confidence

Transcript

Beth
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English, the podcast where we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Beth.

Neil
And I'm Neil. You can watch this podcast and test yourself with a worksheet, which you can get free on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

Beth
So, Neil, how are you today? I’m very well actually.

Neil
How are you feeling about our recording today? Feeling confident?

Beth
I’m feeling confident. Are you feeling nervous?

Neil
Not at all, no. I'm feeling confident.

Beth
Well, today we're talking all about confidence. So, listeners might be familiar with the adjective confident, which means being certain about something. Feeling good about yourself. But confidence is the noun, and it's that feeling of being certain, maybe about your own abilities or about a situation.

Neil
OK, that's a good description, Beth. Would you say you are a confident person?

Beth
I think it really depends on the situation. So if I am speaking with you like this, I'm very confident, I know you. But if I'm around people that I don't know as much, then I usually feel a bit more shy.

Neil
Yeah.

Beth
What about you? Are you generally confident?

Neil
I think like you, if I think I know what I'm doing, then I'm confident. But if I'm doing something, especially with people who maybe know more about that thing than I do, then that can be nerve-racking, make you feel nervous, and then not be confident.

Beth
Yeah, definitely. I remember like being in a class, in a classroom and if I feel like this topic is just, I don't know, then I would not feel confident at all. I'd definitely feel nervous.

Neil
What other types of situations would make you feel shy or nervous?

Beth
I think apart from meeting new people, I always feel a bit nervous with that, I’m generally quite confident. So, if it comes to something like public speaking where I have to talk in front of a lot of people, if there are people I don't know, I don't really have a problem. I'm quite confident. But if I had to speak to a room of people and I know the people, that would make me more nervous. I don't know if that's weird.

Neil
Maybe. I think I'm probably the opposite.

Beth
Really?

Neil
If I talk to people I don't know, I don't feel very confident unless I'm very well prepared. I think, being prepared is a good way to boost your confidence.

Beth
Yeah. I remember watching a video, about a lady saying, if you want to improve your confidence, to boost your confidence, you should stand in a power stance and think about all the good things that you're going to do, and it will make you confident with your hands on your hips. And she said, if you're going to do public speaking or something, that's, really can be quite scary, she said, even just go to the toilet, stand in the toilet and do it on your own. And apparently it increases your confidence.

Neil
Well, I must try that.

Beth
So, Neil, are there any situations where you wish you were more confident?

Neil
Maybe. I mean, I have a lot of experience of driving, and I'm quite confident driving. But driving abroad, driving, especially in a foreign city, can be nerve-racking. And yeah, I think it would be nice to be more confident driving abroad.

Beth
I was just thinking about language learning. I wish I was more confident when it came to speaking, but I feel so shy and nervous. If I'm, unless I'm in, say, like a language class, then I'll be OK. But if I'm in the real world and I have to speak to someone in Spanish, for example, I get really nervous.

Neil
I have so much respect for people like our audience because they speak a foreign language, and that's a really hard thing to do. Nerve-racking. You need confidence. And, you know, well done to you. Because, because it's not easy.

Beth
It's not easy at all.

Let's recap some of the vocabulary we heard during the conversation. We had confident which means certain or comfortable. And we also had the noun confidence, which means that feeling or quality of being certain.

Neil
We heard the word shy, which describes a person who feels nervous or uncomfortable around other people.

Beth
If something is nerve-racking, it’s very stressful or worrying.

Neil
If something boosts your confidence, it makes you feel more confident.

Beth
And that's it for this episode of Real Easy English. Head over to our website for more episodes, bbclearningenglish.com.

Neil
And next time we'll be talking about our summer plans. Join us then.

Beth
Bye.

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