How to Overcome Fear of Speaking English and Sound Natural

How to Overcome Fear of Speaking English and Sound Natural

“I just forget everything I want to say…”
“What if they judge my English?”
“My hands start shaking the moment I open my mouth.”

If you’ve ever felt this way before a conversation — whether it’s a job interview, a team meeting, or even just introducing yourself in English — you’re not alone.

Most of us were taught how to read and write English in school. But no one really showed us how to overcome fear of speaking or how to own our voice in a room full of people. No one taught us how to feel comfortable in our skin while speaking.

So let’s change that.

This blog isn’t about grammar rules or perfect pronunciation. It’s about what you can do — practically, mentally, emotionally — to overcome fear of speaking and go from feeling nervous to sounding natural in any conversation.

1. Flip the Fear: “They’re Not Better Than Me”

Let’s start with a mindset shift.

Most nervousness comes from one thought:

“They speak better than me. What if I mess up?”

But here’s the truth: People aren’t focused on your mistakes. They’re focused on themselves.
They’re thinking about what to say next, how they sound, or how they look.

So instead of thinking “I hope I don’t mess up,” tell yourself:

“I’m here to connect, not to impress.”

You’re not on stage. You’re in a conversation. That shift alone takes off so much pressure and helps you slowly overcome fear of speaking by focusing on connection instead of performance.

2. Learn the Power of Pauses

You don’t have to speak fast to sound fluent.

When you’re nervous, you tend to rush. Words tumble out, you lose your train of thought, and then… panic.

Here’s what confident speakers do differently:

  • They pause.

  • They breathe.

  • They give their brain a second to catch up.

Try this:
Before you respond to someone, take a 1-second pause.
It feels long in your head. But to others? It looks confident and thoughtful.

This simple trick gives your brain space and trains you to stay calm — a powerful way to overcome fear of speaking in the moment.

3. Practice with Real People, Not Just Books

You don’t learn to swim by reading about it.
You get in the water.

Speaking English is the same. You’ll never feel “ready enough” by just watching videos or reading blogs (even this one!).

The real breakthrough comes when you:

  • Speak out loud every day — even to yourself.

  • Talk to someone who listens, corrects you, and supports you.

  • Repeat real conversations until your mouth stops feeling stiff.

That’s exactly why thousands of learners use EngVarta — where you can speak to English experts on phone calls every day. No pressure, no awkward silences. Just real improvement.

It’s not about perfect grammar — it’s about practicing consistently until you overcome the fear of speaking and replace it with real confidence.

4. Use the Mirror Trick

One of the fastest ways to feel natural in conversations?

Talk to your mirror every morning.
Yes, seriously.

Look yourself in the eye and speak for 2 minutes on any topic — your day, your goals, or even what you ate for breakfast.

Why it works:

  • It desensitizes you to the fear of speaking.

  • You become more aware of your tone and expressions.

  • You stop sounding robotic and start sounding real.

Do this daily, and you’ll notice your brain doesn’t freeze up in conversations anymore.

And if public speaking makes your hands sweat and your voice tremble, you’re not alone. The fear is real — but it can be overcome.

To go deeper into how to overcome fear of speaking in front of an audience and build lasting confidence, check out this detailed guide:
👉 Public Speaking: Overcoming Fear and Building Confidence

Combine those strategies with daily mirror practice, and you’ll start noticing how natural you begin to sound — not just in front of the mirror, but in real conversations too.

5. Prepare Phrases, Not Paragraphs

Most people try to memorize long responses for situations, but real conversations are never that predictable.

Instead, prepare flexible, everyday phrases that you can use in different contexts. Like:

  • “That’s a great question. Let me think…”

  • “I’ve never tried that before, but it sounds interesting.”

  • “Can you repeat that a little slower, please?”

These phrases become your safety net — they buy you time and make you sound fluent, even when you’re thinking. And with time, you’ll naturally overcome fear of speaking by being better prepared for real-world situations.


Final Thoughts: Confidence Comes From Reps, Not Perfection

There’s no shortcut.
The only way to stop feeling nervous is to walk through it, one sentence at a time.

But the more you speak, the less scared you feel. The more you show up — even imperfectly — the more natural it becomes.

Start small. Start today.

Because every confident English speaker you admire?
They were once nervous too.


🚀 Want to Practice Speaking Daily with English Experts?

If you’re serious about transforming your spoken English, try EngVarta — the app where you can talk to live English experts on calls, practice real conversations, and build confidence from day one.

📱 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/engvarta.app
👍 Like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EngVarta
📺 Watch helpful videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EngVarta

🔗For Regular English Practice with an Expert: Download the app now

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Top 10 Ways to Improve Your English – Improve your English Speaking skills and learn to Speak like a native.

 

Top 10 ways to improve your english
Top 10 ways to improve your English

Improve your English Speaking skills and learn to Speak like a native.

Do you feel extremely nervous or overwhelmed by the thought of improving your English?

This is because when you think about improving your spoken English, you start having thoughts like – Learning 20 words each day, memorizing complicated grammar rules, or joining English classes. It is just like a ‘mountain to climb.’ 

But that’s not true at all! 

There are many other ways that you can follow to improve your English sitting at home without joining any English classes. 

In this blog, you’ll get 10 ways to improve your spoken English competency and help you have an insightful conversation with anyone in English. 

  • Set monthly or weekly goals to improve your English. 

If you have a goal in mind, it makes it easier to stay motivated. Set monthly or weekly goals that are specific and measurable, then break them down into smaller tasks. These smaller tasks will help you reach your larger goal. 

This is why, when you log in to the EngVarta app, the first step is selecting a goal. Whether you want to improve your English for IELTS, or for cracking an interview.

For example, if your goal is to read more books in English, set a target number of pages you want to read each day and stick with it until you reach your goal. You can also create flashcards with new vocabulary words and practice speaking with English speakers so that you have opportunities to use them in real-life situations.

  • Set realistic deadlines for completing tasks.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the things you want to do and never quite get around to doing anything.

 Setting deadlines for completing tasks is one way to stay organized and motivated. If you know exactly when you’re going to do something, it makes the task seem less intimidating so you’ll feel more inclined to get started right away. 

For example, setting a timer for speaking English for 15 minutes every day. 

  • Practice Elaborative Encoding to learn vocabulary.  

Elaborative encoding is a memory technique where you connect what you are trying to remember and what you already know. 

For example, if you want to learn the word “orange,” you might connect it with something like an orange tree or an orange fruit salad because these images will help you recall the word better later on.

When people use elaborative encoding techniques, they tend to remember more than those who don’t use them at all or use less effective techniques such as rote memorization. 

  • Find YOUR way of improving your English.

The first thing you need to do is figure out what kind of learner you are. Do you learn better by hearing something or seeing it written down? Do you prefer reading or writing? Are there certain things you like to do that help you learn?

Once you know your own learning style and preferences, it will be easier for you to decide how to improve your English.

  1. Have an accountability language partner.  

If you want to improve your English, it’s essential to have a language partner. 

A language partner is someone who speaks the language you’re learning and helps you with your pronunciation and grammar.

All you need to do is make sure that both people are committed to improving their English and that you have similar goals for what you want to achieve by studying together. Then, meet up regularly and study together online or face-to-face!

  • Speak with different English speakers every day

When students ask us why they get connected with different Experts at EngVarta, this the reason we tell them. When you just speak to one person daily, you limit your oral competence. One of the best ways to improve your spoken English is to talk to different English speakers every day. In real-life situations, you don’t talk to one person, but you meet different people and all have different nuances of the language. This is the reason when you practice with different Experts, you get more exposure to the language. You get constructive feedback from all of them. 

  • Build English-speaking confidence 

As a fluent speaker, I bet you probably think that English speakers are very confident, they never run out of words or they know a lot of vocabulary. 

But even the most confident speakers can fall prey to self-doubt in new situations. The good news is, that confidence is a skill that can be learned—and it’s not nearly as hard as you might think.

The first step is to know your strengths. If there are activities where you always feel comfortable speaking English or you’re happy with your results, start with those situations when practicing your speaking skills

  • Practice speaking English as much as you can. 

This may seem like a no-brainer, but it bears repeating: the best way to improve your English is to practice using it!

I know, I know. You hate talking in English because you’re afraid of making mistakes, or you think your accent is too thick, or you don’t have anyone to practice with—this is all perfectly normal. But the more you avoid speaking in English, the harder it will be to improve your English. So stop avoiding it! Just start practicing whenever and wherever you can. 

  • Think in English 

One way to improve your English is to start thinking in English. Thinking in a language is the same as speaking it, so if you can get into the habit of thinking in English, you’ll find that your vocabulary and sentence structure will improve.

Your mind will have more opportunity to naturally absorb the structure and flow of the language. You won’t have to expend mental energy on translating from your mother tongue into the target language, which will free up brainpower to focus on the matter at hand.

  • Read as much as possible 

 The best way to improve your vocabulary is by reading as much as possible and by writing down new words. 

It improves your understanding of words and the structure of sentences. If you’re learning a new language, reading is an excellent way to get in touch with its nuances as well as the culture of the people who speak that language. 

Takeaway : 

One of the mandatory things you need to do to improve your English is pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Start doing things that you fear. Take charge of your language skills and grab as many opportunities as you can. 

Lastly, if you are looking for someone to help you improve your English or wish to practice English daily for 15-60 minutes, join the Engvarta app. EngVarta is an English speaking practice app where you can practice speaking in English daily without any hesitation.

Write down what you think about the article.

Thanks for reading! 

Top 7 ways to improve your English speaking skills

 

Top 7 Ways to Improve your English Speaking skills
Top 7 Ways to Improve your English Speaking skills

 

English is a beautiful language and also a worldwide used tool for communication. 

Studying English can be fun, but like any skill, it takes a lot of practice in order to improve this skill. But practicing may become a tedious task if you are not aware of how to do it. 

But before all that, In order to improve your English speaking skills, you need to actually speak. That’s right! No amount of reading will make up for having no firm grasp of the language. 

But what can you do to help yourself?

In this blog, I have given some ways in which you can improve your English speaking skills at home and will the help of others. 

Use a voice recorder to practice conversation. And then listen and assess. 

The first time you do it, you will hate your voice. You may sound ridiculous. But as you become consistent, this habit will take you far and make you so confident. Just do this three-step practice :

  1. Keep your voice recorder on and speak on a topic. Or just describe how your day was. 
  2. Listen to the recording the next day and assess what went wrong. What words do you use? How you can substitute those words with better words? 
  3. Do this activity every alternate day. 

This is the best way you can practice English. 

Practice English with an English speaking app.

To become a fluent English speaker, you need to speak. Speak with someone who can help you in conversations. And to practice English conversation, you can take the help of the Engvarta app. Engvarta application helps you to practice speaking English with Live English Experts daily for 15 minutes to an hour. The mentors will help you clear all your confusion, help you with the right words while you speak, and correct your pronunciation and grammar if you make any mistakes. This English-speaking practice app helps you to achieve your goal like clearing interviews or giving presentations. 

Listen to English conversations.

Listening is an essential part of learning English. Through effective listening, you learn words, grammar, and pronunciation. Listen to conversations between native speakers as much as possible. Only by listening to real-life conversations, you will understand what native speakers say and how they talk in different situations.

Watch TV shows or movies with the subtitles turned on.

This may sound cliche but watching web series and movies is fun and can help you improve your speaking skills! In fact, some web series are so interesting, that you start to watch them and you binge-watch all night. I had been watching Stranger Things 4 lately and can’t stress enough the number of slang I learned. 

Sometimes when you hear your favorite characters speak a particular dialogue or speak a  phrase. You remember them subconsciously and also start using them in your daily conversation. Just keep your subtitles on and watch them. Try to learn atleast 5 words that are easy to remember. Maybe you can note it down somewhere. 

 By watching TV shows and movies with your subtitles turned on, you can improve your vocabulary and gain the ability to recognize words in context.

Read out loud

You know fewer English words but you speak clearly! That makes you a fluent English speaker. If you want to become one, just practice reading out loud. Grab a book and spend 15 minutes reading something that you really enjoy reading.

 Here’s how you can make your reading sessions more effective. 

  1. Read slowly and try not to rush through the text.
  2. Try different ways of pronouncing words – try saying some of them aloud first, then reading them out loud instead of reading them silently in your head. 

Study words about topics that interest you and relate to real life situations. 

I came across the Catch 22. Catch 22 means a situation where you can’t do one thing because you cannot do the other. For example, I cannot get a job without work experience, and to get work experience I first need a job. I am in a catch-22 situation. 

This idiom was so interesting that I started to use them in my conversation. This is exactly the same thing that you have to do. Learn words that you can relate to your life. You don’t need to memorize a dictionary for that. If you are reading a random article or any note, just memorize a phrase or two that seems easy and interesting.

Be confident! Confidence is the first step to improving one’s English speaking skills.

Being confident is the first step to improving your English speaking skills. This can be achieved with practice and knowing that you are capable of communicating in a language.

It is important to have self-confidence when speaking English because it will help you become more comfortable with your own speech, and therefore, bring clarity to your voice. 

So, no matter how good or bad your English is, don’t be afraid to use your knowledge and speak in English in every opportunity you get. 

All the best!