🎙️Life Through Loss, Love, Resilience & Gratitude with Michelle Ferguson | Real English Conversations Podcast for Global Professionals

What would your life look like 90 days from now if you finally took a risk on yourself? What if the biggest thing standing between you and the career, confidence, or life you want isn't a lack of ability—but the beliefs you've developed about what you can and cannot do? In this episode of the Real English Conversations Podcast, Curtis Davies sits down with Chonsten Jennings, speaker, entrepreneur, and co-founder of The Purpose Engine, for a powerful conversation about confidence, personal growth, purpose, and overcoming the mental barriers that hold us back. After years of coaching basketball players from college to the NBA, Chonsten walked away from a successful career when he realized it no longer fulfilled him. He faced significant personal and professional challenges before beginning a journey of rediscovering his identity, strengthening his faith, and finding a new direction through entrepreneurship, coaching, and helping others. Today, he helps coaches and consultants build businesses that allow them to focus on the work they do best. His message is especially relevant to anyone who feels stuck, questions their abilities, or knows they have more potential than they're currently expressing. For international professionals and English learners, this conversation also explores how confidence, authenticity, and the way we speak to ourselves can influence our communication, professional opportunities, and willingness to step outside our comfort zones. 🎯 In This Episode, You'll Learn: 💪 How to build confidence and overcome limiting beliefs that make you doubt your abilities or hold back from opportunities. 🧠 How to stop letting the fear of judgment control your decisions and focus on what you believe about yourself instead. 🎯 How to recognize your purpose and why it may be closer than you think. 🔄 Why a successful career can still leave you feeling unfulfilled and how to recognize when it's time for a change. 🌱 How difficult experiences can become valuable lessons that help you grow, develop resilience, and help others. 🗣️ How to use positive self-talk to challenge negative thinking and begin changing the way you approach your goals. 🤝 How to connect with people more naturally by finding common ground, being authentic, and focusing on what you share rather than what separates you. 💼 How to build a career or business around your strengths and values instead of pursuing success that doesn't feel meaningful. ⏳ How to approach personal growth over 90 days by breaking old habits, developing new ones, and working toward making those habits second nature. 🌎 How to build confidence in English communication and stop allowing fear of mistakes or other people's opinions to prevent you from speaking up. 🙏 How faith and perspective can help you navigate difficult seasons when you cannot yet see what comes next.

🎙️ Learn English with Teacher Curtis & Real English Conversations If you're serious about becoming more fluent, confident, and natural in English, I can help you take the next step. ⭐ Book a Trial English Lesson Start with a personalized lesson focused on your specific English goals: https://realenglishconversations.com/memberships/member-plans/fluency-programs/trial-lesson/ 🚀 90-Day Next Level English Challenge — 50% OFF If you're ready for serious one-on-one support, you can join my 90-Day Next Level English Challenge. Use coupon code: 90DAY50 for 50% OFF. https://realenglishconversations.com/memberships/our-courses/90-day-next-level-english/ 📚 Explore My English Courses https://realenglishconversations.com/memberships/our-courses/ 🎧 Podcast + Phrasal Verb Audio Course Bundle https://courses.realenglishconversations.com/rec-course-bundle 🌐 Real English Conversations https://realenglishconversations.com 🎧 Listen to the Podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/76ihNoEcjms6485Vt1ng5q Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-english-conversations-podcast-real-english-for/id977345837 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@realenglishconversations 📱 Follow Real English Conversations Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rec.real.english/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RealEnglishConversationsOnline LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtis-davies-07928646/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/RealEnglishConversationsPodcast

What if becoming a better communicator isn't about talking more? What if it's about asking better questions, listening more carefully, and creating an environment where people actually want to share? In this episode of the Real English Conversations Podcast, Curtis Davies sits down with Andres Lares, CEO and Managing Partner of Shapiro Negotiations Institute, to explore the communication skills that can change the outcome of a negotiation, job interview, business meeting, presentation, or difficult workplace conversation. Andrés brings a unique perspective to this conversation because English is his second language. Originally from Venezuela, he understands many of the challenges international professionals face when communicating in English — while also having extensive experience in negotiation, influence, deal coaching, and working with organizations across industries and cultures. And one of the biggest lessons from this conversation? You don't necessarily become more influential by talking more. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is ask a great question — and genuinely listen to the answer. 🎯 In This Episode, You'll Learn: 🌎 Why pressure can backfire — and why making someone feel comfortable and in control can lead to better conversations and more information. 🔥 The "Grill vs. Barbecue" approach — Andrés explains why slowing down, building rapport, and developing genuine curiosity can produce better results than trying to get everything immediately. 🪓 Why sharpening the axe matters — how preparation before a conversation can make the actual conversation much more effective. 💬 How to ask better questions at work — including why broad, open-ended questions can encourage people to reveal more useful information. 👂 How to listen without judgment — and why acknowledging what someone says doesn't mean you have to agree with them. 🧠 How to stay composed under pressure — instead of immediately becoming defensive, ask questions such as "Tell me more about that" or "Why is that important to you?" 🎭 How to get beyond rehearsed answers — by asking questions differently and changing the environment or setting. 🕵️ What negotiators and investigators have in common — preparation, questioning, listening, empathy, and emotional intelligence. 💼 How these skills apply to job interviews, negotiations, meetings, and presentations. 🌎 Why these communication principles work across cultures — and which skills are valuable almost anywhere in the world. 💪 How preparation and confidence work together — and why confidence without preparation isn't enough. 👔 What makes a great leader — including trust, integrity, capacity, and the ability to make people believe in you.

What if the English you've been listening to could actually become the English you speak? What if you stopped treating podcasts as something you simply listen to… …and started using them as a complete English-learning system? That is exactly what Diego Nieto did. Diego grew up in Cabimas, Zulia, Venezuela, and became fascinated by English as a child. Years later, when he was searching for a way to improve his listening, he discovered the Real English Conversations Podcast. At first, he couldn't understand everything he heard. So he created his own system. He would listen to an episode without looking at the transcription, write down everything he could understand, leave blanks where he couldn't understand the words, and then compare his version with the actual Real English Conversations transcription. He highlighted what he understood, identified what he missed, learned the vocabulary, listened again, and then used shadowing to imitate the way Curtis and the guests actually spoke. He wasn't just studying English. He was training his brain to hear real English, understand real English, reproduce real English, and eventually communicate naturally in English. Diego says that by doing this consistently—sometimes spending two to three hours a day with the podcast—he built the foundation that eventually allowed him to communicate with international people, work in English, and develop the confidence to use the language in the real world. And today? Diego is an English teacher himself.

What does it really take to become a trusted and valuable professional on a global team? In today's workplace, having strong technical skills isn't always enough. If you work remotely for an international company, especially a U.S.-based organization, your ability to communicate proactively, take ownership, solve problems, build trust, and adapt to AI can have a major impact on your professional success. In this episode of the Real English Conversations Podcast, Curtis talks with Marc Snegg, founder and CEO of Ground Game, about what it really takes to succeed as an international professional on a high-performing global team. Marc has more than 25 years of experience building businesses and organizations and has participated in more than $200 million in commercial real estate transactions. His work with Ground Game focuses on helping U.S. companies build high-performing global teams across sales, revenue operations, marketing, operations, HR, IT, and customer success. But Marc's approach isn't simply about outsourcing work to people in other countries. He believes companies can build fully integrated global teams by combining exceptional talent with strong management, clear systems, shared culture, and meaningful opportunities for professional growth. In this conversation, Marc shares practical advice about communication across cultures, building trust with managers, being proactive at work, using AI to become more valuable, developing a service mindset, and finding ways to improve the organization around you. And for international professionals who sometimes hesitate to speak up in meetings or worry about making mistakes, Marc gives a very practical set of actions you can begin using tomorrow. This is an especially valuable episode for anyone who wants to improve their Business English, workplace communication, confidence, leadership skills, and career opportunities in an international environment.