The InFluency Podcast

Three years into life in Spain, two friends reflect on slower routines, long meals, and the surprising work of building a new identity abroad. They discuss language barriers, an especially humbling Spanish-speaking experience, creative ways to practice, finding community, and learning to embrace spontaneity, uncertainty, and imperfect communication.

Struggle to organize your thoughts in English, freeze when asked for an opinion, or ramble instead of making your point? This practical training explores a simple method for speaking clearly, developing ideas under pressure, quieting self-criticism, and building confidence through daily practice. It also introduces a short speaking challenge designed to help you show up and speak up.

Speaking English is one thing; speaking up as your full self is another. Explore why learners hide behind safe, minimal communication, how the inner critic fuels overthinking, and what it takes to share opinions, stories, humor, emotions, and disagreement with confidence. Discover a seven-day challenge built around repetition, supportive practice, and showing up more fully in English.

Warm up with playful tongue twisters that sharpen English pronunciation, from easy Peter Piper and toy boat drills to challenging phrases packed with SH, CH, R, L, TH, and consonant clusters. Practice jaw relaxation, tackle “truly rural,” and finish with a Spanish tongue twister challenge.

This conversation is a very special one for me. Danielle and I met many years ago when we were both studying acting in New York, long before either of us knew where life would take us. We were young, ambitious, certain about some things, completely lost about others, and both trying to figure out who we were going to become. And now, all these years later, I got to sit down with her and talk about her first adult novel, a story she has been carrying with her, in one form or another, for about 16 years. Danielle also shares a beautiful exercise for getting started with writing. This is a conversation about books, yes. But really, it's about friendship, identity, dreams, reinvention, and all the unexpected ways our lives unfold. Get the book "This Changes Everything" here: https://www.amazon.com/This-Changes-Everything-Danielle-McKechnie/dp/0063519399

Want a quick, effective TH practice? Do this every day for 2 weeks and I promise, you'll feel the difference! Practice words, phrases, sentences and minimal pairs.

Want to sound less monotone, more powerful and more expressive when you speak English? Then come shadow this scene! In this week's episode, we're practicing with a scene from The Morning Show, featuring Jennifer Aniston as Alex Levy. We'll break it down together and play with prosody, reductions and focus on how to use your voice to sound more powerful and expressive I'll walk you through it line by line, and then we'll shadow the scene together. Close the door, press play and have some fun with your voice! Get out of your comfort zone! By the end, you might not only sound more powerful in English. You might actually FEEL more powerful, too. Download the script to follow along with me: https://bit.ly/4wKi6Zl Check out my other shadowing videos here: https://bit.ly/4fx9j4t

A speaker reflects on three big projects she postponed because she did not feel ready: teaching in English, launching a YouTube channel, and starting a podcast. She shares stories about fear, perfectionism, and how action — not waiting — drove growth. Listeners are encouraged to start before feeling fully prepared.

Practice common irregular verbs grouped by how they sound rather than spelling. Short drills cover the 'eh', 'aw', 'a (cup)', and 'own' vowel groups with sentences to repeat. Learn the T‑schwa‑N pattern for forms like eaten and written and tips for nasal release. Clear, spoken practice to make pronunciation stick.

What does it take to become fluent in English when there is no one around you who speaks English? Meet my student, Gilbert. He's from Guinea, living in Morocco, studying engineering in French, and one of my New Sound Scholarship winners. In this conversation, Gilbert shares how he went from silent, afraid and unable to open his mouth to someone who speaks English with confidence, teaches others, and is now building a public speaking club in his own community. I hope you enjoy this interview!