Read how a Farmer's Son Faced his fear of public speaking to climb up the leadership roles in an MNC

"I find myself stuck in between a presentation. All eyes are on me, and I suddenly get blank." - Mahesh Rapelly, Chartered Accountant in an MNC, Hyderabad."

Today, Mahesh lives in Hyderabad, working as a CA in an MNC. 5 years ago, Mahesh chose the road less travelled.

His family belongs to a traditional farming background.

But Mahesh didn't want that. He wanted to be a Chartered Accountant.

He takes inspiration from Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan - the NSG Commando who saved more than 130 lives in Mumbai bomb blasts.

Why? Because he feels his story is very much like the NSG Commando.

Major Sandeep wanted to join the Navy once. Unfortunately, he couldn't join. But he didn't give up. His dream of contributing towards the nation came true when he joined Army and became NSG Commando.

What Made Mahesh Doubt His Capabilities of Being a Team Leader?

As a mid-managerial Chartered Accountant in an MNC, he sees himself in leadership roles in the next 4-5 years.

But in the present, he doubts he could succeed in those leadership roles.

Why? Because he is self-aware that poor communication is a significant barrier on the path to his growth.

He always visualized himself as someone leading a team in the next five years.

But, his biggest fear is presenting himself in front of a crowd.

"I see people giving great presentations at the workplace, and I wish to achieve the same for myself."

As a CA in MNC, his job requires daily communication with global clients.

At the mid-managerial level, he often has to serve as a connecting link between top management and employees. He regularly evaluates his employees' performances.

He also has to make crucial decisions while creating small opportunities for his employees to keep learning.

And most importantly, he has to provide information to the top management to solve mistakes from the past.

Hence, he has to learn how to persuade his employees, motivate them and have empathy to understand their issues.

Why did Mahesh Felt Inferior in his office?

Mahesh was hesitant and shy in talking to new people in his office.

Why? Because he felt inferior due to three reasons:

1. He belonged to a traditional farming family.
2. He struggled to keep up with his peers in spoken English despite living in Hyderabad for five years.
3. He thought he could talk well only in his mother tongue, Telugu.

Mahesh's background and inability to speak fluent English were the two things that kept pulling him down.

Even though he chose to follow his heart by choosing CA as his profession, the inferiority complex of coming from a small town was still challenging.

What made him so sure about his decision to choose CA?

"I scored excellent marks in 10th standard. At that moment, I felt CA is the best option to choose."

He wants to use his struggle to mingle and create strong connections with team members from different backgrounds.

Mahesh knew his problem areas were:

• Inability to present his ideas with clarity
• Lack of positive body language to showcase his command
• How to make a topic interesting?
• Customize his communication according to the audience.

What Made Mahesh Choose BBR Live Spoken English?

Holding a conversation is an essential part of effective communication. Mahesh knew he was good at speaking on a topic at length after preparation.

However, he needed to learn to speak spontaneously and keep the conversation going. This was because he needed more storytelling skills.

Overall, he wanted to be better at workplace communication and delivering presentations.

And he tried many avenues to learn these skills.

He watched YouTube videos and took video courses too. But nothing seemed to work for him.

Why? Because they weren't helpful to him.

YouTube videos can only help you acquire knowledge. But after that, you have to do the part which requires practising.

And when his goal is to become a team leader in an MNC, he can only get there with practice.

In fact, due to his lack of communication skills, he didn't appear for the MBA examinations, even though he badly wanted to get into business school.

He felt it would be difficult to give so many interviews in English. So, he decided once he learned English, he would go for MBA.

He was not sure he would be able to cross the hurdles the English language put in his way.

That's when Mahesh discovered BBR English. BBR English provided Mahesh with a mentor. It gets easier to know your strengths and weaknesses from someone who can understand you personally, keep you accountable and provide regular feedback.

How BBR English Aligned Mahesh's Goals to Help him Gain Self-Confidence?

During his transformation journey with BBR English, his trainer, Prajakta, found FOUR basic things that he needs to work on:

• Boosting his self-confidence
• Initiating conversations with strangers in the office
• Grammar and Vocabulary
• Business English

For Mahesh, they align perfectly with his goals to achieve his dream of being in a leadership position:

• Ability to give good presentations, and
• Becoming an effective communicator

Mahesh finds the most stressful part about communication being jitters and nervousness.

This was the biggest hurdle on his way. His emotions often control him while speaking with anyone in an office.

Hence, Mahesh's learning journey started through some key areas:

• Learning presentation skills and body language
• Using voice and pitch to create impact
• Structuring his thoughts and ideas
• Controlling his nervousness and jitters

And to conquer his fear, Prajakta made him practice communication through:

       1. Public speaking and self-confidence:

• Take a few deep breaths to calm your senses.
• Allow yourself to pause and recollect
• Listen and participate actively in a meeting
• Ask questions to show your seriousness and curiosity
• Give solutions and raise concerns

       2. Structuring a story:

• Framing the sentences
• Stressing specific words in a sentence
• Placement and sequence of events
• Changes in the pitch and volume
• Adding humour and wit
• Adding a conclusion
• Giving takeaways

       3. Presentation skills:

• Animate the slide points as per your pace
• Speak after a slide is completely displayed
• Carrying pointers or cue cards
• Taking a few notes of figures and statistics in cases of any glitches or power issues
• Eating and drinking well before the presentation to shift and direct your focus entirely on the presentation

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How Mahesh Feels a Transformed CA in the Last Session?

Mahesh came to BBR English as someone who thought he couldn't progress in his career because he didn't know how to speak English.

He often questioned - give into the fear, or give it one more try?

Mahesh took the step to give one more shot at conquering his low self-confidence. With BBR English on his side, Mahesh found the courage to take that step.

BBR English program suggested Mahesh choose English for Finance Leaders.

Why? Here's why:

The course for Finance Leaders would help him:

• Identify key gaps,
• Teach him concepts of workplace communication,
• Make him practice regularly, and
• Improve his English to get into leadership roles.

How will it help Mahesh? Because it checked all the right boxes for him:

✅ Feeling under-confident when speaking to anyone.

✅ Doubting leadership skills due to ineffective communication

✅ Preparing for management exams but can't crack the interviews

Throughout the ten sessions, Mahesh transformed by getting to know himself better.

A transformed Mahesh at the end of the course found three big revelations that gave him new perspectives on who he is:

1. Mahesh didn't know that he was an extrovert. He was confused because he likes being around people but takes time to open up. So he thought he was an introvert.
2. Knowing himself gave him a better idea of understanding his fears and himself. He realized his strengths and weakness and used his strengths to his advantage while talking to others.
3. If you only rehearse to memorize the content, there are high chances of forgetting during the flow of speech. But forgetting a line won't get you in trouble if you practice keeping your ideas flowing.

Just like Mahesh, do you struggle to find the right words while speaking to a colleague in your office?

Do you also feel under-confident everywhere - in meetings, conferences and interviews?

Then, sign up for the foundation session with BBR at only Rs. 499! NOW!

The personal mentors in the BBR English course for Finance Leaders help you cover all areas of communication through a customized curriculum which will include:

• Grammar and Vocabulary, pronunciation, and art of conversation
• Business Communication and Professional Writing
• Presentation Skills and Public Speaking
• Interview Preparation

BBR English believes there is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning and achieving goals. Every person is unique, and each has a particular learning track.

And if you are unsatisfied with the foundation session, you get a 100% refund - NO questions asked.

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