Hola chic@s,

We’ve all been there. Freezing up in a conversation with a native speaker.

It’s a horrible feeling. 



I’ve spoken to thousands of Spanish learners and most of them assume the solution to freezing is simple:

Learn more Spanish.

But I don’t think that’s the whole story. 



I’ve been speaking Spanish for more than a decade and I still freeze.

In this guide we’ll look at the 2 steps to get you feeling more confident speaking Spanish, so you can enrich your life in ways you can’t fully comprehend. 



If you need any support throughout your journey - I’m always here over email 📧





Step 1 - Identity

Why is it that when we leave the safety of the classroom and speak 
to a real person we begin monitoring ourselves communicating?



Am I saying this correctly?

Do I sound stupid?

What If I don’t understand their answer?



Do you notice where all of this attention goes? 



Onto you.

The conversation has quietly become a performance and the other person has become the audience. 



No wonder we freeze up.



Over the years I’ve found this simple identity shift particularly useful for getting out of my own head and back into the conversation. 



I call it:



People Before Perfection.

A student asks ‘How well am I speaking?’ (perfection - attention
on yourself). 



A participant asks ‘How well am 
I connecting?’ (people - attention on the other person). 



This is the shift of attention that 
allows you room to breathe. 



But before speaking with someone, simply remind yourself what all that learning is ultimately for:



People.



Step 2 - Practical

Remembering People Before Perfection is useful in theory, but what happens when you’ve just been asked a question in Spanish and your brain has decided to take the afternoon off?

Let’s look at some practical tools to help. 



Remember the goal here isn’t to make sure you never freeze again. 



A participant isn’t someone who always knows what to say.

A participant knows how to keep going when they don’t. 



Here’s a few things that have 
helped me:



1) Buy yourself some time



You don’t know what to say and your brain starts screaming at you - this pressure rarely helps. 



But if you’ve noticed, native Spanish speakers don’t respond to every question instantly either.

Just like we use ‘well’, ‘erm...’ 
and ‘let me think’ in English, Spanish has it’s own set of filler words.



Pues = Well

PWEHS 🗣️



Bueno = Well

BWENOH 🗣️



A ver = Let’s See

AH BEAR 🗣️



So, let’s imagine someone asks:



¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?

What did you do at the weekend?

Instead of desperately trying to construct an answer you can use some filler words to buy time. 



Pues... A ver... Fui al centro con 
unos amigos.


Ironically it actually makes you 
sound pretty native.



2) Say the sentences you can say



Sometimes we know exactly what we want to say in English, but not in Spanish.

So we start searching and get stuck. 



A participant asks, ‘what’s the simplest version of what I’m trying 
to say?’



Is it exactly what I wanted to say?

Maybe not. 



Did the other person understand you?

Pretty much. 



That’s participation.



3) Something a wise old man taught me.



This one’s pretty random but it works for me and maybe it will for you too. 



A wise old man was giving me public speaking tips and one of his secrets was to press his thumb and forefinger together with his dominant hand. 



As he did this, he noticed his feet on the ground and feeling himself present in his own body. 



I’ve used this same technique in conversations with Spanish speakers

Just do it low key, with your arm beside your side. 



No one even notices.

It’s a super little hack to bring you back into the moment and reduce some of the panic that can go on in your head. 



Keep this one a secret 😉



The Invitation

So the next time you have an opportunity to speak Spanish and feel yourself hesitating, just remember:



People Before Perfection. 



Say something imperfectly. Ask 
a question. Get curious.



Use hand gestures if you have to. 



And if you’re mind goes blank, use the tools we’ve covered to try and stay in the conversation. 


Because that’s what a participant does. 



This is part of a bigger idea I’ve been exploring for the past few years. 



Spanish for Living, Not Just Learning. 



We’re all pretty good at being students.

Learning vocabulary, grammar and building up streaks. 



These things are important, but I think we often miss out on learning how to become a participant.

After all, that’s where the real gems are: connecting with people, gathering stories and opening up new worlds. 



I’d love you to join me on this adventure. 



Un abrazo,

Harrison


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