Hello Reader,

I'm running several experiments in my business. One of them is pushing me HARD out of my comfort zone.

When I say it's pushing me hard, I mean the experiments usually leave me feeling breathless with fear and nervousness. And in case you don't know: Hi. I'm Aaron, and I'm an introvert. (Most of the time.)

Doing things in front of other people, talking to people I don't know, and just public things in general, often feel very difficult for me to do.

Making video content? That's 10x more difficult for me.

My experiment? Getting on video and posting it on LinkedIn. (Here's my latest one. Let me know what you think!)

Here are my experiment objectives:

1. No more than 3 takes for one video.
2. No editing.
3. Talk for 3 minutes.
4. Two videos a week.*

The two videos a week is new. I'll explain that in a sec.

The 3 takes and no editing rule? To fight against perfectionism and second guessing myself into not actually making the video in the first place. (That pull is big!)

The 3 minutes? To keep it simple, and to put myself in your shoes as you are working against the clock on your CELPIP speaking task practices.

3 minutes is not a time limit on the exam. The longest time you'll work against is 90 seconds for a speaking task.

And here's what I'm aiming for in my next video: 1 minute or less.

My first video, 3 weeks ago, was 8 minutes and 40 seconds too long.

My next video, came a little over a week ago. It was 3 minutes and 14 seconds. (Not bad.)

The next video, just 4 days ago, was 2 minutes and 6 seconds. (Woohooo!)

And the one I linked to above was 1 day ago, and it was 1 minute and 43 seconds.

See any trends?

My frequency went up. I'm putting my video making reps in.

My speaking times are going down, which is one of my objectives.

Why the 2 times a week?

To get more reps in.

I'm not trying to go viral or get LinkedIn famous. (I feel silly even writing that.)

Nope. My simple objectives are:

1. To build relationships with the people who follow me on LInkedIn.

2. To get better at making videos.

3. To model the way. The more you practice a habit or skill you want to improve, the better you become at it.

The takeaway for you:

Do you want your speaking skills to improve? Focus on putting more reps in. It's not about how long you speak for, it's how often are you doing it each day. Period.

Push your reps up, and your speaking skills will get better over time.

Want to do that together? Join the next speaking skills sprint that's 100% safe for introverts. We start in October. It's just $27 and in just 8 days, you'll see your speaking skills and self-confidence improve dramatically.

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Immigration News:

Do you feel like your immigration process is taking too long? I'm sharing a series that Robert Gertler, a Canadian immigration lawyer, is publishing on LinkedIn. Here's part one in case you missed it. You'll learn that you do have options if your application has been STUCK.

This week he published part two. You'll learn when IRCC is actually taking too long, and it's time to act legally to get things moving.

Remember: I don't get anything from sharing these or other posts from RCIC or immigration professionals. They are simply from people I trust, that I think and hope can help you. Period.

Have a great week!

Aaron

PS. I announced the premium version of the podcast this week. It's free for the entire month of September - and you'll get it just by listening to the podcast. After September, the price will be $9.99 per month or $99 per year. You'll get a full transcript for each episode + worksheets to help you build your listening skills for the CELPIP (and English in general) + bonus podcast content, from time to time, that nobody else gets to hear. Want the transcript + worksheets from this week's podcast? Signup here. No credit card required.

PPS. You can listen to the episode here, just in case you missed it. Includes the bonus audio content.

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