Breakthrough Moments.
Breakthrough moments are amazing, inspirational, and often sudden realizations and insights about a topic.
Talking with clients is a typical catalyst for me on these spark moments. But it never happens the way I expect.
Let me explain.
I was in the middle of a session with a client. We were talking about what he did the week prior and trying to celebrate some communication goal successes.
Now, I’ve worked with this client for a handful of sessions. We’d done the work. Targeted specific sounds and phrases to practice. Worked on pacing, intonation, and inflection.
And I won’t forget what he said.
He looked up at me and he smiled. He said that he ordered food over the phone for delivery. Now I can’t remember the restaurant, I can’t remember whether it was Chinese or pizza or something else.
But he told me that he didn’t have to repeat himself.
That he only had to say his request once and that was it.
And in that moment, I understood two things.
The practice, the speech, the intonation, the effectiveness of the communication. All of that was secondary. All of it was secondary to this feeling, this ability.
I wanted to be a part of helping more people like this. These mundane but meaningful experiences - they are the important parts. It is simply the ability to get the ideas from my brain to your brain. But many people in our communities cannot do that. They can’t fully express their idea in a way that gets to your brain. Or it takes a couple tries. Or there’s one aspect of the idea that doesn't get transmitted.
In that moment, I realized that my work was not just about teaching a North American English accent or improving communication skills. It was about helping people connect with others, to have the confidence to express themselves and be understood. It was about enabling them to experience the small but significant moments of everyday life that most people take for granted, like ordering food over the phone without fear of miscommunication.
To me, from that breakthrough moment on, I focused on not only building relationships with my clients and understanding their unique communication challenges, but focusing on the little things…like how to best communicate numbers like in a phone number. I began to see the potential for every client to have their own breakthrough moment, and it motivated me to continue to push them towards success.
Because in their lives, being able to order food again and again over the phone without having to repeat themselves is a moment they think is precious. It’s a moment they will aspire to have again and again.
And I don’t expect it to happen every time. They may have a new restaurant, a new food word, a new phone partner to deal with.
But I hope those small moments stick with people and encourage them and empower them.
It's amazing how a single moment can inspire such a significant change in perspective and approach.
