(Originally sought out to answer this question on Quora.)

Original question:

How do I convince people of my purposes, ideas and motivations? What are your experiences in this subject? And how do I deal with this problem, especially when I have difficulty speaking?

Well, the experience I have in regards to this is when I first became an English instructor.

I got a job in a private college in Vancouver, Canada, teaching English to international students from countries such as Korea, Japan, Mexico, and Brazil. Initially, there were students from one particular country who complained to the director of the school, saying I wasn’t a “native speaker” because I looked Asian.

The director told me this and gave me a chance to prove myself to those students. I demonstrated to the students through my teaching that I was knowledgeable in English, I answered their grammar questions correctly without any hesitation, and over time they saw that I was a legitimate instructor.

I ended up being an English instructor for over nine years before switching careers.

The key is to have confidence, prove to the intended audiences your ability, and do not waver. I was not intimidated; yes, my skin colour was not what the students wanted as an ideal teacher. I perhaps had a slight accent – though not much, I would say – but in front of them I behaved professionally, made jokes with them, and had confidence. In the end, I was able to convince them I was the right person for the job.

I should also say that prior to this teaching job, I did not have any experience in public speaking. Perhaps I was not that great in my first few lessons. I remember the days when I was in high school and university where I didn’t talk much because I was very shy. I had a hard time talking to strangers, so I did have difficulty with speaking with people. But when I found out how much those students hated me – because of my skin colour – I became motivated and I was confident. I overcame any shyness or any hesitation that I had had before, and went out there to prove them wrong. Therefore, I would say that other than confidence, you need to have the proper motivation to handle this.