Self-confidence

This ESL lesson plan is most suitable for B2-level learners. It deals with the topic of self-confidence. Students will discuss situations in which they feel confident, and in which they don’t, will learn useful expressions for encouragement and motivation, and will learn words starting with “self-”. Other video-based lessons you might find interesting are: “Dealing with setbacks and failure”, “imposter syndrome“, “Using sports psychology to improve our everyday lives”, “Societal expectations“, “Perfectionism vs progress”, “Communication styles: assertive vs aggressive”, “Self-care“, as well as the worksheets “Phrasal verbs: motivation”, “Idioms: self-confidence”, “Idioms: talents, skills, and abilities”, “Phrasal verbs: psychology”, “Phrasal verbs: success”.

The lesson starts with a few speaking activities. First, students discuss 3 conversation questions. Then, they look at 6 statements and say whether they agree or they disagree with them. Next, students look at different situations and say whether they feel confident in each situation or not.

Vocabulary and speaking: Students look at a few sentences that contain pre-listening vocabulary (capable, worthwhile, valuable, pep talk, face challenges head-on). They match the words to their definitions and say if the sentences are true for them, giving examples.

Listening: Students watch a video called “3 tips to boost your confidence”, and complete 2 listening comprehension activities.

Functional language: Students learn expressions used for motivation and encouragement. They match the 2 lines of 8 short dialogues and underlined the expressions. Then, they create dialogues of their own.

Vocabulary: Students learn 10 words that start with “self-” (e.g. self-awareness, self-control, self-respect, self-defense, self-expression), and then discuss a few conversation questions given.

For more speaking practice, you can use the conversation cards.