Zoey： Hey， Tobin， ①why the long face？

Tobin： Oh， Zoey， you wouldnt understand.

Zoey： Try me.

Tobin： Well， its stupid， really. Its just that I…well…Im not feeling too confident lately.

Zoey： ②Well， that came out of the blue. You did a great job in the meeting today. Your presentation may have won a new client for us！

Tobin： Well， thanks， Zoey， ③but that client was already kind of a done deal. Im not sure I had anything to do with that. And lately， I dunno， ④but I feel like my work isnt turning any heads. ⑤I guess Im just not up to par around here.

And ever since Alice left me…

Zoey： ⑥Whoa， whoa， TMI.

Tobin： Right. Im thinking about going to talk to HR about it. I just dont feel like Im good enough to be here.

Zoey： Im glad you opened up to me about this. I dont think you have anything to worry about.

Tobin： Really？

Zoey： Yeah. Your work is fine， your life is fine. All you need to do is to practice being confident.

Tobin： I can practise confidence？

Zoey： Of course you can！ Confidence is a skill， just like anything else. In fact， the most important thing to remember about confidence is that most people dont feel confident at all. The people who do feel confident have probably practised it.

Tobin： But in the meeting today， I was clearly less confident than the other presenters. I 1）stuttered a lot…

Zoey： Did you？ I didnt notice， and I bet nobody else did， either. The truth is， people are usually too worried about themselves to pay too much attention to

anyone else. If you make a few mistakes here

and there， ⑦chances are nobody will judge

you for it.

Tobin： Well， thats good to know.

Zoey： In fact， before people even hear you

speak， what they notice most about you is

your clothes. Dressing well will make other

people think youre more confident， and then

its easier to believe in yourself. Remember：

⑧the clothes make the man！

Tobin： Hm， in that case， I really didnt dress

the right way today. Sorry.

Zoey： Dont apologize for that！ Every time you apologize， you make yourself seem smaller. Sure， its polite to apologize when you really make a mistake， but dont overdo it！

Tobin： Whoa， OK. Anything else？

Zoey： The thing that helps me is to keep reminding myself of the things I do really well. ⑨Remember yesterday， when Anderson tore into me about that error I missed in the company report？ I felt pretty low about that， but then I went home and made my favorite meal.

Tobin： Whats that got to do with confidence？

佐薇：嘿，托賓，為什么一副愁眉苦臉的樣子？

托賓：哦，佐薇，你不會(huì)明白。

佐薇：試著說(shuō)說(shuō)看。

托賓：嗯，很蠢，真的。就是我……我最近感覺(jué)沒(méi)什么自信。

佐薇：哦，真出乎我意料。你今天在會(huì)議上表現(xiàn)得很出色，你的演示會(huì)為我們贏得一位新客戶(hù)！

托賓：嗯，謝謝，佐薇，但是跟那個(gè)客戶(hù)已經(jīng)是最終簽約了，我不確定自己跟這事有什么關(guān)系。而且最近，我也不知道，但我覺(jué)得我的工作無(wú)人關(guān)注，我想我在這里達(dá)不到需要的水平。而且自從艾麗絲離開(kāi)了我……

佐薇：哇，哇，你說(shuō)得太多了。

托賓：沒(méi)錯(cuò)。我正考慮跟人力資源部談?wù)勥@事，我覺(jué)得自己在這里做得不夠好。

佐薇：我很高興你能跟我敞開(kāi)心扉談?wù)撨@些，我覺(jué)得你不用擔(dān)心任何事情。

托賓：真的？

佐薇：是的。你的工作很好，你的生活很好。你需要做的就是訓(xùn)練你的自信。托賓：自信也可以訓(xùn)練出來(lái)的？

佐薇：當(dāng)然可以！自信是種技巧，就像其他技巧一樣。事實(shí)上，關(guān)于自信最重要的一點(diǎn)就是記住：大多數(shù)人都感覺(jué)不自信。感覺(jué)自信的人很可能是訓(xùn)練過(guò)。托賓：但在今天的會(huì)議上，我很明顯沒(méi)有其他演示者自信，我很多時(shí)候說(shuō)得結(jié)結(jié)巴巴……

佐薇：是嗎？我沒(méi)留意到，我打賭其他人也沒(méi)留意到。事實(shí)是，人們通常太擔(dān)心自己以至于沒(méi)有留意到別人。如果你偶爾犯些錯(cuò)誤，很可能沒(méi)人會(huì)因此批判

你。

托賓：嗯，很高興知道這些。

佐薇：事實(shí)上，人們甚至在聽(tīng)你講話(huà)前，他們最留意的是你的穿著。穿著得體會(huì)讓其他人認(rèn)為你更有自信，也會(huì)讓你更相信自己。記?。喝丝恳卵b！

托賓：如果那樣的話(huà)，今天我真的沒(méi)

有穿著得體。抱歉。

佐薇：別為這事道歉！每次你道歉，就會(huì)使自己顯得更渺小。確實(shí)，當(dāng)你真的做錯(cuò)事了，道歉是種禮貌，但是不要做過(guò)頭了。

托賓：哇，好的。還有嗎？

佐薇：有一點(diǎn)能幫助我的就是：不斷提起那些自己真的做得很好的事情。還記得昨天我因?yàn)樵诠緢?bào)告中出了錯(cuò)漏，而被安得生狠狠地訓(xùn)了一頓嗎？我因此感到情緒很低落，于是我回家做了自己最喜愛(ài)的大餐。

托賓：那跟自信有什么關(guān)系？

Zoey： It just helped to remind myself that， even if Im not perfect at work， I can still cook a mean 2）mac n cheese！

佐薇：那只是用于提醒我自己：盡管工作方面不能十全十美，但我仍能烹飪一頓美味可口的奶酪馬克羅尼意面！

Smart Sentences

① Why the long face？ 為什么一副愁眉苦臉的樣子？

a long face： a discontented or sullen facial expression（陰郁的面容，不悅的表情）。例如：

Dont go to Mrs. Thomas if you dont have to. Shes had a long face all morning.

沒(méi)事兒別去找湯姆斯夫人，她整個(gè)上午都黑著個(gè)臉。

② Well， that came out of the blue. 哦，真出乎我意料。

out of the blue： sth. happens suddenly（突然地）。例如：

The strike came out of the blue and caught everyone off guard.罷工的發(fā)生沒(méi)有先兆，所有人都被打了個(gè)措手不及。

③ But that client was already kind of a done deal.但是跟那個(gè)客戶(hù)已經(jīng)是最終簽約了。

a done deal： a final decision or agreement（最終決定，最終協(xié)議）。例如：

The merge is not a done deal. We still have to get an okay from the government.

合并還不是定數(shù)，我們還要得到政府部門(mén)的許可。

④ But I feel like my work isnt turning any heads.但我覺(jué)得我的工作無(wú)人關(guān)注。

turn heads： sth. or sb. is getting attention or has come to be noticed（引起注意，受到關(guān)注）。例如：

Brian didnt expect to turn any heads， but his design was highly praised.

布萊恩沒(méi)想有人會(huì)關(guān)注他，但他的設(shè)計(jì)獲得了很高的評(píng)價(jià)。

⑤ I guess Im just not up to par around here. 我想我在這里達(dá)不到需要的水平。

up to par： as good as the standard or average； up to standard（達(dá)到一般水平，達(dá)到標(biāo)準(zhǔn)）。例如：

The manager said that the report was not up to par and gave it back to the team to do over again.

經(jīng)理說(shuō)報(bào)告沒(méi)有達(dá)到標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，把它退回給小組重做。

⑥ Whoa， whoa， TMI. 哇，哇，你說(shuō)得太多了。

TMI： = too much information， an expression of distaste or boredom at the information being offered（用以表達(dá)對(duì)他人喋喋不休的不悅，或不耐煩）。例如：

—I heard that John is quitting， but I think Jim should leave， not John. But Jim wouldnt go because he is Susies pet. I dont think Susie is a good supervisorcause Chris…

我聽(tīng)說(shuō)約翰要辭職，可我覺(jué)得應(yīng)該走的是吉姆，而不是約翰?？杉凡粫?huì)走呢，因?yàn)樗盥?tīng)蘇茜話(huà)了。我覺(jué)得蘇茜不是個(gè)好上司，因?yàn)榭死锼埂?/p>

—TMI！Stop. Dont have time for that.

什么亂七八糟的。別說(shuō)了，沒(méi)那個(gè)閑功夫。

⑦ Chances are nobody will judge you for it.很可能沒(méi)人會(huì)因此批判你。

chances are…： its very likely sth. is true（某事很可能是真的）。例如：

Chances are I have to take a makeup test next week.我下星期很可能要補(bǔ)考。

⑧ The clothes make the man！ 人靠衣裝！

Clothes make the man.： a proverb， people will judge sb. according to the way he/she dresses（諺語(yǔ)，人靠衣裝）。例如：

If you follow that clothes make the man at interviews， you will miss great talents.

如果你在面試時(shí)遵循人靠衣裝的法則，那你就會(huì)錯(cuò)過(guò)好人才。

⑨ Remember yesterday， when Anderson tore into me about that error I missed in the company report？ 還記得昨天我因?yàn)樵诠緢?bào)告中出了錯(cuò)漏，而被安得生狠狠地訓(xùn)了一頓嗎？

tear into sb.： criticize sb. very angrily and strongly（嚴(yán)厲批評(píng)某人）。例如：

Mr. Lin tore into Kelly about mistaking meter for yard.凱莉把米當(dāng)成碼，被林先生狠狠地批評(píng)了一通。