If you are just meeting me for the first time, I’m so happy to welcome you to our community.

Maybe you found me through my YouTube channel, the English Teacher Business Network Facebook group or English Teacher Business School Facebook or Instagram accounts or other social media sites, and I’m very glad you did!

I’m Heather Hansen, Director of Singapore-based corporate training firm, Global Speech Academy, and Founder of the English Teacher Business School.

I started this school because it pains me to hear people complain about not being able to make ends meet as a teacher. I hear stories about people wondering if they have to give up their passion for teaching because they can barely pay their bills. It doesn’t have to be this way. In our multi-billion dollar industry, there is no reason you shouldn’t be making a solid, comfortable salary every single year doing what you love.

I’ll show you exactly how that is possible in the courses you’ll find here at English Teacher Business School.

It’s important to me that you know I am teaching from experience. I am still actively working in (and on) my communication consulting business. Like you, I had zero business knowledge when I started, and there was a very steep learning curve. I turned to colleagues, friends and mentors and applied advice step by step. There were some good wins, and a lot of misses that I’ve learned from along the way
Outside of English Teacher Business School, my core business is helping talented global professionals speak with clarity and confidence in international settings. I’m a corporate trainer in Global English pronunciation, presentation skills and people skills. I help professionals one-on-one or in larger groups to communicate clearly and confidently in international settings. I’m author of the book, Powerful People Skills, and contributing author to 3 other books in the areas of Global English policy, people skills and networking skills. My next book, “Powerful People Skills for the Digital Age” will be published by Marshall Cavendish in 2020.

80% of my business today is with corporate clients, while the remaining 20% is with individual clients paying out of pocket and online courses like this one. There is nothing I will teach you here that I am not currently implementing (or have implemented) as a global corporate trainer, speaker, coach and author.

I gave my first TEDx talk titled “2 Billion Voices: How to speak Bad English perfectly” in 2018. I was asked back to host TEDxOdense in 2019 for an audience of 1,000, and will host again in 2021 (2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19). I am a huge supporter of TEDx  because I believe it provides a wonderful platform for global voices to be heard around the world.

 

Online, you’ll find me creating videos on clear speech and running online programs like this one. I also do almost all my one-on-one coaching online, and have a packed schedule of video coaching calls with clients all over the world.

I was born and raised in California, but have lived all over, primarily in Denmark and Singapore (DK 2002-06, SG 2006-14, DK 2014-18, SG 2018 to present). I spend a lot of my time working internationally and have run programs in the US, Middle East, South-East Asia, Europe and Africa.

I am married to a Dane (yes, he’s Great) and we have two wonderful daughters. Our language preference at home is normally English, although we all speak Danish and English fluently.

My free time is filled with sports. I started Taekwondo in early 2015 and earned my 2nd degree black belt in the summer of 2019. My daughters participate in this sport with me, and just got their junior black belts. I have also just started back with competitive swimming (my childhood sport) at the Masters level.

I hope you enjoy your learning journey in the English Teacher Business School. Several years have gone into building these courses on a part-time basis alongside my primary business. I’m looking forward to sharing tested strategies with you that can get you off to the right start with your company. The goal of the school is to help you find a well-earning business model that fits your dream lifestyle, location and working hours doing what you love. I want to watch you build a successful and sustainable business with unlimited growth potential.

To your success!
Heather

P.S. If you’d like to learn more about my offline, corporate work, please visit Global Speech Academy