We Speak. I'm Feifei.

And I'm Roy!

I'm really impressed, Roy.

Neil said you have real clout!

What?! You mean that Neil wants

to hit me? Is he angry with me?

No, Roy. 'Clout' can mean to hit

someone as a verb, but it can also

be used as a noun to mean 'your

influence or fame on social media'.

Neil was talking about how much

clout you have with all your followers.

Ahh... that kind of clout. But I don't

have that many followers.

Sometimes people get my name

confused with...

Rob! It's Rob who has the clout!

He has lots of followers and

some real influence on social media.

He's using it to sell biscuits

his mum made.

Hmmm! I'm going to try and find some

more followers while we listen

to some examples.

Esmeralda has some real clout

on social media. She has so many

followers who watch all her vlogs.

We've decided to hire an influencer

with real clout to help us launch

our new project.

Derek used his clout to sell the

new perfume to his millions of followers.

This is The English We Speak

from BBC Learning English,

and we're talking about the informal

expression 'clout', which means

your level of fame or influence on

social media. It can also be used in

another situation, can't it?

That's right - it can also be used in

business or politics, to refer to the

level of power and influence

a person has. For example,

'My boss used their clout to get

the deal done'.

That's right. So, Roy - did you

have any success in getting any more

followers? Do you have some more clout?

Yes! My mum just followed me and

as soon as I posted my new photo

someone liked it!

Liking your own photos doesn't count

as clout - you can't influence yourself!

Right - I'm off to get a photo with Rob,

so I can get more followers.

That sounds like a great way

to increase your clout!

It does. Bye, Roy!

Bye, Feifei!