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What do you find most challenging about making presentations in a foreign language?
That is a question I can now answer in detail, since I recently had the opportunity to see how the shoe feels on the other foot, when I was asked to make a presentation in German … and remembered that knowing what to do and doing it aren’t the same!
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The presentation I needed to make was part of a kick-off event for an exciting new blended learning project with Global English at one of our clients. I was going to be one of three presenters, speaking to a group of around fifty German HR specialists and managers, and as this was a high profile flag ship project the kick-off needed to build interest and motivation. Doing it in German didn’t worry me too much – but I knew it was going to be functional rather than elegant. Having learnt most of my German by “doing” rather than “studying”, I sacrifice accuracy for communication. (My German trainer tells me my German is CEFR B2 – for the record I think she’s being nice – but my grammar ist nicht gut.)
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FREE EBOOK
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I’ve been involved in business English training since I left university, and over the years I’ve helped executives, managers and experts improve their presentations in English. I’ve worked with confident presenters, nervous presenters, boring presenters and inspiring presenters. Some of them have struggled with their presentations skills, others with their content and many with their English skills. As I was going to be presenting in a foreign language the first thing I did was sit down and write down all the advice I’d give a client faced with the same situation in reverse. Here are some of the key points I came up with:
6 tips to remember when presenting in another language
- Identify my key messages before I do anything else – and make sure I can phrase and rephrase these
- Keep it relevant by using examples and stories
- Don’t try to learn the presentation word for word – it will make me nervous and inflexible
- But do think through and practice my introduction in advance – by getting off on the right foot I knew I’d relax
- Never rely on prompt cards – they’ll just get in my way and stop me building rapport with audience – and for the same reasons don’t read from my slides
- And most importantly - don’t get hung up on the language - they are there to hear what I’m saying – not how I’m saying it
So, after some preparation and practice I drove to Bonn, made the presentation and felt that my message was clear and the audience seemed interested and convinced. There’d been some nodding heads, some laughter in the right places, and a few questions. Job well done, I thought.
Reflecting and debriefing is always important if you want to get better, and there were a couple of people in the audience who I knew and respected. With this in mind, I asked them how they felt I had done, and what I could do better next time. Their answer was clear and consistent – “Sometimes you spoke a bit too fast and “ It was hard to hear you in some places”. Ouch!
I thought about the feedback – and then replayed my presentation in my mind. It was only then that I realised I’d forgotten to remind myself about a common problem that many people face when presenting in a foreign language – nerves mean they forget the 4Ps.
The 7th tip for presenting in another language- the 4Ps
The 4Ps are:
- Power - speaking audibly and clearly
- Pitch – using the stress and tone of your voice to emphasize key points
- Pace - matching the speed at which you speak to the message and the audience
- Pause – playing with silence and breaks to draw attention to build suspense, interest, draw attention to key points and signal thematic changes
Upon reflection I realised that when I’d began to struggle with my German I’d unconsciously began to speak a little quieter. Although I knew what I wanted to say I wasn’t sure about how I was saying it - and without realizing it I’d turned the power down (tip to self – use a microphone next time it’s offered). I also realised that sometimes when I’d began to struggle with my German I’d unintentionally spoke faster to hide my mistakes.
Next time I’ll keep the 4Ps in mind. But what about you?
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