When someone books a first call with me, they almost always describe their English the same way.
“It’s good. I’m fluent. But…”
And then comes a moment. Never a grammar problem. A moment.
The meeting where someone interrupted them and they never got the floor back. The question from the CEO they answered in half the words they would have used in their own language. The presentation they over-prepared so thoroughly that they froze the moment the discussion went somewhere else.
I’ve stopped asking people how good their English is. I ask where it lets them down under pressure. Because that’s where authority is won or lost, and it’s almost never where people think.
And this isn’t only about English. I see exactly the same pattern in anyone working in a language that isn’t their first, whether that’s English, Italian, German or Spanish. The language changes. The pressure moments don’t.
So here’s a quick test. Ten moments. Be honest with yourself.
The Pressure Test
Think about the last time each of these actually happened. Score yourself from 1 (I lose ground, or I avoid it) to 5 (I’m exactly as sharp as in my own language).
When you have time to prepare
- Opening a presentation
- Explaining a complex idea simply
- Summarising what was decided
When the script disappears
- Speaking up without over-preparing every word first
- A question you didn’t prepare for, from the most senior person in the room
- Losing a word in the middle of a sentence
When there is tension
- Being interrupted
- Saying “I disagree” in a meeting
- Pushing back on a deadline
- Giving feedback to someone above you
What your pattern says
Your total matters less than where your lowest scores sit. Look at the three groups and ask yourself which one hurts most.
Lowest when you have time to prepare? You are the Natural Improviser. Great in the room, but your structure undersells you.
Lowest when the script disappears? You are the Prepared Performer. Brilliant with a script, exposed without one.
Lowest when there is tension? You are the Careful Diplomat. Clear about the work, quiet when it gets uncomfortable.
Most people recognise themselves in one of these within seconds. What surprises them is how fixable it is once they know which one, because each profile needs a completely different kind of work. More vocabulary won’t help the Prepared Performer. More presentation practice won’t help the Careful Diplomat.
Let me tell you where I’d start
Send me a DM with the word PRESSURE and your three lowest scores.
I’ll reply personally, not with a template, and tell you the first thing I’d work on if you were sitting across the table from me.
I read and answer every single one myself.
