Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The presentation was strong on content. The slides were right, the numbers were right, and yet something lingered afterwards: it did not quite land. The presenter searched for words a little too often, the joke fell flat, and when the critical question came from the room, the answer suddenly became two levels simpler than the speaker actually is.
Sound familiar? This is the grey zone of business English: perfectly fine, but not quite good enough. Nowhere is that zone as visible as in meetings and presentations. That is where your team’s English is live, with no spell check and no time to think.
Where exactly do meetings in English go wrong?
Ask the people themselves and they will usually say “my vocabulary is not big enough”. Sit in on the meeting and you see something different. It gets stuck at five recurring moments.
1. The interruption. Joining a lively discussion takes reaction speed. Anyone who has to translate internally first is structurally three seconds late. And three seconds late in a meeting means: silent. Not because they have nothing to say, but because the moment has passed.
2. The nuance. “I see that differently” and “I do not fully agree” are easy to calibrate in your own language. In English, “I don’t agree” quickly sounds too blunt and “maybe we could consider” too weak. The result: people say less than they think, or come across harder than they mean.
3. The question from the room. Prepared text is fine. Improvising under pressure is not. That is exactly the moment a speaker falls back on simpler language and leaves the impression that the knowledge is missing, when only the language let them down for a moment.
4. The small talk beforehand. The five minutes before a meeting starts build relationships. That is precisely where many Dutch professionals drop out: they wait until it is “about the content” and miss the part where trust is built.
5. The summary. Whoever closes the meeting with conclusions and actions notices how precise language suddenly has to be. “We agreed that” and “we discussed whether” are two different outcomes. A sloppy summary in English costs an extra meeting later.
Where does your team get stuck?
The Business English Team Scan shows per employee what level their English is at and where the gains are. Free, in a few minutes, in Dutch and English.
Why does “just speak more English” not solve this?
Because the problem is not vocabulary but automation under pressure. The words are there. They just do not arrive fast enough at the moment it matters.
You do not train that automation by doing more of what already works: emailing, reading, listening along. Those are all situations without time pressure. You train it by practising the five moments above deliberately: interrupting, adding nuance, improvising, small talk and summarising. Again and again, with a trainer who raises the tempo and corrects on the spot.
The good news: this is trainable, and faster than most people think. Someone at B1+ who mainly gets stuck on confidence and speed notices a difference within a few weeks. The condition is that the training starts at the right level. Which level your team needs for meetings and presentations is explained in our guide to the CEFR levels A1 to C2. In short: B2 is the minimum for anyone who regularly meets in English, C1 for anyone who has to persuade and negotiate.
How do you approach it for a whole team?
Start by knowing where everyone stands. Within one team, levels usually vary more than expected. One person gets stuck on vocabulary, another only on the confidence to speak, a third speaks fluently but phrases things too bluntly. Three different problems that need three different solutions. A generic conversation class for the whole group is a waste of budget for this audience.
So measure first, per employee. Then train in small groups around real work situations: your own meetings, your own presentations, your own clients. A trainer who re-enacts a team meeting with the team itself, playing the critical client or the impatient director, does more for speaking skills than ten lessons from a book.
At Language Partners we do this with tailored Business English for teams: sessions with a trainer around your own practice, complemented by the online academy for the knowledge people can build independently. That way every minute with the trainer goes to the skill that pays off most: speaking under pressure.
Want to talk it through?
Tell us who needs better English and what for. You will hear from us within one working day and receive a tailored proposal within two, with no obligation.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get from B1+ to B2 in speaking?
As a rule of thumb, count on 150 to 200 guided learning hours per full level step. Someone already at B1+ who mainly gets stuck on speed and confidence often needs less: a focused 11-week programme with trainer sessions and self-study already makes a noticeable difference in meetings.
Does a standalone presentation skills course in English help?
If the participant is already at B2 and only wants to sharpen presentation skills: yes. If the level is below that, a presentation course mainly teaches tricks to hide the language problems. Measure the level first, then choose the format.
What can you do as a chair for colleagues who drop out?
Slow down deliberately at decision points, summarise along the way, and explicitly give quieter participants the floor. That costs a minute per meeting and brings in the people who would otherwise be three seconds late. It does not solve anything structurally; that takes training.
