Progression Presentations – rites (and wrongs) of passage

This week I’ve been helping a couple of my clients prepare for important, career progression presentations which, all being well, will result in their respective promotions. Quite apart from the normal anxiety associated with presenting to senior management these sessions create additional stress for non-native speakers as they have to be delivered in English. Even for highly proficient ESL speakers this requirement substantially increases the pressure they feel.

The process got me thinking about the emphasis some companies, typically large global corporates, place on these ‘milestone’ presentations in identifying and developing leaders and whether ultimately they help or hinder leadership development.

At an early stage in my own career, and following three or four months of training, I was required to demonstrate my readiness for a promotion to senior managers. On my first pass I was unsuccessful but was given the opportunity to try again a few months later and, the second time round, I succeeded. It was certainly a memorable if not enjoyable experience. The “board presentation” was more than a demonstration of your knowledge and skills. It was a thumbs up from one’s superiors that you could join the club, that you were now accepted as part of the team. This liminal process was embedded in the company culture, as much a rite of passage as an assessment of competence. It established an important bond within the team. To this extent, even though stressful, I do see value in these kind of career stage events in building teams through shared experience and common identity.

It would, however, have been very different if I’d tried to present in another language. I once had to give a formal bi-lingual speech. It did not go well, and I will always remember the feeling of panic as I searched for unfamiliar vocabulary in front of a relatively unsympathetic audience.

Organisations that employ these standardised global progression presentations in English need to be conscious of the anxiety that they create for non-native speakers. Even for advanced ESL speakers there needs to be coaching and tuition support to ensure that they are properly prepared and equipped for their assessments. This is not just preparing the presentation structure and content but also helping candidates distil and articulate the key points into simple, powerful language in order to make their points.

If your organisation mandates English for these progression presentations, then it would certainly be worth thinking about how you can reduce the stress by offering non-English speaking staff professional language coaching ahead of time.