How I Rebuilt My Confidence
After a Difficult Pre-Sales Presentation in English
Designed by Magnific – www.magnific.com
As a pre-sales engineer working in Belgium, I faced a challenging situation when I had to replace my colleague and deliver a pre-sales presentation in English to a strategic systems integrator.
As I hadn’t practiced delivering business presentations in English very much, the experience was very stressful and I quickly realised that I needed to improve my presentation skills in a foreign language.
The Context: Debriefing With My Manager After The Presentation
The next day, my manager called me for a short meeting. No need to ask, I knew what we were going to talk about.
I never knew if my former employer signed a contract with this systems integrator, but I was sure of one thing:
- Despite the unexpected situation, my pre-sales presentation in English as a non-native speaker didn’t go well.
We discussed the fact that I had been hired to meet French-speaking customers, but business needs change quickly, and I had to stay longer in Belgium to help the pre-sales team with English-speaking customers.
I obviously mentioned that I didn’t have enough practice in English, so my manager decided to organize a pre-sales team meeting. The objective:
- Each member of the team would deliver one part of the pre-sales presentation in English in front of the other colleagues.
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Practicing in English During the Pre-sales Team Meeting
1. I Lacked Confidence When Giving a Presentation in English
When I was listening to my colleagues, I noticed that:
- They had practiced the presentation more than me, as they had already met many customers.
- Their English was so fluent that they sounded like native speakers during customer presentations.
- They had a better accent than mine.
2. I Lacked Technical Knowledge for Customer Presentations
I knew that all my colleagues came from the consulting departement of the company, so they had strong technical knowledge of the GIS products.
All of them, except me.
Beside studying both the pre-sales presentation and customer case studies, I also had to understand the product API and be able to program in Java to understand how it worked.
The technical knowledge was essential to at least understand the technical questions during the pre-sales presentations.
The answers would be provided later by the developers, as I didn’t have enough technical knowledge to respond.
Filling this technical gap in a short time was not easy, as upcoming pre-sales presentations were already planned.
3. I Was Not Ready for This High-Stakes Business Presentation
Sometimes there are emergencies, and we have to replace a colleague for a presentation or another important task.
Knowing that it was an strategic customer, the company took the risk of choosing me to replace my colleague, as I had little experience with customers and pre-sales presentations in English.
I also later understood that I was just not comfortable delivering presentations in a cold atmosphere, in front of key stakeholders who barely interacted.
Of course, I felt more confident when I delivered business presentations to French-speaking customers, but I felt like I didn’t fit this type of meeting.
What Expats Can Learn from This Experience
When we join a new team, we all have different experiences:
- Colleagues can have more experience within the company.
- Colleagues can have stronger foreign language communication skills.
- But you were hired for skills that other don’t have.
Next Step: Building Confidence Through Real Business Interactions
An important event was coming up for the company to present its GIS products in 2010:
- Eurosatory, one of the world’s largest defence and security exhibitions.
It took place near Paris, and as I’m French, I was chosen to attend the booth for four days and present the GIS products to international customers in English and French.
Funny thing: I eventually had to speak more English than French, as potential customers were coming from all over the world.
That was a great experience, and I felt much more comfortable communicating with international visitors.
I understood that I fit the atmosphere of an exhibition better than a cold presentation in front of key stakeholders.
This event helped me regain confidence in my English communication skills after the difficult pre-sales presentation.
Last Advice for Expats
When you use French in professional situations and don’t feel comfortable, it’s not always due to a lack of French skills or cultural differences.
Sometimes, you need to understand that you won’t feel at ease in some situations and more comfortable in others.
So it you are in this situation, try to change your environment and see what you fit best.
It will also help you practice professional French with less pressure and more confidence.
Do you need to improve your professional French and practice answering technical questions for presentations, meetings, or job interviews?
Book your Professional French Assessment to prepare for your presentation in French.
I will assess your professional French and help you understand the local workplace cultural codes, and together we will define clear objectives for your upcoming presentation.