For non-native English speakers who've ever said the right thing in a meeting and watched someone else get the credit for it, this episode names exactly why that keeps happening, and it isn't your English.Tannia breaks down why most executive presence training was never built with non-native speakers in mind, reverse-engineered instead from what already sounded familiar to the native English speakers writing the rules.
She walks through the real mechanics of the translation lag (a timing problem, not a fluency problem), why directness needs calibration rather than a fixed formula, and why the apology for an accent costs more credibility than the accent itself ever does.This conversation is for you if you've ever felt like you were doing everything the leadership books tell you to do, and it still didn't feel like it fit.
📌 In this episode:
0:00 The meeting where someone else got the credit for your point
1:06 Why the executive presence model was never built for you 2:43 The reframe: wrong scoreboard, not behind
3:14 Three things nobody tells you about executive presence 3:21 The translation lag is a timing problem, not a fluency problem
4:26 Client story: replacing nervous filler with grounded pauses 5:21 Directness isn't rudeness, it's calibration
6:35 Client story: the executive told she was too quiet
7:36 Your accent isn't costing you the room, your apology is
8:53 Client story: the executive who over-explained to compensate
9:55 The three moves to build instead
11:51 Closing thoughts
📌 About Tannia:Tannia Suárez is an Executive and Leadership Communication Coach who helps ambitious non-native English-speaking professionals build executive presence, communicate with clarity, and lead with confidence in English.
Through her coaching practice and the Leadership English Podcast, she works with international executives across industries to close the gap between who they already are and how they're perceived under pressure.Listen to the full conversation and catch every episode of Leadership English: https://www.tanniasuarez.com/podcast
🔴 Want exclusive access and bonuses? Join the Leadership English Insider community: https://www.tanniasuarez.com/insider#LeadershipCommunication
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