The #1 mistake Polish executives make when presenting in English?
Reading their PowerPoint word for word.
Your British or American audience is not listening to you. They are reading ahead of you. And they are bored.
At Redline Warsaw, we coach C-level presentations every week. Your English is perfect. Your delivery is… Polish-academic.
Here is how to sound confident, British-natural, and keep their attention.
1. START WITH A STORY, NOT AN AGENDA
Polish way (boring):
“Today I will present our Q3 results. On slide 1 you can see agenda. First I will talk about…”
British way (hook):
“Before I start, let me ask you: what if I told you we grew 40% last quarter without spending 1 extra złoty? Let me show you how.”
Why it works: British presentations start with “Why should I care?”. Not “What will I show?”.
Phrases to use:
Instead of “I will present…”, say “I’d like to walk you through…”
Instead of “On this slide…”, say “What this shows is…”
2. STOP APOLOGISING FOR YOUR ENGLISH
We hear this every week:
“Sorry for my English, I will try…”
Never say it. You just told the room your English is bad. They will now listen for mistakes.
Say this instead:
“Thanks so much for having me — I’ll keep this to 15 minutes so we have time for discussion.”
Confident. Time-respectful. British.
If you forget a word:
Don’t freeze. Say “Let me rephrase that…” or “The word I’m looking for is…” — native speakers do this too!
3. THE 3 MAGIC PHRASES FOR Q&A (When you don’t understand)
This is where even C1 speakers panic.
Phrase 1: When you need time
Instead of silence, say: “That’s a great question — let me think about that for a second.”
Phrase 2: When you didn’t understand
Don’t say “What?”. Say: “Sorry, could you just rephrase that for me?”
Phrase 3: When you DON’T know the answer
Don’t lie. British pros say: “That’s a really good point, I don’t have the exact figure to hand, but I can follow up with you right after this call.”
“To hand” = very British. “Follow up” = professional.
CHEAT SHEET FOR YOUR NEXT PRESENTATION
Open: “Thanks for being here. I’m going to share 3 key takeaways…”
Transition: “Moving on to…” / “This leads me nicely to…”
Highlight: “The key thing here is…” (not “Very important is…”)
Finish: “To wrap up, let me leave you with this thought…” (not “That’s all”)
Ask: “I’d love to hear your thoughts.” (not “Any questions?”)
Homework for teens: Same rules for your matura oral. Don’t read. Talk. Use “Let me give you an example…”
Presentations are where contracts are won. Let’s make yours confident and British-natural, not read word-for-word.
Book a set of classes: Contact Alex
