Negotiation and presentation coaching
This is short, intensive one-to-one preparation for a specific event in English: a negotiation, a presentation, a conference panel, or an interview. Sessions rehearse the language, the delivery, and the questions likely to come up, and are scheduled backwards from the date of the event.
What people prepare for
- A negotiation where the commercial terms are settled in English
- A presentation to a board, a client, or a conference audience
- A panel appearance, where the questions are not known in advance
- A senior job interview conducted in English
If none of these describes you exactly, write anyway. The list is a guide, not a filter.
How the sessions work
The first session establishes the event: who is in the room, what they want, what you want, and what you are worried about. We then work on the actual language of that situation rather than on general fluency.
Most of the time is spent rehearsing out loud. You present, I interrupt with the questions the audience will ask, and we work on the answers. For a negotiation, we rehearse the moments that decide the outcome: opening a number, refusing without closing the door, and buying time when you need it.
Sessions are recorded if you want them to be. Watching yourself is uncomfortable and it is the fastest correction available for pace, filler words, and the habit of trailing off at the end of a sentence.
What we work on
Fluency is rarely the limiting factor for people at this stage. The limiting factors are precision under pressure and tone.
- Saying a number, a condition, or a refusal clearly and once
- Softening or hardening a position without changing its substance
- Handling a hostile or unexpected question without losing the thread
- Pace and pausing, which carry more authority in English than volume does
- The specific phrases that signal you are closing, conceding, or holding
Timing
A typical preparation is three to five sessions over two to three weeks. When the date is closer, the same work compresses into a small number of longer sessions, including at short notice.
If your event is more than a couple of months out and the underlying English needs raising too, business English lessons are the better starting point, with this coaching added in the final weeks.
Who coaches it
For five years I was a singer at the Budapest Operetta Theatre. The stage trains exactly what fails under pressure: breath, voice, pace, pronunciation, and delivering prepared words as though you mean them. It is also where I first helped colleagues with pronunciation and the accurate delivery of text.
I also spent several years guiding groups of international scholarship students, explaining things to rooms of people with different first languages and reading, in real time, whether it was landing. Coaching someone for a presentation or a negotiation draws on both, alongside my training as a CELTA-qualified English teacher.
Common questions
What is presentation coaching?
Presentation coaching prepares you for one specific presentation rather than teaching presenting in general. Sessions rehearse the language you will use, the way you deliver it, and the questions you are likely to be asked, and are scheduled backwards from the date of the event.
What is negotiation training in English?
It is preparation for negotiating in a language that is not your first. The English of disagreeing, conceding, holding a position and closing is specific and largely formulaic, and it is very hard to improvise under pressure. Sessions rehearse those moves against a counterpart who pushes back.
How soon before the event should we start?
Two to three weeks is comfortable. A week is workable. The day before is too late for anything except a light rehearsal, and cramming the night before usually makes delivery worse rather than better.
Can you help with the slides or the script as well?
Yes, as far as the language goes. I will work on the wording, the structure, and what to say against each slide. I am not a designer, so the visual design stays with you or with whoever makes your templates.
Is this useful if my English is already fluent?
Usually yes, because the work is about precision and tone under pressure rather than fluency. Fluent speakers often lose ground in exactly one place, such as handling interruptions, and that is a fixable thing.
Can we do this online?
Yes, and if your event itself is online, preparing online is better, because we rehearse in the same medium, with the same camera and the same delay.
Do you sign a confidentiality agreement?
Yes. Most of this work involves commercially sensitive material, and I expect to see the real numbers and the real terms, so confidentiality is assumed rather than requested.
How much do lessons cost?
Prices depend on the lesson length, whether the lessons are one-to-one or in a group, and whether they run in person or online. Send me a message describing what you need and I will quote a rate.
Tell me about the event
Send the date, the format, and what would count as a good outcome. I will tell you what we can realistically cover in the time left.