OK, native English speakers actually CAN speak English.
However, when presenting in English to an audience of non-native speakers, native English speakers are often misunderstood or not understood at all. Why? There are a variety of potential reasons.
It could be the speaker’s accent. Perhaps the speaker is speaking too fast, or using jargon and idioms. It might be that the speaker is using linguistic constructions that are challenging for non-native speakers. Maybe it is all of the foregoing.
Whatever the reason(s), it is a problem. And because English is the world’s lingua franca and many events are held in English, it is a big problem. Financial Times columnist Michael Skapinker has written about this situation. He says that it is widely recognized that many non-native English speakers don’t understand what native English speakers are saying. Furthermore, Brits, Americans, Australians, Canadians and others who have spoken English all their lives “are largely oblivious to the incomprehension they leave behind at conferences, business meetings and on conference calls”.
In April 2024, I spoke at the annual conference of the European Speechwriter Network at Cambridge University. The purpose of my talk was to help native English speakers connect more effectively with non-native-speaking audiences. It was based on my years of experience working people from all over the world, both during my years at the United Nations and my years as a professional speaker who works around the world.
Adjusting your English for a non-native audience
In my talk, which you can watch below, I examined the problem and the reasons for it. I then offered a “basket” of ideas for people to consider when speaking to a non-native audience. Many of the tips will also be useful for native speakers of any language when speaking in that language to a non-native audience. However some of the tips are related to linguistic constructions in English—such as contractions and phrasal verbs—that are not present in many other languages.
I also created the simple infographic below that contains 12 tips for native speakers when presenting to a non-native audience. For more thoughts on this topic, you can also read this post which I wrote several years ago.
