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Discussion on: “You’re a panelist for 2018 CodeTalk Series” – about the struggles of giving a live presentation in a foreign language

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rodrigojuarez profile image
Rodrigo Juarez

I'm invited to participate in a podcast about software development, in English, but I'm a Spanish native speaker with an intermediate English level.
I will not be able to script my talk because I will be talking with another person.
Do you have any recommendations?

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Samuel Nitsche

Is there a possibility to reach out to the other panelists?
It might be helpful to know upfront what questions might come up.
I also guess the talk will be about a specific topic. You could think about the things you want to say and memorize some answers (Like a super short talk). That way it will be much easier to find the right words because your brain can at least partially rely on memorized sentences.
A big difference to a presentation is that you don't have the same time pressure. A discussion allows for more breaks and can be a bit slower.

One thing I noticed during all the talks I've given since my first: The beginning for me is the hardest. The more I have talked the more relaxed and natural I get.
So it might be a possibility to memorize one or two mini topics and speak with the moderator to get to them first.
At the time where you hit the more free Q&A part you'll already be more relaxed.

Best of luck! You will rock!