I’ve met loads of people in Thailand who use English at work every day. Especially at the managerial level or executive level. I’m talking about in small, medium, and large companies, Thai- or foreign-owned.
Some of them sound like the King of England when they speak! In fact, they often have a better grasp of English grammar than I do (such as when I’m speaking with friends and not paying close attention to what I’m saying).
But even among this group of perfectly bilingual Thai business people, sometimes there is something missing in the way they communicate in professional settings.
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It’s one thing to lead meetings and give presentations in coherent English.
But it is quite another to do those things with confidence and authority.
Confidence and authority are another layer of communication that becomes very important once professionals begin operating in high-level business environments.
We call this combination of coherent English plus confidence and authority Executive Presence.
In my experience, there is room for improvement among business leaders in Thailand when it comes to speaking their second language with Executive Presence.
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I’ll tell you why Executive Presence has become the foundation of our Executive Coaching programs – particularly for managers, directors, and sales professionals who need to be trusted as leaders.
It’s because leadership communication requires good English plus excellent soft skills to be most effective.
So our Executive Coaching programs typically focus on three interconnected areas of development for Thai leaders:
- Language
Sentence structure and vocabulary for specific functions like meetings, presentations, and negotiations - Delivery
Pace, pauses, pronunciation, as well as tone, clarity, and conciseness (i.e., ‘economy of words’) - Demeanor
Confidence, composure, eye contact, posture, hand gestures, and other forms of nonverbal communication
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LANGUAGE
Language – the first category of Executive Presence – is all about mouth noises and their meaning (i.e., ‘words’).
This includes individual vocabulary words and phrases for business, as well as what to say and when to say it. It is fluency development for situations like meetings, presentations, negotiations, etc.
Here are some of the things related to English “Language” (the words) that executives in Thailand could improve:
- Explaining technical or financial information clearly
- Giving concise, on-point updates during business meetings
- Answering questions without hesitation during Q&A or discussions
- Interrupting politely and redirecting discussions that go off-topic
- Having executive-level small talk conversations more naturally
But that’s just a small portion of the ways that executives use English. There are many more.
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DELIVERY
Delivery – the second category of Executive Presence – is all about how you make your words (your mouth noises) sound to your listeners.
In leadership environments, this includes the speed with which those word come out, the space between words, the rising and falling of the tone, and the ease with which the listener can process the sounds.
Business people think very differently about a speaker who is hurried, uncertain, and disorganized versus the one who is cool, calm, and collected.
Strong communicators choose words wisely and deliver them carefully. This demonstrates confidence and authority, whatever the scenario, which is exactly what we want from our senior leadership.
We help them overcome the following issues:
- Speaking too quickly
- Failing to pause at the right times
- Losing pronunciation control and clarity
- Overusing filler words such as “uh” and “um”
- Speaking in long, fast streams without emphasizing key points
The truth is, these are simply bad habits. They can be fixed with a bit of guidance and practice, so that Thai CEOs exhibit confidence and authority even in English.
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DEMEANOR
Demeanor – the third category of Executive Presence – is all about the nonverbal side of professional communication.
This includes where to look, how to sit or stand, what do do with one’s arms and hands, facial expressions, and overall physical calmness (composure).
Impressive professional demeanor is often less about adding behavior and more about eliminating distracting ones.
Excessive movement, nervous smiling or laughing, poor posture, restless gestures, or overly reactive facial expressions can unintentionally weaken authority – particularly in cross-cultural business situations.
For many Thai professionals, this is especially relevant when communicating with regional leadership teams, Western executives, or any other kind of global stakeholders. Because in these environments, communication is constantly being evaluated beyond the words themselves, either consciously or subconsciously.
High-level business people notice things like:
- How confidently someone enters a room
- Who they look in the eyes and for how long
- What they do when there is a pause or silence
- Where they direct their attention when others speak
- When they change their posture and how smoothly they do it
This is why ECSC Thailand’s Executive Coaching programs extend beyond conventional language instruction.
Our goal is not simply to help professionals improve their English.
The goal is to enable more professionals in Thailand to communicate with confidence and authority in international environments – i.e., to speak English with Executive Presence.
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Further Reading:
Or visit our Contact Us page to inquire about Executive Coaching formats: Private, personalized one-on-one coaching, online or in-person, over weeks or just days (as short “intensives” – like mini-workshops).
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