Most language training closes gaps.

Many leaders share the same frustration: You know exactly what you want to say. But under pressure, something stalls in the short moment between thought and speech – exactly when seconds count.

It’s rarely a question of ability. It’s the pressure, the overthinking, the holding back. More vocabulary doesn’t fix it.

The real-world consequences of this hesitation are costly:

• In meetings: Your point loses the strategic authority you intended.
• In negotiations: You concede too much ground because you couldn’t pivot fast enough.
• In presentations: Your expertise comes across smaller than it is.

I work with executives and entrepreneurs who know this pattern all too well. Your strategic thinking is sharp. Your expertise is undeniable. But in English, under pressure, that hesitation costs you – in authority, precision and impact.

Where we start

There is no test to pass and no diagnostic to sit through. Our first consultation is simply a relaxed conversation in German. We will look at exactly where your English is currently holding you back and what you need next.

You will feel the real shift during our first proper session in English. I listen closely to how you speak when the stakes are high. By the end of that first hour, most clients realise that the friction has eased – and that the English they already have is suddenly right there when they reach for it.

After that, we work only on your real situations. The board meeting on Thursday, the presentation you’ve been quietly dreading and the conversation you keep rehearsing in your head. No exercises. No scripts.

And when the change comes, it tends to surprise people. It isn’t that you’ve learned more English. It’s that the pressure has dropped – and your thinking and your speaking are finally connected.

About me

I’m Christine Burgmer – English Communication Coach and mentor to other language professionals.

Originally from England and a native speaker of English, I hold an MPhil in Teaching Modern Languages to Adults (University of Dundee) and have spent the last 26 years working with German-speaking professionals.

For a long time, I looked for the cause where most people look – in the English itself. More structure, more vocabulary, more practice. But the people I worked with usually had that already. What was missing wasn’t ability. It was access to that ability, exactly when it mattered.

My role isn’t to turn you into someone else when you speak English. It’s to clear that bottleneck out of the way so what you say sounds as capable as you already are.

Most people tell me they’d never thought of their English quite like this – less as something to fix and more as something to free up. That’s usually where things start to shift.

Behind the Scenes

When I am not working with clients, you will find me playing the ukulele (mistakes fully embraced), square dancing (where you have to think and react on the spot, with no time to plan), Nordic walking or seeking out places where conversations happen entirely without a script.

Let’s Talk

If pressure keeps your English from showing what you’re really capable of, let’s talk. We’ll start with a short, confidential conversation – in German, so nothing gets lost in translation.