Most meetings start the same way.

A few comments about the weather. A quick complaint about traffic. Then everyone gets down to business.

There’s a better opener:

“How’s your week going so far?“

It’s simple, but it gives people something real to answer.

Instead of jumping straight into the agenda, you give the other person space to share what’s actually happening in their world. Maybe they’re having a great week. Maybe they’re dealing with a deadline. Maybe they just got back from vacation.

You learn more in 30 seconds than you would from five minutes of small talk.

You don’t need to be naturally chatty to use it. Just ask the question and pay attention to the answer.

One genuine exchange can make the rest of the conversation easier, more productive and more human.

Quick win

Try it before your next meeting:

“How’s your week going so far?“

Then listen. And see where it takes you.

💬 Do you have a go-to opening question?

“Sorry for my English” sounds polite. To you. The listener hears something different.

They hear, “Don’t trust what I’m about to say“.

They weren’t thinking about your English until you mentioned it.

The apology doesn’t protect you from judgement. It invites it. You’ve framed your own words as unreliable before anyone else had the chance.

The listener who matters most is you. And you’ve just told yourself, again, that you’re not quite ready.

Skip the warning. Start with your first sentence.

Quick win

Next time the apology forms, let it go. Begin with what you want to say. The English will follow.

💬 Have you noticed yourself doing this?

“ASAP” shows up in emails, Slack messages and meeting notes every day.

It also has a downside: it can make people feel pressured.

When people feel pressured, they often slow down, push back or deprioritise the request.

Try this instead:

“Whenever you get a chance, ideally today.“

The message stays clear. The urgency is still there. But it sounds like a request, not an order.

That small shift matters, especially when you’re working across teams, companies or cultures. “ASAP” can sound stressful. The alternative gives context without creating tension.

A simple test:

The next time you need something quickly, write:

“Whenever you get a chance, ideally today.“

See what comes back.

💬 Do you have a phrase you use instead of “ASAP”?

I’ve been working through a mentee’s CV. She’s an experienced language trainer, sharp, thoughtful and clearly good at her work. Her German CV was strong.

The English version had spelling mistakes, inconsistent formatting and phrases that no English-speaking reader would use naturally. Her language level was fine. She had translated from German rather than written it in English.

German CVs are usually organised by date and focus on facts. English CVs often focus more on what you achieved and the effect you had.

Once she saw it as a rewrite rather than a translation, the whole thing became easier.

If you have an English CV, a LinkedIn profile or a website, read it as if you’d written it from scratch in English.

Would it still say the same things, in the same way?

PS: By the way – I built a small free tool this week for language trainers who want to write on LinkedIn but don’t know where to start. If you know one, you might like to pass it on: https://postbuilder-for-trainers.netlify.app

“Ich habe frei” translates word for word as “I have free“. In English, that sentence needs one more piece: a day off.

You can say “I have a day off on Friday“, “I’m taking a day off” or simply “I’m off on Friday“. The last one is the most natural in conversation.

One small connection to one of my last posts. “A day off” sits between “holiday” and “vacation” in meaning. It’s one day, not a longer trip. “I’m on holiday” means time away. “I have a day off” means you’re free on Tuesday.

Quick win: Next time you want to say “ich habe frei“, try: “I’m off on [day]“.

Simple. And correct.

A senior executive told me, very earnestly, that he wanted to be pregnant.

He meant “prägnant”: concise, punchy and to the point. In German, a perfectly reasonable thing for a presenter to aim for.

In English, the room went very quiet.

These moments happen more than you’d think. A client who “became a coffee” instead of ordering one. Another who emailed his team to please “control” his work. A CEO who thanked me warmly for the “curse“. (He meant the course.)

Every one of them laughed, corrected the mistake and kept speaking. (I have my own collection. It grows every year.)

Quick win: Start a collection. Every mistake you remember is one you’ve learnt from and one good story for later.