A German executive prepares a presentation for the American leadership team. The data is thorough. The logic is airtight. The slides are clean, factual, precise. He delivers it with professional restraint, letting the arguments speak for themselves.
The room is polite. But nothing happens. No follow-up. No green light. He leaves confused. The work was excellent. Why didn’t it land?
Three weeks later, an American executive presents to the German board. She opens with a personal story. She’s energetic, confident, persuasive. She connects the data to a vision. She asks for the commitment directly.
The Germans exchange glances. Afterward, one says to another: “Impressive performance. But where was the substance?”
Same company. Same quality of thinking. Two opposite failures.
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Here’s the translation.
In Germany, the message and the messenger are separated. Deliberately. The presenter steps back so the content can step forward. Arguments should speak for themselves—that’s a core conviction. If the data is strong, it shouldn’t need a salesperson. Relying on personal charisma to carry weak arguments is, in the German view, exactly what incompetent people do.
In America, the message and the messenger are one. The presenter doesn’t step back—the presenter is the message. You sell yourself first, then your product or service. Personal conviction, energy, and storytelling aren’t decoration. They’re proof that you believe in what you’re proposing. If you won’t put yourself behind your own idea, why should anyone else?
Neither side is performing. Neither side is faking it. Both are doing exactly what their culture considers persuasive.
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The German executive in New York didn’t fail because his analysis was weak. He failed because his American audience read his restraint as detachment. If he himself isn’t visibly invested, they reasoned, why should we be
The American executive in Munich didn’t fail because her thinking was shallow. She failed because her German audience read her energy as compensation. There must be a reason she’s appealing to our emotions instead of our reason, they thought.
Two perfectly competent professionals. Two performances calibrated to the wrong room.
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If you’re German and presenting to Americans: put yourself into the message. Use the word “I.” Share a brief personal connection to the material. Show that you care about the outcome, not just the data. You don’t need to become a showman. You just need to stop being invisible.
If you’re American and presenting to Germans: take yourself out of it. Reduce the personal energy. Go deeper on methodology and evidence. Don’t ask for the decision at the end—lay out the logic and let them reach the conclusion themselves. You’re not on a stage. You’re in a seminar.
The substance doesn’t change. Only the delivery does. And delivery is the difference between being heard and being dismissed.