What Ten Mongolian Trainers Taught Me About World-Class Presenting — Without Saying a Word I Could Understand

How good is your Mongolian?
I personally don’t know a single word. Yet recently, while coaching ten trainers from Ulaanbaatar as part of a Dale Carnegie certification, I learned one of the most important lessons of my career—the power of structure, energy, vocal variety, and body language in communication.

My instructional comments were in English.
Their role plays and exercises were entirely in Mongolian.

And still, I could evaluate the quality of their delivery, even without understanding one syllable.

Mini-summary: You don’t need to understand the words to understand the effectiveness of a message.

As they presented, I could immediately detect whether they were:

• Following the correct flow

• Connecting sub-points properly

• Maintaining logical chapters

• Transitioning smoothly

This reinforced a timeless truth:

Clear structure communicates by itself.

When presenters jump abruptly from one section to another, the audience becomes lost—even if they share the same language. We, the presenters, may understand our own logic, but first-time listeners need bridges.

A bridge doesn’t need to be complicated. It needs to:

• Connect the previous point to the next

• Show the logic

• Prevent audience confusion

Even an ancient narrative device like “If you want to know what happened to Li Xue, read the next chapter” works—because transitions matter.

Mini-summary: Structure is the skeleton of persuasion. Without it, the presentation collapses.

I didn’t understand the Mongolian content, but I felt every change in their energy:

• Low energy = low engagement

• High energy = high engagement

Energy communicates intention, confidence, and presence far more loudly than grammar or vocabulary.

This is why café-level energy will never work on stage.
Presenting requires an upgraded version of yourself—more dynamic, more powerful, more intentional.

Mini-summary: Energy is a global language. Every audience feels it instantly.

A monotonous delivery—whether monotone soft or monotone strong—kills attention.

When participants used:

• Changing pace

• Shifts in tone

• Swells and drops in volume

…I stayed fully engaged, even though I couldn’t understand the words.
That’s when it hit me:

If vocal variety can hold attention in a foreign language, imagine its power in your own language.

Most presenters forget this and speak in one groove from start to finish.
This is a presentation crime.

Mini-summary: Your voice is an instrument—use its full range.

Gestures, facial expressions, and posture were impossible to miss. I could immediately tell:

• Who was confident

• Who was nervous

• Who was connecting

• Who was simply reciting

Communication is not just verbal—it is visual and emotional.

Mini-summary: People “read” you long before they understand you.

Nothing here is new:

• Use structure

• Build bridges

• Inject energy

• Vary your voice

• Bring powerful body language

But like many professional skills, we forget what we know.
We fall into habits.
We lose self-awareness.

Working with the Mongolian candidates reminded me—and now reminds you—that mastery requires constant attention to the basics.

Mini-summary: Great presenters don’t learn new things—they consistently apply what they already know.

• Structure is visible even when language is not.

• Energy transcends linguistic barriers.

• Vocal variety can hold attention even without comprehension.

• Body language communicates confidence or weakness instantly.

• The fundamentals matter—and must be refreshed regularly.

Request a Free Consultation to Dale Carnegie Tokyo to sharpen your structure, vocal variety, energy, and stage presence so you can speak with power—across any culture, any audience, any room.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese and multinational corporate clients ever since.