Thinking and responding quickly

Why you freeze when the question is unexpected

You had the answer. You needed four more seconds to find the words, and the conversation did not wait.

The moment

The question is not on the agenda and not in your notes. You know the answer immediately, in your own language.

You search for the right word in English. Someone else fills the silence. The moment is gone, and so is your contribution to that decision.

What this dimension is

This dimension measures how long the gap is between thinking and speaking, under pressure.

This dimension measures how long the gap is between thinking and speaking, under pressure. Working in a second language uses extra mental capacity. Under pressure that load is what breaks first, and a native speaker in the same room does not pay the same cost.

Weak signal

The person searches for the perfect word and the moment closes. On a fast call the point is never made at all, so it never enters the record of the meeting.

Strong signal

The gap is short enough to hold the turn. Approximate words are used on purpose, because the point matters more than the wording.

What it costs

The bill arrives somewhere else

This is the dimension that silently removes your best people from fast decisions. They are present, they are competent, and they do not speak in the ninety seconds that mattered.

"I have the thoughts but can't precisely translate immediately."
Senior product manager, financial services
The separator

The first language question

Asked in every session

In your first language, would you have answered that question straight away?

When the answer is yes, the gap is a processing cost under load, not a vocabulary gap. That is measurable, and it is scored separately from the other four.

How it is measured

Scored, not described

0
Foundation
How SignalCheck measures it

Thinking and responding quickly, scored on the same 100 point scale

Thinking and responding quickly is scored on the same 100 point scale as the other four, in every session, using the same bands. This sample sits at the top of the Foundation band.

Sample

See where you actually sit on all five

A short conversation first, so we can tell you whether a SignalCheck is the right fit. If it is not, we will say so.