What happens when your pitch (or your Spanish) catches people off guard?

This week, I was practicing for a business pitch competition. During one of my run-throughs, the person I was pitching to listened to my 3-minute-and-20-second presentation and said, “Well, it’s too long.” She wasn’t wrong—the pitch was supposed to be under three minutes.

But then, she began asking questions and offering suggestions about points that were clearly already included in my pitch. As I took notes, I felt a growing sense of disappointment. It became obvious that she had stopped listening well before I went over time.

Interestingly, my partner had a similar experience that same day. He pitched a creative concept, and it fell flat. The theme was the same: the audience didn’t hear what they were expecting and, as a result, shut down their listening.

In both cases, everyone was speaking the same language. But as a longtime Spanish teacher, I’ve seen this kind of shutdown happen even more often when people hear a dialect or language they don’t recognize or expect. And this can happen even in spaces where people should be prepared, like a Spanish classroom. It becomes clear that the issue isn’t just language—it’s the emotional state of the listener and how they manage their expectations.

There are a few explanations for this kind of shutdown:

• Cognitive Load: When our working memory is overwhelmed, we disengage because the task feels too effortful (Sweller, 1988).
• Language as a Social Cue: Familiar language fosters belonging; unexpected language can signal “this isn’t for me” (Tajfel & Turner, 1979).
• Expectation Violation (my favorite): We rely on predictability in communication. When that predictability is disrupted, we can become disoriented, withdraw, or even have an emotional response (Burgoon, 1993).

So, what can we do to reduce this kind of language shutdown?

• Set clear expectations
• Provide context and visual cues
• Build positive rapport before introducing change
• Normalize multilingualism and linguistic diversity

Despite the negative reaction to my pitch, I’m going to keep violating expectations😏—but with compassion😉. And next time, I’ll be sure to incorporate some of these strategies to (hopefully) help the listener feel more comfortable and open to joining me on the communication journey.

🤟🏼Dr. Xiomara Rivera Pagán

Citation

Burgoon, J. K. (1993). Interpersonal expectations, expectancy violations, and emotional communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 12(1-2), 30–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X93121003

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole.