In multicultural markets like Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and beyond, being multilingual is the norm. Many of us switch comfortably between languages at home or socially, and we assume we can do the same in a media interview. Unfortunately, we’ve seen time and again that this assumption simply doesn’t hold up. A spokesperson who chats fluently in their second language over coffee may suddenly freeze or stumble the moment they are seated in front of a microphone. This is because being bilingual in daily life is not the same as being media-ready in your second language.

Daily bilingualism is rooted in casual conversation. Switching between languages when ordering food, speaking with family, or sharing jokes with friends is natural and instinctive. None of that prepares someone for the technical, industry-specific vocabulary required during a professional interview. When a journalist asks about regulatory requirements, product features, data privacy policies, sustainability frameworks, or market projections, many spokespeople suddenly realise they have never needed to articulate these concepts in their second language. The words simply aren’t there.

A microphone piles onto the pressure: the knowledge that every word is being recorded, quoted, and possibly replayed with no way of taking back something that was said wrongly or inaccurately. You’ll have to correct yourself, but the words, again, don’t come. Under stress, the brain defaults to its strongest language, and suddenly the second language, which felt so easy just five minutes ago, becomes harder to access. Pauses feel longer, sentences become tangled, and the spokesperson tries to translate thoughts on the fly. That is how misstatements happen, and confidence is knocked down immediately, on public record no less.

Intelligence or fluency isn’t the issue here. Media interviews demand a specialised skill set built on clarity, message discipline, and the ability to explain complex ideas simply and accurately. Even native speakers struggle without training. Add having to articulate these messages in another language and the difficulty triples. A spokesperson might know their messages inside out, but if they can’t express them with precision in the interview language, the meaning gets diluted. In some cases, the message even becomes unintentionally distorted.

Instead of forcing a spokesperson into an interview in a language they aren’t fully confident in, organisations should feel comfortable stepping back and reassessing whether the interview format is even necessary. Not every opportunity needs to be live, and not every live interview is worth the risk if the ideal spokesperson cannot express complex ideas with the required precision in that language. It is far better to decline gracefully or suggest another interview format than to place someone in a situation where their expertise may not come across clearly.

There is nothing unprofessional about prioritising clarity over immediacy. Journalists are increasingly flexible and accustomed to working across languages; many are perfectly happy to receive detailed written responses, translated quotes, or interviews conducted in the spokesperson’s strongest language. What matters most is the accuracy and integrity of the message. Allowing the option to say, “This isn’t the right fit for a live segment,” protects an organisation’s spokesperson, its messaging, and ultimately, its reputation.

If interviews in another language are essential to the media strategy, second language media readiness should be treated as its own discipline with specialised training. They should also be equipped with an approved glossary of industry terms to ensure they can speak confidently and consistently. And most importantly, select and train the spokesperson who is not only knowledgeable but also the most linguistically equipped for the moment.

Being bilingual is a tremendous asset, but it isn’t a guarantee of media readiness. A live interview is a high-stakes opportunity to shape public understanding, so when the spotlight is on, the right language choice makes all the difference.