生硬 (shēng yìng): cứng nhắc

When he spoke on stage for the first time, his tone was very stiff, as if he were reciting a text, and his classmates below all felt nervous for him.

This translation is too rigid; a Chinese person can tell at a glance that it was translated literally from English, and it reads very unnaturally.

The two had not known each other long, and his way of speaking was somewhat blunt, making the new colleague feel he was hard to get along with.

The figures' movements in this painting are very stiff, like puppets, lacking a natural and flowing feel.

Having grown up in the north, his way of greeting people seemed a bit awkward after he moved to the south, but everyone understood.