We are living in an incredible time. Each day the world seems a bit smaller. Companies are increasingly becoming multinational. And we're interacting with colleagues, clients and partners from all over the globe. While this trend certainly makes our lives as knowledge workers much more interesting and rewarding, it also can present us with challenges unheard of back in the days when a long business trip meant hauling our wares from Tampa to Topeka. And no area highlights these challenges quite like making a live presentation in front of a multi-national audience. Suddenly, you're not in Kansas any more, Toto. In fact, it's best not to use any references to 'Toto' outside the US, as you'll be faced with an audience of blank stares! But, if you know your audience and your venue, you'll deliver an incredible performance regardless of whether you are in Helsinki or Hong Kong. In part I of Going Global, we address what you need to know about your audience.
As you'd prepare for a presentation to any audience, be sure to invest time in advance understanding your audience. For example, does the crowd occupying those seats consist of Argentines in their 30s who are avid football fans who have an average tenure in their work position of 2 years, or Swedish women in their 40s who are members of a cycling team and have loads of tenure in their firm? Or a mix of both? Your ability to determine the demographics and psychographics of your audience (including regional make-up, age, race, gender, education, political leanings, leisure time activities, etc.) will aid you enormously as you begin to develop content and determine the appropriateness of examples and anecdotes within your presentation. Additionally, knowing your audience will ensure that you avoid any content that could miss the mark. There's no point in making reference to Bridget Jones' calorie intake to a group of that group of footballers, now is there?
Perhaps the most obvious challenge that a speaker faces when presenting to a multi-national audience is that of appropriate language adaptation. It's no secret that English has emerged as the de facto business language, so we'll focus here on making presentations in English to non-native speakers. One of the first challenges is that of determining the language proficiency of audience members. As a speaker, your job is much simpler in cases where you are able to ascertain a base level of English proficiency ahead of time. In these cases it's wise to arrange for a meeting ahead of time with a trusted representative of your audience. A brief conversation with a 'typical' audience member will enable you to gauge the optimal pace to use in your actual presentation. The more time you have to practice at this pace and level, the better. The more comfortable you are with the pace, the less you'll have to be aware of this adjustment in your style and the more you'll be able to relax.
Furthermore, it is useful to seek out a typical attendee beforehand to act as a representative during your presentation. By planting a trusted representative colleague in the audience you can get real-time feedback on your approach. By asking him or her to simply raise a hand and request that you slow down or explain a term can not only assure you that your approach is effective, enable you to relax in the knowing that your 'meter' will alert you if you're off the mark.
Another useful tip is to err on the side of brevity. When we're excited about a topic (which hopefully is the case in all our presentations!), it is human nature to want to share LOTS of detail with our audience. Do yourself and your audience a favor by resisting this temptation. Remember that it's very difficult for your audience to stay tuned in to your content when they're not sharing your native language. Frankly, just translating your English is work, let alone grasping your content. Be mindful of this and keep your presentation clear and concise.
There's a huge distinction between being long winded and repeating key points. The former is indulgent, the latter is considerate and wise. Audiences of other cultures benefit from hearing the same words in the same format. Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them. This has always been an effective way to ensure to get the message across, but it is even more critical when you are speaking to an audience of people with differing mother tongues. Repetition is key to driving home the message. The audience is more likely to remember the beginning of your speech, the closing and items that are repeated. And although when speaking to native English speakers it makes it interesting to say the same thing often in multiple ways, it is more effective when speaking to non-native speakers to repeat items using the same words. If you're keyed into your audience you'll be able to read their facial expressions and body language to gauge your pace and depth. While there are some cultural exceptions, the 'blank-stare, fidgeting body' is generally a sign that your audience is no longer following.
Once you've determined the right pace and level of English complexity that's appropriate to use with your audience, you may wish to turn your attention to how to best adapt your examples, analogies and metaphors to a mixed audience. If you think back to those winning presentations that you've sat through as an attendee, chances are that one thing they had in common was that the speakers were able to relate to their audiences; to put his content into context that was interesting, witty and relevant. Some of the most popular tools that speakers employ to engage their audiences are the use of story and humor. The ability to successfully use language to engage requires confidence, talent and finesse in even the simplest of presentation contexts! So how can a speaker hope to employ the same skills when presenting to one or several foreign cultures? The answer is, slowly and with prudence! As a rule, it's best to simply omit any joke or anecdote that's in any way questionable or just irrelevant. I remember sitting among 5,000 audience members at a technology conference in Berlin and hearing the American keynote speaker start his speech with a joke about Dunkin' Donuts and Bagels. He could have left the stage at that point because his audience was already tuned out. It's better to offer your audience a factual albeit uneventful session than risk offending or alienating members of your audience.
As you become increasingly familiar with a particular culture and its nuances, you may wish to gradually add in bits of humor or anecdotes. But always test this new material on a trusted representative of your audience prior to going live. Additionally, you might be able to get a better gauge for the appropriateness of colorful content if you're fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend social time with your audience outside of the presentation context. Not only are you more likely to better understand cultural nuances, but members of your audience more likely to forgive you of little mistakes if you befriend them beforehand.
Knowing as much as you can about your audience before preparing your speech will ensure that you are much more effective in delivering it. In future articles about speaking to global audiences we will address differences in venue and visual aids.
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