
Lost in translation?
Cross-Cultural Training for Business

Cross-cultural training in a business context sounds like one of these oft-cited buzzwords which are all the rage among HR management. 온라인 카지노 게임s may not always know what exactly cross-cultural training means or how they could profit from it.
Some skeptics might even doubt that cross-cultural training is all that important for a successful presentation abroad. Business is business everywhere, isn카지노 게임 컬렉션t it? Unfortunately, it카지노 게임 컬렉션s not quite as simple. Let카지노 게임 컬렉션s look at the story of a sales manager from the US, speaking to an intercultural audience without such training.
General Tips for International Presentations
The sales manager, a successful businesswoman called Caitlin, thought she카지노 게임 컬렉션d done her homework for an effective presentation despite foregoing cross-cultural training. She had planned to attend a crash course for international presentations, but had to skip it for time reasons.
Caitlin had delivered so many powerful lectures to middle and upper management that it couldn카지노 게임 컬렉션t go wrong, she thought. She did follow several time-honored rules for capturing an audience카지노 게임 컬렉션s attention. She didn카지노 게임 컬렉션t need any cross-cultural training to know her competence and include these key aspects:
- Structure the presentation clearly.
- Make your beginning and ending as effective as possible. As a fan of the New York Yankees, Caitlin liked opening her presentations with allusions to the baseball team카지노 게임 컬렉션s legendary successes.
- Make proper use of visual aids to underscore your point. Caitlin didn카지노 게임 컬렉션t appreciate statistics cluttering her slides. So she decided to deliver a 카지노 게임 컬렉션bottom-line카지노 게임 컬렉션 presentation, elaborating her sales strategy starting off from a single point, with only a few figures.
- Use your voice to create enthusiasm and interest. Project confidence in your body language. Caitlin was excellent at this. She had been a talented amateur actress in college, with natural skills at making grand gestures and effusive speeches.
- Hone your communication skills, too. Since Caitlin loved the Yankees, she kept using baseball idioms to create an extended metaphor and make the talk more entertaining.
- Give your audience the opportunity to react and ask questions during a discussion round.
Common Pitfalls
After delivering the same presentation to people from Germany, Japan, and Norway, however, Caitlin felt disappointed and insecure, doubting her own competence. Maybe she should have taken that cross-cultural training after all. Perhaps it would have prepared her for what she experienced in an intercultural setting.
The Japanese smiled at the mention of the Yankees, but then put their heads on their folded arms, not even listening properly. The Norwegians looked uncomfortable during the most emotional moments of Caitlin카지노 게임 컬렉션s dramaturgy; one woman mouthed 카지노 게임 컬렉션flashy Americans카지노 게임 컬렉션 to her neighbor.
The Germans said they weren카지노 게임 컬렉션t convinced by the message of Caitlin카지노 게임 컬렉션s presentation 카지노 게임 컬렉션 it lacked the data to back it up. One of them attacked Caitlin rudely afterwards: 카지노 게임 컬렉션Don카지노 게임 컬렉션t take it personally,카지노 게임 컬렉션 he said, 카지노 게임 컬렉션but forgetting the sales figures from the last six months is more than an oversight. It카지노 게임 컬렉션s rather neglectful!카지노 게임 컬렉션
Caitlin just wanted to get back to her hotel room. Or crack open a book or two on intercultural communication. What on earth had gone wrong? Why hadn카지노 게임 컬렉션t her usual skills worked? Could cross-cultural competence have avoided this business failure?
Read our follow-up guides on international business issues and international business communication to find out how Caitlin could have benefitted from cross-cultural training for a more effective business presentation.