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First
impressions
What an opportunity! A roomful of prospective clients
worth more than the GNP of most small nations. The
guest speaker, a sophisticated well-traveled investment
banker from the United States--we'll call him John
Dough--is introduced.
He strides toward the podium, confident and ready
to dazzle his audience. He plans to start by thanking
his host and cracking a scintillating joke before
driving home some concise points (supported by the
best media presentation money can buy).
Looking out at the illustrious gathering, he quells
a few butterflies, takes a deep breath and steps
up to the microphone. What could go wrong? It depends
on where he is. |
BACKGROUND CHECK. Dealing with
the special circumstances of different cultural
backgrounds is no easy task in situations like this.
Start with John Dough's appreciative opening line
to the host in his first country, Germany, Does
he use the host's correct title, get his or her
name in the right order and pronounce it smoothly?
Or was it more like: "First I would like to
thank Ernst for that wonderful introduction and
for the opportunity to address such a distinguished
gathering ..." Some of the eyes in the front
row may have rolled with that one. Bringing out
Director X's first name in front of everyone may
be acceptable in the United States, but it is usually
not good form in Germany, France or Northern Europe.
As part of his extended international business trip,
our speaker is also scheduled to address a group
of investors in Russia. Well prepared for his appearance,
he begins his speech by addressing his hostess Mrs.
Anna Nikolevich Mendeleva. He refers to her as Mrs.
Mendeleva from the podium, even though she has invited
him to use the more familiar "Anna Nikolevich"
otherwise.
Although he knows Russians have a fine and ironic
sense of humor, he refrains from starting with a
joke. He is in banking, and too many banks have
failed for his audience to find anything funny about
this subject. Because he wants to win their trust,
he makes every attempt to establish direct eye contact
with his listeners. Knowing that Russian negotiations
are often stormy, he allows emotion to creep into
his voice, something he will avoid in most other
parts of the world.
Our speaker then visits Latin America on his international
tour. He knows titles are very important here and
people should generally be addressed by their title
alone, such as "Professor" or "Doctor."
However, when a surname is called for, he occasionally
finds himself confused. Most Hispanics have two
surnames, one from their father, which comes first,
followed by one from their mother. Sometimes the
two surnames are separated by a "y" (which
means "and" in Spanish). Only the father's
surname is commonly used when addressing someone
verbally. For example, Senor Sixto Ortiz Martinez
would be called Senor Ortiz, and Senorita Ana Maria
Gutierrez y Ramos would be Senorita Gutierrez.
In Latin America, our speaker does open with an
amusing, well-chosen anecdote: "My brother
works for the government of the United States of
America. He was involved in getting approval of
the North American Free Trade Agreement, better
known by its acronym NAFTA. Last year there were
discussions about Chile joining NAFTA. Of course,
once NAFTA expands outside North America, the name
has to be changed. They considered dropping the
initial 'N' and just calling it the American Free
Trade Agreement, or AFTA. This seemed like a good
compromise until someone pointed out that the word
"afta" means cold sore in Brazil. There
are a lot of things we'd like to increase intra-hemispheric
trade in, but herpes is certainly not one of them!"
This was a good anecdote for several reasons. While
it's funny, it does not denigrate anyone or anything
in Latin America. The speaker also increased his
importance by revealing that his brother works in
government. Finally, he uses the full and proper
name of his country, the United States of America.
Just saying "United States" is not sufficient
in Latin America, since other countries also use
that name, including the United States of Mexico.
SERIOUS BUSINESS. A week later, John Dough heads
for Central and Northern Europe, where he will appear
before groups of executives from large companies.
In Germany, following his very proper thank-you
to the host--even using a few words of German--our
speaker attempts to "loosen things up"
with a joke. Unfortunately, this does not have the
desired effect.
In this part of the world, business is serious,
and humor is not usually part of presentations and
negotiations.
What they do respond well to are preparation, planning,
knowledge, experience and competence. Every assertion
must be backed up by data.
The Middle East, John Doughs next destination, presents
him with quite another set of cultural rules.
Speaking to a group of prospective clients in Saudi
Arabia, he does not begin his speech with ebullient,
sweeping claims to his own or his company's expertise
and success, which does not play well here. A sense
of modesty is appreciated. To Muslim Saudis, success
comes from God, and their statements or promises
will often be qualified with inshallah ("God
willing."). |
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