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International Audience
by Ron Kaufman
Training a worldwide audience can be a minefield of potential errors, missteps and disasters. Whether your group size is thirty or three hundred, it is likely that you will face men and women, old and young, company veterans and brand-new hires, locals and expatriates, married, single and recently divorced, and every possible mix of ethnic, religious and sexual persuasion. With a mix like this, you can offend without intention, insult without meaning to, and alienate without even trying.
Avoid painful mistakes! Follow these "10 Tips" when you work with participants from around the world and you will find yourself with an attentive, involved and harmonious learning group.
Tip #1: Don’t assume. Ask!
Don’t assume everyone is the room is just like you, or like anyone
else! Acknowledge the diversity in the room. Highlight the rich range
of life and business experiences this group can represent.
Ask participants to share about themselves in small groups. Start out with easy questions: business experience, educational background, and places they have lived or worked. As conversation warms up, move to current business issues: ask their opinions on trends in the industry, entry of new competitors, products, technologies or government regulations. Then get right to the training topic at hand: have participants discuss expectations of the course, problems they need to solve, and solutions they intend to acquire.
Finally, when groups are well lubricated with dialogue and rapport, ask participants to share a bit about their personal lives – family, hobbies, vacation plans or other special interests.
Tip #2: Speak very clearly.
Your native tongue may not be the first language of all your audience
members. Adjust your presentation style so everyone can easily follow.
I recently spoke for a large international audience in Australia. Eleven countries were represented with seven different languages. Simultaneous translation was provided for non-native English speakers. Energized by the crowd, I launched into a presentation of humorous stories, anecdotes, case studies and key learning points. Throughout the speech, I was pleased to hear the Japanese contingent laughing at all of my jokes.
Or so it seemed. After the presentation, one Japanese participant set me straight: I was speaking so quickly, the interpreter was unable to follow. Instead of translating my presentation, he gave up and spent most of the time talking in Japanese about how funny it was to see this American fellow rushing about in a big hurry on stage! I laughed when I heard this report, but I certainly learned the lesson: with an international audience, slow down, and speak very clearly.
Tip #3: Bridge the communication gap.
Some of your group may participate in a language that is not their
native tongue. If their vocabulary or pronunciation is difficult for
others to understand, you can bridge the gap by clearly repeating
their comments and contributions.
Go beyond the spoken word to encourage understanding: use charts, pictures, icons, video, physical examples, role-plays and other non-verbal techniques to get your points across.
Tip #4: Encourage all participation.
New-comers bring fresh perspective. Old-timers have experience and
wisdom. Locals understand "what’s happening on the ground".
Expatriates have a "global" point of view.
Be liberal with your compliments and praise. "That’s a very good question!" let’s everyone know it’s safe to ask the next one. "Thank you for your answer!" tells the whole room it’s safe to venture a new reply.
Tip #5: Be experienced, not exceptional.
Trainers are often widely experienced and well-traveled. They can bring
good value to the group, but don’t highlight your differences too
much. You want respect, not distance. When "connecting" with an
international group, a little humility goes a long way.
Tip #6: Speak the local language.
If possible, use local language, customs and examples in your
presentation. This may require some preparation on your part, but it
can make a very big impact on your group.
Towards the end of the Cold War, comedian Billy Crystal began a stand-up routine in Moscow by conducting the first five minutes entirely in Russian. But Billy Crystal does not speak Russian. He had memorized his entire opening act! The Russian audience howled their approval, and continued laughing as he delivered the rest of his show in English.
Tip #7: Avoid phrases that do not translate well.
What is "clear as a bell" to you may be "thick as mud" in every other
language. Avoid phrases that do not translate well. "Six to one, half
dozen the other", "by the skin of your teeth", "right as rain" and
"chicken with your head cut off" may translate nicely in your home
town, but can bring real confusion and frustration overseas. Do you
"catch my drift"?
Tip #8: If in doubt, leave it out.
Exercise great caution with your comments on politics, religion,
sexuality, ethnic issues and humor. What is funny to one group may be
downright offensive to another. There are plenty of things to laugh
about in this world without poking fun at any one group. Make one
mistake here, and people may remember it forever.
Tip #9: Triple check all translations.
If your presentation, workbook and handouts are translated to another
language, check the choice of words and phrases many times. Use a
professional translator who is familiar with your field of word. Then
check again with actual participants in your group.
At the Service Quality Centre in Singapore, we use the phrase "Never Settle" to mean "strive for continuous improvement". But when we first took this phrase overseas, it was translated into Mandarin like this: "Never agree in a negotiation". And in Indonesia, the phrase became "Don’t sit down!"
Tip #10: Mix the group to increase participation.
Sharing experiences is one of the best aspects of international
training. But don’t count on participants to do it by themselves. Give
the process a boost by mixing the group in various ways. Suppose you
have 32 participants. You can combine them at various times into
smaller teams of 2, 4, 6, 8 or even 16.
Do a random split by having them "count off" around the room in numbers. Or have a bit more fun! I often divide my groups by date of birth, number of siblings, seniority with the company, first letter of their family name, length of hair, color of socks, you name it!
Tip #11: Assure talk time for all.
Some nationalities are naturally more outspoken than others. Be sure
everyone gets a chance to speak up by structuring the sequence of
participation. Once everyone is in small groups, have the most senior
member of group speak first, or the most junior. Ask the women to
speak up first, or those who have traveled from farthest away.
Acknowledge outspoken participants, but don’t them overwhelm the conversation. I often do this by having small groups nominate a spokesperson, then having that person nominate someone else in the group.
Tip #12: Bring them "back together" at the end.
Mixing everyone up is great for sharing new ideas. But bring them
"back together" at the end to prioritize key points and generate new
action steps. Have real work groups (by function, country, customer or
project) explain the relevance of their learning to the job and state
their plans for improvement and implementation.
Whether you have a training to teach, a session to present or an important meeting to facilitate, these time-tested techniques will help bring out the best in your participants, and in you.
International training is one of the great benefits of being in our field. Good luck!
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