Presenting to an International Audience

MattMacL shares some great tips on his Working Abroad blog on how to present to audiences whose first language is not English. These include adapting your language to the audience and cutting out idioms. He also highlights the pitfalls that may exist:

The tendency is to think that one can go into a presentation without having to prepare for that extra English language element that our Japanese, German or Spanish counterparts have to. In addition, we may forget to prepare for different cultural perceptions; because if we use English, we often expect the cultural context to be ours as well.

Take for example the level of detail one might give in a presentation, the intensity of one’s eye contact, or the use of one’s hands throughout a presentation. Each may affect the impact that one’s presentation will have on the audience.

Dos and don’ts when dining with your boss

National Boss Day is October 16. If you decide to invite your boss over for dinner, here are a few tips that Lansing State Journal lists when dining with your boss:

– DO keep things casual and comfortable. Sincerity goes a long way …
– DON’T talk about work unless your boss specifically brings it up.
– DON’T complain about the office or your co-workers.

Why not join us on Facebook?

For the past few months our communication with readers has become skewed as we have unfortunately had to shut down our comments function due to an overwhelming influx of spam. However, we hope that you will join us on Facebook where our conversations can get going again. Whether you subscribe to this blog or our newsletter, or only visit our blog once in a while, if you have a Facebook account, please join our group.

UPDATE: If you are reading this update, you therefore know that we have since moved our blog and you can now start commenting again. However, we are still on Facebook, so we welcome you to also join us there. 10/16/2007

Is it time for a redesign?

According to Ben Martin of CAE, yes it is. Ben examines why most blogs have their navigation bars on the right, and concludes that it may be to enhance readability of content on mobile devices on which one reads left to right and top to bottom. Using that standard, our blog proves to be less than mobile-friendly with navigation bars on both the left and the right. Perhaps this is something that I will revisit in the next few days. What do you think?

UPDATE: If you are now reading this, then you are aware that we have redesigned.

Tipping Around the World

It is a subject we have explored in the past: in which countries does one tip and how much. On a recent trip to Costa Rica, I asked how much a tour guide would earn in tips if leading a group on a full-day tour. When told the amount I naturally asked if that figure was per person, and was taken aback that what I might have handed the guide as an individual tip might be what was expected to cover the entire group. USA Today examines in this article how business travelers can become confused by tipping practices around the world and provides a chart of what to tip in restaurants, taxis and to porters in 77 countries.

Take a look at your emoticons

Americans and Japanese read faces differently according to this article in LiveScience.

For instance, in Japan, people tend to look to the eyes for emotional cues, whereas Americans tend to look to the mouth …

The article follows the study by researcher Masaki Yuki, a behavioral scientist at Hokkaido University in Japan, and delves into clues from emoticons. An interesting read …

How to Impress Your Guests

Michael Chaffin of *Star In The Margin shares an example of how a United Airlines pilot engages with his passengers and delivers something completely unexpected …

Avoid a Faux Pas when Doing Business Overseas

USA Today provides a great cheat sheet of foreign etiquette tips around the world. For example in Japan, never write on a business card or shove the card into your back pocket when you are with the giver; while in Egypt, showing the sole of your foot or crossing your legs when sitting is an insult.