Are
you planning out-of-the-country meetings? Here's how to score
when speakers and audiences speak different languages.
An article on meetings by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
Now I finally know why my speaker friends are so interested
in working abroad. It can be a very positive and rewarding
experience, even when the speaker and audience speak different
languages.
Knowing all the difficulties, I had usually turned down
such jobs. But in November of 1998, I spoke at three public
seminars and four in-house meetings in Taiwan, a total of
seven Chinese-speaking audiences. It was such a triumph that
I can't wait to go back. Here is what you can do to help your
speakers have a similar success.
1. Ask for advice. Start by asking other meeting planners
to share their own experiences and offer you their suggestions.
Learn from other's mistakes!
2. Suggest a language lesson. Recommend that your speakers
acquire a few key phrases in the local language. If you are
booking a lot of speakers in the same country, consider developing
a phrase book or arranging a tutor or taped instructional
program for them. A young woman from Taiwan helped me acquire
eighteen Chinese phrases. Although my pronunciation wasn't
great, I got an A for effort.
3. Translate speaker's handouts well in advance.
4. Suggest an early arrival so speakers can adjust to any
time change, rehearse with the translator, and preview their
material with test audiences.
5. Select a good platform translator, one that will compliment
the speaker. This does not necessarily mean that a man must
translate for a man or a woman for a woman. Rather, that it
is a good "match" in energy and interpretation.
Start by providing the translator with a tape of the speaker's
material well in advance so he or she can become familiar
with the speaker's phrases and personality. Then arrange for
the speaker and translator to rehearse together, even briefly,
before the presentation.
I arrived several days early in Taiwan and rehearsed my
programs with my translator, Paul, so that we worked the platform
like dancers, alternating sentences in English and Chinese.
The audience responded positively to our Fred and Ginger interaction,
and all eyes were on me when I spoke, not on my translator,
awaiting the next words the audience could understand.
One internationally known speaker recently had seventy percent
of an overseas audience ask for their money back. He was working
with a translator who couldn't communicate his message effectively.
Many American speakers think it's the translator's job to
get the speaker's message across. Wrong! Encourage the speaker
to think of the translator as an essential partner in the
presentation.
My good relationship with my translator enabled me to offer
extra value. For example, Paul had learned the kind of thing
I was looking for, and at one in-house meeting, he pointed
out and translated the signs on the meeting room walls. I
wrote them down in English and used them in my opening remarks.
As I pointed to each sign, I said, "I see that you are committed
to excellent customer service, to teamwork, to excellence--"
I built my remarks around their core values as if I were reading
them on the signs.
6. Set up a preview. Arrange an opportunity for the speaker
to test his or her material in front of a small test audience
prior the actual presentation, using the assigned translator.
Assemble a group similar to your paid audiences (salespeople,
executives, etc.) and explain that you need their feedback.
Ask for their specific evaluations of how relevant and appropriate
the information will be for the intended audience. What should
be added or omitted?
7. Ensure a strong introduction. I was incredibly fortunate,
rehearsing my introduction with my promoter and his staff.
I've never had a client warm up the crowd so well. The Taiwanese
are traditionally "traditional," rarely effusive, but before
my first presentation, the audience had really been warmed
up. Then I came on stage to lively rock music, with fifteen
staff members clapping and dancing behind me. The 1500-member
audience rose to their feet to join in. Elton John has rarely
gotten a more energetic reception.
You may not be able to orchestrate anything as dazzling
as this, but don't send your speakers out cold. Be sure everyone
in the audience knows they are about to hear from celebrities!
After each public seminar I delivered in Taiwan, I was presented
with six bouquets of flowers. The audience raced up to the
stage for autographs and videos, and at least fifty people
asked to have their photos taken with me. This scene was repeated
on a slightly smaller scale at the more intimate in-house
meetings.
Your speakers can get similar receptions if you do your
homework. Presenting speakers to audiences that don't speak
the same language can be an exhilarating and rewarding experience.
I recommend it heartily. But, as with your American bookings,
do your homework and plan ahead. When you do, the rewards
will be enormous.
(817 words)
Fripp
Associate David Palmer, PhD offers Doing
Business Internationally a workshop on cross-cultural
business. Visit
Fripp & Associates for more information. |
