Techniques for dealing with a foreign audience

Speaking to a foreign audience is a challenge for any speaker, especially for those who are used to dealing with national audiences.

The very relationships we build in our daily lives are based on a series of customs and idiosyncrasies that allow us to communicate more easily. When we present a speech to a foreign audience, we may encounter a number of problems that may hinder the understanding and effectiveness of our message. Two of the most common barriers when dealing with a foreign audience are language and culture.

During this session, we will be providing you with a series of recommendations on how to deal with these two barriers in order to communicate more effectively with foreign audiences. This will be useful if you want to reach a larger audience and have your message spread beyond your home country.

How do you deal with language barriers?

The language barrier is the most common barrier when dealing with a foreign audience. If our audience does not share the same language with us, it is impossible for us to communicate effectively and convey a useful message. Fortunately, there are several resources and methods we can use to get around the problems this presents.

Most speakers prefer to use a professional to translate the speech during the presentation. Although this method is probably the most effective, we believe it is necessary to go deeper into some recommendations so that you can improve the connection you establish with the audience.

Obviously, ideally, you should be able to learn the language of those you are addressing. Listening to a second voice is not the same as listening to the speaker's own voice. The emotions and feelings you convey can be significantly lost when they are interpreted by someone else. Of course, pretending that the solution lies in mastering the foreign language is far from reality. That is why the best thing to do is to try to control at least some expressions and words of your speech in the foreign language.

Even if you speak in your own language, you can make brief interventions in the other language, so that the foreign audience can connect more with you and hear your voice in the foreground.

This extra effort on your part is welcomed and appreciated by those present. Even if the tone, pronunciation or accent is not right, it will always be better than not having tried at all.

How do you deal with cultural barriers?

The culture shock that is generated when facing a foreign audience is another element that can interfere with the quality of our presentation. Even when we share the same language with the audience, there are expressions or words that have a special meaning in each country.

Religious issues or the socio-cultural habits of each nation also play a role. All these factors, if not taken into account, could generate conflicts that could lead to a bad perception of our speech.

Fortunately, this barrier is a little easier to overcome than the language barrier. With the democratization of information, as a result of the technological revolution we are going through, it is very easy to document ourselves on the subject and gather the necessary elements to make a speech that can be understood by everyone present.

Nowadays you don't need to visit a country to learn about its culture. If you take the time to learn and gather information about your audience, you will be able to reach them with a message that does not generate controversy or violate their socio-cultural customs.