How Do I Give Presentations to Audiences from Different Cultures?

Cross Cultural Presentation Skills: 8 Tips for Presenting to Global Audiences

Cultural intelligence in business means being able to adapt your message and approach across cultures. That includes how you deliver presentations. 

We’ve trained many professionals and executives in how to tailor their presentations to different cultures around the world. Have a look at how we helped managers at Edelman with their presentation skills.

Below, we will share some excellent guidance on things to consider next time you’re developing a presentation that may need some cultural insights to make sure it’s a success.

The international flavour of many people’s jobs naturally means that there is greater interaction between people from different cultures. Within the business environment, understanding and coping with cultural differences between people is critical to ensuring that interpersonal communication is successful.

Cultural awareness is necessary for two reasons.

1. Firstly, it minimises the possibility of cultural misunderstandings and/or causing offense
2. Secondly, it is a means of maximising the potential of business relationships through leveraging cultural differences.

One area within the business environment in which cultural awareness is a necessity is in business presentations.

Directors, managers, salespeople, consultants, and business personnel are regularly required to deliver presentations. However, when one is asked to give a presentation to an audience from a different culture, there are cultural factors that can hinder the success of a presentation.

1. Use Clear and Simple Language in Cross Cultural Presentations

The language you use in a presentation is important.

Although the majority of the language that is used in a presentation will be understood by an English-speaking foreign audience, a speaker must be careful when it comes to slang, idioms, or phrases.

If an Englishman were to talk of being “knocked for six” or “bowled over,” he may very well be met with puzzled expressions. More subtly, when an American talks of a ‘billion’, he means a thousand million, whereas in the UK this would mean a million million.

Try to keep the language simple.

2. Adapt Your Body Language for Different Cultures

Pay attention to your body language when giving a presentation.

Some cultures are quite animated and will appreciate hand gestures and the expression of emotion through the body. Others expect speakers to remain calm and would find such behaviour over the top. Similarly, pay attention to the use of gestures. The thumbs up may mean ‘good’ in the USA, but it means something very different in Iran. Eye contact can also be a major intercultural difference. Some cultures consider strong eye contact a sign of sincerity, while others find it overbearing and an invasion of privacy.

Do your homework on different business cultures before a presentation.

3. Understand Cultural Differences in Time and Pacing

Be aware of different approaches to time across cultures.

Some cultures prefer a structured, timetabled approach to conducting business affairs, while others are more casual. In countries where a start time is considered a guide rather than a definite, allow time for networking or engage in some chit chat until others arrive. On the other hand, if you arrive late to a meeting in a punctual culture, expect some negative feedback.

Always show the appropriate stiffness or flexibility depending on the culture.

4. Manage Emotions and Respond to Cultural Expectations

Some presentations may be in front of a small number of people and deal with sensitive issues in a pressured environment.

In such situations, one should always keep one’s emotions in check. In some business cultures (such as in French work culture), a certain amount of cross-examination or scrutiny may occur. If this happens, bear in mind the positive intentions behind such actions, i.e., the questions are only being posed to establish facts, not to undermine you. Never lose patience, show frustration or display anger.

To do so will lead to a loss of credibility.

5. Tailor Your Presentation Style to Cultural Preferences

Different cultures learn and take in information in varying ways.

One should always try to tailor one’s presentation style to meet the needs of the target culture. Some cultures, such as Europeans, prefer information to be presented in detail and in a way that sets down foundations that act as the support to a final argument or point. In such a presentation, the speaker should gradually lead the audience, using a logical succession of points, to a conclusion.

On the other hand, some cultures, like the US, prefer a much faster-paced presentation that is bottom-line oriented, meaning the presenter speaks from a point rather than towards a point.

6. Adapt to Local Realities Around Technology

PowerPoint is not the default method of giving a presentation across the world.

Some countries may not even have the technical capabilities to accommodate this, so one would need to adapt to the resources at hand, whether it be an overhead projector or a blackboard. Some cultures do not even like a visual element in presentations and find much more worth in words and personality.

7. Customize Content for Different Cultural Audiences

In a presentation to a different audience, ensure you tailor the content of the presentation.

Different cultures expect different things from a business presentation. Long-term oriented cultures may be excited about future projections and figures, but others would rather learn more about the presenter’s credentials, accomplishments, and experience.

A presenter needs to ask whether the target culture will appreciate factual, statistical information presented visually, or a more personal oratory approach.

8. Read and Respond to Audience Behaviour Across Cultures

Audiences react in different ways across cultures.

Some are very engaging and are willing to participate in exercises and Q&A sessions, while others are the opposite. Audiences also show respect in many ways. A Japanese audience may close its eyes while listening; a US one may clap when a good point is made, and a Saudi one may do nothing at all.

Although the number of areas where one could point to cultural differences in presentations is vast, for the sake of brevity, the above-mentioned areas have been highlighted as a way of drawing attention to some of the major ones.

We hope these can then act as a foundation to improving one’s insight into the way cultural differences manifest in the business environment.

Photo by Matthew Osborn on Unsplash