Assignments for self-control

1. Why is learning culture so important in inter-cultural communication?

2. What rules should you follow in oral communication?

3. What a characteristic of the American style of business communication?

4. How does the British business style differ from the American one?

5. What is important for the French businessmen?

6. What can you say about the Chinese business style?

7. How does the Japanese business etiquette differ from that one of the European countries?

8. How does the Islamic philosophy influence the Arab business behavior?

9. Do you agree with everything what is said about the Russian business etiquette? What can you add?

Vocabulary in need

ambiguous		двусмысленный
arbitrary		произвольный
expedient		целесообразный
face-to-face		лицом к лицу
fail		потерпеть неудачу
handle		уладить
intentional		намеренный
mess-up		спутать
misunderstanding		недоразумение
obstacle, barrier		препятствие
option, alternative		право выбора
ploy, trick		маневр, уловка
settle (for)		согласиться на компромиссный вариант
tension, stress		напряженность, стресс
	Expressions		Выражения
delegate authority		передавать полномочия
make concessions		делать уступки
I’m willing to go along with you		Я готов с Вами согласиться

Presentation

Presentations are arranged on different occasions: finishing up the project, introducing of new goods and services at the market, opening of a new firm, issue of a new book, opening of an industrial or art exhibition, presenting of a new idea, etc.

The purpose is to demonstrate something new to the publicity, arouse an interest to the subject of presentation, give some additional information, make the public to do some actions. Usually presentation is limited in time.

To prepare presentation you should find out:

- what audience will be;

- what is expected to hear from you;

- where and when the presentation will take place.

The most important rules for a successful presentation:

• Good knowledge of your subject and thorough prepared speech.

• Make all the necessary preparations beforehand.

• Having an idea how much time you have, what your audience is, how far official the event is.

• Durative presentation makes the listeners tired and the interest to it is lost. Keep the time limit.

• Pay special attention to the starting and closing phrases as the most memorable bits.

• Don’t speak out all information you have. Include the facts which arouse interest. Focus audience attention on the main points.

• Your speech should be distinctive, clear, with correct grammar, understandable, honest, enthusiastic, loud enough and may be humorous.

• You have to be able to answer any questions. Be brief and keep to the point when answering questions. Be friendly and flexible, try to react to the situation adequately.

• Visual aids should be offered. They will help to attract attention and stimulate the interest. To keep in memory it’s important not to hear only but also to see. But don’t place too much information on your posters.

There are some tips to make a successful presentation:

- make eye contact – look at each person in the audience for about a second, before moving on to the next person. Don’t concentrate on just one or two people;

- don’t speak to the equipment or the screen – face the audience at all times;

- smiling is fie at appropriate moments, but not too much;

- use gesture (hand movements) to emphasize key points;

- stay more or less in one place – don’t move around too much;

- avoid mannerisms (ways of moving and speaking which you do repeatedly without realizing).

The most presentations are built in such a way as:

1. INTRODUCTION: greeting; introducing the presenter the purpose of the presentation; stating the brief content.

2. THE MAIN PART: background information; problem; possibilities; proposals.

3. CONCLUSION: short summary of the main issues; answers on questions.

Attention level is changed during 40 min. It can be presented in diagram.

According to this diagram “the information to think over” should be spoken out twice: at the beginning and at the end of the presentation. After the first 10 min. it’ll be correct to pass to the interesting facts which can attract and keep attention of the audience. Up to the end you should “wake up” the listeners and give them the most important.

Start your presentation with confidence. Usually presentations are held after 2 p.m. Press-conference, some cultural program may be included in it. The duration of the presentation itself is 30-40 min., and the whole event is 1,5-2 hours.

The questions may be neutral and awkward. If you are asked such a question answer it not justifying yourself. Don’t argue. For example, ‘Why is the price so high?’. Be honest. If you don’t know how to answer promise to clear up and do it.

At first, attention level is high then for the next 10 min. it is slowly lowered. The next 20 min. this lowering is much quicker and in 30 min. it reaches the lowest mark. Then the level starts to rise steeply and in the last 5 min. it is becoming enough high.

Experts say that you can gain the audience’s attention in a presentation by:

• telling an anecdote (a story, perhaps a personal one);

• mentioning a really surprising fact or statistic;

• stating a problem;

• asking a question.

Of course, it is important to respect the cultural expectations of your audience.

Here are some examples of different presentations:

• press conference: two chief executives tell journalists why their companies have merged;

• briefing: a senior officer gives information to other officers about a police operation they are about to undertake;

• demonstration: the head of research and development tells non-technical colleagues about a new machine;

• product launch: a car company announces a new model:

• lecture: a university professor communicates information about economics to students;

• talk: a member of any club tells other members about something :

• seminar: a financial adviser gives advice about investments to some people;

• workshop: a yoga expert tells people how to improve their techniques and gets them to practice.