ABA Banking Journal - April 2008 - (Page 47)

ON THE JOB who you are T his past summer, at the Graduate School of Banking at Madison, two students—one from Asia and the other from the Caribbean—asked for help with a problem common to many who are required to speak in public and whose accent, pronunciation or use of English has proven to interfere with understanding. “While I have lived in the U.S. since age 19,” said one student, “I still have pronunciation and accent issues. I’ve sensed comprehension problems during presentations. My boss tells me to say nothing about where I am from, nor to make an issue of my language skills but, I feel it is important to give the audience an accurate picture of who I am, and why I sound the way I do, and especially for them to feel free to speak up if I seem unclear. Her colleague related similar experiences. Their question: “Should a speaker address culture, language usage, and even national origins?” If ever there was an area requiring awareness by the speaker or by those who put that person in front of an audience, this is it. “Audiences really appreciate having relevant background information about speakers. It helps them more realistically define their responses to presenters,” Dr. Tim Plax commented when I discussed these issues with him. Plax is a Professor of Communication Studies and Administrative Director of the Hauth Center for Communication Skills at California State University, Long Beach, and a recognized authority on intercultural communication. Your audience needs to know English from all over “Today, companies across America have employees from all over the world, speaking the English language with varying degrees of clarity. We can easily imagine a presentation by a banker originally from Nigeria, speaking in Texas to an audience composed of people from India, Pakistan, Malaysia, the Caribbean, and the U.S. They all grew up speaking, and educated in English, but none of them will speak the same English,” Dr. Plax points out. “Where a speaker is aware of real issues of accent, pronunciation, or some other possible infringement on comprehension, then it might be a good idea to bring these things out in the open, in a positive way, to show the audience they care about being understood,” says Plax. Management needs to decide if they are going to put their own reputation at risk, as well as potentially embarrass an employee, by having someone deliver a presentation who clearly lacks the necessary verbal skills. By Dennis Beaver, lagombeaver@hotmail.com. An attorney, Beaver teaches Effective Presentation Techniques at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of WisconsinMadison. Look for his “On the Job” columns at www.ababj.com and share your experiences to the blog. Ask yourself honestly… If you see yourself described in this article, then a few threshold questions must be answered: “Am I difficult to understand? Am I asked to repeat or try to clarify what I’ve said? Do I get facial expressions which show confusion?” Audiences are supportive of most speakers, realizing that it takes guts to stand up there and address a group. But research shows where they listen to a speaker who is objectively difficult to understand due to poor language skills or terrible pronunciation, they can easily become angry with the speaker or whoever put that person on stage. So, it all comes down to a matter of degree. By spending a moment to share life history, and admitting that at times we might be a little bit difficult to follow, credibility is enhanced. BJ www.ababj.com/subscribe.html ABA BANKING JOURNAL/APRIL 2008 47 http://www.csulb.edu/centers/hauth/ http://www.csulb.edu/centers/hauth/ http://www.ababj.com http://www.ababj.com/subscribe.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - April 2008

ABA Banking Journal - April 2008 Contents Editor's Column You Can't Beat Wal-Mart: Or Can You? Snapshot: Non-Interest Income Shoulders More Weight ABA National Conference for Community Bankers Report 100th Anniversary: Then & Now ABA Resources ABA Chairman's Position Banks Plus Insurance: How to Make It Work Pass the Aspirin 2008: Year of Rich Internet Apps? Tough Time For That IPO Your Audience Needs to Know Who You Are Telepresence: Costly But Very Cool Webnotes Better Websites Mean Tougher Compliance Mailbox Banker's Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers The Economy

ABA Banking Journal - April 2008

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