Tips for Speaking to Foreign Audiences | Public Speaking | Presentation Skills

Tip of the day for speaking to foreign audiences when there is an interpreter for audience members who do not speak your language.

What I do when i am speaking in other countries to audiences who do not speak English and i dont speak their language is that I make sure to get there plenty of time in advance to meet the interpreter. I dont have the speech written out but I try to familiarize the person to what i will speak about. I will show them my slides and topic. I also want them to get used to hearing my voice and subject matter, and get a sense of who I am.

The other big factor is pausing more. Stop, walk more through the audience. This allows the interpreter time to think about what you said, process it, and say it and let people think about it before you move on to the next thing. That is extremely helpful when you are working with an interpreter. It is to give more pauses and speak a little slower. Now dont enunciate after every word or else you will lose all of your energy and sound robotic.

You should be looking to slow down overall by ten to twenty percent due to which your interpreter will be better equipped to communicate your ideas to the audience successfully.