Engage your audience with culturally appropriate presentations

Employees often need to make group presentations – and, almost as often, they dread the thought of it. It is said that the greatest fear we have, second to death, is the fear of public speaking.

Non-native speakers face even more difficulty. Making presentations from a podium, speaking up at meetings and participating fully in luncheon discussions are particularly challenging to those unaccustomed to a North American or British context.

When presenting a speech or report to people of a culture other than your own, the impression you want to give is not always the impression that people receive. Making the right impression and really communicating your message often requires adapting your behaviour as well as your material. We can help you with this.

Voice to Word Consulting helps you communicate in English so that your audience really understands. Learn to present yourself and your ideas with confidence in both formal and informal situations. Our presentation skills training will include some or all of the following:

  • Structuring your presentation
  • Voice coaching with a presentation skills coach
  • Word selection and sentence structure
  • Levels of formality – knowing your audience
  • Communicating effectively – face-to-face, by telephone and online
  • Speaking clearly and projecting the voice
  • Appearance and appropriate body language
  • We also provide the opportunity to practice these skills in a safe, supportive environment so that these elements are integrated naturally into presentations.

    Develop a stronger, clearer voice

    In the English-speaking environment, a beautiful, pleasing voice is an important asset in both social and business settings.

    Cultural and linguistic influences can affect the voice, making it sound unclear, nasal or too quiet. For example, some languages hold the sound back in the mouth and project through the nose, making the words sound unclear and nasalized. Some cultures prefer soft-spoken communication which is often misread in English-speaking cultures as being insecure. These are the types of issues we can work on with you:

    • Getting a clear sound
    • Positioning the sound
    • Increasing volume
    • Improving projection
    • Putting it together