Political leaders are supposed to be brilliant communicators, but if you consider the things said by George Bush, you might wonder which planet he is on. Except for the time when he said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time … and those are the ones you have to concentrate on.”
And as I was thinking about language complications, I remembered the difficulties that some very large companies have had with language.
It’s well known that when Coca Cola first ventured into China, the company had the name written phonetically in Chinese characters. They forgot that there are a number of quite different dialects in China, and in one dialect, Coca Cola meant Bite the Wax Tadpole.
Pepsi had a similar false start. The company decided to stick with their international slogan, Come Alive with Pepsi. Unfortunately, that translated into Chinese as "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave".
In Ireland there is a whiskey liqueur called Irish Mist. It is now available in 60 countries. But when they first entered the German market, sales were disappointingly low. What they hadn’t realised was that ‘mist’ is a German slang word for ‘dung’. There wasn’t a huge demand for Irish dung in Germany.
Exam papers are rich in twisted thinking. From the exam papers of medical students in America, we learn that Bacteria means the backdoor to a cafeteria, terminal illness is fall ill at the airport, and Dilate means to live long.
Exams for the Indian Civil Service have always provided a stream of answers that cannot be faulted for their logic, but which try the patience of the examiners. Some of the answers simply indicate that the candidate has understood the question in quite another way.
Here are some examples:
Question: If you throw a red stone into the blue sea, what will it become?
Answer: It will sink. Simple as that.
Question: How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
Answer: It is not a problem as you will never find an elephant with one hand.
Question: what happened when the wheel was invented?
Answer: It caused a revolution.
And finally,
Question: How can you drop a raw egg on a concrete floor without cracking it?
Answer: Concrete floors are very hard to crack.
Another fruitful source of mental gymnastics is broadcast quizzes. You really have to wonder if some of the contestants have their brains in sideways.
On BBC Radio Newcastle, Paul Wappat asked, How long did the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel last?
After a long pause, the contestant said, Fourteen days?
On Rock FM, the Presenter asked: Name a film starring Bob Hoskins that is also the name of a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.
The contestant replied, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
My brother sent me a story about the famous fictional cowboy, The Lone Ranger, who had a Red Indian partner or companion called Tonto. (Actually, it’s hard to put a name on their relationship without making it sound like they were both gays.)
Anyway, according to the story, the Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert, and fell asleep.
Some hours later, Tonto woke the Lone Ranger and said, “Kemo Sabe, look towards the sky and tell me what you see.”
The Lone Ranger whose nickname meant The One Who Knows, replied, “I see millions of stars.”
“What means that?” said Tonto.
The Lone Ranger thought for a moment, then he said, “Astronomically, it means there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, it means Saturn is in Leo.
Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning.
Theologically, the Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we are in for a fine day tomorrow.
What does it mean to you, Tonto?”
Tonto said, “You are dumber than a buffalo. It means someone stole the tent.”
So you see, it all depends on your point of view. And I got a fine example of that in a sermon I heard in church the other day. This is the story.
An English lady vicar was due to visit Switzerland for the first time, and she didn’t know what to expect. She was particularly concerned about the toilet facilities, so she wrote and asked. Being English, she didn’t like to be too direct, so she asked if there would be a WC available to her.
Her Swiss host did not understand what a WC was, so he consulted a colleague, and together they decided it probably stood for Wayside Chapel. So he wrote back saying, “There is a very fine WC located in the nearby woods. It is large enough for about 200 people, and if there are more, the men will be standing.
"As a matter of fact, I met my wife in that WC when we were both attending a baptism ceremony there. The water is very special and if you are lucky enough to get some of it on your hands you won’t want to wash them for the rest of the day.
"I think you will enjoy the experience very much. Please let me know if it interests you and I shall reserve for you the very best seat where you can be seen by everybody.”
So you see, you may know what you want put across, but the other person my receive something different. That’s The Trouble with Language.
If you'd like help with the right language, contact me at: phillip@pkp.co.uk
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Oz turned me upside down
I was in a shop today and paid for my purchase with a handful of coins. The shop assistant picked up the small silver coin marked 5, turned it over and saw the Queen's head. Satisfied, she said, "Oh it's just a different design." I took the coin back and replaced it with a 5p coin and said, "Sorry, that's an Australian 5 cent coin."
The two are very similar in size and appearance, but if you look closely you will see the word "Australia" on the front. The English coin has D.G.Reg.F.D. and is fractionally smaller.
With the Ashes series about to start, the incident got me thinking about the similarity between the Brits and the Aussies. They may be superficially similar, but they are fundamentally different and therefore not interchangeable.
Something else that is different is my perception of Australia and Australians. The reason I had that coin in my pocket is that I have recently returned from my first ever visit to that country. I was in Sydney, Brisbane and the wine country, and was amazed at the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people.
I found Australia breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly clean. I also encountered none of the brashness I had expected, nor any of the aggression that marks their performance on the playing field. I'll put that down to extreme competitiveness, an attribute I usually applaud.
My impressions of Oz have been turned upside down!
The two are very similar in size and appearance, but if you look closely you will see the word "Australia" on the front. The English coin has D.G.Reg.F.D. and is fractionally smaller.
With the Ashes series about to start, the incident got me thinking about the similarity between the Brits and the Aussies. They may be superficially similar, but they are fundamentally different and therefore not interchangeable.
Something else that is different is my perception of Australia and Australians. The reason I had that coin in my pocket is that I have recently returned from my first ever visit to that country. I was in Sydney, Brisbane and the wine country, and was amazed at the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people.
I found Australia breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly clean. I also encountered none of the brashness I had expected, nor any of the aggression that marks their performance on the playing field. I'll put that down to extreme competitiveness, an attribute I usually applaud.
My impressions of Oz have been turned upside down!
Sunday, 28 June 2009
The Empty Train
The empty train crept down the track,
It slid into the station.
Eight coaches long, from front to back,
It raised our expectations.
It paused, then rolled reluctantly
Towards the eight-coach mark.
We raised our heads expectantly
But every coach was dark.
Unlit inside, unwashed outside,
A nightmare, not a dream,
The prospect of a grisly ride,
Unlike the age of steam.
It shuddered, squealed, then suddenly
It picked up speed once more,
And scorning us quite openly,
It opened not one door.
The people stood and watched it go
In silent resignation,
Their Monday morning spirits low –
Commuters know their station.
It slid into the station.
Eight coaches long, from front to back,
It raised our expectations.
It paused, then rolled reluctantly
Towards the eight-coach mark.
We raised our heads expectantly
But every coach was dark.
Unlit inside, unwashed outside,
A nightmare, not a dream,
The prospect of a grisly ride,
Unlike the age of steam.
It shuddered, squealed, then suddenly
It picked up speed once more,
And scorning us quite openly,
It opened not one door.
The people stood and watched it go
In silent resignation,
Their Monday morning spirits low –
Commuters know their station.
Friday, 26 June 2009
10 Tips On Using Business Cards
1. Exchanging business cards should ALWAYS be done with respect and decorum, whichever country you are in. It is so easy to make a cultural gaffe.
2. In Asia, offering and receiving cards is a very formal ceremony and, in a formal meeting, the cards are kept on display during the meeting. It is a good idea to place the cards you receive in a pattern that corresponds to where each person is seated, so that you can use the correct name.
3. In Asia, never casually offer your card with just one hand. Hold your card with both hands when you give it, and bow slightly.
4. Always pass it the right way up so the other person can read it immediately. This shows consideration for the other person.
5. Show respect when you receive a card by using both hands. Especially in the Far East. Look at it, study it, then put it away or on the table carefully. Do not put it into your back (hip) pocket. (Equally, do not offer an Oriental a card taken from your wallet in your back pocket.)
6. Don't write on other people's business cards
7. The Japanese like photographs on cards. These are beginning to become common in the US and UK. It is worth putting your photo on your own card -- using the same photograph as you might have opn your website.
8. Many US/UK companies are dispensing with job titles, as they are considered unnecessary. However, titles are very important in most other cultures, so use them when abroad. They signify seniority and status, both of which are important in many countries.
9. Have supplementary information or a translation on the reverse side of your card.
10. Your card represents you, so don't use tatty or out-of-date ones. Your card conveys an impression of who you are, and is the main impression that remains when you have left.
2. In Asia, offering and receiving cards is a very formal ceremony and, in a formal meeting, the cards are kept on display during the meeting. It is a good idea to place the cards you receive in a pattern that corresponds to where each person is seated, so that you can use the correct name.
3. In Asia, never casually offer your card with just one hand. Hold your card with both hands when you give it, and bow slightly.
4. Always pass it the right way up so the other person can read it immediately. This shows consideration for the other person.
5. Show respect when you receive a card by using both hands. Especially in the Far East. Look at it, study it, then put it away or on the table carefully. Do not put it into your back (hip) pocket. (Equally, do not offer an Oriental a card taken from your wallet in your back pocket.)
6. Don't write on other people's business cards
7. The Japanese like photographs on cards. These are beginning to become common in the US and UK. It is worth putting your photo on your own card -- using the same photograph as you might have opn your website.
8. Many US/UK companies are dispensing with job titles, as they are considered unnecessary. However, titles are very important in most other cultures, so use them when abroad. They signify seniority and status, both of which are important in many countries.
9. Have supplementary information or a translation on the reverse side of your card.
10. Your card represents you, so don't use tatty or out-of-date ones. Your card conveys an impression of who you are, and is the main impression that remains when you have left.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Why Speaking Louder and Slower Does Not Work
"Every country has its way of saying things. The importance is that which lies behind peoples' words."
Freya Stark: 'The Journeys Echo'
To understand what lies behind the words of someone from another culture, you need cultural adaptability.
In some eastern cultures it is unsophisticated to show surprise. Someone raised that way will respond very coolly to dramatic news, let alone ordinary conversation. A westerner may well imagine that he is not 'getting through', or that the easterner has not understood. The westerner is used to his listeners responding with 'Really'? and 'Oh ah!' and nods of agreement throughout the exchange, and he is uncomfortable when his oriental listener merely nods at the end to indicate, 'Message received and understood'.
We all process information differently, and the way we do so is reflected in the language we use. However, it is important to remember which came first, the mental processes or the language. Clearly, language followed the mental processes. Or rather, the way a nation uses its language indicates how its people think. The English language, for example, can be used in more ways than one. Brits and Americans use the active voice, direct speech and action verbs. The people of Malawi tend to speak and write in the passive voice, third person, and indirect speech. The Arabs have a similar approach. Same language, different attitudes.
In communicating with other cultures, cultural adaptability is more important than language skills. You need a strong willingness to understand what it is that causes the people of another culture to think and behave the way they do. You need to 'tune in'. Cultural adaptability is about switching your communication style to facilitate understanding or to make it easier to work together. You may need to accept that other cultures need time to consider what you say before agreeing or accepting. It may strike you as resistance or even discourtesy, but it may only be the normal response in their culture.
Speaking louder and slower will only make things worse.
Freya Stark: 'The Journeys Echo'
To understand what lies behind the words of someone from another culture, you need cultural adaptability.
In some eastern cultures it is unsophisticated to show surprise. Someone raised that way will respond very coolly to dramatic news, let alone ordinary conversation. A westerner may well imagine that he is not 'getting through', or that the easterner has not understood. The westerner is used to his listeners responding with 'Really'? and 'Oh ah!' and nods of agreement throughout the exchange, and he is uncomfortable when his oriental listener merely nods at the end to indicate, 'Message received and understood'.
We all process information differently, and the way we do so is reflected in the language we use. However, it is important to remember which came first, the mental processes or the language. Clearly, language followed the mental processes. Or rather, the way a nation uses its language indicates how its people think. The English language, for example, can be used in more ways than one. Brits and Americans use the active voice, direct speech and action verbs. The people of Malawi tend to speak and write in the passive voice, third person, and indirect speech. The Arabs have a similar approach. Same language, different attitudes.
In communicating with other cultures, cultural adaptability is more important than language skills. You need a strong willingness to understand what it is that causes the people of another culture to think and behave the way they do. You need to 'tune in'. Cultural adaptability is about switching your communication style to facilitate understanding or to make it easier to work together. You may need to accept that other cultures need time to consider what you say before agreeing or accepting. It may strike you as resistance or even discourtesy, but it may only be the normal response in their culture.
Speaking louder and slower will only make things worse.
Monday, 8 June 2009
10 Top Tips in Visual Aids
Having recently been exposed to a number of information-rich Presentations (PowerPoint) I think it might be useful to re-state some basic guidelines. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of illustrating everything, and putting too much detail into slides. The result is a confusing presentation that causes people to switch off.
The most important thing to remember about visual aids is that they should assist the message, not become the message. A visual aid may be a flip chart, a slide, or some other prop. Its purpose is to aid understanding and recall. That's all. It is not a substitute for the Presenter.
PowerPoint has seduced many presenters into overdoing the number of slides. They might as well put on a video! Here are a few simple rules.
1. Each visual aid should have a single purpose -- one message.
2. How many words? Follow the 7x7 rule. No more than seven lines and no more than seven words per line. Even better is the 5x5 rule, because you have five fingers on each hand, and each finger can be used to correspond to the five bullet points, as you present.
3. A slide must be a legitimate summary of what you will be saying in that part of the presentation.
4. In general, each slide must be a brief and clear summary that can be instantly understood. Its design should not send the eye in several different directions.
5. Projected slides are the brightest objects in the room. So beware of becoming subsidiary to the screen. Unless you are describing a graph or reading a quotation, do not face the screen and read the words of your slide. Your audience can read it faster, and will resent being read to.
6. Use the visual aid to make the point, then switch it off. If you are using PowerPoint, press letter 'B' and the screen will go black. When you need the visual to reappear, press 'B' again. You will then retain attention.
7. If you are using a flip chart, write in letters at least 2 inches (5cm) high. Do not write on a flip chart for audiences of more than 25 -- those at the back will not be able to read what you write, unless you write HUGE with a broad nib marker.
8. Make sure the type on your slides is large enough to be read from every part of the room. Check in advance. Do not rely on the tolerance of your audience.
9. Use pictures. A presentation with text-only slides is visually boring.
10. Practise the presentation, so that the slide changes are slick and unnoticeable. It helps to have a print-out of the slides in front of you, so that you know what's the next slide and can lead up to it.
Finally, please remember that your focus should be on the message you want to impart - a message that arises within you, and one that you could, if necessary, put across without any slides at all. What people want from you is your Wisdom, not your PowerPoint slides.
For more help contact phillip@pkpcommunicators.com
The most important thing to remember about visual aids is that they should assist the message, not become the message. A visual aid may be a flip chart, a slide, or some other prop. Its purpose is to aid understanding and recall. That's all. It is not a substitute for the Presenter.
PowerPoint has seduced many presenters into overdoing the number of slides. They might as well put on a video! Here are a few simple rules.
1. Each visual aid should have a single purpose -- one message.
2. How many words? Follow the 7x7 rule. No more than seven lines and no more than seven words per line. Even better is the 5x5 rule, because you have five fingers on each hand, and each finger can be used to correspond to the five bullet points, as you present.
3. A slide must be a legitimate summary of what you will be saying in that part of the presentation.
4. In general, each slide must be a brief and clear summary that can be instantly understood. Its design should not send the eye in several different directions.
5. Projected slides are the brightest objects in the room. So beware of becoming subsidiary to the screen. Unless you are describing a graph or reading a quotation, do not face the screen and read the words of your slide. Your audience can read it faster, and will resent being read to.
6. Use the visual aid to make the point, then switch it off. If you are using PowerPoint, press letter 'B' and the screen will go black. When you need the visual to reappear, press 'B' again. You will then retain attention.
7. If you are using a flip chart, write in letters at least 2 inches (5cm) high. Do not write on a flip chart for audiences of more than 25 -- those at the back will not be able to read what you write, unless you write HUGE with a broad nib marker.
8. Make sure the type on your slides is large enough to be read from every part of the room. Check in advance. Do not rely on the tolerance of your audience.
9. Use pictures. A presentation with text-only slides is visually boring.
10. Practise the presentation, so that the slide changes are slick and unnoticeable. It helps to have a print-out of the slides in front of you, so that you know what's the next slide and can lead up to it.
Finally, please remember that your focus should be on the message you want to impart - a message that arises within you, and one that you could, if necessary, put across without any slides at all. What people want from you is your Wisdom, not your PowerPoint slides.
For more help contact phillip@pkpcommunicators.com
Friday, 5 June 2009
The difference betwen communicating in writing and in person
There are a few fundamental differences in the communication process when it is conducted in person, against written communication. They fall under three broad headings: language, attitude and feedback.
LANGUAGE:
The language that is written to be read is different from the language that is written to be said. The main differences are:
• Grammatical - spoken language is less correct
• Repetition - spoken language uses more repetition, while written texts let you go back and read again what you might have missed
• Sentence length - speech requires shorter sentences
• Directness - speech requires you to get to the point of a sentence quicker
• Vocabulary - written texts tend to have a higher level of vocabulary
ATTITUDE:
Written texts are usually read in the absence of the author, and their meaning is coloured by the reader, not the author. Spoken texts are always coloured by the author's delivery.
Spoken texts are more likely to be intended to influence the feelings as well as the thinking of the audience. They are therefore more likely to reveal the speaker's intentions. Written texts can be more subtle.
The speaker can use oratorical devices such as repetition and rhythm to stir the emotions. Sound adds much to the effect of words, especially if the words also make powerful pictures in the minds of the listeners.
FEEDBACK:
• The speaker can see how the audience is reacting, and adjust his/her delivery.
• The speaker can go back and explain in greater detail if necessary.
• The writer cannot take back what has been written. The speaker can (sometimes) take back what might have caused misunderstanding or offence.
The speaker can be influenced by the listener more readily than the writer by the reader.
Although there are rules in common (for example, in following the sequence of Persuasion), it is essential to treat these two forms of verbal communication differently, both in the preparation and in the delivery.
For guidance and/or coaching call me on 07768 696254.
LANGUAGE:
The language that is written to be read is different from the language that is written to be said. The main differences are:
• Grammatical - spoken language is less correct
• Repetition - spoken language uses more repetition, while written texts let you go back and read again what you might have missed
• Sentence length - speech requires shorter sentences
• Directness - speech requires you to get to the point of a sentence quicker
• Vocabulary - written texts tend to have a higher level of vocabulary
ATTITUDE:
Written texts are usually read in the absence of the author, and their meaning is coloured by the reader, not the author. Spoken texts are always coloured by the author's delivery.
Spoken texts are more likely to be intended to influence the feelings as well as the thinking of the audience. They are therefore more likely to reveal the speaker's intentions. Written texts can be more subtle.
The speaker can use oratorical devices such as repetition and rhythm to stir the emotions. Sound adds much to the effect of words, especially if the words also make powerful pictures in the minds of the listeners.
FEEDBACK:
• The speaker can see how the audience is reacting, and adjust his/her delivery.
• The speaker can go back and explain in greater detail if necessary.
• The writer cannot take back what has been written. The speaker can (sometimes) take back what might have caused misunderstanding or offence.
The speaker can be influenced by the listener more readily than the writer by the reader.
Although there are rules in common (for example, in following the sequence of Persuasion), it is essential to treat these two forms of verbal communication differently, both in the preparation and in the delivery.
For guidance and/or coaching call me on 07768 696254.
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