This might sound familiar if you’ve ever brought a great idea into the office and heard, “Excellent idea! But there is no one in the office to do it.”

Suddenly your moment of great inspiration has turned into a lot of extra work you had not anticipated.

Stepping up to help other businesses

This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago. My organization (World Trade Centre Winnipeg) had been working for months on securing an international trade project to deliver some education modules on behalf of a government organization. The project concept continued to evolve from the time it was initialized to its final stages.

The end product was a two-day workshop for a group of Canadian small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) specializing in the IT sector.

Companies, it turns out, that were in different stages of seeking Research & Development project partnerships in the European Union (EU), and with widely diverse levels of international experience.

To make matters more complex, what had started off as an international boot camp for 6-8 companies eventually attracted 17 companies from across Canada.

Each company was very eager to make the event a worthwhile experience, since they were taking time off to attend the workshop, on top of the travel time to get to Winnipeg.

My organization’s role was to deliver the second day of the workshop, focused on how to do business in the European Union.

Preparing for the challenge with FITT courses and a lot of practice

At the time I presented the project concept to my organization months before, it had never dawned on me that the person tasked with delivering the workshop would be me.

This meant I would not only be responsible for delivering the presentation material on the day of the workshop, but also for developing and preparing the material.

There was no one else available in our office for the task.

Two weeks before the workshop I was handed a draft PowerPoint presentation covering five hours of teaching modules that I needed to prepare. My first instinct was that this was not possible. Fortunately, I soon discovered a silver lining.

As I flipped through the pages for the first time, I realized that I already knew most of the information to be covered. The FITT courses that I had recently completed covered a lot of the content I had to teach, and with a bit of ingenuity, I could probably get by.

But time was of the essence. As my workdays were packed with my other workload, I found myself preparing in the evenings and on the weekends.

Two weeks later, the deadline arrived.

We all know the feeling. Regardless of how many times you have given presentations, it is always a daunting task to speak in front of a large group of eager people; people expecting to absorb some knowledge from you.

About a minute before my first words to the group, while I was nervously getting ready, a little piece of magic happened. One of the participants came up to me, and after exchanging the usual morning greetings and admitting I felt a little nervous, he looked me straight in the eye and said:

“Just tell your story.”

Use your experiences and what you know to accomplish your goals

Well, that’s exactly what I did. As the five different modules were presented over the course of the day, I found I wove more and more of my personal experience into the content.

I realized that having gone to seven different schools in three different continents before my 20th birthday, speaking four languages, and starting my own international career in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Uganda, I had a wealth of interesting experiences I could share with the group.

From the international financing of a coffee processing plant in Africa, to the complexities of transporting its cargo through jungle and war zones to reach chaotic ports and pirate infested seas, I was able to weave my experiences in memorable lessons as part of the module teachings.

I quickly realized that I did have a story to tell and many experiences to share.

I have lived and been educated in such diversity, and amongst so many different cultures. What seems completely natural to me, I found, is not always so obvious to others.

I talked about giving greetings and gifts, learning proper business etiquette and cultural protocol while developing an international business alliance. These are all important skills to master in order to develop a successful partnership.

I have had the opportunity to experience all of these in my previous career roles.

When my portion of the workshop was complete, I have to admit it turns out that being told “You will have to do it!” was a blessing in disguise. It led me down the road to what turned out to be a truly great experience. I ended up enjoying my teaching day and my colleagues now knew that I could deliver.

What opportunities do you have to “have to do something” new and exciting in your international trade career?

The post How I used storytelling to liven up a daunting international trade project appeared first on Trade Ready.

In March, FITT hosted an intensive training course for locally engaged Trade Commissioners (DFATD) from all around the world.

In the two separate training groups there were over 30 nationalities present, creating a unique challenge to instructors Ennio Vita-Finzi, CITP®|FIBP® and Ray Joyce, CITP®|FIBP®. How does one maintain consistency in training while getting the message across to such a diverse group of people? We know the monumental differences in the way that cultures around the world communicate.

The use of specific words, body language, tone, and even the pitch of your message could be interpreted very differently, depending on the native culture and nationality of the individual you are speaking to.

In addition to the cultural differences, Ray and Ennio had to prepare their groups to pass exams in 4 of the FITTskills courses in only a week.

Here’s what they had to say about their approaches to these challenges, and their experiences working with these unique groups of people.

1) The importance of starting on the right foot and finding common ground

Both instructors felt that with groups this diverse, the first item on the agenda should be finding some common ground to start from. Establishing mutual respect, though opinions and objectives may vary, was the first challenge.

Ennio:

My experience with the locally-engaged Trade Commissioners was very positive. I told the group that they were the “golden persons” for Canadian exporters. They have the personal insights, the language, certainly the cultural secrets of what makes their market “tick”, as well as the contacts and sector expertise.

Ray:

I started in my usual way by asking them to tell me who they were, where they were from, what they did and what their expectations for the week were. I tried to find something to use in what everybody told me, to make a connection with them and to try and figure out who the active people in the group would be.

It turned out I had about 15 different nationalities in the room, all with different cultural traits and styles of learning.

I had some participants who were used to the teacher being in charge. I had some who were very excitable and outspoken.

The rest were from a variety of cultures, and this meant that I had to think about all these things as I was deciding how to vary my presentation, in order to accommodate this.

 Add to this the range of ages in the room, the male/female ratio, and level of experience from almost beginner to 20 plus years of experience, and I began to appreciate the challenge facing me.

Having this many different cultures in the room at once was a new experience.

Ennio:

I also shared many of my own personal experiences in the field and they shared back (and I told them that I was learning from them!). I told them that I had also been a Trade Commissioner abroad, and had done the same “local” work they did (because I often did not have any locally-engaged staff to back me up). In short, I tried to show an understanding of their situation to build relationships with each of them.

I think that one of the most important things I was able to do with the group was to ensure that we were ALL TOGETHER in this program….there was no “teaching down” to them, and no “this is the way”.

In my experience/opinion, the only way to teach, instruct, learn, encourage, motivate or pass on information is to find some common ground to work with.

I was glad to see my group working together, particularly in the negotiating exercise we did on the last day.

2) Overcoming the first language obstacle

Ray felt it was important for him to address the first possible language barrier that his group would encounter – his own accent.

Ray:

I told them about my background, experiences, goals and objectives for the week. I told them that I was from Liverpool, England and that if I spoke too fast, or my accent became too heavy then they should tell me and I would attempt to slow down.

This was necessary because if I become very excited about what I am talking about I tend to speak quicker. In an effort to encourage participation and to utilise the experience in the room, I told them that I did not presume to know everything, as that was impossible, and if they did not understand what I said or if they wanted to add anything, then they should stop me and interject. As a result, this became the liveliest group I have ever been involved with.

We frequently paused to engage in lively discussions about the subject at hand, even when guest speakers were talking to the group. So it was interesting to see how this encouragement affected the group dynamic.

3) Setting the students up for success

Ray and Ennio had tricks up their sleeve for ensuring their groups learned, understood, and retained the material they were covering.

Ray:

For Ray, his particular concern was making the material relevant and interesting to this diverse group.

“My teaching style is very interactive and I like to tell lots of stories based on real life experiences, both my own and my clients. I want to make the course as interesting as possible for the participants so I establish some criteria as to how I will present the material.

The selection criteria that I used were; is the material critical to understanding the topic covered by the chapter? Does it have some significance to their daily job?

“Can I make it interesting with appropriate examples to bring it to life and to provide them with a mnemonic by which to remember the topic under review?”

“I reviewed the list of participants and where they were from to make sure that I had stories in my arsenal relevant to all of them. I am glad I chose to focus on the practical application of the knowledge being shared as that is what makes FITT training stand out from other international trade training materials.”

Ennio:

Ennio wanted to ensure his group was prepared for the types of questions they would encounter on the exams. Test-taking can be difficult enough in your own native language. Imagine taking one in a second or third language.

“I told them that multiple-choice questions are even difficult for native English-speakers, and showed them a few tricks from my own experience. In short, I tried to give them some pointers that would take off the pressure that the word “exam” brings with it.”

Final thoughts

Ray:

The participants came from a variety of countries with very different cultures and business practices. There were many interesting moments, and I made a lot of friends.

I will end with one last anecdote. At the end of the week long training, as we were all saying our goodbyes, I got probably the nicest criticism of my performance I have ever had.

Two young ladies who had sat quietly through my presentation came up to me with beautiful smiles on their faces and with no malice said to me, “Mr. Joyce we love your accent but we don’t understand what you say.”

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat; it was exhilarating and I learned a lot from the experience that I can use in the future. I also made many new friends that I look forward to seeing again.

Ennio:

“On my return home, I sent them all a personal email thanking them for their participation in the program and have had several emails in return, thanking me for the training and inviting me to see them at their posts if I ever go their way.”

FITT and DFATD have been working together on such sessions a couple of times each year since 2013. The feedback from Trade Commissioners has shown that the practical skills and knowledge acquired during these sessions are a valuable asset to the Trade Commissioners’ roles.

We look forward to bringing you more stories on the unique experiences we encounter during these sessions.

Do you have any experience in teaching culturally diverse groups of executives? What are your tips on overcoming the challenges faced in doing so?

The post 3 ways you can overcome the challenges of international trade training across diverse cultures appeared first on Trade Ready.