subject: Interacting With Multi National Clientele [print this page] Imagine for a moment you are standing in front of a large boardroom. You have spent weeks preparing your presentation. The colours and graphics are perfect, the information has been fact checked and found to be accurate, and each physical report sits neatly at every spot around the table.
The room begins to fill up with important contacts for your company. Your boss takes a seat at the head of the table and begins to go around the room introducing each person. As he nears the end of the table, the last two individuals sit quietly. Then one leans to the other interpreting what your boss has said.
Then it hits you, he does not speak or understand English. It just so happens he is the main reason for the meeting. How could you have not been told about his linguistic abilities? It is too late and you must press on. In spite of the great presentation, you and your boss are clearly embarrassed at this faux pas. What could you have done to avoid this?
Every day business professionals face this potentially embarrassing situation. With the expansion of International Business, more and more people are getting involved in the global marketplace. The days of just doing business locally are fading fast. In order to answer the question above, one must be aware of the differences between translation services and interpreters. He or she must also be aware of the translation services available.
Interpretation involves the act of translating verbal communication and not written documentation. While this may be useful to a certain extend, it would not have helped the business person in the scenario above. He or she would have required translation services instead of an interpreter. Only then would he or she have had the proper tools to avoid embarrassing the company and his or her boss. Translation services can be found throughout the world and are easy to locate if one knows where to search.
In order to acquire translation services, the individual needs to use one of the best tools available. The internet offers a plethora of translation companies. Each organization is prepared to assist someone with any document or presentation translation. Some companies even offer interpretation services and translation services. This would allow a person to have any document translated and then also have an interpreter to assist with answering any questions. Having that kind foresight for a meeting greatly improves ones image and avoids any embarrassment.
There is very little argument business is expanding across the world. The average contacts of a business person range for local to international. As corporations become multinational, it is imperative that individuals have the tools necessary to conduct business in a multitude of different languages.
