Professional Business Communications

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These questions are taken from my web site: I thought it might be interesting to answer them in writing. Please write to me with other points you’re aware of and we can discuss them.

o    Do you need to change the way you speak?

If people look at you with question marks in their eyes, if they ask you to repeat what you said, you could probably use some help.

o    Do you speak too fast?  Or too slowly?

Most of the time, speaking too fast is a problem for foreign-born  English speakers. Many cultures seem to think that speaking fast means you also think fast, but if you have an accent, that causes problems - so slow down!

o   Do you drop consonants at the end of your words?

Now this is a major issue! Words have consonants for a reason - note the differences among fine/file/fight etc. but without the last sounds in the words, [and you just say /fi/] the real meanings are hard to figure out.

o    Do you add the plural /s/ at the end of your words?

Even if I know that you are talking about a plural and are just forgetting to put in the /s/ at the end, it becomes annoying after a while, because I constantly have to discern if you are referring to one or to many.

o    Do you use articles: /a/ and /the/ ?

Again, not a major issues, but paired with no plurals, it can add to the confusion.

o    Do you say /like/ you know/ basically/ in your sentences?

Now this is totally annoying and really takes away your credibility. Avoid these words like the plague!

o   Do you use /um/ and /eh/ in your presentations?

This is just a [dumb] habit and can be “unlearned” by paying attention when you speak.

o    Do people you talk to look puzzled or ask you to repeat several times?

A wake-up call that you are either speaking incoherently or your accent is causing you problems.

o    Do you get nervous when you know you have to speak in front of your team or outside customers?

You can avoid being terribly nervous if you are very well prepared - a small amount of nervousness is good, it keeps you on your toes.

o    Do people finish your sentences for you?

It can be that you are looking for words, translating from your native language or you don’t know how to get to the point quickly enough and others want to help you. Ask someone around you to give you ideas why this is happening.

o  Do you change your sentences in the middle because you are not sure how to finish them or another grammatical construction occurrs to you which might be easier?

This is very strenuous for the listener because you are constantly changing direction and it is hard to follow. Just finish the sentence and then think of another, maybe better way to go on.

o    Do people stop listening to you after you have spoken for a while?

You need professional help to understand why this is happening because it can be due to accent, content, the way you speak or even the subject matter.

o    Does your voice go down at the end of the sentence and people can’t hear the last point you are making?

It is not that bad in normal conversation, but if you are giving a speech or are teaching, it makes listening to you too difficult. So tape yourself while presenting and see if you mumble at the end of a remark or leave it out all together .

Changing English speaking habits begins by you taping yourself or having someone video tape you when you are speaking. Then you can analyze what your main problems are and can start working  on them;it does help to use the insights of a trained professional, but you can make a lot of headway by yourself with discipline and dedication.

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While interviewing leaders of Silicon Valley for my book, one of the first people I was really lucky to be able to interview was Eric Benhamou, the CEO of Benhamou Global Ventures and a very respected executive, both here as well as in Israel and France.
He was also willing to be part of an event we had on April 9th 2008, where 5 international leaders participated in a panel at Pillsbury Winthrop in Palo Alto (see my web site for description) to discuss personal leadership.

Some of the leadership characteristics we defined that evening were definitely humor as well as humility. I was struck by this combination, when I went to look at Eric’s web site and found this on his home page:

After nearly 30 years spent building or running high technology companies, I created BGV to assist other entrepreneurs build or run a new generation of high technology companies. I will put my own money at risk, not others. I will coach, but will not be a consultant. I will invest my time and experience at the service of the CEO and the company first, and its investors second. I will teach, but will learn as well. I will insist on upholding the highest standards of governance and the best management principles and techniques, but will take myself seriously only some of the time. Eric Benhamou Chairman and CEO, Benhamou Global Ventures

Where else would we find leaders willing to “put themselves out there” if not here? I think that these two traits - humility and humor - have to be internalized before leadership becomes real.

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What do foreign-born career seekers have problems with when looking for a job in the US?
They don’t know how to “sell” themselves; they talk around questions and don’t back up their answers with examples and interesting stories. Even when they are MBA students at Stanford looking for that special job.

Many foreign-born professionals are taught in their own culture, that “tooting their own horn” [which is an American saying] is not something they should do.

One must be humble to be appreciated; it is not accepted to brag!
This doesn’t work in the US. If you don’t learn to talk about your outstanding deeds, no one else will.

Americans are raised to know how to put forth their strengths; they “put their best foot forward.”
The French, for example, can’t answer a question directly [get to the point], but rather, they go around it. The French form of communication, like the Asian one, is implicit and indirect and it takes a paradigm shift to get to our explicit and direct way of speaking in the US.

Example:

The interviewer asks the question: “Tell me about a strength you have and how you have demonstrated it.”

A French answer might go something like this: “Well, when I was 15, I was in the equivalent of the Boy Scouts in France and I worked with many other young boys; we went on trips where we built tents from tree leaves and had to prove our skills at camping in the wilderness; then when I was 18, I was able to do the same thing with a group of university students, where I was the team leader…..now, as a graduate student, I am able to really focus on directing other students and have demonstrated this very clearly especially in study groups.”
I think somewhere in that statement was a qualification as a leader…
The practiced American answer would have been, “My strengths are in organization skills and in making quick decisions which I have demonstrated in my last 2 jobs in Company X by doing Y.”
Americans learn in school and in business to get to the point. You are asked a question here and you answer it. No digression, no long elaboration.

I don’t think that foreigners realize how annoying it can be to listen to someone groping for facts and answers and how detrimental such evasive speech patterns are to the interviewee.
What foreigners don’t learn either is to give anecdotes and examples to back up the points they are trying to make.
You have to go through all the possible questions of an interview and systematically write down and practice the examples and stories that apply.
Therefore, after many practice sessions [which you really need to put in] with friends or with a coach, and having learned to be concise, provide examples, AND to sell yourself, your interviews will go much better and you will be called in to speak to the recruiters in person. Which should ultimately lead to a job!
For more detailed information on the differences giving interviews in the US and overseas, please look at Communicating the American Way, http://tinyurl.com/2yuzo4 where we give more examples and explanations on how to conduct an interview successfully [or come to Stanford University in the fall for a CS class I am going to teach].

If you have an additional interest in learning how foreign-born leaders have adapted to US business practices and made it in Silicon Valley, please look at They Made It!, How Chinese, French, German, Indian, Iranian, Israeli and other foreign born entrepreneurs contributed to high tech innovation in the Silicon Valley, the US and Overseas. http://tinyurl.com/3xjuk7 or http://www.professional-business-communications.com/books/tmi

A few days ago, Bob Greifeld, who is the chief executive of Nasdaq OMX, gave us the latest news on the “over- application” – once again – for the H-1B visas granted this year [2008]..

He wrote:
On April 1 [2008], the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting applications for the coveted 65,000 H-1B visas that allow foreign students with a bachelor’s degree to work in the US, in their area of specialty, for up to six years. The program includes an additional 20,000 visas for foreign students with advanced degrees from US schools. Both quotas were quickly oversubscribed as 163,000 applications poured in - a 32 per cent increase over last year. The USCIS closed the application process after five days and chose the lucky 85,000 applicants through a computer-generated lottery on April 14.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a5a33c62-2de3-11dd-b92a-000077b07658.html

I remember asking George Shultz, the former US Secretary of State [They Made It!] if he thought the window of opportunity had closed in Silicon Valley because of the limit on H1B visas?
His answer was: “It’s a problem getting the right balance with the visas. Between your concern for security and your readiness to have people come, who are wanted, I think our whole immigration laws need a fundamental review, not just the Mexican illegal-type problem. I hope that comes one of these days.”

This should definitely become a major issue for the next US government – Obama ?…- which hopefully will not have as limited and uninformed a vision as Bush & friends had.

Did you know that:
1/3 of Americans who won Nobel prizes in physics in the past 7 years, were born abroad
50% of Silicon Valley start-ups had at least one immigrant or first generation American founder
In 2006, 40% all science Ph.D.s in the US were immigrants/foreign students
By 2010, 75% all science Ph.D.s foreign students
So what are we waiting for? Why not have a complete reform addressing not illegal immigration, which is a totally different topic, but bringing about changes in the H-1B visa program, which will keep us competitive in the global market.

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I was listening to NPR this morning and people were discussing what kinds of advice to give to graduates - high school or college. One of the listeners quoted Buffet as saying that the people you work with should exhibit, integrity, intelligence and energy.

It ties in to a discussion I had yesterday with a bunch of 30 year olds. The question was, “What do you do if the person you are teaming up with ( not! working for) does not have integrity?

I was referring to an actual case where a CEO had the nasty habit of feeling up women’s legs under the table in restaurants. This was especially troubling when he did it on a trip I was on as a spouse in Europe [in the 1990s], where the Swiss, French and German women at the table were incredulous that a man would do that and they [spouses as well] felt powerless to speak up - besides it all happened very fast.

The guy was finally tripped up by doing the same thing to a young, smart, MBA woman in Boston, who screamed bloody murder and told the company president on the East Coast. The CEO was fired, but not without his million dollar umbrella protection.

So, an old acquaintance of mine is working with him now, which is what I was discussing with the young professionals.

The arguments of the young men came down to, “well, if he makes half a million dollars per year, and I can be a part of that, I wouldn’t complain about it.”

Maybe my age is showing, but there is no way I could work with this guy, he might have stopped feeling up women, but he is surely cheating on something else. And coming back to Buffet’s idea, if someone doesn’t exhibit integrity up front, s/he is probably going to devote a lot of energy and intelligence to creating situations which will not be in my favor.

Is this a generational divide? Would you, as a young professional, go into business with someone who has given you a reason to doubt integrity and ethics? if you don’t want to leave comments on the blog, you can email me at angelika.blendstrup@gmail.com.

Many months ago I ended doing the rounds of the foreign-born executives I talked to over 14 months here in the Silicon Valley because the book [They Made It!] with their interviews finished.

Since I am having withdrawal symptoms and really miss getting new ideas talking to these incredible people, I have decided to take my iPod on the road, and do a series of short interviews with them as well as with younger executives who are on their way to making it as well.

This morning [May 21], I asked Jean-Louis [see photo] 3 questions I was curious to hear his answers to:

• Quel est le meilleur conseil que tu as recu?
• Quels conseils donnerais-tu aux francais qui s’installeraient dans la Valley?
• Est-ce que les pratiques de “leadership” sont differentes dans la Silicon Valley que dans le reste du pays?
  
  

His answers didn’t disappoint me. I always enjoy the comments he comes up with on the fly and his French word choices are wonderful to listen to. a more complete interview where he gives answers to his early beginnings as well as to the development of his career [Apple Europe, Apple + Skully] in Silicon Valley are in the book’s chapter devoted to VCs.

Those of you who speak French will enjoy listening to this exchange. Sorry, I am having problems with Wordpress, I’ll get Podpress back asap and this whole thing will look better.

 

 Jean-Louis Gassee's Comments on Silicon Valley [10:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

How inspiring it was this morning, May 10, 2008, to see a whole room [tent] full of eager, young women, all determined to move forward with their ideas which will turn into full fledged businesses - and the women are counting on this. The back of the room had a clothes line hung along the wall, full of napkins, on which business plans and ideas had been developed.

The good part of the event was also that the attendees reflected the population of the Valley - Indians, Chinese, Turkish, British, Americans, Romanians, French and so on.

Lately, I’ve gone to a few events in women’s organizations, and I was surprised at the unique culture of just white women in the room, but today there were definitely lots of different nationalities and cultural varieties in the group. And what united them was their dedication, their focus and high tech.

Besides the fireside chat that was eloquently led by well-known Chris Shipley [Demo] interviewing Rachel Payne from Google.org , we got a bulleted list of good advice from entrepreneurs who had been there, who had gone up the hill and arrived panting, but victorious.

Amy Love [Protege Performance Group]:

Build an inner circle
Share your dreams - take the risk, dream big
Have confidence and energy and stay the time (hang in there…, don’t give up).

Jwala Karnik [Jwala Group]

Be open to inspiration
Open your mouth - talk to people, have the vision, be excited
Just take the first step

Maggie Hirsch [VoiceMap]

You need:
Passion - be totally committed
Focus - direct all your energy to making your business successful
Fearlessness - do things you’ve never done, just try them.

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Here are some quotes from the book, They Made It!; they were made by French, Indian, Chinese, German, Iranian, Israeli and Saudi executives. Is it possible to guess where people come from by the way they speak, or by their views on life and their careers?

a)
“As we say in Silicon Valley, you have to learn not to drink your own Cool Aid.”
“If you combine the skills, the mindset, the culture with the financial contribution, you can accomplish great things with relatively few resources.”

b)
“Life and management are about conflict .When you become a CEO, the key to being successful is actually to pick up what’s the right decision, not to be right.”

c)
“Success is like anti-oxidants. It doesn’t make any difference in life, except that you feel healthy.”
“The biggest thing is- you have to have the passion to follow your dream and you have to have the determination to convert that into something tangible.”

d)
“This is one of the very few locations in the world [Silicon Valley], where all the pieces of the puzzle are here and successful people manage to put this puzzle together.”

e)
“My passion in life, if you will, is to simply build better products.”

If you think you can identify the writers’ original nationality, write me a your guesses and I’ll let you know if you are right:)

Here are some initial comments on why I wrote the book, and more importantly, what’s in it. Please listen to the post and come back in a few days for new uploads and readings from the book.

 

 They Made It! Introductory remarks [6:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Michael Arrington [TechCrunch] wrote a great blog in which he featured Peter Nixey who talks about his adventurous immigration trials or- as he says - “how we brought Clickpass to California and how a holiday turned into a pitch turned into a company and finally into a successful product.”

If you want to know what choices you have for a visa category and how to master getting into the US, read what Peter describes in:

H1B: Temporary workers and trainees
O1: Alien of Extraordinary ability
E2: Treaty investor

He ends his entry with an in depth account of “the interview” and a summary of the visa process. The way he approached getting his visa was definitely a success.

Here are some last ideas:
“The visa application process is expensive, very time consuming and very energy consuming. It saps time, attention and energy away from the core thing that any young business needs to do which is to grow.There are many companies for whom that distraction simply doesn’t make sense. For us though I have no doubt that it was essential. Only weeks after launch, Clickpass is seeing thousands of registrations a week and the influence, support and partnerships that the company made in Silicon Valley were critical to that early success.”

The whole visa process is a mystery to many people who want to come and work - legally- in the US. I think that Peter’s tale will help answer some of the questions that are hard to get answers to in such an organized and personalized form.