My LinkedIn presentation slides finished, I am now thinking of the finer points to bring to my session tomorrow for a new audience for me: South African and Swazi entrepreneurs.
An exciting first for me, speaking on LinkedIn to an audience on that continent.
I consulted my handy reference guide on my bookshelf, “Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands.” The 1994 edition (dating from my old global corporate travel days) does not cover South Africa. And Swaziland is absent from the book too.
The latest edition is dated 2006, but I noticed a 2011 Sales and Marketing edition covers South Africa. Alas, I cannot get it delivered soon enough for my talk on Tuesday. Ah, but it is in the local branch of the public library, so off I went to check it out, in both ways.
I figured the extra effort is warranted to engage myself and the local audience, our nationalities being unusual for each other, especially since it is a virtual talk, with new challenges I intend to leap over.
I asked for the names of all attendees and reviewed each participant’s LinkedIn profile to gain insight into their background and current entrepreneurial pursuits.
My next assignment will be to look them up on LinkedIn and draw some overall conclusions on what concepts and techniques to concentrate on in my verbal comments, all to help the greatest number.
Since I can’t make the effort to visit with them, and meet them, in person, my goal is to be sure they know I did everything I can to appreciate their cultural and business expectations of me as a speaker, that I have much to offer them, in what will be a learning experience for all of us.
I’ll report back on my assessment and the attendees’.
What goes around comes around. Right?
