1. Take things slowly. English comprehension may not be as good as it appears. Keep interventions simple and straightforward. The same is true if an interpreter is used. Make your interventions in short, easily translatable burst. Don't use sporting metaphors. If you must make jokes, keep them very simple.
2. Construct a short but warm introductory statement for each meeting. This should not be a sales pitch. It should explain why you're there, how long you'll be there, the sort of people you are seeing during your visit, and any particular previous contact you've had with Japan.
3. Then, after you and your interlocutor have made your respective introductory statements, make your sales pitch. But try to use the same sales pitch for all your meetings. In effect, decide what the five or six crucial points you want to get across during your entire visit are, and keep repeating them with all those you meet and in speeches you make.
4. Personal posture is important. Sit firmly in chairs at meetings even if they are armchairs. Don't slump, don't cross your legs and do maintain a fairly formal style. Don't blow your nose noisily. Don't drink tea offered to you before your host has indicated that you do so. Shake hands at the beginning and end of meetings. Never be late. Don't overrun the designated period for the meeting unless your interlocutor clearly wants to extend it. Don't hog the conversation.
5. Do not be worried if you feel you wish to read out a previously prepared note. Your interlocutor may well do this. Indeed, in making an impact, it's often more useful to read out a note and then leave it as an aide memoire.
6. Take business cards with you and have plenty available. They should be printed in Japanese on the reverse.
7. If you are taking gifts, make sure they are well wrapped, if possible professionally. Tatty wrapping paper is a British disease; as are cheap, tatty gifts. They indicate a discourtesy to the recipient. Do not give the gift until the end of the meeting. Don't be fazed if you have given a gift and not received one. You will have scored a point. Don't open the gift after receiving it; if it's not very good it will embarrass your host. If you open it, your host will also have to open yours and that could embarrass you.
8. Don't be afraid of silences. Sit tight and wait for something to happen. It's a common Western flaw in the Far East to feel that silences have to be filled. In negotiations, for instance, this normally means that the Westerner ends up conceding something.
9. Do pay self-evident respect to Japan's extensive history, unique culture and enormous economic achievements. No need to go over the top, but it does no harm to indulge in some well-placed flattery.
10. Enquire about your host's education, background, family, hobbies etc. Give information about your own. This is part of the sharing of contacts which helps build up a relationship.
11. For formal speeches, have a prepared text for distribution beforehand. The audience will follow this as you give it, dramatically improving comprehension. Impromptu or off-the-cuff changes risk being missed, or worse, mistranslated.
12. On taking the first drink at meals, toast your host by raising your glass to him and to those around you before you drink. Don't drink until it is time for those toasts to take place.
Source - https://www.bccjapan.com
No comments:
Post a Comment