“Well, I’d present it like this.”

You, an American, work in a transatlantic team which has come up with a creative approach to a difficult technical problem within the company. But, you need some serious funding. Your German team lead, Uwe, will present the solution to very senior management in the U.S. 

You have a good sense for how these American managers think. At the same time, you have listened to dozens of German presentations, and are quite familiar with how Uwe lines up his arguments. There is the potential for a disconnect. You hint at this to Uwe. He is open to your advice. 

Place yourself in your home culture. You team lead is non-native. What advice do you give to him/her before making that key presentation?

Objectivity

In your respective cultures, in what situations is linking messenger with message persuasive, and when is it persuasive to separate them?

Competence

Choose one critical problem currently facing your respective societies. Describe to each other both the problem and the opportunity embedded in it. Is it more problem than opportunity, or the other way around?

Systematics

Take one situation in your culture in which getting a message across persuasively is critical. Explain to your colleague how your culture strikes a balance between using analysis (theory, methodology) and using experience (facts, anecdotes).

Reality

Choose a typical presentation, in a typical company, in your culture. The presenter has maximum ten slides. How many slides would be dedicated to explaining the context (past), to the current situation (present), and to the solution (future).

Persuasive

Explain to your colleague how in your business culture one knows when to guide the audience to a logical conclusion (the presenter’s) versus when one asks the audience to make a choice.