Effective Public Speaking for Italian vs. English-speaking audiences

An Italian Director of an Italian multinational who had been hired to drive a global reorganization and business transformation program found herself working with a predominantly English-speaking board for the first time. We started working together after her first board meeting during which she froze, unable to express herself, an alarming experience for someone who was a stellar public speaker in Italian.

After establishing that her problem was not her level of English, I worked with her on the very different communicative styles considered successful in Italian and Anglo-Saxon cultures.

In Italian culture self-expression is very important, more so than in Northern European cultures. Italians enjoy talking, they talk a lot, and they value eloquence over simplicity. Using simple language in Italian communication is perceived as questioning the listener’s intelligence. In Italian culture the responsibility for ensuring successful communication lies with the speaker, so there is a lot of repetition and redundancy to ensure an idea is successfully transmitted. Saying to an Italian, “Sorry, I didn’t understand what you said,” is an insult.

By contrast, British and American communication, especially in business, focuses on efficiency: they like to “keep things short” and “get to the point”. The responsibility for ensuring successful communication lies with the receiver. So British people frequently check understanding, and have a multitude of ways of expressing the idea that they have not understood you.

By learning to identify her specific communication skills and translate and adapt them to a more Anglo-Saxon environment, my client achieved greater effectiveness and regained her confidence in her communicative ability.