Speaking to an audience of people who don't share your accent.

This week's tip of the week contains another strategy to adopt when speaking to an audience of people who don’t share your accent.

In previous tips I've suggested you:

• speak more slowly than usual.
• allow time at the beginning for the audience to "tune in" to your accent, before you get to the meat of your speech.
• explicitly address the accent difference, so your audience don't spend time wondering "what is that accent" and not foccussed on your content.

One more tip:

• Consider putting key words on a Whiteboard, Flipchart, PowerPoint or Keynote slide.

This can do three things.

First, it can help your audience "tune in" to your accent and make the connection between the word they see and how you say it.

Second, it is especially valuable where you are using a technical term, or a word they may be unfamiliar with.

Third, it can prevent an audience mis-hearing you all together.

For example of point one - if you are talking about "Transporting Privacy Norms to Different Cultures" - your audience can hear how you pronounce the words "transport" and "privacy" while seeing the word written in front of them (this would also be a good time to address the difference in pronunciation directly)

For example of points 2 and 3: if you were talking about your Whakapapa to an audience in the US or UK, it would be worth displaying the term, explaining its pronunciation and meaning. It's a word which isn't in common use outside New Zealand, and is liable to be misheard.

Do you have any other strategies that work well for you?