Public Speaking for the Commercial Diplomat 

Eve Connell & Jill Stoffers

Published by 
The International Commercial Diplomacy Project, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS   

Preface
Commercial Diplomacy & the Commercial Diplomat
Public Speaking as a Professional Skill: Why DevelopPublic Speaking Skills?
Presentation Skills
Common Types of CD Presentations
CD Specific Issues and Considerations for Presentations
Summative Comments
Additional Information
Reference Materials
Public Speaking Skills - Tips And Guidelines

PREFACE

The International Commercial Diplomacy Project (ICDP) develops and disseminates world-class training materials for commercial diplomats. Commercial diplomacy is a relatively new field encompassing policy advocacy, policymaking, and negotiations in international trade and investment. To strengthen professional training in commercial diplomacy, the ICDP has created model curricula, course outlines, teaching modules, case studies, negotiating simulations, and model operational documents, and has published these training tools on its website, http://www.commercialdiplomacy.org.

This manual serves three separate objectives. First, it is designed to help trade policy practitioners to improve their presentation skills. Second, it is designed as a teaching manual for seminars and courses. Third, it is designed to give both the practitioner and the student a useable reference guide to other pedagogical resources.

The manual has been a collective effort. The initial draft was prepared by Eve Connell, a professional in communications techniques, graduate school instructor (Monterey Institute of International Studies) in Public Speaking, and business communications instructor at California State University, Monterey Bay.  The manual was first edited by Jill Stoffers, a graduate of the master’s degree program in Commercial Diplomacy at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and Geza Feketekuty, President of the International Commercial Diplomacy Project, founder of the graduate program in Commercial Diplomacy at the Monterey Institute, and a retired senior U.S. trade official.

Though the author and editor are American, they avoided an American-centric approach to provide a guide that best reflects global practice. Some degree of cultural bias is unavoidable, however. In particular, there is an American cultural bias towards direct and focused communication, and a presentation style that is lively and extroverted. Such a direct approach may not be the most appropriate form of communication in all cultural settings. In the future, ICDP plans to add regional supplements, as appropriate.

In order to avoid a gender bias, the author and editor alternate between the use of the pronouns he and she. The author and editor welcome comments from students and professionals alike. This is a work in progress and can always benefit from a broader set of insights.

COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY & THE COMMERCIAL DIPLOMAT 
   

Commercial diplomacy is diplomacy with a commercial twist-diplomacy designed to influence foreign government policy that affects global trade and investment. Commercial diplomacy encompasses the analysis, advocacy and negotiating chain leading to international agreements on the increasingly diverse set of trade-related issues. 

The number of people involved in making and influencing trade policy has grown in tandem with the number of issues covered by trade negotiations. In today's increasingly interdependent world, trade negotiations address a broad range of government regulations and actions that affect international commerce. They cover, for example:

• Tariffs, quotas, and customs procedures.

• Health, safety, and consumer and environmental protection standards.

• Regulation of such service industries as banking, telecommunications and accounting.

• Laws concerning fair competition, bribery, and corruption. 

• Industry specific subsidy programs such as agricultural support programs.

The most visible commercial diplomats are those who work in ministries of trade and industry-those who negotiate international trade and investment agreements and resolve policy conflicts that impact international commerce. Commercial diplomacy skills are also required, however, by officials in other government departments and international organizations that have a stake in trade policy, including those concerned with foreign affairs, finance, agriculture, industry, labor, health, environmental protection, bank regulation, telecommunications, air transportation, and the licensing of professionals. Finally, commercial diplomacy skills are required by professionals and managers in the following fields of work: 

• Corporate government relations departments. 

• Overseas subsidiaries that interact with host government officials on a daily basis.

• Industry associations. 

• Unions. 

• Non-governmental organizations. 

Because these individuals have a stake in the outcome of trade policy decisions, they engage in the domestic and global analyses, and advocacy and coalition-building processes that precede negotiations on international trade and investment issues. In order to influence this process, they need to be effective public speakers.

PUBLIC SPEAKING AS A PROFESSIONAL TOOL: 
WHY DEVELOP PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS?

Professional Considerations 

Commercial diplomacy encompasses the entire analysis, advocacy and negotiating chain leading to international agreements on trade-related issues. Commercial diplomacy is all about persuasion, for which presentations play a vital role. The commercial diplomat must make effective use of such communicative advocacy tools such as public testimony, speeches, interviews, and debates. Learning to create and present public presentations effectively is critical to the commercial diplomat and her ability to negotiate effectively.
Public presentation skills are key to success in almost any profession, but particularly in commercial diplomacy. Effective communication with professionals in business, law, the media, academia, and politics is expected of the commercial diplomat. Public speaking skills are needed not only to make professional presentations at conferences and to the press, but also to build professional networks, another key to success in the business. In their work, commercial diplomats face a particular challenge: much of their communication takes place with people from other cultures with different communication styles and native languages. This underscores the need to develop excellent public speaking skills. 
Typical presentations by trade policy professionals require the audience to absorb a great deal of information in a short period of time. These presentations must clearly convey the essential information on complex issues. Working in a highly interdependent arena, commercial diplomats are required to clearly explain complicated issues such as the: 

• Commercial interests at stake
• Domestic policy issues relevant to trade issues
• Macro-economic impact of alternative policy options
• Interests of stakeholders and their political influence
• Applicable domestic and international legal provisions
• Impact of media coverage on public opinion. 

The challenge is to convey the essence of the most important factors driving a case, while convincing the audience of proposed courses of action. An accomplished professional in commercial diplomacy can often exert an influence far beyond his or her policy-making authority. This manual provides the aspiring commercial diplomat with guidelines for making presentations in the field. Early sections cover distinguishing features of public speaking for commercial diplomacy and presentation basics. Later sections cover the particular characteristics of public speaking events, contexts and concerns.

For inquiry and purchase of the full version of the manual please contact info@itcdonline.com)

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Text

·        Brown, Marvin T. (1999). The Ethical Process: An Approach to Controversial Issues.2^nd Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

·        Brydon, Steven R. and Michael D. Scott. (2000). Between One and Many: The Art andScience of Public Speaking. 3^rd Edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.

·        Engelberg, Isa N. and Dianna R. Wynn. (1997). Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

·        Fisher, Mary. (1994). Sleep with the Angels: A Mother Challenges AIDS. Wakefield: Moyer Bell.

·        Jaffe, Clella. (1998). Public Speaking: Concepts and Skills for a Diverse Society. 2^ndEdition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

·        Hackman, Michael Z. and Craig E. Johnson. (2000). Leadership: A Communication Perspective. 3^rd Edition. Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland.

·        Hamilton, Cheryl. (1999). Essentials of Public Speaking. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

·        Lucas, Stephen E. (1998). The Art of Public Speaking. 6^th Edition. New York :McGraw-Hill.

·        Lumsden, Gay and Donald. (2000). Communicating in Groups and Teams. 3^rd Edition.Belmont: Wadsworth.

·        Makau, Josina and Debian Marty. (2001). Cooperative Argumentation: A Model for Deliberative Community. Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland.

·        Mamchak, P. Susan and Steven R. (1983). School Administrator’s Public Speaking Portfolio with Model Speeches and Anecdotes. New York: Parker Publishing Company, Inc.

·        Morreale, Sherwyn P. and Courtland L. Bovee. (1998). Excellence in Public Speaking. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace.