Tips for Exhibiting Internationally

1. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES need to be taken seriously. Be mindful of how different cultures behave in business with greetings, business card exchange, and personal space. In some countries, business people expect to do business on the same level, i.e. CEO to CEO.


2. LIMITED ENGLISH: If English is not widely spoken where you are exhibiting, and you do not have local staff available, hire a translator. If your product or service requires a lot of technical information, forward terms to the translator in advance.


3. TRANSLATED AUDIO TOUR: Have an audio taped tour of the items on display at your booth translated into the most likely languages spoken by attendees.
   
   Then, your international visitors can take a tape home in their native language and share it with colleagues.


4. MATERIALS IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES: Have materials on-hand that are translated into at least one language. You can show your cultural sensitivity, adaptability, and event depth of ability. In addition, if you are taking your show on the road, research the languages of the attendees and translate materials accordingly.


5. ACCURACY COUNTS: Be careful - make sure the translation of literature and/or graphics makes sense. Avoid using colloquial expressions that may be untranslatable. For example, a seemingly simple expression, "we've all been there", would elicit a response, "been where?" if translated literally from English into other languages.