The organization of an international telephone conference is the least of your worries, Lindenbaum can promise you that. But what should happen next when all the participants are assembled in the virtual conference room at the agreed time? What do you have to watch out for when English native speakers and non-native speakers are involved on a conference call?

Joint telephone conferences of (in most cases) English native and non-native speakers can lead to quite unique problems: as part of a survey conducted by Business Spotlight, together with the Zurich Academy Europe and York Associates, the authors Bob Dignen, Ian McMaster and Mike Seymour investigated the specific difficulties encountered when English native speakers hold a telephone conference with speakers of different languages.  

Amongst other things, the non-native speakers were highly critical of the English native speakers: “They use their language as a weapon”, is perhaps one of the harshest criticisms stated. The authors carried out a survey amongst 164 German-speaking participants. Approximately one half of those questioned said that the native speakers tended to dominate the telephone conferences, whilst the non-native speakers tended to listen more than speak. Only a quarter of those surveyed considered their conference calls to be a fair exchange. More than 80% had occasional problems understanding the native speaker because, for example, they speak too quickly, don’t speak clearly enough, have a strong accent or use unusual vocabulary.

In terms of their own contributions to the call, many non-native speakers consider their own vocabulary insufficient to express what they want to say and have difficulties providing their own input to the conversation.

The authors make interesting suggestions on how to improve communication. Ultimately it can’t just be down to the non-native speaker to improve his or her knowledge of English. Many problems can simply be solved by adapting the style of communication to the particular situation. 

The authors have the following tips for English native speakers:

• Speak more slowly and remember not to speed up again as soon as you start talking to another native speaker.
• Articulate clearly and speak with a standard accent.
• Speak less.
• Try to ensure your statements are structured and logical.
• Avoid jokes.
• Remember to check now and then that other conference participants understand what you are saying.
• Follow the agenda without jumping from one point to another.
  
  

Advice for non-native speakers from the authors:

• Take responsibility – take action when you notice that an international conference call is going off track. Often the native speaker is unaware of the problems for the non-native speakers and need a quick reminder.  
• See if you can get someone to sit in on the call with you, often four ears are better than two.
• Start networking ahead of the conference call, discuss with the participants the agenda, requirements and objectives of the call before it takes place.
• Use interactive formats, such as online text: this allows you to make your own queries and comments to the call visible for all, thus avoiding the potential for misunderstanding.  
• Allow more time for the call than you would for a telephone conference in your own language. Decisions take a bit longer if communication is hindered in one way or another.

The complete survey is published in Business Spotlight 2/2010 ISSN 1617- 1888.