Assignment: Communicating Effectively for Diverse Audiences and Contexts: Part 2

This week, you will develop a second presentation based on the scenario from Week 1. As a reminder, you are a manager with Allied Products, a U.S.-based manufacturer of consumer packaged goods. Your company has recently acquired manufacturing operations in Mexico and will be using these facilities to vertically integrate production of several of your key product lines. You and a number of your U.S.-based counterparts will each be leading a profit center for a specific equipment type (yours is blenders). In the coming weeks, each of these profit centers will be forming a six- to eight-member team representing key functions in planning, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing its product. Each of these virtual teams will be led by a U.S.-based manager, some of whom are newer to the role and may lack experience in leading teams.

Your senior leader has asked you to create a set of three presentations for the group of managers about choosing appropriate communication methods and strategies for communicating effectively, taking into consideration the purpose of your message, your audience, and your context. In this case, you will want to highlight considerations for virtual teams, as well as culture, since Mexico is considered a higher context culture compared to the United States. Your presentations must include title slides and references slides that include appropriate academic and professional support for your ideas. You will also need to provide an accompanying script in the Notes section of each slide that you would use if you were delivering your presentation to your fellow group of U.S.-based managers. Each content slide should contain 3–5 bullet points (no more than 1 sentence each), with additional details and explanation provided in the accompanying script.

The objective for your presentation this week is to provide guidance about communicating effectively with those from a higher context environment (such as Mexico) than the United States.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review, as needed, the following resource, which includes links to helpful information about using Microsoft PowerPoint:

Walden University Academic Skills Center. (n.d.). Microsoft PowerPoint. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/academic-skills-center/skills/ms-office/powerpoint

Download the Week 2 Assignment Template.

• By Day 7

Submit your presentation and accompanying script in the Notes section of each slide. Be sure you are fully addressing the following in approximately 5 slides, excluding references:

Introduction

Provide an introductory slide that grabs the audience’s attention and answers the “why you should listen” question for the audience. The script that accompanies this slide should introduce the topic and purpose of the presentation and provide the key objectives for the presentation. (1 slide)

Considering Culture and Context

Explain what high-context and low-context cultures are, including at least one example of each.

Synthesize 3–5 clear, specific, and actionable recommendations for communicating effectively in high-context, low-context, and mixed-context cultures. (3 slides)

Conclusion

• Provide one concluding/wrap-up slide in which you offer a compelling conclusion to the material by summarizing key points and reinforcing suggested practices through script contents that keep the audience engaged. (1 slide)