Page 174 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 6 Adapting to Your Audience 141

The opposite is true for many other cultures. Some go to extremes in the de-
gree to which one’s sex decides one’s role. Countries such as Austria, Venezuela,
and Japan (which ranks highest on masculinity) have few women in positions
of corporate or public authority. Women are assigned roles out of view and out
of power. Thus an audience of Japanese men would be polite but predictably
unreceptive to a woman speaking on a topic such as reengineering the Japanese
corporation. By the same token, a Scandinavian audience would be wary of a
male speaker suggesting women belong in the home.
This dimension can be a factor in a number of settings. For example, in mascu-
line cultures, children in school tend to speak out and compete openly. Failure is
viewed as a disaster and can even lead to suicide. Boys and girls tend to study dif-
ferent subjects. On the other hand, in feminine cultures, students tend to behave
less competitively, failure is not viewed as a catastrophe, and boys and girls tend
to study the same subjects. The more you know about which type of culture you
are dealing with, the more effective speaker you will be. Even with an American
audience, there are likely to be differences in masculinity and femininity based
on cultural heritage, age, and progress in gender equity, which may soon reach
the highest levels (see box “Speaking of . . . Madam President” on page 142).

Uncertainty Avoidance

The fourth dimension Hofstede discusses is uncertainty avoidance, which is “the
extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or un-
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known situations.” As a student you know all about uncertainty and the feelings
of discomfort that can accompany it. Instructors who are vague about assign-
ments, tests, due dates, and evaluation not only create uncertainty but also are
the ones you probably try to avoid. Just as people vary in terms of the amount
of uncertainty they can tolerate, so it is with whole cultures. People who live in
“low-uncertainty-avoidance cultures” have considerable tolerance for the kind
of ambiguity that can drive some people nuts.
Among societies that avoid uncertainty are Greece, Portugal, Guatemala, and
Japan. Societies that tend to tolerate uncertainty include Singapore, Jamaica,
Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, India, Philippines, and the United States. If
you think about it, if it were not for the tolerance of a certain amount of un-
certainty, it is unlikely that new businesses would ever secure the funding of
venture capitalists. The United States is by and large a nation of immigrants and
their descendants, people who by coming to the “new world” were prepared to
accept a very high level of uncertainty.
How is this important to you as a speaker? If you have an audience that can
tolerate at least a moderate amount of uncertainty, you do not need to prom-
ise certainty. Highly probable outcomes may be suffi cient to gain their support.
Imagine during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s how entrepreneurs could
have obtained funding if they had been forced to guarantee results. On the other
hand, total uncertainty is likely to result in rejection of your ideas, particularly
in those societies that do not tolerate such ambiguity. You should tailor your ap-
peals to the likely level of uncertainty that your audience is willing to accept.
Long-Term Versus Short-Term Orientation

The fi nal dimension Hofstede discusses is long-term versus short-term orienta-
tion to life. “Long-term orientation stands for the fostering of virtues oriented
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toward future rewards, in particular perseverance and thrift.” “Short-term