07-23-08 You Can Make IT! Success for Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs & Executives

  • “You Can Make IT! Success for Foreign-Born Entrepreneurs & Executives”

    Speaker:
    Angelika Blendstrup, Ph D
    Founder & Principal, Blendstrup & Associates

    If you feel you that you might be able to better your chance of success with improved communications and negotiation skills, please join Keizai Society’s July event. This month, Keizai Society will present a panel discussion with successful foreign born professionals and look at the typical kinds of presentation skills they apply to talk to their companies or business groups in the Valley. There will be a practical training session on how to present a more professional and convincing message.

    There have been many business books about great leaders but few books have focused uniquely on foreign-born entrepreneurs and executives, specifically ones living and working in Silicon Valley.

    The book, They Made It!, is the result of conversations with these foreign-born Silicon Valley entrepreneurs such as Eric Benhamou, Jean-Louis Gassee, Raj Singh, Wu Fu Chen, Suhas Patil, Omid Kordestani, Qi Lu, Dan Maydan, who tell it as it is. Each leader shares a unique and personal perspective about how s/he came to the US and ultimately succeeded.

    If you are established in Silicon Valley, or if you are just curious to find out what make these extraordinary individuals tick, come listen to how these foreign-born professionals think and gain some personal insights into the fulfillment of their ambitions and dreams.

    In order to make this an effective training session, we will need ~ 3 volunteers to give a short 5 minute talk on a topic of their choice (it can be very technical) with immediate feedback on improving their presentation skills. Please send a message to dan@keizai.org in advanced if you are interested in being a participant/presenting.

    RSVP by July 21th, 2008 to reserve your place!

    Panelist Bios

    Angelika Blendstrup, Ph.D., is the founder and principal of Blendstrup & Associates. She holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual and Bicultural Education from Stanford University and speaks five languages.

    Angelika specializes in individualized, intercultural business communication training, accent reduction and presentation skill coaching. Because of her work with international executives and her role as President of Silicon French and LʼExecutive Club,, she got the idea of interviewing the fascinating foreign leaders who are quite accessible in Silicon Valley. With the help of her international friends in this community and the help of the executives themselves, she was able to interview more than 45 foreign leaders in 14 months.

    In addition to They Made It!, together with an Italian colleague, she co-wrote Communicating the American Way, a guide to US business communications.

    Angelika teaches US business communications skills to international executives in the Silicon Valley as well as classes at Stanford University on topics such as cross – cultural communication, managing virtual teams and the art of interviewing successfully.