Low speech focuses on intercultural communication

Before making your mark in an unfamiliar market, it's best to do your research and make an effort to speak the language.

Joseph Low III, a strategic management and marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience leading cross-cultural teams focused on Latin American business development, was the speaker at the annual Low Lecture on Tuesday night.

About 50 people attended the event at Glenn Auditorium in Dempster Hall at Southeast Missouri State University.

His father, the late Joe Low Jr., was a professor at Southeast from 1962 to 1998 and is the speech's namesake.

Low talked about the book he co-wrote with his wife, Claudia, titled "They Don't Speak Spanish in Brazil," an exploration of intercultural communication for foreigners who need to survive everyday living in and conduct business in Brazil.

He and his wife have a consulting firm that offers services in conjunction with the book, teaching people about Brazil, a place Low has done business in for many years. He also is a commercial director with SFE in Action in Florida. Low said he and his wife, a lawyer and an executive at UPS in Miami, want people to get to know Brazil -- to check out its culture and history and realize it's not just its two famous cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Low said Brazil has become the sixth-largest economy in the world, passing the United Kingdom. But Brazil may slip by the end of this year, Low said.

The Portuguese-speaking country has 26 diverse states. It also boasts 124 billionaires and 155,000 millionaires.

The gross domestic product of Sao Paulo is larger than the combined GDP of Argentina and Chile.

Low said Brazil still faces "enormous challenges" in terms of income distribution, but it has a growing middle class that is buying more consumer goods and demanding more government responsiveness. Middle class in Brazil means making more than $10,000 a year, he said.

Its people are status-conscious -- everyone is well dressed, even criminals, Low said.

Jean Harris, an instructor in communications studies at Southeast, described Low's presentation as "awesome."

"My favorite part was [when he said] speak the language where you get the most communication. I think that was one of his main points. I have an interest in intercultural communication," Harris said.

She's also an admirer of Low's father. "I think the function of his dad was not only to educate but to motivate," Harris said.

Ed Noffel, a retired orthodontist, said the younger Low's parents would be proud.

"He did an excellent job," Noffel said, "fast and to the point. He is so proud of this university, as his father was. It's great to have him back as a guest lecturer."

Low had much success as vice president of carrier relations at Research In Motion and then as a vice president with Nokia's Latin American-focused business unit. Low is commonly referred to as one of the "pioneers" of Brazil's early wireless growth in the late 1990s, according to a pamphlet on the lecture.

He earned bachelor's degrees from the University of Kansas in Latin American studies and history and did graduate studies coursework in Latin American studies at the University of Florida. He has a master's in business administration with a focus on international marketing from the University of South Florida and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

814 N. Henderson Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO