improving cross- cultural communication skills: cross-cultural communication

IMPROVING CROSS-CULTURAL

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:

Cross-cultural Communication

Worldwide symbol for greeting

Thumbs up and meanings

The Victory sign in USA

Winston Churchill

Rihanna uses the V-sign

Robbie Williams – using V-sign as insult

“I LOVE YOU” sign

Perfect (approval) sign

Solidarity/power sign

Good luck OR Obscene

Very bad- “F” word in America

Non verbal communication

Wordless/visual messages between people

Communicated through gestures, touch, body language/posture, facial expression and eye contact

Examples: clothing, hairstyle, rings etc.

What is Communication?

“The process by which meanings are created in human interaction with symbols”

The symbols can be verbal or non-verbal

Cross-cultural Communication

“Occurs when a member of one culture produces a message for a member of another culture to understand”

Communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event“

Improving cross-cultural communication skills

Slow Down - speak clearly and ensure your pronunciation is intelligible.

Separate Questions - do not ask double questions, “Do you want to carry on or shall we stop here?” In a cross cultural situation only the first or second question may have been comprehended. Let your listener answer one question at a time.

Avoid Negative Questions – “are you not coming?”

Improving cross-cultural communication skills (cont.)

Take Turns – speak and listen to the response.

Write it down – eg. 1,000,000,000,000 (UK) vs. 1,000,000,000 (USA)

Be Supportive- Giving encouragement gives confidence, support and a trust in you.

Check Meanings - never assume the other party has understood. Be an active listener. Summarize what has been said in order to verify it.

Improving cross-cultural communication skills (cont.)

Avoid Slang - words will be understood but the meaning missed. – (Uncle Ben, big guns, big mouth)

Watch the humor - think whether it will be understood in the other culture.

- (She is always late; her ancestors arrived in American in Juneflower)

Maintain Etiquette - Many cultures have certain etiquette when communicating. Respect them!

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Any Questions ???Any Suggestions ???Any Experiences ???