PPT

Module 3

Communicating
Across Cultures

McGraw-Hill/Irwin ©2007, The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved.

 3-1

Communicating Across
Cultures
To learn how to
 Continue to analyze your audiences.
 Begin to adapt your message to
your audiences.
 Begin to understand what your
organization wants.
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Communicating Across
Cultures
Start by answering these questions:
 Who is my audience?
 Why is audience so important?
 What do I need to know about my
audience(s)?
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Communicating Across
Cultures
Start by answering these questions:
 Now that I have my analysis, what
do I do with it?
 What if my audiences have different
needs?
 How do I reach my audience(s)?
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Diversity and Culture Basics

Diversity has always been with us—

even if people didn’t recognize it or its
value.
There is no “one-size-fits-all”
approach to working with cultural
differences.
 Use the information in this module as
guidelines, not rules set in stone.
 Remember that people are individuals as well
as members of groups.
Be open to change and difference.
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Diversity in the Workplace

Gender
Race and ethnicity
Regional and national origin
Social class
Religion
Age
Sexual orientation
Physical ability
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Diversity in the Workplace

High-Context Cultures
 Most information is
inferred from the context
of a message.
 Little is “spelled out.”
 Examples: Japanese,
Arabic, and Latin
American cultures.
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Diversity in the Workplace

continued

Low-Context Cultures
 Context is less
important than words.
 Most information is
spelled out; words are
privileged
 Examples: German,
Scandinavian, and
dominant U.S. cultures.
 3-8

Diversity in the Workplace

continued

Remember
 In nations like the U.S., Canada,
and Brazil, multiple cultures exist.
While the dominant culture may be
privileged, recognize that minority
cultures may have different norms
with regard to behavior.
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Dimensions of Culture

 Values, Beliefs, and  Time

Practices  Dress
 Nonverbal  Colors
Communication  Height
 Body Language  Oral
 Eye Contact Communication
 Understatement,
 Gestures Exaggeration, and
 Space Silence
 Spatial
Arrangements
 3-10

Conversational Style

How long a pause tells

you that it’s your turn to
speak?
Do you see interruption
as rude?
Do you show interest by
asking lots of
questions?
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Communicating with Different

Cultures
Brenda Arbaleez suggests being
 Aware that values and behaviors
are influenced by culture.
 Flexible.
 Sensitive.
 Aware of the others’ values, beliefs,
and practices.
 Sensitive to differences among
individuals.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonsexist
Use
 Words that treat both
sexes respectfully.
 Titles that do not imply
one sex “ought” to do a
certain job.
 The appropriate gender
pronoun when referring
to a specific person.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonsexist continued
Use
 “Ms.” As the
courtesy title for
a woman unless
 The woman has a
professional title.
 You know that a
woman prefers to
be addressed by a
traditional title.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonsexist continued
When you write about anyone who
may be in a job or position, make
pronouns nonsexist.
 Use plurals.
 Use you.
 Revise the sentence to omit the
pronoun
 Use pronoun pairs.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonracist
Eliminate adjectives that reinforce
negative stereotypes.
 Biased: The motivated black students
were assigned to internship positions
throughout the company.
 Bias-free: The students were assigned to
internship positions throughout the
company.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonracist continued
Identify race or ethnic origin only if
it’s relevant.
 Biased: Paloma Esteban, a Latino, has
been appointed Vice-President of
Finance.
 Bias-free: Mike Waters, a Sioux,
translated the governor’s speech into the
Lakota language.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonracist continued
Eliminate words and phrases with
negative connotations.
 Biased: Many of our managers who come
from culturally deprived backgrounds now
function as role models for young people
through our mentoring program.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonracist continued
 Bias-free: Many of our managers whose
family heritage is African, Asian, or
Spanish now function as role models for
young people through our mentoring
program.
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Talking about People with

Diseases or Disabilities
Use “people first” language and
avoid using adjectives as nouns.
 Biased:
 the alcoholic
 the drug addict
 the handicapped
 Bias-free:
 the woman who is an alcoholic
 the man who abuses drugs
 people with disabilities
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Talking about People with

Diseases or Disabilities continued
Emphasize people’s abilities, not
their limits or disabilities.
 Biased: Jenny Ling has done an
outstanding job as our
spokesperson, even though she has
diabetes.
 Bias-free: Jenny Ling has done an
outstanding job as our spokesperson
for the past seven years.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonagist
Refer to age only if it’s truly
relevant.
 Biased: Tomoko Watanabe, 67, is
president of Competitive Data
Management.
 Bias-free: Tomoko Watanabe is
president of Competitive Data
Management.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonagist continued
Avoid stereotypes.
 Biased: With her grandmotherly
ways, good old Mary Grace makes
everyone in Unit 2 feel special.
 Bias-free: For the past 35 years,
Mary Grace has been helping to
create team spirit in Unit 2.
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Ways to Make Language

Nonagist continued
Avoid negative labels for children,
such as “children from broken
homes.”
Remember families can be single-
parent and diverse.
Use nonsexist descriptions and
images of children.
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Bias Free Photos and

Illustrations
Check visuals for
bias.
 Are the people diverse?
 Are power relationships
balanced?
 Can you create your
own visuals rather than
rely on biased clip art?