Business Communication Today, 13th Ed.
Chapter 3. Communication Challenges in a Diverse, Global Marketplace
"There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world -- and they all have different sounds, vocabularies and structures.
"Imagine a workplace where people of all colors and races are able to climb every rung of the corporate ladder -- and where the lessons we learn about diversity at work actually transform the things we do, think and say outside the office.
"In this video, I talk about what helped me speak with an American accent and how I became fluent in English.
"One of the best parts of traveling overseas is experiencing another culture," writes Ashley Rossi (photo, left) in a piece at BusinessInsider.
"I thought it might be interesting to consider the advice I would give someone moving from a country with a flexible view of time to my home country (US), where time is controlled, often to the point of absurdity.
"Let’s talk about what we know about how rate of speech impacts credibility and persuasiveness.
"If you listen closely, there is a unique cry for help that can be heard within intercultural businesses everywhere.
"For most of us, language is transparent.
"As I pointed out in the previous article about evaluating intercultural mistrust, we have double standards with regards to trust.
"When clients first meet with me to improve their ability to communicate with colleagues and clients from other cultures, clarity is not usually at the top of their wish list.
"What’s the requirement of being a good intercultural communicator?
"In the previous article I had you look at unreliable criteria for deciding whether to grant or withhold trust in an intercultural context.
"You cannot avoid building an identity.
"When cultures mix there are many unknowns, such as different accents, unfamiliar body language and tones of voice.
"The foundation on which trust is built or broken is the speech act of promises.
"Did you know that you listen with cultural ears and see with cultural eyes?
"Do you expect to feel comfortable using English as a second language when writing an email, making a phone call, expressing yourself during a meeting, writing a report, giving a presentation, and so on?
Sherwood Fleming reports.
"My clients often tell me that one of the difficulties they encounter when conducting business internationally is that they don’t know how to quickly build trust.
"We set out to find the most common languages — besides English — spoken at home in every state, based on the US Census Bureau's 2012-2016 American Community Survey estimates.
"When I am asked to explain how my five-step CLEAR method can be helpful to a client in a single sentence, this is what I say: it is a way to build bridges, instead of walls, when communicating across cultures.
"In the world of international business, it's critical to know your words will be understood by people from another country, or it could spell disaster.