Download Lecture 2 nonverbal communication and intercultural

Lecture 2
Nonverbal BC
and Intercultural BC
Contents
1. Verbal communication and nonverbal
communication
2. Paralanguage in BC
3. Body language in BC
4. Environmental language in BC
5. Categorization of cultures
6. Tips on intercultural BC
1. Verbal and nonverbal communication
1.1 Verbal communication
-- conveys meaning with words, either in oral
or in written form
• richer: express all kinds of ideas
• easier: keep and transmit information
• more clarified: less possible interpretations
• more efficient: especially when people are
separated
Then, why nonverbal?
Why nonverbal?
 It is not what you say, but the way
you say it.
 It was written all over your face.
 You are what you wear!
 Smiling is contagious.
The way your message is conveyed:
1.2 Nonverbal communication
-- conveys meaning without words, but through
one’s voice qualities, facial expressions, gestures,
body movements, or attitudes towards space and
time
more reliable: natural and unconscious, without
our consent, “Don’t lie to me!”
sometimes more economical
Nonverbal signals are not separated, but are
inseparably linked to speech.
There is no dictionaries to provide commonly
agreed meanings of nonverbal symbols.
The interpretation of nonverbal codes is culturesensitive.
Categories of nonverbal symbols
Paralanguage
副语言
Body
language
Title
身体语言
Environmental
Title
language
环境语言
also called voice qualities, has to do with
the sound of a speaker’s voice; the
closest to verbal communication; blends
with speech to carry part of the message
Guild Design is one of aligned company
physical
movement of a communicator’s
with Microsoft Ltd, and we develop and provide
body
the design templates for Office 97, 2000, and XP.
Guild Design is one of aligned company
involves
factors around the communicator,
with Microsoft Ltd, and we develop and provide
including
space,
seating,
color,
the design time,
templates
for Office
97, 2000,
andlight,
XP.
architecture, office arrangement,
decorations and furnishings, etc.
2. Paralanguage in BC
-- has to do with the sound of a speaker’s voice; the
closest to verbal communication
2.1 Volume 音量
medium/low voice: mature and confident
very soft voice: young and inexperienced
very loud voice: angry, excited, or sentimental
practice increasing your volume without
shouting
fail to exercise a good control over one’s
volume = lack proper training in business
communication
2.2 Rate 语速
normal speed: 110-150 words/min
speak in a hurried or very fast way = be
arrogant (exception: Northeasterners)
slow down when making presentations
pause for a few seconds after raising a
serious question
2.3 Pitch 音高
high-pitched voice: make others nervous,
sounds like scolding
low-pitched voice: authoritative, sexier
and more pleasant
if inevitable to use a high-pitched voice
(e.g. calm down a noisy crowd or an
excited group), quickly recover your
normal pitch
handle the raise and fall to create
dramatic effect
2.4 Emphasis 强调
Communication practice:
Read the following series of statement,
emphasize different underscored words to
feel how stress can change meaning.
• I will give you a raise.
• I will give you a raise.
• I will give you a raise.
• I will give you a raise.
To check the appropriateness of
your paralanguage:
1. Ask a close friend: Do you like the
way I speak to you?
2. Have your voice recorded and then
listen to it
2. Body language in BC
2.1 Facial expression 面部表情
 Your face is the primary site for expressing your emotions.
 Facial muscles can form up more than 7,000 different
expressions.
 Koreans: traditionally regard a person with a serious face
as more dependable, but now practice business smiling to
meet the challenge of global business
 What facial expression do you have when you are in:
• anger
• contempt
• disgust
• fear
• happiness
• sadness
• surprise
Can you
interpret
these
expressions?
2.2 Eye contact 眼神接触
-- the “listener/speaker connection”: the audience feels
connected with you and you feel connected with them and
can read their reactions
 Westerners: look people in the eye to show honesty and
frankness (“He wouldn’t look me in the eye!”); use
eyebrow movements more frequently
 low-look culture (e.g. the UK): watching other people
(esp. strangers) regarded as intrusive
 high-look culture (e.g. Spain, Italy, Greece): long gaze
perfectly acceptable or encouraged
 Japanese/Vietnamese: look down to show respect
(doesn’t mean to be “shifty”)
 Muslims: after the first eye contact, lower their gaze and
try not to focus on the opposite sex’s (young or adult,
other than their legitimate partners or family members)
faces and eyes to avoid unwanted desires
 Chinese?
2.3 Gesture 身体动作
-- physical movements of arms, legs, hands and
head
present and receive business cards with both
hands
move with a purpose: e.g. walk to the other side
of the room every five minutes or after you’ve
completed a main section, step forward to
emphasize a point in a presentation
avoid random, constant, repetitive or purposeless
motion
some universal gestures:
Cultural difference in gesture:
Sri Lanka, Nepal and India: shake
heads to express agreement, nod heads
to show disapproval
Case study: Handshake with the Arab
officer
Arab: never shake hands with a left hand
(used for washing one’s lower part of the
body)
some culture-specific gestures:
 “OK” for many countries
 anus for the Brazilians
 sexual invitation for Greeks
 yen for the Japanese
2.4 Posture 身体姿势
-- body position as a whole, a more or less stable
state (vs. gesture as a movement), e.g. seating,
standing, lying down, crossed legs, folded arms
Communication practice: Read your
mind through your posture
Your classmates all have different postures.
Can you interpret them and tell his/her state of
mind?
Interpretation of postures:
stand in an comfortably upright position: energetic
facing your audience: confident and respectful
leaning: nervous or tired
swaying or bouncing: nervous or naïve
sit with a hand supporting your chin: either deep in
thinking or in the blues
lean forward while listening: attentive and interested
look away from time to time while listening: absentminded or lacking interest
Always mind your posture or your image as a
business person might be damaged.
Professional posture when stand:
Professional posture when sit:
2.5 Appearance 个人外形
-- clothing, hair style, cosmetics, accessories, etc.
What is appropriate in the fashion industry
may be totally inappropriate in the banking
industry.
dress appropriately for the audience, the
occasion, the organization, and the culture
avoid clothes that will distract from what you are
saying, e.g. plaits, patterns, print
keep your accessories decent and simple (don’t
wear a loud, flashy tie)
4. Environmental language in BC
4.1 Time 时间
Do you make other people wait or always arrive
early than scheduled, or, are you always on time?
Do you make an appointment before seeing any
workmate?
Do you prioritize telephone calls? How long do
you excuse yourself from a face-to-face
conversation to respond to an interrupting call?
How long would you spend on a business lunch
with your client?
4.2 Space 距离
-- the physical distance between two communicators
Latin Americans: prefer a closer space
Scandinavians: prefer a more distant space
efforts to create distance: large desks in some
offices (as a buffer zone to keep the visitors at a
distance from the owner), a table between
interviewers and the interviewee
efforts to shorten distance: the manager comes
from behind his desk and sit with his subordinate
on the same sofa to talk; the CEO occasionally
have lunch with their bottom-line employees or
join their wedding parties
4 types of personal space:
within 50 cm: intimate distance, for exchange
of within 50 cm: intimate distance, for
exchange of important information and physical
contacts
50 cm – 1.2 m: personal distance, for casual
conversations with friends for acquaintances
1.2 m – 3.7 m: social distance, for an interview,
a business talk, etc., not fit for sharing anything
personal
3.7 m – the limit of our sight: public distance,
for public speeches and meeting strangers
Case study: The American and the
Arabic space
Read the American and the Arabic space
case on Page 26-27, and think it over:
what lead to their communication failure?
The decrease in personal space would
make the other party feel that he/she is
distanced and rejected.
4.3 Seating 座位安排
-- the way you arrange the chairs for a group
communication (meeting or presentation)
At a meeting:
 strait lines of chairs: the least interactive
 u-shaped lines: encourage more interaction
In a presentation:
 stand on a stage or platform that is higher than you
audience: formal
 stand while the audience sits: semiformal
 sit together with your audience around a table (at the
some level): informal
In China’s formal banquet: the most powerful person has
the seat around the table just opposite to the door
5. Categorization of cultures
CULTURE:
-- a learned set of shared interpretations about
beliefs, values, norms and social practices
We can never be too culture-conscious in
business communication.
Few of us are experts in all the cultures in the
world; either is it possible to know all cultures in
the world.
What we should do is to enhance our cultural
sensitivity.
5.1 High- vs. low-context culture
-- proposed by American anthropologist and
cross-cultural researcher Edward Hall (1959,
Beyond Culture, New York: Doubleday)
high-context culture: context-dependent,
relies on implicit, nonverbal messages; also
called “relational culture”; e.g. most Middle
Eastern and Asian cultures
low-context culture: information-dependent,
relies on explicit, verbal messages; also called
“individualistic culture”; e.g. mainstream culture
in the US and Canada
Countries in high-/low-context culture:
Remarks from communicators:
“As an American project manager, I was
expecting that if I was proposing
something stupid, I would hear it from the
people on the team. In reality, I had a plan
with a fatal flaw, and the Japanese team
members knew it, but it was not their style
of communication to embarrass me by
telling me.”
Remarks from communicators:
“Before our Manila factory was set up, we sent
20-odd people there for a one-year training
program, and I was one of them. For all of us,
the startup of the factory was our priority.
Consequently, we all focused on what we had
to do, and had little one-to-one coach from the
Filipinos. We neglected that fact that Philippines
is a highly people-motivated country. But later
on we found that we should set up a good
relationship between each other and our
change proved to be efficient. When we
became friends, things went on much easier. In
some cases, we could even get them to coach
us during off-duty hours to at their homes.”
Guidelines for doing business in a highcontext culture:
• understand that contextual information will be
important
• be aware of the implied messages that you sent and
that others send to you
• develop relationships before focusing on tasks
• expect decision-making to be collaborative and
collective
• understand that the employee-employer relationship
is humanistic
• expect a reliance on trust or intuition
• use indirect style in writing and speaking
• expect circular reasoning
• accept that contracts may change
Guidelines for doing business in a lowcontext culture:
• remember that contextual information may be less
important
• expect a reliance on explicit and direct verbal
communication
• accept that tasks are viewed as separate from
relationships
• expect individual initiative in decision-making
• understand that the employee-employer
relationship is mechanistic
• support assertions with facts and statistical
evidence
• use indirect style in writing and speaking
• expect linear reasoning
• expect contracts to be firm
Case study: The American-Chinese
conversation
Read the American-Chinese conversation
case on Page 28.
• What cultural factors led to the
communication failure?
• If you were the Chinese in the similar
situation, what would you say?
5.2 The cultural dimensions theory
-- proposed by Dutch social psychologist and
anthropologist Geert Hofstede (1993, "Cultures and
Organizations: Software of the Mind". Administrative
Science Quarterly, 38 (1): 132–134)
 individualistic (put their own interests and those of
their immediate family ahead to social concerns) vs.
collectivistic: (believe that the welfare of the group
they belong to is as important as their own)
 power distance: high (recognize power difference,
have a great deal of respect for those in high positions)
vs. low (power difference not emphasized, more
comfortable approaching or even challenging their
superiors)
 uncertainty avoidance: high (uncomfortable with
change and risk) vs. low (comfortable with change and
risk)
 task orientation (“masculine”, focus heavily on getting
the job done) vs. social orientation: (“feminine”, focus
more on collective concern, e.g. the feelings of members,
cooperative problem solving)
 short-term orientation (look for quick payoffs) vs. longterm orientation (pursue long-range goals)
(countries ranked in the five dimensions: see “Cultural
Values in Selected Counties and Regions” on Page 28)
6. Tips on intercultural BC
6.1 Cultural differences in
international business
(1) Addressing and greeting
• The US: on a first-name basis (friendly, indicating
fondness and attachment), except Doctor
• Germany: use formal titles to show respect until
others invite you to be more casual
• China: “General Manager”, “Director”, a deputy
position addressed as a “full”
• Egypt: discourteous to use first names or ignore
titles
• the Middle East: nodding as greeting
• Japan: bow as greeting (the low it is, the
more respectful)
• Thai: “wai” as greeting (pressed palms
together with a head bow)
• India: invite you to visit his/her home at any
time at any place
• Japan: give and receive business cards
with two hands, study the card carefully, and
nod to indicate that you have understood it
(2) Reception and gift-giving
• the US: go Dutch
• China: treat business partners with eight or ten
courses, “Chinese hospitality”; “What a banquet!”,
and then ”What a waste!”
• China and Japan: exchange of gifts at first formal
encounters
• Western Europe: gifts are not exchanged initially
• China and Japan: avoid gifts in sets of fours
• China: avoid gifts of clocks
• India: avoid gifts of leather (cows are sacred)
• Arab: no gift for a businessman’s wife
• Latin America and Europe: gifts for the family or
children is appreciated (esp. when visiting a home)
(3) Attitude towards time
• monochronic orientation: time is money;
appointments are scheduled in datebooks and
rigidly adhered to; task are performed in a
scheduled order, one at a time; e.g. North
America, northern Europe
• polychronic orientation: time as taking a
backseat to personal relationships; people are
less concerned about living by the clock;
meetings go on for as long as they take; e.g.
Latin America, southern Europe, Middle East
(4) Attitude towards other’s open praise
• the US: try every means to show yourself, feel
greatly encouraged if praised in front of others
• China: be modest, say that what he/she had
done was nothing and not worth mentioning
when praised, relate one’s achievements to the
organization and the superior
• Japan: an individual should never be singled
out from his/her group for praise, feel
embarrassed when praised openly; “I can’t
believe how rude some Japanese workers are.
They seem to be disturbed by praise and don’t
answer you… just silent ”
(5) Avoidance of conflict
• China, Japan and Korea: maintenance and
pursuit of harmony (“和”, “wa”, and ”kibun”);
not say “no” directly, fear of losing face and
suffering embarrassment; spare you unpleasant
news or information
• the Middle East and southern Europe:
harmony takes a backseat to emotional
expression
• the US: argue fiercely, hit the table, and then
leave the meeting room as if nothing happened
• Mexico: value harmony and discourage
confrontation, might not forgive for three
months after a quarrel
6.2 General guidelines
be open-minded: view diversity as an
opportunity
be flexible: ready to change your way or attitude
when required
learn about different cultures
avoid stereotypical representation of a culture;
you are communicate with an individual
avoid excessive efforts to demonstrate an
attitude of equality: “I never even notice that
you’re black.”, “You’re different from most black
people.”, “I understand what you’re going
through as a black women because I’m (Jewish,
Italian, Latino, etc.)”
Online resources for learning about
world cultures:
• www.culturegrams.com
Brief profiles of key information for travelers visiting over
100 countries and regions, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Each pamphlet begins with a simple map and background
on geography, history, climate, and other basic information.
Communication-related information include personal
appearance, gestures, greetings, visiting, eating, and
many other topics.
• Global Business Basics: www.getcustoms.com/articles
• Executive Planet: www.executiveplanet.com
• International Business Consortium:
www.cobe.boisestate.edu/ib
• United Nations: www.un.org
After-class assignments
1. Communication practice
•
•
•
•
With your partner, work out hints and tips
on how to communicate effectively in the
nonverbal way when you are attending a:
presentation: as the speaker and as a
listener
negotiation
meeting
interview
… and act out some of them.
2. Case study: The Dubai delegation
• Read the Company H case on Page 30-31.
• You are now assigned to take Mr. L’s
place as the chief representative to
expand the Middle East market, which
has been listed as the strategic focus
of the company in the coming three
years. What actions would you take?
Thank You!