Developing Cross-Cultural Communication Skills

Abstract

In Chapter 1, we examined barriers to effective cross-cultural communication. In this chapter, we look at how we can develop our cross-cultural skills in the key areas of:

• language—the words we use;

• medium—the medium by which we communicate (oral, written, aural, electronic);

• behaviour—the way we use language to convey formality and informality, power and status, and how we get things done. It also includes nonverbal communication.