The key to future business success lies in finding ways to work harmoniously with people from different cultures.
When comparing verbal skills to nonverbal skills, it is not necessary to say that verbal skills are far easier to master than nonverbal skills. Verbal skills can be mastered if one practices enough, while nonverbal skills are much more difficult to learn. Eye contact, facial expressions, posture, gestures, are all messages sent by body language that have always been open to interpretation. Understanding nonverbal messages is particularly difficult when cultures differ.
Nonverbal behaviour is ambiguous within cultures and even more problematic between cultures. Whenever you have to communicate with someone who does not share your language, you probably figure out ways to use gestures to convey basic messages. However, gestures can create different reactions in different cultures and we must be careful as to which ones we use and when interpreting them.
We learn a great part of our verbal behaviour in early childhood from our families or even from society and most of the time we are not even aware of this ongoing learning that takes place. Becoming more aware of your own use of nonverbal cues can make you more sensitive to variations in other cultures, you can grow more tolerant, more flexible, and eventually, more competent. In achieving competence, it is important to keep in mind that when interacting with businesspeople in other cultures, it is always wise to follow their lead. For example, if they avoid eye contact, do not stare. If a person puts their elbows on the table, wait until you are knowledgeable about the meaning of gestures, it is a good idea to keep yours to minimum.
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