Hidden cultural differences often cause a great deal of misunderstanding and friction.  These differences are a serious problem because they are mostly invisible and inaudible but they affect the true meaning of the messages sent and received by business counterparts.

How To Bridge The Intercultural Communication Gap
Can you remember the last time you spoke to a foreigner whose English was limited?  Perhaps instinctively you limited your vocabulary, slowed down your pace and even used hand gestures to a much greater extent.  If that's what you did, you are well on your way to being a great international communicator.  The following tips will help you modify the way you speak in communicating interculturally:

1. Speaking too fast? Slow down! Most natural English speakers speak too quickly especially when telling stories and getting excited.
2. Pauses: In adding drama to our stories we often put pauses between individual words. Instead, pause between short phrases, to allow the other person time to make a mental translation, and also to store some of your phrases for future use.
3. Repetition: repeat what you say in a different way to add richness to your explanations allowing for others to build a bigger picture or better understanding.
4. Accents: different accents make it harder for others to understand us.  Give your listener's ear a chance to attune to the rhythm and pronunciation of your voice.
5. Colloquialisms:  Minimise your use of sayings. They never translate into a foreign language and only baffle a foreigner.  "Out of sight, out of mind" was once translated into Russian as "Blind idiot".
6. Metaphors:  Another cause of confusion is the use of metaphors e.g. "It's not rocket science" and "Their eyes were out on stalks". Word pictures are good, but standard metaphors do not always travel well.
7. Irony and sarcasm:  Most cultures, especially from the East, really are at a loss when we express ourselves this way.
8. Subordinate clauses: Use short sentences, without subordinate clauses.  Avoid saying, "I was glad to see the film was on, which, by the way, I always meant to see when it first came out, except that there was always something that prevented me from ever getting there, and I managed to get in after an early dinner, which I badly needed." Be more focused and structured in what you are saying.
9. Modifying or qualifying:  By adding words like "quite" and "rather", we make it hard for foreigners who do not understand the shades of meaning they are intended to convey.  In Britain, "It was quite good" means it wasn't great.  But in America, "I was quite pleased" means I was delighted!  Practise saying what you actually MEAN without dressing it up.
10. Non-universal vocabulary:  Keep your language simple. Say "toilet" but not euphemisms like "washroom" or "little boy's room". They have no direct equivalent in other languages, and only muddy your meaning. Also, the use of politically correct language can leave a foreigner bewildered.

Effective communication across cultures means learning new skills such as communicating in English with non-native English speakers, using gestures and body language understood across cultures, and a more universal/international English language. However, this is only one of the many challenges. The more we understand the cultural dimension, the greater our chance of hitting home with the message we want to give, on the level that the audience understands and feels comfortable with. When we get it right, we can build relationships and trust. When we get it wrong ...

It's important to be able to really look at a company's specific needs when it comes to developing clear cross cultural communication skills for your workforce. To find out more about communicating interculturally and how you can implement a cross culture training programme to enhance the skills of your employees click here.