Clarity In Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge
This Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge helps develop extreme clarity in your communication. Clarity in communication is important, in cross-cultural communication it is critical and in international business it can be the difference between success or failure. When international businesses lack of clarity this can:
- Slow down an international sales process
- Cost more in sales support
- And, even kill sales
We all overestimate the clarity of our own communication. After all, we understand what we are saying. And usually our colleagues, friends, neighbors and everyone else around us also understand us. It is when we try to communicate across cultures where the communication gets bumpy and we learn to seek even more clarity in our communication.
Listen To Improve Clarity
During this 30-day challenge we will look at little ways to improve clarity in cross-cultural communication. These 30 days are broken down into 6 sections of 5 days each. Clarity begins with listening. When you listen carefully to your cross-cultural communication you can:
- Identify areas where there is a lack of clarity
- When you need to give more details
- See patterns when communication needs further explanation
Don’t forget to download the free mini-poster:
Clarity In Cross-Cultural Communication Tips
Here are the 30 tips to help you get extreme with clarity in your cross-cultural communication:
Listen
- Clarity Tip #1 - Open your eyes, ears and your whole mind… and follow all aspects of your cross-cultural communication
- Clarity Tip #2 - Focus on what is said with words, body language, flow of conversation… and also what is not said
- Clarity Tip #3 - Listen to how the other person’s conversation fits with yours
- Clarity Tip #4 - Listen carefully and be careful not to read any additional meanings into what is said in a cross-cultural conversation
- Clarity Tip #5 - Listen to identify what the other person needs to hear to make the communication easier
Don’t Assume
- Clarity Tip #6 – Ask follow up questions to confirm mutual understanding
- Clarity Tip #7 - Ask questions to clarify even the slightest uncertainty or assumption
- Clarity Tip #8 - Ask questions to get specific information and avoid assumptions
- Clarity Tip #9 - Be aware of any assumptions you make and be sure to confirm these during your conversation
- Clarity Tip #10 - Don’t assume the other person thinks like you and try to identify how you can make the communication easier for him
Be Aware
- Clarity Tip #11 - Be aware of the cultural flavor of your own language
- Clarity Tip #12 - Think about the words you use and try to make them easy to understand
- Clarity Tip #13 - Try to identify differences in communication and ways you can bridge the gap
- Clarity Tip #14 - Pay attention to the flow of the conversation and clarify anything that seems the slightest bit out of place
- Clarity Tip #15 - Look at your communication from a different angle
Simplify
- Clarity Tip #16 - Adapt your communication to make it easy for others to understand
- Clarity Tip #17 - Give clear answers to questions before giving any additional information
- Clarity Tip #18 - Focus on communicating one thing at a time and in the right sequence
- Clarity Tip v19 - Know what you want to say before starting
- Clarity Tip #20 - Keep your written communication simple and to the point
Explain
- Clarity Tip #21 – Think about rephrasing key points and things that may be be difficult to understand
- Clarity Tip #22 – A good glossary is an invaluable tool to improve clarity
- Clarity Tip #23 – Do not forget to mention the information you think as obvious
- Clarity Tip #24 – Break complex ideas into easy pieces and present them in a logical order
- Clarity Tip #25 – Tell others why you do certain things differently so they can understand your cultural environment
Global Vision
- Clarity Tip #26 – Look for different perspectives to see how you can simplify and clarify your communication
- Clarity Tip #27 – Make sure that all of the elements of your communication say the same thing
- Clarity Tip #28 – Notice similarities where glitches happen in your communication
- Clarity Tip v29 – Look for reasons behind for questions especially if they are recurring questions
- Clarity Tip #30 – Try to see your communication from the other person’s viewpoint
