Cultural Awareness and Skill BuildingInstructor Kesia Loyd

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How do you see me?

How do I see me?

How do I see you?

Perspective

“Know Thyself.”

Pythia, The Oracle of Delphi

How do you see me?

American Cultural Characteristics

Personal control over environment; self interest

Change is good: link to progress and growth

Time controlled: planned, scheduled, and productive

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American Cultural Characteristics

Interpersonal Communication

Competition & free enterprise

Future oriented

Equality:“We hold these truths to be self-evident …”

American Cultural Characteristics

Informal

Open, direct, honest

Practical and efficient

Action / work oriented

American Cultural Characteristics

Materialistic, industrious, innovative

Individualism / privacy: each individual unique; privacy valued; freedom of expression

Self-help: upward mobility; self-made worth

Cultural Analysis QuestionHow can the application of any culturalmodel hinder our ability to communicatewith an individual of the culture?

An individual from a culture may not fit into the assessment of the culture.

A properly applied model is a guidelinewhich allows for deviations from theCultural Norm.

Cultural Analysis QuestionSo, here I am: a salesperson working to close a new car deal with happy husband and wife. We’re on the lot next to a beautiful new family vehicle. I talk vehicle specs to the man and I put the woman in the driver’s seat. How did the salespersons prejudice effect the salespersons strategy?

The prejudice toward what is necessary to make the sale.

Impediments to Observation

Bias and Prejudice

Impediments to Observation

Cultural Bias “The Bowling Ball effect”

Cultural Prejudice “The Halo or Horns effect”

Marianne Stokes Codex Gigas

Validates Selfby

diminishing Others

Communications Model

The ReceiverThe Sender

Encode

The Message

Environmentaland Social Filters

Decode

The Message

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Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army

The Communication Agenda

All communication has agenda

My agenda - 1

Your agenda - 2

( Our agenda - 3 )

( Their agenda - 4 )

+

+

+

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = infinite maybe

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Interpersonal Communications

Verbal

Words

InflectionVolume

Cadence

Non-verbal

PostureGesture

Dress

Involuntary cuesFacial Expression

PE: American Cultural Characteristics influence on communication.

Determine how each of the characteristics serves as a barrier to effective cross-cultural communication.

Determine how you can apply some of thecharacteristics to enhance communication.

Questions

Summary

I cannot say “I disagree” until I can say “I understand”