All communication is cultural, but we also find that cultural communication differences are hard to deal with. The ways that we learned to speak verbal and nonverbal has to do with cultural communication. We do not always communicate with people the same way from day to day, since certain things come up in our every day busy lives. Things such as context, mood interaction, and individual personality with the variety of cultural influences we have internalized that influence our choices. When interacting with people of diverse cultures, they bring with them a multitude of assumptions, values and cultural beliefs of their own. Interaction communication is an important influence of its own and its effectiveness affects our relationship with others.
Do people hear and understand what you are trying to say? Are they paying attention to what is being said? Are they listening well in response? Do the responses of others, from diverse cultural backgrounds, show that they understand the meanings behind the words that were said? Is the mood of that person positive or negative? Are there any signs of trust between them and us? Are there any differences that relate to ineffective communication, divergent goals and interests? Are there any fundamentally diverse ways that they see world? The answers to some of these questions will give us some insight about the effectiveness of our cultural communication skills and the ease with which we may be able to move through conflict. Very often, words or phrases from various parts of the world, or even distinct parts of the same country, can have different meanings. The challenge is that even with all the good will in the world, miscommunication is likely to happen, especially when there are cultural differences between communicators. Miscommunication from one person to another can lead to conflict or aggravated conflict to the person that already exists. We make the decision on whether the message or communication is clear to us or not. There are multiple different meanings when speaking to a person of a different part of the world and our relationships with others. Non-verbal communication such as hand gestures, smile or frown, wink, touch, smell, salute, gesture, and other bodily movements, can also have different meanings. As our familiarity with these different starting points increases, we are cultivating cultural fluency — awareness of the ways cultures operate in communication and conflict, and the ability to respond effectively to these differences.
