From William Arthur Ward’s “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it” to Aesop’s “Gratitude is the sign of noble souls,” it’s no secret that gratitude is a good thing: It feels good to get it, but it also feels good to give it. And, on top of…
Details“If you do something and don’t tell anyone about it” feels like the marketing equivalent of “If a tree falls in the forest, but nobody is around to hear it.” Either way, you don’t really know if it happened. With over 50 million new websites launched each year and 20,000+ new products introduced each month…
DetailsWhen a test doesn’t go as expected, or a homework assignment goes missing, my son sometimes claims “that teacher just hates me.” But as Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” And, while that’s true in general, it’s particularly true in intercultural communications–taking…
DetailsI sent an invitation to a former colleague the other day to invite him to attend an upcoming workshop as my guest. “Hello old friend,” he responded. And, I thought, how nice that he thinks of me so fondly. Until about an hour later when I thought, “Hey, wait a minute, what does he mean…
DetailsSimply speaking louder not working? There are some things that non-native speakers may automatically do when speaking across a language barrier. Turns out, these are good habits to transfer to same language communication. Taking interest in your communication partner, really trying to understand and connect, are always good practices. Here are three tactics to help.…
Details“I’m totally f—ed,” my generally polite father announced as he entered the room, open book in hand. “What!?” we screamed, taken aback. “I’m f—ed,” he repeated. “That means I’ve made a mistake, right?” I should clarify—he said this in Portuguese, and the book in hand was a Portuguese/English phrase book. And, yes, he did make…
DetailsA colleague who is passionate about orchestra was saying how proud she was that her son was also interested in orchestral music. I guess this would be the equivalent from a son for a parent who was interested in world cultures? What do you want on your birhtday cake for your 12th birthday? The Pyramids…
DetailsRemember the old adage ‘the best way to remember your story is to tell the truth?’ Well, it’s the same with Intercultural Communications. The best way to interact with others is to be keenly aware of yourself…but also hyper sensitive and receptive to the individuality and autonomous experience of others around you. Good news? These…
DetailsIf you are already tweeting, posting and selfie-ing away, then this article is not for you. This article is for those people who secretly, bashfully confide at a dinner party “I’m not on any of those things, but I really should be.” But the real question is…should you? At 50+, doing something just because everyone…
DetailsI volunteered to man the water table at International Night at my son’s school the other night. I joined the other parents lingering back behind the self-serve station. For fun, I decided to spell “SAA” (acronym for the Science and Arts Academy) with the water bottles, and ‘voila!’, the quiet water station became a spark…
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