What Stands Between Us, Diversity Conversation Flash Cards

How many levels of judgment do you experience before you even speak? Starting with a visit to the doctor’s office, Lucky and Deanna share their honest perspectives on daily living in the US, as a Black man and a White woman. Lucky and Deanna will ask each other questions and share personal experiences, and also…

Poetry, Toungue Tennis, and other Tricks for Multicultural Name Pronunciation

  As someone married to an “Eugenio” (Brazilian Portuguese ay-oh-ZHEN-ee-oh) I was delighted to find the website Hearnames.com, which offers audio pronunciation by native speakers of hundreds of names in 44 language categories.  Dale Carnegie taught millions how to Win Friends and Influence People with ideas like “Remember that a person’s name is to that…

3 Things Guaranteed to Alienate When Speaking Across a Langague Barrier

In today’s multicultural world (depending on where you live) it is common to engage with people for whom English is not their first language.  While sometimes the interaction may be casual, with not much at stake, other times business deals, potential sales or enduring relationships may be at stake. Here are three tips to spoil the…

Se Habla Mental Telepathy…the New Universal Language?

Remember as a kid trying to read your friends’ minds at a slumber party?  For my 10th birthday, it came in between “Truth or Dare” and the Séance. Now flash forward to the future (past “Men Who Stare at Goats“), where new technology potentially could erase communication barriers caused by traditional language differences. The program,…

3 Tips to Favor Process Over Product in Intercultural Communications

You probably know one of each.  The one who picks up little things here and there over the course of the year, when things are on sale, and is ready for Christmas on December 1, and the one who walks the sales clerk out the door as it closes on December 24.  The result is the…