Piper McNulty: Intercultural Communication Training

Two-Hour Workshops

Discussion Styles Across Cultures: In the multicultural workplace, it often seems that a few people dominate any discussion while others are slower to respond, and a third group may not speak at all. The result: Ideas which could help grow the business are not heard and valuable opportunities are lost. In this fun, challenging and highly interactive workshop participants experience three culturally influenced discussion styles, and reflect on the challenges of interacting in multicultural contexts. The underlying values guiding each style, as well as strategies for eliciting contributions from all discussion participants, are addressed.

Communicating Across Cultural Divides: Peggy McIntosh's seminal work on the subtle experiences of public deference and freedom of confident action which Americans of color may not enjoy has sparked numerous debates in academic circles and at professional conferences. Related to White privilege is the existence of global cultural hierarchies and the impact of colonial legacies on communication between people of different national, regional or ethnic cultures. In this workshop, participants develop skills for productive debate of these issues, share their experiences, and identify applications for their own professional and personal interactions. Scenes from the movie "Crash" or the TV show Black/White may be used to stimulate discussion.

Conflict Styles Across Cultures: Do you avoid conflict, say what you think the other person wants to hear, use an intermediary, discuss dispassionately, engage passionately or use allegories to hint at issues without discussing them directly? Participants review a recent conflict with someone of a different ethnic culture, and analyze their experiences individually and in small groups. Strategies for effectively resolving intercultural conflict are also examined.

Multicultural Teamwork - The Network Device: In this highly interactive workshop for working professionals, participants take part in a simulated teamwork exercise designed to examine assumptions about how best to complete a group project. The cultural values and underlining assumptions behind each teamwork style are analyzed and strategies for effective multicultural teamwork are explored.

One-Hour Workshops

Loss and Change: Coping with Culture Shock: Voluntary immigrants, refugees, international students…"culture shock" is different for each group. In this workshop, participants are introduced to five aspects of transition to a new culture: type of migrant, approaches to the new culture, reaction of the receiving culture, language issues and change of status. Ways to help migrants cope with the loss and change which accompany culture shock are also introduced.

Dealing with Misunderstandings Across Cultures: Even when two people are of the same background, what one person intends to convey may not match what the other perceives. Across cultures miscommunication is even more likely to occur. In this workshop participants use the Describe, Evaluate, Interpret framework to analyze their own experiences of intercultural miscommunication, and apply global values contrasts to increase their understanding of the communication behaviors of culturally different others.

Nonverbal Communication: In this highly interactive workshop, participants experience nonverbal behaviors around the globe, including the use of space, touch behaviors, the impact of scents and odors, attitudes towards punctuality, and the many other ways we communicate without words. The cultural values and underlying assumptions behind these different values are also introduced and discussed.