Public Speaking and Cultural Awareness Lecture Notes PDF

Public Speaking Lecture 11: Cultural Awareness in Public Speaking Prof. Binod Mishra DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 1  What is Culture?  “Culture is a code we lear...

Public Speaking Lecture 11: Cultural Awareness in Public Speaking Prof. Binod Mishra DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 1  What is Culture?  “Culture is a code we learn and share, and learning and sharing require communication. Communication requires coding and symbols that must be learnt and shared.” In China, - (Alfred G. Smith, Preface to Communication and Culture) children adore Mu Lan, a  Symbols, rituals, values and heroes (Geert Hofstede) woman of 6th century for her  To understand a culture one needs to understand things filial devotion. as language and gestures, personal appearance, social relationships, religion, philosophy and values, family customs, education and communication systems. 2 “Language and Culture are frameworks through which humans experience, communicate, and understand reality” (Lev Vygotsky, 1968). 3  Talking through Cultural Differences  Public speaking across different cultures is essentially about recognizing and respecting cultural differences.  The differences shall encompass both demographic factors such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, ability, language, economic and social status. 4  Intercultural Communication Scholars like Martin and Nakayama (2010) called intercultural communication as a dialectic approach. Both the speaker and the listener try to participate in an interaction, irrespective of their cultural differences, and learn something new. It is in between this interactive experience that the sharing of minds and culture occurs. Public speaking provides space for a dialectic flux to happen which shall eventually lead to a better understanding of oneself, others and the world in general. 5  Dialectics of Intercultural Communication (Martin & Nakayama, 2010) 6  Cultural Intelligence The term “Cultural Intelligence” was coined in the year 2003 by theorists namely Christopher Early and Soon Ang. It is also known in other synonymous terms such as Cultural Quotient (CQ) and Cultural Competence. The idea of cultural intelligence to a public speaker relies upon his/her ability to communicate and convey the chosen message with intended effect to a multicultural audience. Audience group on the receiving end will usually display heterogeneity of cultures and languages. Thus, a good public speaker has to be culturally aware and competent. 7  How to Achieve Cultural Competence? Cultural competence is not a goal to achieve but only a process to carry on and grow. An experienced public speaker would require pertinent practice and continuous exercise. Qualities like open-mindedness and respect for other cultures shall set grounds for a speaker to be culturally competent. Deardorff’s model (2004) of intercultural competence illustrates on how acquiring cultural intelligence and awareness is a cyclical process. 8  Deardorff’s Model of Intercultural Competence It comprises five important elements: 1. Attitudes 2. Knowledge 3. Skills 4. Internal Outcomes 5. External Outcomes 9  Public Speaking and Multiculturalism  As how interpersonal communication sets platform for exchange of ideas, intercultural communication acts as a passage for cultural awareness.  A public speaker shall understand more about himself and his verbal qualities better as s/he gets acquainted with different cultures.  Cultures can be studied better through interactions than observation.  Culture and communication are intertwined (McLean 2005). 10  Connect the Cultural Gap Assess the speech response through direct and indirect feedback you receive from the other end. Rectify the strength of communication based upon the received feedback. “Cultural codes” act as the key to unlock and connect the gap between the speaker and audience. Public speaking rehearsals and a research outlook of the place of presentation would help at best. Urge to know (curiosity) and to learn (knowledge) can guide speaker to receive and process cultural feedback far efficiently. 11  Bridging Cultural Gap in Business When speaking in a national or global workspace, a public speaker must ensure to undertake formal tone at all costs. Be concise and straightforward as much possible. Stick to the literal meanings of the words uttered. Learn few foreign phrases with respect to the diversity of colleagues for interaction and greeting purposes. Listen actively. Reply back in a self- composed manner. 12  Bridging Cultural Gap in Classroom The aim of public speaking in a classroom set- up is to build a fine rapport between students and teachers. Public speaking shall enable a sense of community in the classroom. It also acts as a channel for not just teachers but also for students to express themselves freely. With a better interaction between students and teachers, the classroom becomes a more inclusive space for diversity of individuals to thrive and grow together. 13  Evaluating Audience Learning Preferences A speaker should afford to put themselves in the shoes of listeners before final presentation. With sufficient knowledge gained through audience analysis, the speaker shall figure out the learning preferences of audience. Learning preference of audience indicates the preferred medium through which audience would like to process information and understand. Depending on which, a speaker shall use aural, visual or theoretical support to connect and convey effectively. 14  Use of Humor in Multicultural Setup Humor is a double-edged sword when it comes to public speaking. In a pluralistic setup, a public speaker is bound to exercise more caution. Chances are high that the audience may not get the joke or misunderstand the applied sense of humor. The linguistic pluralism should be checked. Usage of British and American English should be moderated according to the type of audience. The content prepared as slides or graphic support should be ensured to not contain anything offensive. 15  Check Cultural Bias Cultural bias is a two-way barrier when it comes for a speaker to address a diverse audience group. First, it is the cultural bias that stays with the speaker. The second type exists amongst the audience group, collectively or individually. Former kind of bias can be checked and eliminated through research and practice on the given topic. While the latter can be regulated by establishing a clear understanding of the cultural context of topic and audience addressed. 16  Cultural Caution in Public Speaking  With all learning experience and knowledge brought forward by a cultural cluster of audience, it also raises concerns to be taken care of for a smooth communication process.  Every public speaker must prepare themselves on the following criteria before confronting an intercultural room of audience.  Style and Directedness (High context cultures vs Low context cultures)  High Context Cultures. e.g. Japan - focus on politeness and subtlety.  Low Context Cultures. e.g. Germany - direct and straightforward.  Individualism Versus Collectivism  External Appearance (in terms with the place of presentation)  Eye contact. 17  How High and Low Context Cultures differ?  High context culture (Japan, China and Arab countries)  Intuitive, contemplative, stress on non-verbals, meaning to physical and social setting  Low context culture (North America, Scandanavia, France and Germany)  Logical, analytical and action oriented.  Values individualism 18  Some Instances of Cultural Differences  Superstitions  In Mexico Saloon where people gather to drink pulque, a distillate of cactus, is considered good fortune to get worms in your cup  In Japan Maneki neko (beckoning cat)  In China Phonetic sound of 8 is most fortuitous of numbers auguring prosperity  Hong Kong A license plate with eight number is quite valuable 4 can be read as shi , a homophone for death. 19  Contd…  Red is a symbol for Christian charity and for Communism and class conflict.  Latin Americans do not stick to time.  Mourning is symbolized by yellow in Philippines.  It’s impolite to offer gifts to a man’s wife in Arab.  Failure to make an anytime visit in India is an insult. 20  Overcoming Cultural Differences  Appreciation and tolerance  Respect other cultures the same as yours  Prefer Commonalities to differences  Use of unbiased language  Empathy and adaptability 21 “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” – Jawaharlal Nehru 22  Works Consulted Christopher, John C., et al. “Critical cultural awareness: Contributions to a globalizing psychology.” American Psychologist, vol. 69, no. 7, 2014. Deardorff, Darla K. “Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a student outcome of Internationalization.” Journal of Studies in international education, vol. 10, no. 3, 2006, pp. 241-266. Earley, P. Christopher, and Elaine Mosakowski. “Cultural intelligence.” Harvard business review, vol. 82, no. 10, 2004, pp. 139-146. Jandt, Fred E. An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 2007 Joseph, Frank. “A feminist critique: Public speaking instruction in the age of multiculturalism.” Social epistemology, vol. 11, no. 3, 1997, pp. 329-337. Martin, Judith and Nakayama, Thomas K. “Thinking Dialectically about Culture and Communication,” Communication Theory, vol. 9, no. 1, 1999, pp. 1–25. Sharma, Sangeeta and Binod Mishra. Communication Skills for Engineers and Scientists. New Delhi: PHI Learning. 2009, 6th Reprint 2015. 23