(Humor)

I “Did you get it? Even within the same culture listeners don’t always catch the humor when the punch line is delivered. Understanding humor can be even more difficult between culture.

1. Anecdotes are better because people catch the humor in the personal experience more than in a joke. Jokes can be culturally specific.

2. Rely less on humor and jokes in the beginning.

3. Include more human as you know the person better and the relationship relaxes (but remember anecdotes are better than jokes.

II Avoid altogether in business deals with Germans and Japanese.

1. Germans don’t tell jokes as part of the business transaction. Like many other aspects of the culture business follows the rule that “everything has its place.” And business meetings is not the place for joking. Later after the meeting it is okay..

2. Japanese will accept human but they usually don’t initiate humor.

1. They don’t seem to prefer it.

2. There humor is of a different taste then Western humor so they will laugh to be politce not because they find what you said really funny.

3. In America at least humor can be so interspersed within the conversation that it is not easy to tell when a person is just “kidding” and when the person is completely serious. However this can really confuse the Japanese.

III In Western cultures humor is a type of “icebreaker.”

1. This is also true in other parts of the world settled by Europeans.

1. Australia 3. Canada

2. New Zealand

2. The British use humor in an attempt to keep a long meeting lively.

3. Americans use joking as a cultural style of interacting.

1. It can be used to establish a friendlier and more casual relationship

2. It can be used to criticize or ridicule

3. It can be used as form of sarcasm

4. It can be used when a person doubts or is questioning your intelligence.

5. It can be used in an attempt to insult you

Touch

I It is interesting that touch is the first contact that a person has with existence. For many people the first touch is impersonal but professional which is followed by the gentle and caring touch of the mother.

1. Thus touch is a very significant form of communicating and interacting.

2. Touching denotes openness, caring and interest

3. Touch avoidance denotes distance, avoidance and resistance

4. Touching cultures are:

1. Arabs 4. Italians

2. Africans 5. Indonesians

3. Russians 6. Hispanics

5. Avoid touch with Northern Europeans and Far Eastern Cultures

6. But the cultural protocol gets complicated when you consider that in some culture men should avoid touching men but under some circumstances touch women. Generally woman can touch woman but avoid touching men. And in many cultures touch is generally accepted within the realms of friendship but not tolerated even within friendship if mixed with ulterior motives.

II Proximity-Northern tend to want you to allow them more personal space where in the West something about the distance of one body length is considered comfortable while in the South they tend to shorten personal space.