First impressions mean everything, and most of the time, they start with a handshake.

Every country has a unique set of customs, and it is important to recognize and respect cultural differences,
especially when conducting business around the world.

Handshakes are how we greet each other around the world. Even if you’re meeting someone who doesn’t speak the
same language as you, offering a simple handshake offers a show of peace and respect. However, handshakes differ
around the world.

In the world today we communicate a lot with people from different backgrounds. This background is known as
Diversity. (meaning)

So this type of communication is very important in the world today it is called the intercultural communication.
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. (MEANING) This type of communication deals with the process of
sending and receiving messages between people cultural background and could lead them to interpret verbal
and nonverbal signs differently.

HANDSHAKE
US – FIRM HANDSHAKE

-Extend a firm handshake, and introduce yourself with your first and last name while making eye contact.

-Shake hands with everyone present at a meeting or with a small group of people.

FRANCE – SOFT HANDSHAKE

-Light, fast shake are the norm

-Family and friends greet with a kiss on both cheeks.

GERMANY – FIRM AND BRIEF HANDSHAKE

-For men, traditionally accompanied by a slight bow

-Men usually greet women first and wait for them to extend their hand.

JAPAN – HANDSHAKE WITH ARM FIRMLY EXTENDED, ACCOMPANIED BY A BOW

-Some Japanese bow and shake hands.

-The Japanese handshake is traditionally limp and little or no eye contact is made.

-MIDDLE EAST – HAND SHAKE AND FREE HAND PLACED ON THE FOREARM OF THE OTHER
PERSON

-Handshakes are softer in Middle Eastern countries

-As you shake hands, say ‘As-salaam alaykum’ (‘peace be upon you’); the response is ‘Wa alaykum as-salaam’
(peace be upon you, too).
In the world today we communicate a lot with people from different backgrounds. This background is known as
“Diversity.” There is one type of communication that is very important in the world today. It is called the
“INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION.”

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

 is the verbal and nonverbal interaction between people from different cultural backgrounds.
 is defined as situated communication between individuals or groups of different linguistic and
cultural origins.

CHALLENGES OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

It has become a widespread notion that speakers’ use of different languages results in intercultural
miscommunication and misunderstanding. As Scollon and Scollon (1995) state:

When we are communicating with people who are very different from us, it’s very difficult to know
how to draw inferences about what they mean, and so it is impossible to depend on shared knowledge and
background for confidence in our interpretations.

Note that misunderstanding in intercultural communication may not always be caused by verbal utterances.
Misunderstandings may also happen due to wrong interpretation. For instance, the handshake is very commonly
done by people introduced to each other by a third party should be done and interpreted correctly as the type of
handshake varies from culture to culture.

SOURCES OF MISUNDERSTANDING

 AMBIGUITY – lack of explicitness on the part of the speaker in the form of problematic reference and
ambiguous semantics

Example:

- I saw someone on the hill with a telescope.

- Did you see her dress?

 PERFORMANCE-RELATED MISUNDERSTANDING – slips of the tongue and mishearing which

may be due to utterances spoken quickly and unclearly

 LANGUAGE-RELATED MISUNDERSTANDING - ungrammatically of sentences