Communicating across cultures can be both enjoyable and uncertain. Often, when interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds, we focus on differences between us, instead of considering how we are similar. This training session will highlight four building blocks for understanding effective communication with those who hold different cultural identities from ours. 

We will discuss how culture, communication, context, and power/influence impact our interactions. Instead of learning specific strategies to improve communication, the emphasis will be on learning how to diagnose ways in which differences/similarities are influencing conversations. This will allow us to better analyze our own intercultural interactions, which can open up more options to develop specific strategies for effective communication.