Cross Cultural Awareness Training: working with colleagues, customers or clients from different cultural backgrounds, with different religions, values and etiquettes can occasionally lead to problems. Cross cultural awareness training is usually a generic introduction into a culture, country, region or religion. The aim is to equip trainee with adequate knowledge to deal comfortably with people from different cultures, avoiding misunderstandings and mistakes.

Cross Cultural Training for Expatriate Relocation: staff that travel overseas need to understand cultural basics of host country or region. Knowledge of country’s history, culture, laws, traditions, business practices and social etiquettes all help to minimise impact of culture shock and hence smooth their transition overseas.

Cross Cultural Negotiations: equipped with their knowledge of two or more cultures that can be meeting around negotiation table, a cross cultural consultant advises on areas such as negotiation strategies, styles, planning, closure and etiquette in order to increase chance of a successful outcome, free from misunderstandings, suspicions and general cross cultural communication breakdown.

Cross Cultural PR Consultancy: brand image, public relations and advertising are all areas companies must be careful of when moving out of national context. Tastes and values change dramatically from continent to continent. It is crucial to understand whether brand name, image or advertising campaign is culturally applicable in target country. Cross cultural consultants examine words, images, pictures, colours and symbols to ensure they fit well with target culture.

Cross Cultural Language Training: Language training is an area where little investment is made by companies, but where business advantages are great. Linguistic knowledge goes a long way in bridging cultural gaps and smoothing lines of communication. Cross cultural consultancies provide language training to business staff, moulding their learning to business environment in which they work.

In conclusion, clearly role and expertise of cross cultural communication consultants is important for today’s international business. The potential pitfalls cross cultural differences present to companies are extensive. In essence a cross cultural consultant’s primary objective is integration. This integration, between colleagues, clients and customers is crucial for business success. Equipped with experience, knowledge and above all objectivity, a cross cultural consultant creates bridges of understanding and opens lines of communication.

In same way garlic goes with lamb chops, right PR strategy tells you how to reach your goal. But just three are available when it comes to matters of perception and opinion -- change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. But be sure your new strategy fits naturally with your new public relations goal. If data gathered is satisfactory, you want “reinforce it” strategy, not “change it.”

When moment comes to speak to your key stakeholder audience and help persuade them to your way of thinking, what will your message say?

Tap your best writer to produce well-written corrective language you need. Words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to move perception/opinion towards your point of view and result in behaviors you desire.

Here, fortunately, things gets easier as you select communications tactics to carry your message to attention of your target audience. Be sure that tactics you select have a record of reaching people like your audience members. You can pick from dozens that are available ranging from speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and so many others.

Because HOW you communicate can affect credibility of message, you may wish to deliver it in small meetings or presentations rather than through high-visibility media announcements.

Those around you will soon be asking about progress. Which will lead to a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Employing many of same questions used in first benchmark session, you will now be watching carefully for signs that offending perception is being altered in your direction.

In public relations, we’re lucky that action like this can be accelerated by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies, if necessary.

And you’re lucky again that folks you deal with behave like everyone else – they act upon their perceptions of facts they hear about you and your operations. Which leaves you little choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions by doing what is necessary to reach and move your key external audiences to action.

The workable public relations blueprint outlined above will, in fact, keep your PR working well for you for a very simple reason – (repeating for emphasis), it will help you persuade your most important outside stakeholders to your way of thinking, then move them to behave in a way that leads to success of your department, division or subsidiary.

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Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to managers about using fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.prcommentary.com