Communication Among Different Groups & Cultures

Do I communicate differently with people from different groups and cultures?  Of course I do.

In general, I tend to speak very fast.  People who know me well, and in casual conversations, this does not seem to create any problems.  However, when I am speaking with people who I know do not speak fluent English, I try to slow down, enunciate my words, and provide good eye contact so I can heighten the chances of them understanding me.  When I am presenting in front of a group of people, I cognitively slow down, think about my words, and change my tone at different times so they will catch the points I am trying to emphasize.  There have been times that I have been presenting or in a business meeting when I get very passionate about what I am talking about and my speaking tends to naturally speed up and my volume increases.  This is hard for some people because they have interpreted that to mean that I am upset.  I have had to learn from this experience to be cautious of how I am speaking and to take the time to slow down.

The things I communicate to others can be different depending on whom I am talking to as well.  In an article titled Interpersonal Communication and Diversity: Adapting to Others I read, "When we communicate with people who have different cultural backgrounds than our own, we tend to share less information with them than we do with people who share our cultural heritage" (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2011, p.97).  I have seen this true with personal experiences of mine that are of a more spiritual nature.  When I am speaking with those who I know share the same religious beliefs and values, I tend to give more details to my experience than when I am talking with those who I know do not share the same religious beliefs as myself.  While I don't necessarily agree with my thinking in this aspect, it is what is comfortable for me. 

I think there are times when we are more comfortable sharing greater details about an event or experience with some people than we are with others. There will always be information that I will share with my spouse or possibly other close friends or family that I would not share with others.  I have noticed even after an event, like a conference I participated in or a vacation I attended, people will ask me how things went.  While I may not base my answers so much on differences in culture, I may base my answers on how well I know the person or how much time I think we have, and then leave out certain aspects of my experience to match who I am talking with.  I think we can all find our happy balances between information that could or should be shared with everyone, and information that should be kept between just a few individuals.  I think the important thing to pay attention to is that I am not intentionally leaving information out just because someone is different than I am.  Instead I should be giving the information that fits the situation and individual I am speaking with.

Reference:
Beebe, S.A., Beebe, S.J., Redmond, M.V. (2011) Interpersonal communication: relating to others (6th ed). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201520_02/MS_MECS/EDUC_6165/Week%203/Resources/Resources/embedded/beebe_ch4.pdf