Communication cultures differ widely across countries. I experienced it myself in multiple situations:
- Working as a Dutch national in McKinsey’s London office, people found me somewhat ‘blunt’
- Living as a foreigner in Israel, I would sometimes be surprised that the first thing some says to you is “how old are you?”
- Participating in a large Zoom call with many American participants who pretext a point of criticism or disagreement with a 1-2 minute apology before getting to the point
It is important to be aware of these differences:
- As someone who is presenting
- But also as someone who is in the audience and needs to put the presenter in perspective
Some of these differences might actually not be down to culture or character. Not all languages have words for specific nuances, so things literally get lost in translation: Language 1 has 5 options on a scale, language 2 only 2. If you are the native speaker in the 2-option language it is hard to pick (or even know) which of the 5 options to pick.
Read body language and ask for clarification when in doubt, or use some self deprecation to preempt possible issues.