Cross-Cultural Training

Lesson 4: Global Communciations

The Art of Indirectness

Sometimes it´s how things are said and not what is being said that is giving you the true message. If you are a direct person operating in a country that uses indirect communications it may seem as if you speaking two different languages even if you are speaking the same one.

The Peace Corps has isolated some indirect communication techniques and has created an exercise that will help you acquire them.

The techniques are as follows:

1. Using a qualified yes to mean no.
2. Telling a story as a way of saying no delicately.
3. Changing the subject to avoid saying no.
4. Asking a question to give a negative answer.
5. Returning to a previous point of discussion to signal disagreement.

You'll get to practice using these techniques in the exercises that follow.

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