Firedance by Steven Barnes

Firedance by Steven Barnes

Differences are the spice of life! But cultural differences can also be the source of embarrassing gaffes and miscommunication for business and social travelers alike. No one wants to make a cross-cultural blunder--especially one that could have consequences for crucial partnerships or even your entire organization. But when you seek to understand the origins of these cultural distinctions and develop strategies to cope with them, you'll find that you can navigate any culture--whether virtually or in person--with ease.

Say Anything to Anyone, Anywhere offers five simple guidelines to successful selling, negotiating, and managing multiculturally. It teaches how to be proactive, not reactive, in your cross-cultural communications and how to use simple rapport tools to build trust with cultures you work with or travel to. Discover interpersonal communication skills and virtual strategies that build strong relationships.

Say Anything to Anyone, Anywhere shares quick, accessible examples and clear guidelines about how to bridge cultural gaps, including strategies to:

• Create proactive cross-cultural communication and avoid reactive communication
• Manage preexisting cultural perceptions
• Understand cultural sensitivities and avoid conflict
• Build rapport in person, on the phone, and by e-mail
• Understand how words, tonality, and body language vary with every culture
• Increase self-awareness and adapt your style

You'll also find a helpful collection of common business jargon that crosses cultures, cultural do's and taboos, and an entertaining collection of cultural bloopers from those who have stumbled before you. This step-by-step guide to cross-cultural business will help you build strong relationships, manage successfully--and learn to enjoy and appreciate the cultural nuances that help to define all of us.

Steven Barnes, who was born in Los Angeles in 1952, began writing at the age of five and has since written over two million words. His first published collaboration, The Locusts, received a Hugo Award nomination in 1980, and his Outer Limits episode A Stitch In Time received a Cable Ace Award nomination and an Emmy for Amanda Plummer. He's also written a one-woman performance based on the life of Bessie Coleman (the first Black Aviatrix), contributed to Black Belt Magazine's Kung-Fu column (he holds dan levels in Judo and Karate), and hosted Hour 25, the world's longest-running science fiction radio show. Steven is working on a series of novels set on prehistoric Africa, for which he recently spent two weeks in Tanzania's Serengeti plain with his wife, novelist Tananarive Due, and their daughter Lauren Nicole.