Is your written communication working for an international audience? We look at how you can deliver your message in a way that will enhance understanding and build relationships with an audience of a different culture.

On this page:

• International audience analysis: Malaysia
• Apparent cultural differences
• Unspoken cultural differences
• Unconscious cultural differences
• Conclusion

Knowing your audience will help you to convey your written message accurately

Your information is gathered, facts are checked and sources are documented. You are ready to deliver a position paper, report, or proposal which will strengthen your credentials as a professional in your field. You have worked hard, but does your written communication work for you? Are you delivering your message in a way that will enhance understanding and build relationships with an audience from a different culture?

Open any writing guide and one of the initial chapters will address the process of writing, including the importance of identifying your purpose and knowing your audience. As an expert in your field you probably had no trouble determining the purpose of your communication. Your written document will define, analyse, persuade or evaluate, as necessary. You have considered your purpose but have you adequately evaluated your audience?

Have you analysed your audience in the context of global diversity? Effective written communication becomes even more challenging when your audience spans the globe. An international audience will think, act and feel differently compared to your own experience.

Audience members may have different learning styles, unfamiliar behavioural characteristics and limited technology required to access your written communication. By raising your cultural awareness of a specific audience, you can identify those characteristics that may impact the intended meaning of your message. Some cultural differences are readily apparent while others that are unspoken or even unconscious require more effort to identify.

The writer's challenge is to balance the quality of the document with the time available to gather information about the specific international audience.

International audience analysis: Malaysia

For five years I lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. While serving as Executive Director for the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), I found myself immersed in Malaysia's fascinating national culture and challenging business environment. A primary goal of the American Chambers of Commerce around the world is to represent US business to their host country governments.

In Malaysia, we accomplished this in large part through written communication including memorandums, position papers and reports. By conducting an international audience analysis, we became aware of how seemingly trivial items could enhance the effectiveness of our written communication. The following sections give several examples of the impact of culture on written documents.

We approached our audience analysis by assessing cultural differences on three levels: apparent, unspoken and unconscious.

Apparent cultural differences

Cultural differences at this level are readily apparent and easily researched. They include characteristics such as language, currency, date, time, units of measure, economic data, political, social, religious, educational, and technical capability.

LANGUAGE

English is one of several languages in which Malaysians are proficient, and it is the language they use in much of their global business.

But whose English? British? American? In this case we decided to use American English. We did this to identify AMCHAM's ties to US business. We checked carefully for consistency throughout our documents. Sometimes I would have to remind myself whether a word ended in -ise or -ize because I was so accustomed to reading British English.

NUMBERS, CURRENCY

Conventions for using commas and decimals vary. Even the definition of billion is not consistent across countries or corporations. These differences made gathering data through a written survey very challenging as AMCHAM members used different systems of measurement. In our final trade and investment reports, we clearly defined the units and maintained consistency throughout the document.

DATES

Does 1/2/04 refer to an important event on January 2, 2004 (US) or February 1, 2004 (Malaysia)? Because both Americans and Malaysians refer to AMCHAM's documents, we spelled out the name of the month. Then the day could lead or follow the name of the month (January 2, 2004 or 2 January 2004) avoiding confusion. Technical Capability: How will your audience access your written communication?

Are you shipping multiple hardcopies?  Probably not, since you can quickly email vast quantities of data. Digital media, including email and CD-ROMs, work very well if you have a personal computer, printer, printer cartridges, and paper. In many developing countries, copy machines are carefully monitored by customs (to curb piracy), paper is a costly luxury, printer cartridges can be dried out, and uninterrupted power remains a dream.

Internet connections are generally dial-up, if available, so downloading large graphics-laden documents is a challenge, if not impossible. AMCHAM delivers several reports every year on US business performance and other topics of concern to Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade. From 1998 to 2002, we went from delivering a requested number of paper copies, to a combination of paper copies and a digital file, and finally, to only a digital file containing the report. Malaysia's technical capability transformed over just a few years—this is not the case in many other developing markets.

Unspoken cultural differences

These characteristics require careful observation but can be researched somewhat easily. Differences reveal themselves in business protocol, social etiquette, gift-giving, topics for conversation, colour, symbols, and heroes.

BUSINESS PROTOCOL

Written communication usually takes on a standardised format such as a cover letter, memo, or a longer report. Specific elements of these standardised formats vary across countries and again, across corporations. In a nod to US business our cover letters were formatted as recommended in most writing guides.

However, after much in-house discussion, we decided to incorporate a feature present in every letter received from the Malaysian government. We added a subject line (for instance: SUBJECT: <DESCRIPTION OF LETTER>) in bold capital letters placed after the salutation and before the body. Typically the subject line is used in a memo format but not in letters. We adopted this revised format to give our letters a familiar feel for our Malaysian audience.

GIFT-GIVING

While extravagant gift-giving is avoided in business, corporations can make an impression with small tokens of appreciation, such as office related items.

I learned of a situation where an American company missed the mark when giving a gift to a potential business partner located outside the US. The company spent time and money designing a good-looking leather portfolio. The portfolio could accommodate pens, business cards, and a pad of paper. It had zippers, pockets and even a small 3-ring binder section. The gift was in good taste but not functional. In many countries outside the US, the standard paper size for business is A4 (8.25 x 11.66 inches) and binders are usually 2-ring instead of three. While the gift was not fatal to the business relationship, a more functional gift may have given the company better visibility.

COLOUR, SYMBOLS

Colour and symbols can generate a trained response, possibly sending a message not intended by someone unfamiliar with the culture. During my time in Malaysia a very large multinational energy company rolled out its new corporate logo. The logo was simple, colourful, and clean lined. Unfortunately, the logo was also similar to the symbol of the political party in opposition to the ruling party in Thailand. In a case like this, it is unlikely that the corporation is going to revise the already unveiled logo, but through increased cultural awareness corporate representatives in Thailand can be prepared to handle the situation with sensitivity.

Unconscious cultural differences

Some cultural characteristics are so deeply held that a person may not be consciously aware of a particular behaviour. They include non-verbal communication, hand and facial gestures, sense of time, physical space, speech patterns, level of individualism, and degree of ambiguity accepted by the society. These differences are not easily known and require more time and effort to uncover.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Perhaps you have been invited to present the contents of your written communication in front of an audience. If you were presenting in Southeast Asia, you would want to know that it is rude to point with your index finger, especially when referring to a person. Pointing with your middle finger or thumb is just fine. I must admit that I could never master pointing with my middle finger (considered quite offensive in my home country) and to this day feel comfortable using my thumb to point (which my friends at home consider strange, but not offensive).

INDIVIDUALISM

Analysing a global audience using a well-researched model of culture can offer valuable guidance as you construct your written communication.

Geert Hofstede's work, for example, reveals that Malaysian culture places high value on the family structure, pursues relationships over tasks, and accepts strong leadership.

This cultural awareness guided our writing style at AMCHAM. Our documents began very formally, showing great respect for the individual recipient and for their organisation. Before closing we would reference a more personal aspect of the relationship, recounting an enjoyable past event or complimenting our host government on a recent achievement. These inclusions did not significantly change the document but they did set a desired tone.

Conclusion

Give your message the advantage by creating written communication that recognises the global diversity of your audience. Effective documents are clear in their purpose and also consider the needs of the audience. In addition to ensuring accuracy, a culturally sensitive document can build bridges and strengthen relationships.

Conveying your written message accurately to an international audience requires cultural awareness. Without altering the purpose of your document, you may have to incorporate revisions to account for cultural differences. Conduct an international audience analysis to reveal the cultural differences between you and your audience.

Cultural differences can be grouped into three categories and includes those that are readily apparent and easily incorporated, those that are unspoken and require more effort to identify and finally, those differences that are unconscious and require in-depth knowledge of a particular culture. The international audience analysis offers a useful framework to assess the effectiveness of your document.

AMCHAM earned a solid reputation with the Malaysian government for submitting documents that were relevant to the concerns of AMCHAM members and government officials. The documents were accurate in their reporting using clear language and meaningful examples. Additionally, we demonstrated our raised cultural awareness by reviewing our written communication and incorporating changes where we could to increase the accessibility of our documents by our Malaysian audience.

Through a series of memorandums, reports and position papers presented to the Malaysian government, AMCHAM contributed to the country's economic growth by continuously improving the business environment for existing business and attracting new foreign investment.

After five years in Malaysia, I moved to Nigeria with hopes of building the first American Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria. A few months after I arrived in Lagos, I received a personal note from Dato' Seri Rafidah Aziz, Malaysia's Minister of International Trade and Investment.

In addition to a few pleasantries (that wonderful Malaysian trait) she acknowledged the good working relationship that we had established and highlighted how important AMCHAM input had been in creating a healthy Malaysia-US business relationship and promoting Malaysia as an attractive trading partner and investment location.

Dato' Seri's comments are a measure of our success in not only transmitting accurate and relevant information, but doing so within the context of Malaysian culture. I am going on three years in Nigeria and no Chamber yet, but when there is I look forward to creating valuable written communication within the context of Nigerian culture.

February 2005

Kathryn L. King teaches Intercultural Technical Communication for the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Reprinted with the permission of the Intercultural Management Quarterly (www.imquarterly.org).

Subject: Intercultural skills