Steven Gaffney, president of the Steven Gaffney Company, is a leading expert on honest, interpersonal communication, influence and leadership . Thousands of people credit, Steven’s speeches, seminars, TV, and radio appearances as well as his books and products with making immediate and lasting change in both their organizations as well as their personal lives.

Serving such a diverse clientele has enabled Steven to create and implement innovative, cross-discipline solutions to achieve maximum effect. His clients include Marriott, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BP, Citigroup, American Express, SAIC, Allstate Insurance, Blue Care Network, Texas Instruments, CIA, US Department of the Treasury, NASA, American Cancer Society, The US Navy, The US Marine Corp, among many others.

Golden Rule: Identify a person the way she or he asks to be identified, regardless of forthcoming litany.

Here are guidelines for bias-free communication.

The Four Seasons leads the hospitality industry with innovative enhancements and high standards, because their globally located teams of employees are single-focused.

This requires their leadership on all levels to have cultural intelligence, cultural sensitivity and a reinforced tolerance for cultural differences. Naturally, this doesn’t happen while operating in a bubble; but rather while stretching across cultural lines.

People from different cultures use their brains differently to solve the same visual perceptual tasks, MIT researchers and colleagues report in the first brain imaging study of its kind.

Psychological research has established that American culture, which values the individual, emphasizes the independence of objects from their contexts, while East Asian societies emphasize the collective and the contextual interdependence of objects. Behavioral studies have shown that these cultural differences can influence memory and even perception. But are they reflected in brain activity patterns?

This 63-slide presentation covers the following:

Filtering, Seleccting Perception, Defensiveness, Language, Listening, How Culture Affects All Communication, Basics Notions about Self, People from Different Language Communities, Stereotypes and Prejudices, Interaction and Adaptation, Understanding Co-Cultures Within Ones Own Country, Assumption of Similarities, Language Differences, Body Language, Tone of Voice, Vocal Sounds, Developing Empathy Factors, and Principles of Better Intercultural Communication.

The topics presented in this 20-slide presentation include the following:

Cultural awareness
Making the first impression
Important components of a dialogue
Social graces, etiquette, and body language
Making a great first impression
Body language
Etiquette of dressing
Fine dining

As more or more people from different backgrounds, countries, cultures and religions immigrate to foreign lands, those countries become an intercultural melting pot.

In order for the native people and the immigrant population to blend and create a thriving and successful atmosphere both sides need to develop some sort of intercultural tolerance and understanding of the differences that may exist between them. An example of poor intercultural understanding, or one based simply on stereotypes, is offered by the town of Herouxville in Quebec, Canada.

Communicaton across cultures effectively improves productivity and promotes harmonious work environments. It involves understanding cultural differences and overcoming language problems.

This 37-slide presentation answers these questions: What is culture? Where did western culture come from? How is it different from Chinese culture? How should I deal with these differences at work?

Having an English-only website is no longer sufficient. For those under the illusion that their potential customers are all surfing the web in English, it is time to realize that the language of the web is multilingual.

People prefer to search and interact online in their own language: it’s natural and comfortable. And the more relaxed a potential customer is when they’re browsing an online store, the more likely they will make a purchase. That is, of course, if they even find your site in the first place.

International online visibility is becoming a major priority for online businesses. From big names like Universal Music Group, to the smaller niche e-stores realizing their massive potential for sales in relatively untapped markets with newly acquired online access, businesses are cashing in on their ability to be seen online.