Communicative style refers to several characteristics of conversations between individuals, according to Barnlund (1989): (1) the topics people prefer to discuss, (2) their favorite forms of interactions in conversation,(3) the depth to which they want to get involved with each other,(4) the communication channels ( verbal or nonverbal) on which they rely and (5) the level of meaning (factual versus emotional) to which they are most attuned.
When they first encounter another person, Americans engage in a kind of conversation they call “Smalltalk”. The most common topic of Smalltalk is the weather. Sometimes they are talking about wealth, sport, according to the life situation. But Americans unlike talking about body weigh. Americans are explicitly taught not to discuss religion and politics because it’s thought to be “controversial” and discussing a controversial topic can lead to an argument. Whereas, in other country consider politics and religion to be excellent topics for informal and debate.
The typical conversation between to Americans take a form can be called repartee. Americans engage in far less ritual interaction than do many other cultural groups. A third form of interaction, one Americans tend to avoid is argument. If an argument is unavoidable, Americans believe it should be conducted in calm, moderate tones and with a minimum of gesturing. A fourth and final form of interaction is self disclosure. In many cases, conversations with a large amount of Smalltalk usually produce little self disclosure.
Cultural backgrounds influence the degree to which people want to become closely connected with other people outside their families. Notice that many American self help books are target to people who are ”too depend” on others and who may need help achieving a proper level of sufficiency. Foreigners will want to realize that American often have difficulty becoming “close friends” with each other, not only with unfamiliar people from other countries.
American’s think important to be able to speak up than on nonverbal behavior to convey their message. Home convey message to people about such topics as degrees of formality and concern with social status. Aspect of non verbal behavior consist of appearance, body movement and gesture, facial expression, eye contact, space and touching, silence.
Some steps for minimize the negative effect of differences in these habits: be aware of human action & reaction that come under the label “nonverbal communication” and realize that such behavior is largely culturally based, learn as much as possible about American nonverbal communication habits and practice it, don’t, however, develop an exaggerated idea about the effects of differences in nonverbal communication, try to avoid interpreting what others mean and evaluating their behavior based on your own ideas about appropriate nonverbal behavior.
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