The Impact of Culture on Communication

Culture can be described as “the water we swim in.” It shapes everything we do—from the way we think and speak, to how we learn, interact with others, even drive. 

It influences the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and, most importantly, the values we hold. 

Until we travel out of our own glass bowl of water, we don’t realize how deeply our thinking, speaking, and behavior are influenced by our culture.

How Cultures Form

Cultures are created by people (the who) living in a specific place (the where) during a particular moment in time (the when). Some of the key drivers of culture are:

• Geography – borders (with whom), topography (mountains, valleys, plains), climate, and natural resources
  
  

• Demographics – indigenous populations, immigrant communities, shifts in population
  
  

• History – war, peace, prosperity, or hardship
  
  

Culture informs how we see the world, what we believe to be right and wrong, and what we accept as truth. Geert Hofstede famously called culture the “software of the mind.” Ouchi and Johnson defined it as, “...how things are done around here.”

Culture can be national, regional, ethnic, religious, tribal, gender-based (Mars and Venus), generational, organizational, professional, rural, urban, pop… Any group can have a culture.

Why Talking About Culture Matters

Because culture is intangible (I often describe it as “smoke and mirrors”), and lives below the surface, it can be difficult to identify and describe—which makes it hard to talk about. But if we want to communicate effectively with people from other cultures, we have to make culture explicit. Talking about it isn’t optional. It’s essential.

Over the past 70+ years, researchers in intercultural communication developed models called Dimensions of Cultural Difference to help people understand how cultures differ and how culture influences human behavior. Pioneers like Edward T. Hall and Geert Hofstede paved the way in the 50s and 60s. These models were helpful but tended to be abstract.

More recently, Erin Meyer created a business-focused model of cultural differences that has made cultural insights more accessible so they can be more readily applied in today’s workplace.

Cultural Dimensions: A Tool for Understanding

Cultural Dimension models typically present bi-polar dimensions—contrasting two different cultural orientations, for example: Individual vs. Collective and Task vs. Relationship. Task vs. Relationship speaks to how trust is built and how people prefer to work together in different cultures. No culture sits purely at one end of the spectrum or the other. Every culture has elements of both poles. 

These models are are helpful because they:

• Build self-awareness about how your own culture shapes your behavior
  
  

• Offer “other-awareness” to interpret unfamiliar behaviors
  
  

• Provide a shared language to talk about cultural differences
  
  

• Allow mapping of different cultures to compare one to another
  
  

The power of these models lies not in labeling cultures, but in understanding how people from different cultures relate to one another—and where misunderstandings may arise.

Communication Is Cultural

Language is one expression of culture. How and why people communicate is also culture-specific.

In the United States, for example, many students begin learning how to present in front of a group as early as third grade. We’re trained to structure information and deliver it with confidence. 

When I taught presentation skills at a Swiss university, I discovered how unusual this was. Many of my international students had never been asked to make a formal presentation until their master’s thesis defense. Making presentations wasn’t a skill they’d practiced before, and they found it challenging.

Cultural norms shape how you introduce yourself, how you close your presentation, and everything in between: 

• What content you choose to include

• How you structure that content

• How much detail you include

• What kinds of visuals are expected

• Whether you share your agenda and timing upfront or not.
  

Why This Matters for Presenters

You might be a non-native English speaker who presents to native English-speaking audiences. Or you might be a native English speaker addressing international audiences. Either way, cultural awareness should be a key part of your preparation.

Because even if your content is strong, how you structure and deliver it, based on the culture of your audience, will impact how it’s received.

Key Takeaway

Ignore culture at your own peril.

Explore my coaching packages to get personalized guidance tailored to your leadership communication goals.
Or grab one of the communication toolkits designed to help you present clearly, lead with empathy, and connect across cultures.

👉 Your next level of influence starts with understanding the room—before you even speak.