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Hand wash tips typically seen in most US restaurant and grocery store restrooms.

This has to be one of the more challenging and sensitive areas when teaching cross-cultural skills. It is often taken for granted that the behavior in restrooms is global or basic common sense, therefore, no change is required. After training both Japanese and Indians and even living in India, it surely is a false impression to think that bathroom behavior is the same world wide. 

3. Meal-time Etiquette 
Another example is learning table or eating etiquette in other cultures. Learning to eat with chopsticks, Western cutlery, or hands if not accustomed to it is best done with a hands-on real-life experience.


4. Body Language  
Body language, personal space, gestures, handshakes and introductions, and eye contact among other other non-verbal behaviors do vary from culture to culture. Demos help participants to see, experience and immediately compare differences between their culture and the foreign culture to attempt to fit in better whenever possible. A few modules in the training programs I deliver that include such demos are meeting time etiquette, face-to-face interview preparation, video (video-con) conference calls, and in-person (handshakes and business card exchange) introductions are all topics where hands-on demos have filled these gaps in easy, fun and interactive ways. 

5. Other
Other areas where demos work well in corporate environments include: 

• New Employee Training
• Doing the Laundry
• Using Bank Accounts 
• Restaurant Etiquette 
• Ordering at Fast Food Restaurants 
• How to use American money (Bills and Coins)  

Thank you Anna Ridgway and Scott McCall for this example

Jennifer Kumar, author, has trained over 3500 Indian professionals for their offshore client visits through corporate coaching and interactive group training sessions.

End of Tip #3.
<–Read Tip #2 – Cross-Cultural Errors and Mistakes.