Posture
The way we sit, stand, and walk send a nonverbal message. In Western culture standing tall conveys confidence. A confidence person stand erect with the shoulders back and the head up. The posture signals, “ I am not afraid of anything.” The appropriate posture is related to a person’s status in society. For example, a manager may stand erect when talking to subordinates, but the subordinates may drop their shoulders when talking to the manager. In traditional societies the person lower in the hierarchy may be expected to prostate himself in front of the tribal chief or village elder to show respect. Although this form of showing respect and subordinates is not practiced in intercultural business communication, an international manager needs to know what is acceptable posture in given culture.
Although in most business situation people sit on chairs, in many Arab cultures men conduct business while sitting on the floor. In traditional Japanese business people also may sit on the floor. The Japanese style of sitting with the legs tucked can be very taxing for outsiders who are not used to that posture. In after-hours entertaining the Japanese like to challenge Westerners to sit in the Japanese pose.