Growing up in the US, my father always told me to look people directly in the eyes when talking to them. He instructed me to maintain eye contact during introductions and any conversations that followed. Halfway around the world in Japan, my friend Masahiro’s dad was telling him to do the opposite; always look away when meeting people who were more senior. He learned that avoiding direct eye contact was a sign of respect.

When interacting with people from different cultures, knowing whether to look or look away can be critical. People from cultures who value indirect eye contact often view full eye contact as a sign that a person is aggressive, untrustworthy, and/or engaged in suspicious activities. Conversely, those from cultures where direct eye contact is the norm, averting your eyes can suggest dishonesty, unreliability, and being disrespectful.

So whether you are conducting business in South Korea where the tendency is towards indirect eye contact ochecking ...

When Beverly Hills Cop opened in Brazil, there were huge posters outside theaters that showed Eddie Murphy flashing his trademark “okay” sign. Little did Eddie know, he was pretty much making an obscene gesture in Brazil that is equivalent to giving someone “the finger” in the USA. Very few Brazilians went to see the movie until the PR people finally caught on and the poster was modified.

I always assumed that there were a few universal gestures that would mean the same thing no matter where I was in the world. You know, things like using your thumb to hitchhike or shaking your head to indicate “no”. As it turns out (and I learned the hard way), these signals can have VERY different meanings depending on where in the world you are.

The way you shake your head to say “no” in America actually means “yes” in Bulgaria. Holding your thumb out to hitchhike can mean “up yours” in Turkey; a dangerous mistake to make when you are standing on theg ...