A Shocking Culture

Sit down, I´ve got something to tell you.

Up to 43% of hospital admissions for self-poisoning in the UK are due to paracetamol ingestion. In the USA, paracetamol-associated overdoses account for 56,000 emergency visits annually.

While researching for my book last weekend, I was reading about the history of fever, how it's understood spiritually and medically. The book is about my healing experience walking the Camino de Santiago. One night, while staying in Atapuerca, I almost collapsed over dinner then spent the night in a feverish state. I took a large dose of paracetamol to regulate it. Atapuerca is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site where the oldest known human remains were found, dating back 1.5 million years. Paracetamol had yet to be discovered back then.

What's Paracetamol Got to Do With Culture?

Taking too much paracetamol can turn your skin, fingers and lips blue. In late 2018, two batches of paracetamol were recalled from the UK market. They were contaminated with fungi. The fungi found were penicillium citrinium and penicillium brevicompactum, both of which can be toxic to humans. But not all penicillium strains are toxic. Some of them are used to produce blue cheese.

They are cultures.

Shocking though it may be to realise that eating paracetamol can turn us blue, it is curious to discover that eating blue cheese can make us stronger.

What a wonderful lesson in the importance of understanding cultures.

Culture Shock

I´ve lived in 5 very diverse cultures.

1. Ireland, where I´m from.
2. The Australian Outback & 3 Australian cities.
3. China: Beijing based, but I presented in 13 of the 22 provinces.
4. Poland: a coastal town on the Baltic Sea.
5. Spain: on the Costa del Sol.

In each country, I experienced what anthropologist Kalervo Oberg proposed as the "stages of culture shock." I had not heard of it until I went to China. I would go on to teach it to thousands of students from over all over the world.

Oberg´s theory has been adjusted and become popular in university studies as a sequential set of stages:

1. Honeymoon (Excitement)
2. Distress (Shock)
3. Re-integration (learning and integrating)
4. Adjustment (adapting to the new culture)
5. Independence (operating comfortably in the new culture)

Yet, they are most certainly not sequential. Culture Shock, and its partner, Reverse Culture Shock, are experienced a little more like the stages of grief. They occur and reoccur at different times as memories are triggered, and patterns, behaviours and people are encountered or remembered.

Shocking Snapshots

Tea is as important as church in Ireland, maybe more important nowadays. We drink it with a little or large dollop of milk, depending on our tastes. Go into an Irish person´s house abroad, and you´ll find a bag of Barry´s in the press (aka cupboard for you non-Irish out there).

In China, they drink loose leaf, green tea from bottles with specially designed lids and compartments to stop the leaves getting in your mouth when you drink. They´re magic! But you couldn't get them in Ireland in 2011 when I went back.

I still drink loose leaf green tea from China. When I got back to Ireland, my bottle broke, so I drank it from a jar. One day, I went in to get my hair done and everyone started staring at me like I was naked, looking confused and disgusted.

What have you got in that jar?

Tea.

Tea? What kind of tea is that? It looks disgusting.

I explained the importance of green tea in China, its health benefits and how it's drunk, excusing my bottle challenges.

Now you might be reading this thinking,

What's the point of that story? It doesn't seem like much of an issue.

It's not, provided you're confident enough to stand strong in the face of questions, looks of disgust and judgements that position you as an outsider.

The judgements are an aspect of culture shock.

The feeling of being "othered" is an aspect of culture shock.

A Badge of Honour

Culture Shock stories are shared regularly on LinkedIn. There are countless coaches like me who teach individuals and organisations how to adapt and understand the nuances of culture. I could probably write a book on the different experiences of culture shock (and its reverse) I've lived. But this week, I've been gifted with a coveted LinkedIn "Top Presentation Skills Voice" badge. (Thanks LinkedIn.) Therefore, today I shall focus on something I don't see written about.

Presentation Shock

What's presentation shock, Christine?

That, my dear reader, is the feeling you get when a speaker stands up, clicks on the first slide, and something like this comes up...

Feeling puzzled? Maybe offended? Slightly uncomfortable because you know a fella (male) who's from a farming family in Dundalk?

Not quite the best way to win over an audience, is it? And yet, so many people open with an inappropriacy.

Presentation shock occurs when:

1. a speaker stands up and does something untypical of the presentation culture they're in.
2. a listener behaves in a manner the speaker is unaccustomed to.

I'm Irish. I'm from Dundalk. I don't even get that joke, but it makes me think about cows, so I'm guessing it's offensive. But that could also be a subconscious bias. Somewhere deep in my Irish country girl mind is an association between cows, farmers and relationships.

Are you mentally judging me right now?

That's presentation shock. You may be somewhat shaken at the ideas I've just presented to you, or the manner in which they have been presented.

Mind Your Mannerisms

Presentation mannerisms across cultures are as different as they are similar. We see the world through our own lens. For most people, that means designing a deck that they would be impressed by.

Rule 1: You Are Not Important

Well, not as important as you think you are. Your audience and the decision makers are, whether they are in the room or not. But you know this already. It's the Number 1 rule in presenting. So, let's activate an alternative aspect of your awareness. Are you up for a little challenge?

Cultural Activation

Challenge #1: OK or NOT OK

Rate the list of behaviours below as:

1. Yes, do that.
2. No, don't do that.

Challenge #2: Where In the World

Which two countries are represented below?

And which two countries are these, do you think?

In Challenge #1, your answers will differ, depending on your cultural make-up. You may have known that some are more or less acceptable in one country or another. Take that list to your teams and see how they respond. It's a fascinating little exercise. There are, of course, many more behaviours to explore. To do so, reach out to me and let's discuss a workshop dedicated to you and your people.

Challenge #2: Image 1:

Did you guess correctly?

These findings are based on over 100,000 responses to a variety of surveys carried out by Richard D. Lewis Communications over the past 30+ years. Of course, mannerisms across the USA will differ, and all Swedes cannot be branded as technophiles. However, when intending to avoid presentation shock, reviewing data like this is essential, especially if an organisation wishes its people to communicate challenges and changes effectively. Catchy phrases clouding anticipated dates of delivery won't wash when presenting to Swedes.

Challenge #2: Image 2:

I think I'll keep that one a secret for now. Let me know what you think in the comments. Everyone enjoys a bit of anticipation and engagement when being presented to...

.....or is that just the Irish in me?

Don't Touch the Wire

When I was a child, my Grandfather bred horses. Electrically wired fences ran all around the fields they were in. For fun, we'd sometimes grab the wire to see how much of a shock we'd get. Over time, the impact of the shock subsided.

When you're presenting to familiar audiences, you can use shock factors intentionally to get them going. You can also do it when more experienced. Once, I was presenting about the brain and automatic emotional responses. For the opening, I pretended to trip as I came to the podium. It gave them a good, sharp shock before I calmed them down with my first slide, indicating I'd intended to pretend.

Not everyone has numbed themselves to shocks though. It's incumbent upon the presenter to anticipate this. Next time you are getting ready to present, consider the following as you prepare:

1. What is my objective?
2. What is their objective?
3. What is the audience profile?
4. How can I relate my content to their realities?
5. What format and topics are likely to upset, insult, interest and inform?

That's a very simplified list, but it's a fine one to get started with.

#presentationskills #cultureshock #culturalintelligence