Communication

Verbal communication

Verbal communication is the process of communication through written or spoken words (Ng, & Bradac, 1993). The main language spoken in Brazil is Portuguese but English is widely used in the corporate environment. Verbal communication in Brazil is frequently viewed as an exaggeration by those cultures which place importance on the maintenance of professional reserve, as most Brazilians commonly do not give each other turns and interrupt the conversation to stretch their opinion. Mrs Zulu has to adapt to the way Brazilians verbally communicate and not feel offended when trying to communicate to the junior stuff and they interrupt to add in their suggestions. According to Watson, (2000) Brazilians place great emphasis on relationships and it is important that managers take time to get to know their colleagues, personally and professionally. Most of the Brazilian conversations tend to be friendly and informal and they usually combine both verbal and nonverbal communication.

Nonverbal communication

Mehrabian, (1977) defines Nonverbal communication as the purpose of using wordless messages to create meaning. A significant use of body language is used among most Brazilians when communicating and maintaining eye contact shows interest in the conversation. Some of the nonverbal communications Brazilians use includes:

* Gestures

Gesturing plays a huge part of Brazilian communication. In Brazil shaking a person’s hand and making motion with palm faced down is a way of trying to ask someone for a chat and dragging down the lower lid with the index finger means disbelief. Before communicating nonverbal gestures it is important that Mrs Zulu knows what some particular gestures mean for effective communication.

* Touching

Touching is common between and family, close friends and at work in Brazil. Business colleagues and employees usually give prolonged handshakes. Brazilians touch each other a lot during conversations this contrasts...