Effective Business Communications with Americans: Interjections vs. Interruptions vs. Disruptions ????????

Doing business with Americans can, at times, be confusing for people coming from outside of the United States.

Given the U.S. is tremendously diverse, it is naturally unfair and inaccurate to make sweeping generalizations about U.S. business culture and communications. With that said, some guidelines based upon actual experiences can be helpful. Here you have?my personal thoughts?based upon my 24+ years of being an American business lawyer residing in Stockholm, Sweden and representing, among others, European companies in concluding hundreds of deals with U.S. counterparts (including many Fortune 100 U.S. companies such as Google, Apple, Disney, Warner Music, Nike, Verizon, AT&T, HP, Dell, Microsoft, Boeing, Qualcomm, Motorola, and many more).

Over the years, I’ve encountered countless situations where Europeans and Americans became confused (and sometimes exceedingly frustrated) given a breakdown in the basic rhythm of otherwise uncontroversial communications. Many times, this has resulted from different views on interjecting, interrupting, and disrupting when someone on the counterparty’s side is speaking.

So, what is the basic difference between an interjection, interruption, and disruption from an American businessperson's perspective.

Interjections

An interjection is an exclamation as opposed to a question or substantive statement. Examples can be, "oh yes", "I see," "aha", "okay", "that's interesting". An interjection is essentially a way of indicating you are listening, following the conversation, engaged, and, yes, alive. In some cultures, it is common to be silent until the other person is finished speaking. This can be problematic with Americans, especially when talking on the phone (or when largely not visible on a video call) where body language (such as eye contact) is not in play.

Americans can often equate silence with indifference, disagreement or maneuvering when no such dynamic is actually at play. If parties are too quiet with Americans, it is not uncommon for the American to say "Hello!" "Are you there?" "Are you listening?" I've even heard of a case where an American counterpart, on a call, said to a Swedish company "Can you please make some sound occasionally while I'm speaking—so I know you’re listening and following what I'm saying.

In conclusion, verbalize engagement in conversations with Americans by making supportive sounds and comments along the way, such as, "yes," "okay," "I see", "that's great", “interesting!”, “I didn’t know that”, “wow!”

Interruptions

Whereas an interjection is a non-substantive exclamation while someone is speaking, an interruption is a more substantial statement or question, such as, "Sorry, but I don't understand," “that isn’t correct, actually”, "I don't know the acronym 'CAGR'—what does that stand for," "Sorry, can you clarify how you arrived at that figure" or "You don't have to convince me—we agree on that point."

With interruptions, one person is speaking and another party to the conversation makes a statement or asks a question in furtherance of (or even to rebut) the point being made. Interruptions are generally deemed fine (and appreciated) by Americans if not overly frequent and are truly in pursuit of the purpose of the discussion.

If you are speaking and an American is interrupting you with relevant questions, this is often a positive sign of engagement and interest. It can be constructive to allow your messaging to be somewhat flexible to accommodate for this type of organic and positive dynamic.

Disruptions

A disruption is interference with a conversation which is irrelevant or all too frequent. The main issue is whether the communication in question promotes (i.e., interruption) or undermines (i.e., disruption) the momentum and aims of the meeting, discussion, negotiation or the like.

If an American dominates you with disruptions when you are speaking, there is no problem with stating you would like to complete your thought or that you don't understand why the question is being asked or the statement is being asserted at this time. Directness is not generally deemed rude by Americans and is, conversely, often appreciated as this promotes efficiency.

Finally, if you are the one disrupting an American in conversation, the American will generally tell you to wait a minute or hold that thought until she/he is finished speaking.

In closing, with Americans you should ensure that your communication (as well as your quotations and contracts) embody a fair amount of flexibility given there should always be room for give-and-take in conversations, commercial terms, and legal arrangements.

Gary Guttenberg, Business Lawyer, Deal Maker

[email protected]

+46(0)70?752 16 80

#sales #negotiations #unitedstatesbusinessculture #businessculture #crossculturecommunication

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