Bringing the Outside in

I wish I had as integrative and clever a way for starting this chapter as the legendary American speaker who was giving a speech in Tokyo to an audience of Japanese business executives. As the story goes, she began, “In the United States speeches typically begin with a joke. In Japan speeches are expected to begin with an apology. So I will start by apologizing for not telling a joke.” The audience laughed, appreciating her cultural awareness and sensitivity, and immediately became more receptive to her message.