 Hey there, and welcome to Speak English with Christina, where you'll have fun becoming fluent in American English. When working with Americans, have you ever felt lost? Like, you don't know where to place yourself in the hierarchy. Everyone seems friendly, informal, and relaxed, but is it the truth? If you don't have the cultural communication decoder, it's hard to know what's appropriate. So today, you'll learn three essential communication codes for doing business with Americans. Let's go. Huge cultural code is small talk. We make small talk with everybody. As one student in my successful small talk course said, all this small talk is not normal for me. I don't know how much I should say. Well, to feel sure, you can get my small talk starter box, and the link is in the notes below the video. Now, before we start a little note, there are 325 million Americans. So it's impossible to generalize about how everyone acts. If everyone was the same, it would be a little scary. So these tips are what is often the case, but culture also depends on regional culture, company culture, individual style, and even how you're feeling that day. But these are situations you'll probably come across when you do business with Americans. Hey, Siri. What does it mean when your American boss says, hey, call me Ben? This does not mean your boss is your friend. He doesn't want you to call him Mr. Johnson because that's too formal for many Americans, even in business. In some big companies like UPS, it's official policy that everyone from the receptionist up to the CEO call all colleagues by their first names. One study from Pennsylvania State University even found that bosses and workers have better relationships when they call each other by their first names. So, should you just start by calling your client or your boss Jennifer or Jason? No. Start with their last name to be safe. You know, like, oh, nice to meet you, Mrs. Ancherson. And you'll likely get in response. Oh, call me Jennifer. Except if her name is Lisa or Michelle or something like that. But you get the point. Siri, what if my client interrupts my pitch? Should I be offended? Probably not. It probably means they have a question or want to join the conversation. Interruptions can be a good thing sometimes. This is paradoxical because when we're kids, we learn it's rude to interrupt. But in reality, Americans do interrupt. Since American society is loosely structured around hierarchy, seniority, specialization and social status, they don't often dictate who can contribute to the conversation or win. Everyone has the right to express their opinion. It's written in the first amendment of the Constitution. So some business discussions may feel like open forum, informal chit chats, but there's still serious business talks. But there may be a lot of interrupting, often starting with, let me ask you a question, which sounds like, let me ask you a question. Hey, Siri, let me ask you a question. Siri, what does cut to the chase mean? It means get to the point. OK, and what does get to the point mean? Get to the point means go to the essential message. You've probably heard the expression, time is money. And it means that your American clients and partners don't want you to waste their precious time. So if you're pitching an idea or product or you want someone to do something for you, start with how this is going to benefit them. Even if it's a formal business meeting, they don't want to know the entire history of your company, product or idea. And maybe you've seen the acronym WIIFM in business. What's in it for me? What's the interesting part for your listener? So if you hear, let's cut to the chase. Let's cut to the chase. Or could you get to the point? Could you get to the point? It means that you're giving too many uninteresting details. Don't be destabilized. They just want to know what's in it for me. Now, what about you? What's one American communication code that you don't understand? Tell me in the questions so that I can decode it for you and to get three essential lessons for easier small talk in English. Sign up to my top small talk lessons and free worksheets. Just click the image below. And of course, subscribe to my channel so you get a new English lesson each week. Thanks for watching Speak English with Christina and I'll see you next time.