Thumbs Up: It's all Good - Right?
Communicating Across The Globe: Part 2
Or so you think. But that’s not always the case with this gesture. I interact with people across the globe and they have all made it easy for me by speaking English, but I’m not so easily off the hook with face-to-face communication. Gestures have a sneaky way of illuminating differences, making us look silly or offending our audience.
During a recent video conference, the speaker ended his presentation with the familiar “thumbs up” gesture to indicate “all good.” An Aussie conference participant looked startled and then a little amused. “All good” is probably not what came to mind first for him.
In Australia, the “thumbs-up” gesture is obscene if the thumb is in motion. Moreover, this gesture will not serve you well in a number of countries including Turkey or with the older generation in Japan.
As video conferencing becomes more popular, a little awareness can help us all stick to only the messages we wish to convey and increase the likelihood that things will be “all good.”