active in their communication style by many cross-cultural gurus. This means that Arabs in general and Saudis in particular tend to be unpunctual, people oriented, seek favors, place importance on completing human transactions, flexible, extrovert, inquisitive, gregarious, very emotional, use unrestricted body language to get their point across, and talkative. Through studying and researching the Saudi communication styles, I have been able to prove many such hypotheses made by American or British cross-cultural experts. But what was very interesting for me was to sit and talk to a Saudi trainer in communication and discover that she herself came to some of the same conclusions on Saudis' communication style just by observing her students. Fatima Al-Otaibi, the head communication trainer at the National Dialogue, said that interrupting, and stubbornly defending their ideas without considering what the other has to say were the most common problems Saudis face in general while communicating with others. Before becoming a communication trainer, Al-Otaibi herself thought that Saudis had a problem in communicating among themselves. But after training Saudi women and girls in effective communication techniques, Al-Otaibi discovered that Saudis don't have a communication problem in itself but just lack the techniques, and after training they improve dramatically. Today, effective communication has become one of the main goals of the government whether it is between Saudi themselves or Saudis and Muslims and the rest of the world. By communicating with each other openly, not only can societies fight deviants but also prevent the clash of civilizations. In 2003, the National Dialogue Center was established. One of its main goals was to bring Saudis together and open a channel to communicate thoughts and ideas among themselves and have their thoughts delivered directly to decision makers. After three years of training Saudis in communication skills, Al-Otaibi has noticed a dramatic change. “It's remarkable how much change I see, and it's not only in the people who we have trained but in society in general.” While it used to be common for people to complain about public services, today Al-Otaibi says that she notices Saudis have started to analyze problems, discus them and try to find solutions instead of sitting and complaining. Today, not only are Western communication books such as by Dale Carnegie found widely in most bookstores, but there has also been a boom in the number of Arab and Saudi books on how to communicate effectively such as the prominent Saudi religious scholar Sheikh Salman Alawda's book on Islamic dialogue titled ‘Adab Al-Hiwar'. Such books not only refer to Western techniques in effective communication but also focus on Islamic dialogue practices through using Qur'anic verses that address how to argue, disagree and communicate and through stories of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his conducts with brother Muslims and even non-Muslims. While many regard the science of effective communication a Western invention, it is important to note that Islam teaches us how to communicate with each other, with our parents, children, brother Muslims and most importantly with non-Muslims. If we had only practiced what we have preached and learned from Islam we would have become the teachers of effective communication.* Suzan Zawawi is a Cross Cultural Consultant with an MA specialized in Cross Cultural Communication. Share your cross cultural experience or send in your cultural questions to [email protected] __
