William Ury, co-founder of Harvard's Negotiation Program, suggests a technique called "going to the balcony" during cross-cultural communications. This technique is particularly important when discussions across cultures are already contentious. Begin with the assumption that the communicator will misunderstand some concept. Give the benefit of the doubt to the other person in the exchange, and consciously be on guard against your own hostile reactions. If tensions rise, assume that you are the one misunderstanding, and step back from the situation --- mentally go to the balcony to take a break --- and then listen carefully to discover where a misunderstanding may have occurred.
Anyone about to enter another culture must study that specific culture or "the eight conversational hot spots" --- eight aspects of conversation for which great variability exists between cultures with regard to meanings and courtesies. These hot spots include appropriately opening and closing discussions; speakers' alternation during discussions; tolerance for interruptions; the meaning of periods of silence; on-limits and off-limits topics for polite conversation, laughter and humor; the length of a monologue; and the appropriate time to shift from courtesies into substantive matters.
Though people tend to take many common habits of thought for granted, these habits may constitute obstacles to intercultural communication. Identifying and analyzing these habits of thought is an important step in educating for cross-cultural communication. Near the top of the list of thought habits that can interfere with cross-cultural communication is the assumption that one's own culture is superior to that of another. Difference does not have to mean superiority or inferiority; it is just difference. Literalism means taking things at face value based on what people say, and failing to appreciate what they mean. Some cultures employ self-denigration as an expression of humility, for example; avoid assuming in these cases that the speaker believes herself inferior. Check popular beliefs about other cultures before acting on them. These popular beliefs may have been true at some point in the past, and the culture has since evolved, or they may be simply untrue.
Throwing a child into deep water to teach him how to swim may not be the best way to teach swimming, but eventually, everyone who learns to swim will have to get into the deep water. Immersion training for intercultural communication may not be the end-all solution, but immersion in a target culture after some familiarization training is an extremely valuable way to gain concrete experience from inside another culture that allows the student to become socialized into the target culture.