How Having Global Experiences Can Shape the PR Perspective

By: Sophia Orr, Account Supervisor

The world today is more interconnected than ever before. Borders that once felt like real barriers to communication have become increasingly porous, and for PR professionals, that shift changes everything. 

Most large corporations either operate internationally or are actively expanding beyond their home markets. That means the audiences, clients, and coworkers that we will be communicating with throughout our careers won’t always share our cultural background, and assuming they do can be a costly mistake, both professionally and personally. 

What International PR Has Taught Me 

This semester, I have been taking International PR (COM 548) with Professor Aimee Christian, and it has genuinely started to reshape how I think about this field and my future career. Listening to Professor Christian and guest speakers discuss their experiences working in cultures different from their own, the adjustments they made, the challenges they faced, and the mistakes along the way has been eye-opening. These discussions have made me acutely aware of how important it is to research a country's cultural norms and customs before making that transition yourself. 

Another fascinating aspect of international PR is how a crisis in one country can ripple outward and damage an organization's reputation elsewhere in the world. One example discussed in class illustrates this well: a product launch in Australia could be completely overshadowed by an unrelated product recall happening simultaneously in the United States. In today's 24-hour news cycle, crises become headlines within minutes, and consumers in Australia would quickly learn about that recall. Though the products are entirely different, it could be enough to make them hesitant about their purchase. This is precisely where culturally informed communication becomes critical. How you address that uncertainty, and how quickly you do it, needs to be shaped by an understanding of your audience's values and expectations, because the same message won't land the same way everywhere.

The Culture Map and Its Importance to Communicators 

One thing that we have spent a lot of time discussing is Erin Meyers book, The Culture Map, which goes through how different culture approach communication in eight scales. It focuses on norms around directness, leadership structures, relationship-building, and time management, and how these differences show up in everything from how to structure a team meeting to pitching a journalist. Throughout each topic, Erin Meyers shares complications she or a colleague has run into because of these cultural differences when working abroad and how challenging they found it when adjusting to a new work culture. 

The eight scales she discusses in the book are: 

1. Communicating → low-context versus high-context. 

2. Evaluation → Direct vs indirect negative feedback

3. Persuading → Principles first versus Applications first 

4. Leading → Egalitarian versus Hierarchical 

5. Deciding → Consensual versus Top-Down 

6. Trusting → Task-based vs Relationship Based 

7. Disagreeing → Confrontational vs Avoiding Confrontation 

8. Scheduling → Linear vs Flexible Time 

For anyone stepping into a new country or working with international colleagues, that adjustment will be genuinely challenging. The workplace norms that we take for granted, such as how we speak to authority figures, how to deliver criticism, and how we conduct ourselves in meetings, might need to be rethought and relearned in a new setting, which is never an easy task. 

Advice for Anyone Who Wants to Work Abroad

If you’re like me and have a real goal of working internationally one day, investing time now to understand these cultural differences isn’t just academic, but practical preparation. From this class and from my own experiences, here’s what I’ve come to believe:

Learning about cultural differences makes the transition easier. Adjusting to a new country and its cultural practices is already challenging, whether you're visiting or working long-term. Every country has different ways of communicating and working, and understanding these differences allows you to navigate the new environment with confidence rather than going in blind and defaulting to your own cultural norms, which can easily come across as rude or dismissive.

It also signals respect. One of the fastest ways to alienate international colleagues is by not even trying to adjust to their culture and the way that they work. It gives a bad impression, and most people will appreciate it if you make a genuine effort to understand and adapt to local norms. Mistakes will be made, especially in the beginning when one's just adjusting, but your colleagues will understand. 

Having this global experience and understanding really makes you a better PR professional. At its core, PR is about understanding your audience and communicating in ways that resonate with them. A global perspective doesn't just prepare you to work abroad; it sharpens one of the most fundamental skills in the entire profession, in a world where every audience is increasingly a global one. 

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About the Author:

Sophia Orr is a senior at Boston University studying Public Relations, with a minor in International Relations. She is an account supervisor in PRLab, managing the Eastie Farm account, and is the events and engagement intern for BU Sustainability. Post-graduation, she hopes to join the Peace Corps and then eventually work in policy work. In her free time, she loves to read, play field hockey, hang out with her friends, and explore the city.