Swiss Communication Styles

Swiss Communication Styles

As is widely known, Switzerland is a multilingual country with four official languages – Swiss German (nearly 70% of the indigenous population), French, Italian and Romansh.

Most people can at least read Swiss German, so if there is a unifying language, then that is what it has to be. As many Swiss speak at least two of the official languages plus English, they have to be viewed as one of the great polyglot nations of the world – an obvious boost to their internationalist aspirations.

On the whole, the Swiss believe in plain speaking and place directness before diplomacy. It is expected and respected that people will speak their minds, without feeling the need to couch any uncomfortable messages in a softer way in order to spare the feelings of the audience. The type of coded language used by the Japanese or the British can be misconstrued in Switzerland as prevarication or even deviousness. Better to say what you mean and mean what you say.

As has already been stated, however, this directness of approach should not be confused with confrontation or aggression – it is more the result of a desire to get to the truth or the empirically provable right answer.

People tend to be reticent to speak about personal issues to new contacts, preferring to keep communication on a strictly business footing. There is little small talk prior to starting a meeting and people will try to express themselves succinctly and without theatrical embellishments.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Switzerland only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.