Cultural assumptions and expectations influence the way we communicate in any social interaction. These assumptions inform the way we express things like knowledge and opinions and the way we receive and respond to messages from others. While communication often focuses on the things we say, things we don’t say especially eye contact, tone of voice, among other non-verbal forms of communication are not immune to cultural assumptions. In the end, we are always communicating and assigning any meaning to a given interaction. Developing self-awareness on how culture impacts relationships and checking our assumptions or misperceptions can help our competency in these matters.