Today, speaking a common language does not by itself guarantee effective communication. In an increasingly shrinking world with an increasing level of interactions across cultures, the workforce has become multi-cultural. Therefore, apart from effective verbal communication, it is also important to be aware of the different behavioral aspects as well as attitudes/values of communicators from different societies. One cannot rest assured on the assumption that people from other cultures know and use the same types of nonverbal communication that one does. This is because, even if nonverbal communication is a universal phenomenon, its meaning varies from culture to culture. In that sense, nonverbal communication is not universal. On the other hand, according to cultural anthropologist Edward T Hall, "culture is communication and communication is culture." This implies that culture is extremely important in its effects on nonverbal communication, which constitutes 93% of the message value in any act of communication. By interfering with nonverbal communication, cultural influences can hamper the entire communication process itself. On the other hand, sometimes by being congruent with nonverbal behavior, it may facilitate the communication process. This paper elaborates on the three aspects of communication. Firstly, what is `culture' and `nonverbal communication'? Secondly, how does culture help or hamper nonverbal communication? And finally, what, in conclusion, should be done for effective communication in a multicultural workplace, where communicators display the influence of culture as well as an equally strong nonverbal behavior?

Culture is an intangible model of reality which is communally produced and shared by all members of any community. It deals with how people are expected to behave, think and feel. It is in that sense a collection of socially created meanings, values, norms, beliefs and customs. According to cultural anthropologist Edward T Hall, "culture is communication and communication is culture (Gamble 2001: 36). It is our culture that teaches us what should be considered beautiful or ugly, helpful or harmful, apt or out of place and so on. Culture is therefore the lens through which one views society.

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