Did you know that in the majority of Spanish/Latino cultures, from a young age, children are taught to not look elders or people of official authority in the eye? This small courtesy is a sign of respect in their culture. Can you see how this small, important, deeply ingrained presentation method can cause a wrong first impression in a deposition, police interview, probation presentence interview, court testimony, or interaction with a judge?

In our culture, eye contact is vitally important to convey respect, honesty, integrity, forthrightness and confidence. Part of my background being a 1st generation U.S. citizen born from immigrants of Argentina, is that I am aware of cultural differences like this. I notice the small and important details of a client, help them understand our culture’s expectations, and assist the client in changing their naturally ingrained behaviors to create a pattern of behaviors that we would deem credible.

If you work with Spanish-speaking clients, this should be the first cultural difference you want to assess and help navigate the client towards our cultural expectations for successful presentation in you case.