International Written Communication: Titles

"All right, the next thing I want to talk about--this is actually the last thing that you really need to be aware of as you're writing letters and preparing to communicate through writing across cultures. Salutations, what are they? Well, mister, dear mister. Dear misses. Dear President. Well, each culture has a set of values that they assign to titles, to salutations. And do you have to learn every one of these across every culture? No. But especially in business letters, it is very important that you understand how you should open your letter. I know in some of the Asian countries, for example, the person is referred to by their job title--Vice President Chao. Vice President Ming. Whatever it is. Instead of mister or misses or that kind of thing. So, be very clear on how you are going to open your letter, what the salutations will be, what the greeting will be."