Taking 'politeness theory' as its starting point, Culturally Speaking analyses talk across cultures from a rapport management perspective. It integrates 'face management' and 'maxim' approaches to politeness, and applies the concepts not only to speech acts but also to discourse and non-verbal behaviour. The studies use a variety of research designs, and embrace a wide range of interactional settings and communicative events, as well as languages and sociocultural groups. Each of the chapters ends with a set of discussion questions, and there are also suggestions for further reading.