Introduction Cultural competence has become an important factor to success of a therapist because of demographic changes in the country. It has become common for a psychology therapist to encounter clients from different ethnic or cultural background in either individual or group setting. The situations where a therapist and client have different cultural background require more than conventional counseling skills. In such situations, multicultural knowledge becomes a determinant factor to success of counseling process. One of the important multicultural competences is multicultural communication. For effective counseling, a counselor has to communicate effectively with her clients. She must be able to understand her clients in order to respond effectively to their needs regardless of their ethnic and cultural background (Chang & Berk, 2009). In the essay, I discuss verbal and non-verbal communication styles across ethnic and cultural background, communication styles that a counselor may come across when dealing with culturally diverse clients and how a therapist can succeed in such settings. Verbal and Non Verbal Communication across Ethnic and Cultural Groups Communication is important in all aspects of life. It is through communication that individuals are able to socialize, interact and work together. A simple definition of communication is exchanging information. Two parties must be involved in communication: the sender and receiver of the messages. The involved parties exchanges messages using verbal and non-verbal means. In verbal communication, words are used to communicate the intended message while nonverbal communication constitutes communication without the aid of spoken words. It is commonly agreed that nonverbal communication such as facial expression, body language and gestures constitute a significant part of the communicated message. Use of verbal and non verbal communication may differ across cultural setting. Various cultural and ethnic groups use different languages and set of nonverbal communication. Even when a common language such as English is used, different ethnic groups may differ on how they construct their sentences, pronounce words, use tone variations and the way they communicate their messages. Verbal and non verbal communication is highly influenced by culture. Many ethnic and cultural groups have set communication tools consisting of distinct language, ascent, pronunciation and non-verbal communication. Language barrier is the major challenge to multicultural communication. However, use of common language such as English makes it easier for individuals from diverse ethnic and cultural background to communicate. Despite of use of common language, difference in ascents and tone variation may hinder effective communication. For example, there is significant variation in ascent between Anglo Americans, Chinese Americans, African American and Latino Americans. Though United State’s cultural diversity is a blessing, it leads to communication challenges. Different ethnic and cultural groups in the country demonstrate unique ways of communication. For example, comparing African American and Anglo American’s communication styles, significant difference can be noted. To African Americans, asking perso