交换名片是人们社交中常用的一种介绍方式。名片是个人的身分、地位的象征。在商业界中，交换名片是一个初次见面的基本礼仪。对商务人员来说，名片不但代表个人，还是所在组织形象的一个缩影。
Exchanging business cards is a common way of introduction in people’s self contact. Business card is the symbol of personal identity and position. In the world of business, exchanging business card is a basic etiquette for people who meet at the first time. For commercial people, business card not only stands for individual, but an epitome of their organization.
名片在中国始于秦汉时期，流行于唐朝，明清开始普及。古代称作谒、名刺、名帖、手本等，是官员不可缺少的交际工具。而当今社会已被广泛使用，起联系感情和业务往来的重要作用。
The cards dates from Qing and Han Dynasty in China and it got popular in Tang Dynasty and got further popularized in Ming and Qing Dynasty. It was called Ye, visting card, name card and handbook in ancient which were the necessary tools for officials to contact. And nowadays it is widely used which helps people do business and promote the relationship.
名片在制作上讲究三个不： 3 taboos when making business cards:
1、 不随意涂改。因为名片是张脸，不能随意涂鸦；
No unilateral amendment because the card is just like your face.
2、 不提供私宅电话，涉外礼仪就讲究个人隐私得保护，不在名片上随意提供私宅电话；
No private telephone number. We should protect our privacy so don’t provide private telephone number.
3、 名片不要写上两个以上的头衔。倘若一个名片上给的头衔越多，就会给予别人用心不专的感觉。所以外国人身上会有好几种名片，对不同的交往对象，使用的不同名片，显示不同身分。
The title should be limited within 2. The more titles in the card, the more possibly people think you are fickle-minded. So foreigners have various kinds of card for different people.
还有就是在中东和许多东南亚国家，递名片时一定要用右手递上，永远不要用左手，即使你是左撇子也不行。在这些地区，左手是用于清理身体卫生的，因此被认为是“不干净”的手。
What’s more, in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, we should use our right hand to exchange business cards but not left hand even if you are left-handed. In these areas, they use left hand to clear their body so it is considered as “dirty.”
并且在任何文化中都不要把名片塞在衣服兜里。一般是放在专用名片包里，或是放在西装上衣口袋里。也有一些不拘小节的美国人把名片当牙签使的。（在餐桌对面，你的客户一定在内心呐喊：“喂！那是我的身份，不是你的牙签。”）
Never put business cards in your pocket. We should put it into our cardcase or on our coat pocket. Some Americans who are not punctilious use card as their toothpick. (Your customer may be crazy in his mind that Hey! That’s my identity, not your toothpick!)
由于文化的差异，对于头衔的定义会有那么点不同。所以接下来重点说明一下关于头衔的注意事项！
Owing to the difference of culture, there are also some differences on definition of title. So let’s talk about the title.
在任何情形下，你都要确保写清你的职务和头衔。选择一个头衔，既能让当地人理解又能最准确地反映你的职位。比如像“副手”（deputy）、“助理”（associate）或“行政助理”（executive assistant）等职衔在美国以外就很容易被混淆。而像“主任”（director）和“经理”（manager）两词之间的差别，世界许多地方的人也很难理解。副总裁（vice president）这个头衔在美国以外的地区很少用到，但其他国家的生意人却都知道其代表一种特殊的地位。同样像ceo（首席执行官），cfo（首席财务官）和coo（首席运营官）等缩写也使得北美以外的人们感到迷惑不解。
In any cases, you should be sure that your position and title are clear. Choose a title which is understandable and correctly reflects your position. For example, deputy, associate or executive assistant can make people who are not Americans get confused. But most people don’t know the difference between director and manager. People use Vice President less in areas except USA but lots of businessmen know it stands for a special position. What’s more, ceo, cfo and coo also confuse people not living in North America.
在我们的同族英语国家中，英国人使用的“主席”（chairman）与美国的法人头衔“总裁”（president）是相对应的。在英国，“director”是一个高层职位，对应于美国的“vice president”；同时，这样的头衔也暗示此人是董事会成员。
British use chairman as American president. In Britain, director is a senior position like American vice president. Meanwhile it implies that this one is one of the members of the board.
两位美国商业妇女讲述了她们各自在日本使用商业名片时的一些经历。一位是其所在公司的总裁（president），在日本，无论她走到哪里，总是受到日本资深生意人的接待。而另外一位名片上标明是国际市场经理（director），她却受到完全相反的待遇——漠视和白眼。
Two business women from USA told a story about when they used business cards in Japan. One was a president of her company. In Japan, wherever she was, she received warm reception. The other one marked director on her card then she was treated with indifference and contemptuousness.
这两位女士都认为，在日本商业社会中，在公司中的身份和地位是相当重要的。结果，这位国际市场部经理在得到她们公司的许可下，任命自己为“某某国际公司”（她自己公司的名字）总裁，实际上，这一公司的名称是一个外国销售团体的官方称呼（fsc），是专门主管税务的一个部门，而她对自己的这一任命也是没错的。
Both the women think that identity and position are of great importance in Japanese business society. In consequence, with her company’s permission, this manager nominated herself as a president of a xx company (her company). In fact, it was the name of one part of her company(fsc), which is a department of tax. And it was right to do that.
几个月之后，这位女士又一次去往日本，而这一次，她名片上重新命名的“总裁”头衔给她带来的却是相当热情的接待。
A few months later, this lady came to Japan again. At this time, she received warm hospitality.
警告：不要为了给人留下好的印象而捏造自己的头衔。否则，一旦你的国际同行发现你是在吹牛，你将会失去信誉，从长远角度上看，这是有害无益的。
Warning: Don’t fake your title just because you want to present a good impression. Otherwise, once your colleagues find that you are cheating , you will lose your reputation. In long run , it is very terrible.
特别提示：在那些以男性为主导的国家和地区（如：拉美、日本、韩国、沙特阿拉伯），如果你已经结婚，你可以考虑在你的名字前加上“Mrs”，表明自己的身份。这样做的好处是可以阻止一些不希望发生的情爱攻势。
Special tips: In male-dominated countries like, Latin America, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia, if you have been married, you can put a “Mrs” before your name to indicate your identity. It can prevent some unexpected love affair.
