Anyone walking through the streets of London will see an omnipresent warning painted on the pavement at busy intersections: Look Right. It's a reminder that you're in a country where people drive on the left and cars might come from a direction you don't expect.

A few years ago, as he met with journalists, businesspeople and other professionals in the British capital, Ohio-based Luke Armour began to see Look Right as a metaphor for good public relations: If you don't pay attention to your surroundings, you might get hit by something you never saw coming. "In order to effectively enact our strategies, we have to be able to see properly … or look right," he writes at Forward Blog.

So how can you be sure to look right?

Listen carefully. Lee McClenny, press counselor at the U.S. Embassy, doesn't simply answer questions—he tries to discern why the question is asked: "Make what you know you don't know as small as possible before you act."

Do your research. All markets aren't the same. If you're not a local, learn to think like one. Writes Armour, "CNBC Europe Assignment Manager Harry Fuller knew the nuances of European politics, cultures and economy so well it was shocking to learn he is American."

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