Berlitz Global Leadership Seminars 2012 - Effective Business Communication in English
Meetings
1. Participating in meetings 2. Meeting facilitation skills 3. Speaking with impact
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Berlitz Global Leadership Seminars 2012 - Effective Business Communication in English
Course Objective
English is the language for global business transactions. To perform well in today’s global business environment, it is important to conduct yourself in a confident and assertive manner. English language skills are an important foundation and business communication skills will give you the tools to be truly effective. Conducting yourself appropriately in meetings, applying advanced meeting facilitation skills and speaking with impact during business transactions are crucial to your career and your company’s success. Therefore, it is important to have the skills to communicate confidently and effectively in English. In this 4-hour course you will learn the essential elements of successful business communication skills in English. You will learn useful phrases and practice your skills in facilitated business simulations. In this course, you will focus on: • • • Participating in meetings: Meeting dynamics, giving opinions, asking questions, dealing with interruptions, diplomatic language Meeting facilitation skills: Opening, transitioning, closing, diplomatic language, establishing decision criteria, preparation & follow-up Speaking with impact: Persuasion techniques & body language
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Berlitz Global Leadership Seminars 2012 - Effective Business Communication in English
Ground Rules
The following ground rules shall apply to all participants of this course: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. We are all learning. Learn from others. When asked, answer within 3 seconds. There are no bad questions -- Ask! Questions are probably the most important communications tools in business. Be creative. Business situations are very complex. Think of various explanations and solutions. Be assertive. Give honest feedback. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. Only use English in class. No dictionaries. If you don’t understand, ask: Sorry, I don’t understand. Could you …repeat? …say it in another way? …speak slowly? What does … mean? Always come to class on time, and prepared to discuss assigned readings and participate fully in class discussions. Make sure pre-tasks are done before class. Use pair work and group work time efficiently.
8. 9.
10. Turn off cell phones and other electronic equipment, including laptops, in class.
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Berlitz Global Leadership Seminars 2012 - Effective Business Communication in English
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Berlitz Global Leadership Seminars 2012 - Effective Business Communication in English
Part 1: Participating in Meetings
Agenda
• Understand what makes a successful meeting • Meeting participation language • Diplomatic language • Simulation 1: Decision making meeting • Additional meeting language resources
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Berlitz Global Leadership Seminars 2012 - Effective Business Communication in English
Reading
What do you want to achieve?
How many meetings do you participate in during the course of a working week? Two? Five? Twentyfive? The next question then is how many of those meetings are really effective? How many times have you walked away at the end feeling that YOU made a difference? Picturing a successful meeting is all very well and indeed it is something to aspire to but let’s remember that theory and practice don’t always match up evenly. The obstacles can seem too hard to overcome at times. Perhaps your line manager is in the room so the pressure is on to speak well. It could happen that there are political wrangles that might make it a wiser move to sit back and wait while others speak. In many situations, however the difficulty is more conspicuous. The dilemma is language. Perhaps you have English customers, Canadian suppliers, an Australian manager or any number of
