International Business Communications

The Process of Communication

• The objectives of communication
• The meaning of words
• Non-verbal communication
• The context or situation
• Barriers to communication
• Why? Who? Where? When?
• What? How?
• Planning the message
• Summary – how to communicate

Speaking Effectively

• Basic speaking skills
• Qualities to aim for when speaking
• Summary – good speaking

Listening

• Listening – the neglected skill
• Reasons for improving listening
• Are you a good listener?
• Ten aids to good listening
• Summary – good listening

Human Interaction and Non-verbal Communication

• Metacommunication and paralanguage
• The language of silence
• The language of time
• Body language or kinesics
• The underlying psychology: NLP, El and TA
• Conflict between verbal and non-verbal communication
• Summary – the importance of paralanguage in human interaction

Talking on the Telephone

• Telephone problems
• Basic telephone rules
• Receptionists
• Making a call
• Gathering information by telephone
• Answering the telephone
• Voicemail
• Mobile phone manners
• Summary – good telephoning

Interviewing

• Interviewing weaknesses
• What is an interview?
• The purposes of the interview
• Types of interview information
• How to plan an interview
• Structuring the interview
• How to question and probe
• Summary – Interviewing

Being Interviewed for a Job

• Preparing – the organisation
• Preparing – know yourself
• At the interview
• Tips to remember
• Summary – being interviewed for a job

Communicating in Groups

• Advantages of groups
• Disadvantages of groups
• Factors affecting group effectiveness
• Summary – making groups and committees work

Running, and Taking Part in, Meetings

• Chairing meetings
• Decision-making methods
• Responsibilities of participants
• Duties of officers and members
• The agenda
• The minutes
• Video-conferencing and audio-conferencing
• Formal procedure

Giving a Talk

• Techniques of public speaking
• Preparation
• Developing the material
• Opening the talk
• Closing the talk
• Visual aids
• Use of notes
• Practising the talk
• Room and platform layout
• Delivery of the talk
• Summary – being a good speaker

Using Visual Aids

• General principles
• Whiteboards, electronic copy boards, interactive boards
• Flip charts
• Build-up visuals
• Physical objects
• Models and experiments
• Overhead projector (OHP)
• Data projector or multimedia projector
• 35mm slide projector
• Videos and DVDs
• Closed circuit television and video
• Points to remember about visual aids
• Video and DVD hire and purchase
• Summary – being in control of visual aids

Faster Reading

• How do you read?
• The physical process of reading
• Ways of increasing your vocabulary
• Summary – faster reading

Better Reading

• Determine reading priorities
• Scanning
• Skimming
• SQ3R method of reading
• Summary – better reading

Writing Business letters

• Why good letter-writing matters
• Backing up the phone call or meeting
• Planning a letter
• Layout and style
• The structure of a letter
• Dictating
• Standard letters
• Summary – writing business letters

Applying for a Job

• What sort of job do you want?
• What is available and what are they looking for?
• The application itself
• Job-hunting on the Internet
• Summary – applying for a job

Writing Reports

• What is a report?
• Types of report
• Essentials of a good report
• What is the purpose of the report?
• Fundamental structure
• Format, layout, headings and numbering
• Long formal reports
• House style
• How to get started
• Setting your objective
• Researching and assembling the material
• Organising the material and planning the report
• Writing the first draft
• Editing the report
• Producing the report
• Summary – report writing

Memos, Messages, Forms and Questionnaires

• Memos
• Email
• Fax
• Postcards and reply cards
• Text messaging
• Forms and questionnaires
• Summary – other writing tasks

Visual Communication

• When to use charts and graphs
• Presentation of statistical data
• Presenting continuous information
• Presenting discrete or non-continuous information
• Presenting non-statistical information effectively

Getting to Grips with Grammar

• Why does grammar matter?
• What is grammar?
• How good is your English?
• The parts of speech in brief
• The framework of English
• The architecture of the sentence

Common Problems with English

• Subject – verb agreement
• Problems with verbs
• Problems with adjectives
• Problems with adverbs
• Problems with pronouns
• Problems with prepositions and conjunctions
• Problems with ellipsis
• Problems with negatives
• Revision of grammar

Appendices

• A Punctuation made easy
• B Using capitals
• C Using numbers
• D Business cliches or ‘commercialese’
• E Commonly misused and confused words
• F Ten (simple?) rules of spelling
• G Commonly misspelled words
• H Tips on modern business style
• I Differences between men and women communicating