Coaching in Business English – Workout
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Robert Harris
Robert Harris is a Certified Professional Trainer with nineteen years’ experience coaching and training non-native English speakers. He has spent most of his professional life outside his native UK, gaining insight into and learning to work effectively in culturally diverse...
Top performing athletes exercise/ workout to prepare for a major sporting event or to maintain a satisfactory level of fitness, likewise, you as a senior executive could greatly benefit from “workouts” to exercise your Business English and as a result ensure that you are equally:
- inspirational
- persuasive
- dynamic
- confident when speaking English as you are in your own language
If you feel at a disadvantage when speaking in a language other than your own, be assured you’re not the only one. It is a sentiment shared by many people and in many ways an entirely natural one. One way of overcoming this disadvantage is through coaching. Coaching encourages experimentation, “to try things out” before the real event and this together with input and guidance from an experienced coach can lead to a significant improvement in performance.
Our experience has shown that flexibility as to what is worked on in the sessions is a prerequisite for a successful collaboration. The session agenda is often set by the client who might want to prepare for something coming up in the near future for example:
- A presentation to Head Office or business partner
- A visit to an exhibition in Frankfurt
- A meeting with a foreign supplier, customer or colleague
- A difficult phone call or web conference
Who for:
Workout is for professionals who want to:
- exercise their spoken English in order to overcome communication difficulties
- improve their capability to do business in English
- improve their relationships with their international business partners and English speaking colleagues
- feel comfortable expressing themselves in various business situations
Required Level:
Intermediate and above
Course objectives:
By the end of the course participants will have improved:
- oral fluency in business situations
- their range of business vocabulary
- pronunciation
- their level of confidence in doing business in English
Course outline typically includes:
- Cultural differences – the understanding of which will lead to better relationships with your international partners and colleagues.
- Presentations – Practice one of your own with your coach
- Change Management – In international environments
- Nonverbal negotiation skills – some researchers claim that 90% of face-to-face communication is nonverbal.
- Grammar – Conditionals don’t usually inspire enthusiasm but their correct use in negotiations will.
- Small talk – additional benefits.
- Active listening – we don’t want to miss something important.
- Understanding your negotiation partners – what to do when the other person’s English is better than yours.
- Meetings – support your position with confidence
- Interpersonal skills – Added value
Methodology:
The Communicative Approach to Business English
Most students say during the interview phase of the needs analysis that they find speaking English the most challenging.
The primary goal of most Business English learners is to be able to speak and convey the message they want without misunderstanding (a misunderstanding can be embarrassing as well as costly). For this reason the majority of learners prefer to focus on improving their speaking skills, as especially when communicating with non-native speakers, getting the message across is more important than strict adherence to grammatical accuracy.
Another very good reason the focus is on spoken English is that when we’re “talking business’ in English there is no time to ask for help from our colleagues or friends, unlike written communication where
- the assistance of a colleague can be requested
- the enormous resources on the internet can be accessed
The Communicative Approach to Business English focuses on:
- Speaking and Listening
- Enhancing confidence
- Increasing oral fluency and range of vocabulary
- Communicating the message
