Business Communication

Practical Business Workshop

Sarah Creagh [email protected]

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All content copyright Sarah Creagh Horth 2009 www.sarahhorth.com

Course IntroductionWarm-up

Communication

Introduction

Socializing

LUNCH LUNCH

Teleconference & Web conference

Role Play

Negotiation Skills

Role Play

Closing

Course Outline

3.

Course Outline 3

Communication 7

A. A communicator is… 8B. Types of communication 8C. Vocabulary 10D. Listening 10E. Exercises 11

Teleconference 13

A Introduction 14

B. Teleconference Etiquette 18C Teleconference Process 19

Socializing 31Tips 33

Negotiation 35A. Overview 36B. Preparation 38C. Behavior 44D. Basic Assertive Communication 48E. Practical Negotiation 51

Pair Work 59

Tape Script 63

Writing Homework 67

Bibliography 83

Contents

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Communication

7.

Spoken Written

A good communicator

IntroductionA. A Good Communicator is…

B. Types of Communication1. Chart

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Types of Communication

NOW

GOAL

2. Goals

9.

IntroductionC. Vocabulary

Good communicator

Bad communicator

D. ListeningListen to Rachel Tucker, a director from Media Mind Inc in San Francisco, speak about communication and answer the questions below. 1. Listening for the main pointWhat two things does Rachel think that have improved communicationbetween companies?1.2.

2. Listening for detail1. What examples of technology does she give?

2. How does she say these improve business communication?

3. What example does she give of a problem with communication?

4. What does she think would fix it?

10.

2. English Help: Opinions

3. Pair WorkYour instructor will give you some topics to discuss, take turns saying “yes” and “no” and argue your opinion.

Warm-up

E. Exercises: 1. Self introductionThinking about what makes a good communicator, take two minutes to think about and prepare your self introduction. Then make it to the class.

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Teleconference and Web conference Skills

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Teleconference: Introduction1. Pros

Save money and time

2. Cons

Case Study: Canadian/German Software CompanyGerman experience:• Thought Canadians spoke very quickly• Frustrated at not understanding• Not able to join the discussion• Disliked arguing over the phone• Liked time to develop their opinion/positionCanadian experience:• Thought German silence meant they didn’t have anything to add• Continued teleconference with little German input

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Brainstorming: Problems3. In small groups brainstorm what problems you might have during teleconferences.

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Teleconference Problems4. Add to the lists below

General problems •

Speaking order difficult to control•

People speaking over one another•

Message is misunderstood•

Lack of knowledge•

Equipment problems•

Some are distracted during phone conversations•

Some don’t participate fully

International problems •

Native speakers speaking too quickly or unclearly•

Leader/speaker not checking that international members have understood

•

Native speakers using slang and colloquialisms•

Native speakers using sarcasm and humor•

Handouts all in English

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General VocabularyWhat is it called?TeleconferenceConference call

Who attends?Moderator Participants

What do we do?brainstorm negotiatesuggest recommenddecide discuss (not “discuss about”)

Listening Skills

What do we talk about?items pointsissues problems

What do we create afterwards?minutes summarytranscript

How to study • Take time and effort to develop your listening skills.• Study a little and often (10 minutes)• Don’t panic when you don’t understand• Listen for general understanding• Listen for the stressed words as usually most important• Don’t expect to improve suddenly

What to study• http://esl.about.com/od/listeningquizzes/• Movies• CDs•••

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Teleconference Etiquette

• Say people’s names before speaking to them• Direct questions to specific people, not generally• Don’t put your phone on hold (put it on mute instead)• Keep handset away from your mouth unless speaking• Excuse yourselves if you want to talk amongst yourselves

Etiquette for larger teleconferences:• Wait to speak until you are invited to by the leader• Use the leader’s name and wait for a response• Go through the leader when wanting to comment on something

another called said

1. This is your name from your company/department/area.2. Your name here.

Leader’s name, your name here, can I ask other caller’s name to rephrase her last point?

• Be on time• Wait for the leader to introduce you, if

late• Be in a place with little background noise• Use mute button if background noise• Use phone with handset• Don’t use cellular/cordless/speakerphone

unless needed• Pick up handset before speaking, when

using speakerphone• Turn off call waiting/other lines’ ringers• Identify yourself before speaking

1. We would like some time to discuss this as a team.2. We would like a few minutes to discuss this in Japanese.

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Teleconference Process

Roll callIntroductions

Pause often for: •Feedback•Questions

PresentationsDiscussions

Meeting outlineObjectives

Agenda

RulesGuidelinesTime limit

SummarizeClarify action

Closing

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1. IntroductionsA. English HelpI would like to welcome you to…This will last approximately …hours/minutes.We should be finished by…I am going to take notes during the meeting and e-mail themto you.When…has finished speaking I am going to open itup to questions.Please say your name before speaking.

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PeopleHi, who just joined the call?Welcome, just a moment while everyone joins the call.Is anyone/everyone from the Tokyo team on the line?I’m going to call the roll. Let me confirm who is on the line.

Late introduction: Sorry for the interruption, …has just joined us.It appears…has joined us, please continue.

OutlineOn today’s agenda is… Firstly… Secondly… Lastly…Today’s objective is… I called this meeting to address...(issue/problem)

ExcusesShe’s in another meeting and should join us at 3pm.I’m only available until…I’ll have to leave at…

B. Listening ExerciseListening for General Understanding1. What is this teleconference about?

2. Who do you think would be attending?

Listening for Detail1. Who is the moderator?2. Which two countries are mentioned?3. What time of day is it in Sydney?4. Why is the call being recorded?5. What are the two presentations being made?6. What is the third item on the agenda?7. When can you ask questions?8. What other rules are there?

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1. Introductions

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C. Exercise• You are organizing a teleconference about your product/service• You are to write and practice your introducing statement• There are members from the Tokyo office, the New York office and

the Singapore office attending• The topic of this teleconference is to improve communication

between the offices • The time is Tokyo: 9am, Singapore: 8am, New York: 8pm• The teleconference time is 1 hour• The agenda is:1. Your manager will make a short presentation on his experience in

the London office2. Kathy Lee from New York will make a short presentation on the

results of an employee survey on communication times3. Reports from each office about their concerns4. Action plan

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2. Checking Understanding1. Checking UnderstandingA. English Help: 1. Someone at a meeting says:

I think we should reduce our training budget.

2. Look at the different phrases you might say:I didn’t catch what you said. Sorry. I don’t follow.Could you say that again more slowly? What does “reduce” mean?What do you mean by “reduce”? Sorry. What was that?Could you slow down? Could you repeat that last part?

3. Remember to say one of these phrases if you want to interrupt:David, sorry to interrupt. David, may I interrupt please?Excuse me David… David, sorry…

B. Exercise: Sort the phrases in (2) into the following groups:

C. ListeningListen to your instructor and interrupt and check that you have understood by using the phrases above.

When you haven’t heard what they said

When you didn’t understand

When you didn’t understand the word “budget”

When you haven’t understood what they mean by “reduce”

When they have spoken too quickly

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3. Summarizing/Paraphrasing

A. English HelpYou can check understanding by summarizing and paraphrasing whatthe speaker has said. You can just repeat what they have said or youcan paraphrase it (say it in your own words).

So…?So you are saying…?Are you saying…?Am I right to understand…?So you think…?

You can also refer back to an earlier part of the discussion:To go back to…Coming back to…You mentioned…

B. Pair workChoose three of the topics below and think of your opinion about them. • Business trips abroad• Long meetings• Teleconferences vs. face-to-face meetings• Your product/service• Studying business EnglishTake turns with your partner saying your opinion, after you finish your partner will check that they have understood and summarize what you have said.

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4. Questions

B Pair work1. Look at the following proposals and think of some questions to ask.

2. Now each take turns reading the proposals while your partnerinterrupts with questions.

A. English Help1. You may be asked:

Let’s open it up to questions. Does anyone have any questions?, what do you think?

2. During teleconferences, it is helps to ask specific questions:Proposal: I think we need to reduce our staffing costs.Questions: Are you saying that we need to cut wages and salaries?

Or are you suggesting that we stop replacing staff who resign?Or do you mean we should make some staff redundant?

Remember to say the person’s name you are asking as well as your own name first:David, this is Shimada…

1. We need to improve our staff’s level of English.

2. We need to improve our customer service.

3. We should ban smoking at work.

4. We should have less managers.

5. We need to cut our overheads.

6. We have to cut our travel costs.

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4. QuestionsC. Listening

1. General UnderstandingListen to three managers holding a meeting and discussing a problem they are having.• What is the problem?• Why are they having it?

2. Listening for detailListen again and make a note of who did these things

D: Designer E: Engineer D/E: Both

• Changed the design• Incorporated a smaller battery• Moved a socket• Couldn’t meet the new specifications• Built the prototype• Didn’t check that what they were doing was OK

3. General UnderstandingListen to part 2. What two options do they think about next?

4. Listening for detailMake a note of the two options and complete the chart.

Options Advantages Disadvantages

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A. English Help1. You may be asked:

Do you want to add anything?Is there anything anyone wants to add?

2. You could say:I just want to add something to a point John said.I think I should add…I’d like to go back to… (referring)

3. Remember to use a clear structure.

B. Exercise1. Look at the following phrases and put the following letters next to them.S support a proposal O oppose a proposalIt’d take us over budget. It’d be easy.It’d help us to… It’d mean we couldn’t…It’d cause problems. It’d be difficult to implement.It would be safe. It’d be cost effective.

2. Work with your partner and think of reasons that can help support and oppose the following proposals.

a. Stop all overtime payments.b. Have English lessons during work hours.c. Have the weekly meeting in English.d. Make all staff working on computers have a ten minute

break every hour. e. Make all staff travel economy class on airplanes.f. Let staff job-share and work flexi-time.

5. Commenting

Opinion Reason Example

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6. ClosingA. English HelpSummarizing:Let me summarize today’s decisions/points. First,… Second,… Finally,…

Actions:Could you send us a transcript/summary of today’s call?Shall we schedule our next meeting for…?Could you send out the agenda for the next meeting?I’ll send out an invitation and agenda. Could you send me the e-mail addresses of the participants?Keep me informed.

Excusing yourself:I’m sorry, I won’t be available for the next call.I won’t be able to attend the next call.

Closing:We have to go now.Is that everything?Let’s wrap this up.Thank you all for attending.

B. ListeningListen to Lisa Macey close her conference call and complete the followingchart.

C. SpeakingNow look at the notes you have taken from Exercise B and practice making a closing statement with them

Points Action Assigned to

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A. The Company• You are the directors of a small smoked salmon company called

McCoy’s Farm based in Scotland.• You have been producing premium quality smoked and marinated

salmon products for the past 20 years.• You aims to produce and deliver the finest smoked Scottish salmon

in the British Isles. • You produce salmon for the British Isles for the trade and also to

retailers through the Scotland Farm label.B. The Situation

• You need to overhaul your marketing plan.• You have invested in being able to increase production so you

need to increase product demand.• Some of your products appear old-fashioned

C. Your TaskYou are going to have a teleconference with other directors of yourcompany. • Think of at least three proposals you can put forward to try and

improve the company’s product demand and image1.

2.

3.

• Now choose the best proposal. You are going to present this proposal during the teleconference

• Take good notes as you will be writing a group report as homework.

7. Role Play

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McCoy’s Farm Conference Call AgendaDate: Time:Objective: To decide on an action plan to overcome the following problems Problems

• You need to overhaul your marketing plan.• You have invested in being able to increase production so you

need to increase product demand.• Some of your products appear old-fashioned

Introduction

1.

2.

3.

4.

Action

Closing

Notes:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Role Play: Agenda

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Good points____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Points to work on____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Study Plan____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Notes____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Homework• You are to work with your group via e-mail and telephone (in

English)• Together you are to write a report of the teleconference and your

decisions• Please exchange contact details• Due date:

Role Play: Assessment

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