English is fast becoming the international language of business. 

This generally gives native English speakers a huge advantage in any business situation.  However, once people with different mother tongues are working together in English there can be considerable miscommunication or lack of communication.

At international meetings held in English the people who are usually the most difficult to understand are the native English speakers.  Everyone else speaks Offshore English, International English, or ‘text book’ English.  These are all forms of English with a smaller vocabulary range and spoken at a slower speed than that of native speakers.  More importantly, it is usually free of idiom, slang, humour, banter, excessive jargon and figures of speech.

For example, what exactly do these phrases mean to different cultures?

“What’s the bottom line?” “Can you ball park it?”” This will raise the stakes”.

 “Its all above board” “Give me your gut reaction”.

If you have a team of people working together and some are native speakers some not, it is quicker, easier and cheaper to improve the communication skills of the native English speakers than to improve the language level of all of the non-native English speakers.

It is a truism, but a valid one, that if you are easy to understand, you will have a greater chance of understanding the response you get.

It takes many years to learn English to a level of fluency, but in only a few hours it is possible to learn how to make your English easier to understand.

“Speaking international English” is an interactive training workshop aimed at helping native speakers develop an awareness of the key skills in being a good international communicator.

Who will the workshop benefit?

The workshop will benefit anyone who works with other cultures and uses English as the only or the dominant business language.  It will also benefit people who use interpreters.

What are the course objectives?

The workshop will provide strategies for improving all types of communication, and so increase efficiency, advance the success of the organisation and build positive long-term relationships.

You will walk away from the course with a set of skills to make communicating easier, more effective and more efficient.

If you work internationally and you’d like to discuss the things that are troubling you, call us on +44 (0)1252 731310 or email info@interculturalsuccess.com

Intercultural Success - Creating confidence to work with the world