This intensive 15-hour course aims to equip you with the Advanced communication strategies to build meaningful connections at work. It is based on Functional Language, allowing you to 'function' effectively to build strong relationships with your colleagues: establish rapport, network, show understanding, respond to feedback, get your point across or raise a difficult point.

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With a major focus on Speaking, Listening and Pronunciation, the course teaches you to sound confident, professional and fluent to create better work relationships.

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Function 1 - Establishing Rapport & Networking

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Communicative strategy: Greeting colleagues, recalling past events in common, paying a compliment, asking a follow-up question, showing knowledge about a person you have met.

 

OUTCOME: You will learn how to greet and network effectively in international events or conferences by asking the right questions, using natural intonation and showing genuine interest in another person to make a strong first impression.

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Function 2 - Expressing personal views & Showing understanding

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Communicative strategy: Expressing personal views, encouraging someone to express personal views, showing why you understand the problem, explaining why you understand, offering a practical solution. 
 

OUTCOME: You will learn how to encourage your colleague to express their view, how to share your perspective in a confident way, show empathy and respond to your colleagues' problems and difficulties.

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Function 3 - Getting your point across & Dealing with misunderstandings

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Communicative strategy: Reformulating, clarifying what is meant, illustrating or offering to illustrate a point, summarizing, saying you haven't understood, responding to misunderstanding.
 

OUTCOME:  You will learn how to make yourself understood if you were not clear, how to say clearly and politely that you haven't understood something and how to deal with a misunderstanding in a cooperative and effective way.

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Function 4 - Responding to feedback & Using Vague Language

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Communicative strategy: Responding to positive feedback, taking on board negative feedback, challenging negative feedback, softening your messaging, sounding less direct.

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OUTCOME: You will learn to deal with feedback, both positive and negative, in a polite and professional way. You will learn how to soften your message, sound truly professional and keep your calm even when you feel like you are getting defensive.

Function 5 - Building rapport in writing

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Communicative strategy: mirroring, establishing common ground, international writing etiquette

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OUTCOME:  You will learn how to build relationships through email communication, how to mirror the other person's cultural / professional style to build rapport and how to navigate intercultural issues in terms of formality / informality.

 

Review & Course Feedback
 

You will review the studied material in several speaking role-plays helping you revise the communication strategies you have learnt. You will get detailed individual feedback on your progress and set up a personalised Action Plan with the tutor helping you to sustain your progress after the course.​​​​​​​

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