I am often contacted by people from all over the world asking if the Language Lab has English language courses. We do. I’m not surprised by these requests. After all, English is the international language of business. Anyone who wants to rise up the corporate ladder must be able to express herself or himself clearly,…
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The cliché would have it that a picture is worth a thousand words. No doubt, it’s the reason organizations spend large sums of money perfecting their corporate identities. But a picture isn’t the only powerful tool at hand when it comes to promoting client recognition of a corporation/company. Images, such as logos, especially those belonging…
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I was flipping through the business section of a national newspaper the other day when a headline stopped me in my tracks. It read: “Frying Big Fish” — not exactly a typical business story headline. It sure grabbed my attention! Even though I have little interest in fishing, I had to read it. I had…
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After a lengthy absence, I’m back. Yes! And I’m looking forward to sharing more of my ideas about effective business communication with you. Having recently been on the receiving end of someone’s bad business behavior, I’ve been thinking about one very important aspect of business communications — how you never want to let your words…
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Happy 2015!! It’s been quite awhile since I’ve published a post. I’m energized, healthy, and ready to get started again with interesting tidbits about how to be an effective communicator. Everything we do in business relies on knowing how to communicate effectively. Be it speaking or writing, the key is knowing who your audience is…
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We all want the important matters in our lives — for instance the way we choose to invest our money — to be flexible. So, when my investment advisor told me there was “flexibility” in the new financial program she’d created, I was pleased. I thought that by “flexibility” she meant that whenever I wanted…
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Why, you might wonder do effective communicators, like great leaders, need to operate more like psychiatrists than surgeons in the way they deal with people. Ronald Heifetz, Harvard professor of leadership, points out surgeons focus on solving patients’ problems. They tend to impose solutions that don’t necessarily take into account the patient’s view of their approach.…
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The world of business has changed dramatically over the past 25+ years that I’ve been involved in business development. It’s changed even more since I started my training and development company, 9 years ago. Not only is there a boundless supply of information available to the consumer; the options for services, products, ideas, etc. are…
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I’m often struck by how easy it is for two people to miscommunicate. One person sends an email that he or she thinks is a positive, thoughtful message; the person receiving it interprets the message otherwise and takes offense. Communication breakdowns such as this occur every day between people whose first language is English. So…
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