Business English Seminars

GET AHEAD IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

Our Business English Seminars are for professionals who want to keep up to date with the
international language of business and improve their communication skills in the workplace.

Each two-hour seminar includes a variety of activities designed to maximise participation. Home
study is not required.

Seminar programme
The programme consists of eight two-hour seminars:

 Language Profiling
Assess your English language skills against the levels of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR) using our Aptis testing tool.
 Language for Presentations
Learn how to deliver powerful presentations in the workplace.
 Improve your Εmails
Enhance your written communication with our email writing tips.
 Business Report Writing
Learn how to structure reports more effectively.
 Working with Data
Learn how to describe and present trends, facts and figures clearly and effectively.
 Powerful Networking
Practise and further develop the language skills needed for effective client relations and
meetings, as well as for socialising and small talk.
 Express Business Views
Learn how to put forward suggestions, support proposals, present facts and offer
clarifications.
 Address Your Needs
Address specific needs identified during previous sessions such as pronunciation,
language for conference calls, CV writing etc.
Participants will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the seminar programme.

Business English seminars for...

 Presentation Skills
 Meetings & Negotiation Skills

 Getting the Job! Interview Skills

 Reporting Skills
 Business Correspondence Skills

 False Friends, Typical Mistakes & Idiomatic Language

Resources for Business English

Business English Seminars

Targeted, intensive training, from 6 to 20 participants, tailored to suit your needs, vocabulary and
circumstances. Develop cutting edge communication skills in a timely and cost-effective manner with follow-
up coaching sessions post-seminar to ensure successful implementation of acquired skills.
Some of our most popular seminars include:
 Giving effective presentations
Giving effective presentations
Presentations are an important means of communicating your message.
Regardless of whether your purpose is to inform, teach or convince, it is critical that you capture the attention
of your audience right from the start and let them know what's in it for them. To do that, you need to prepare
 properly and on the day you need to perform and let your passion for the subject shine through. Only then can
your message hope to have maximum impact and be truly effective.
Targeted Participants:
Employees required to give presentations and who would like to enhance the effectiveness and impact of their
message. Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Ensure a logical presentation structure
• Capture your audience's attention from the start
• Build rapport
• Maximize your impact
• Tell effective stories
• Ensure the audience remembers your message
• Describe graphs, trends, facts and figures
• Handle questions
• Create effective visuals
• Use your voice to effect
• Use effective body languagee

 Participating in meetings - Facilitating meetings

Participating in meetings - Facilitating meetings
The ability to confidently and competently participate in meetings is critical in business today. Being able to
put your ideas forward in a cohesive and structured manner gives your audience the best chance of receiving,
and if required, acting upon your intended message. Equally important, is the ability to give an opinion, offer a
suggestion, or disagree without giving offence. And at times it is essential to be able to check you've in fact
received the correct message or to correct the message someone thinks you have sent.
Targeted Participants:
Employees required to attend and contribute to meetings in English and who would like to enhance the
effectiveness and impact of their participation.
Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Give a project update
• Explain cause and effect
• Interrupt and make yourself heard
• Express both strong and tentative opinions
• Agree and disagree
• Respond to offers
• Gain time when communicating in a potentially sensitive environment
• Write a follow up email
When facilitating a meeting you will be able to:
• Arrange / confirm / reschedule a meeting
• Start a meeting – including stating its objectives
• Deal with interruptions and manage the flow of conversation
• Ask for comments and contributions
• Summarize the results of a meeting
• Confirm decisions and action points
• End a meeting and thank the participants
 Exchanging information - communicating with clients - asking for and explaining factual and numerical
information - narrating past events
Exchanging information - communicating with clients - asking for and explaining factual
and numerical information - narrating past events
Our daily lives involve multiple information exchanges and even when doing so in our mother tongue with
people we know well, miscommunication can occur.
In today's multicultural, global business environment we need to be sure our messages are received correctly
and to be able to check that this is the case. It is equally important that we have the language skills to seek
clarification and further information without causing offence. These skills are essential regardless of whether
we are discussing factual or numerical information, providing an explanation or resolving a problem.
Targeted Participants:
Employees who would like to enhance their ability to have effective discussions and conversations.
Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Problem solving with (internal) customers
• Request information about a problem
• Establish the facts
• Check, clarify and confirm information
• Promise and confirm action
• Refer to time and deadlines
• Discuss numerical information
• Request and report details
• Describe trends
• Summarize results
• Discuss past events and provide an explanation
• Link ideas and indicate time frames
• Narrate past events
• Ask for additional information
• Summarize
 E-mail writing
E-mail writing
Emails are an essential part of business, and in order to be successful, it is critical that you can clearly and
effectively communicate your message in writing. As with a letter or a conversation, you need to ensure that
your language is appropriate both to the situation and the person to whom you are writing. In order to be read
and easily understood, your message needs to be clear, precise and to the point. Equally, you need to be able to
understand the emails you receive and quickly draft clear, suitable, accurate replies.
Targeted Participants:
Employees who would like to enhance the effectiveness and impact of their emails and write them more
quickly. Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Utilise an appropriate structure for your emails
• Ensure your subject lines attract attention
• Match your register / tone / degree of formality to the situation
• Consider the implications of spelling & abbreviations – use them or not?
• Request information and reply to enquiries for information
• Request action
• Inform and reply
 • Exchange information
• Make and confirm arrangements
• Communicate in a politically sensitive environment
 Using the telephone for business purposes – teleconferences
Using the telephone for business purposes - teleconferences
According to experts, a substantial portion of our communication is nonverbal. Every day, we respond to
thousands of nonverbal cues and behaviors including postures, facial expression, eye gaze, gestures and tone of
voice. With the exception of tone of voice, none of these can be communicated by phone. Adding to the
dilemma of having to employ this reduced arsenal is if you have to do this communicating in a non-native
language (English), and your interlocutor(s) has to do so as well. The chances of misunderstanding increase
significantly.
Targeted Participants:
Employees required to participate in and contribute to meetings or discussions on the telephone in English.
Participants need to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• The basics – identifying yourself and getting through
• Making and taking phone calls
• Dealing with communication problems
• Exchanging and checking information
• Spelling over the phone, saying email addresses, times and dates
• Leaving and taking messages
• Dealing with complaints
• Discussing solutions
• Reaching agreements
• Confirming arrangements
• Ending the call

 Facilitating a teleconference
Facilitating a teleconference
In business today conference calls, telepresence and the like are facts of life. To be truly successful you need to
be able to function comfortably in these environments, and that can be challenging when you need to do so in
English. Some guidelines and key phrases go a long way to helping you run smooth, focused and results-
driven conference calls. Equally important is the need to document and follow up on conference calls in a
structured and systematic manner, increasing the likelihood that the agreed-to action points will in fact, be
implemented.
Targeted Participants:
Those employees who would like to enhance their ability to facilitate effective teleconferences in English.
Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Introduction – checking that everyone is present and setting the ground rules
• Dealing with technical problems
• Inviting / nominating someone to say something
• Managing the conversation flow
• Keeping to the topic
• Dealing with interruptions
• Preventing one or two people from dominating, etc.
 • Checking understanding
• Stating you are not persuaded or have doubts about a particular argument
• Getting, checking and summarizing agreement
• Confirming next steps and action plan
• Ending the call

 Staff appraisals - Performance management

Staff appraisals - Performance management
Work related performance appraisals and reviews can often be challenging and stressful, for both evaluator and
staff member, even when both share a common mother tongue. When carrying out this task in English, using
the right language can help to create a positive and cooperative environment. Without this, it can be difficult to
focus on performance, to acknowledge the good, to agree on the substandard and to confirm a way to move
forward. At the end of the day, all these are essential for maximizing the results of an individual, a team and
ultimately, an organization.
Targeted Participants:
Managers who would like to enhance their ability to conduct effective, resultsfocused performance reviews
with their teams. Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Set the tone for the discussion
• Outline the framework
• Ask questions
• Seek clarification
• Focus on performance
• Give feedback and discuss evaluations
• Listen effectively
• Clarify the overall ratings
• End the discussion positively

 Negotiated outcomes
Negotiated outcomes
Typically negotiation is thought of solely in the context of buying and selling. However, regardless of our
roles, we all have to negotiate – whether this involves improving working conditions, resolving challenges or
moving forward with an issue or project – all involve some form of negotiation. As soon as more than one
person is involved, compromises and agreements need to be reached. Furthermore, a "good" negotiation isn't
about one side winning and the other losing, it is about both parties being comfortable they've got what they
wanted. To be able to do this effectively in English, particularly when it is not your first language, can be
especially demanding.
Targeted Participants:
Employees for whom reaching a win-win final solution is important and who would like to enhance their
ability to do so. Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Preparing to negotiate
• Opening strategies
• Relationship building – discussing needs and starting positions
• Outlining points for discussion
• Exploring the options
 • Making & responding to offers and suggestions
• Seeking more information and greater clarity
• Stating consequences
• Dealing with concerns
• Moving to agreement
• Checking understanding and summarizing

 Report writing
Report writing
Regardless of whether the purpose is to report on a visit, present a business proposal, provide a project /
progress report or to summarize research or results, it is paramount that a report is clearly structured so that the
reader can quickly find relevant information. Furthermore, for effective communication, it is important that the
language used is as clear as possible.
Targeted Participants:
Those employees who would like to enhance their ability to write effective well structured reports in English.
Participants are required to have at least an intermediate level of English.

This seminar will provide you with an opportunity to develop the following skills:
• Structure your reports effectively
• Communicate information clearly and objectively
• Connect ideas successfully
• Highlight and emphasize key points
• Describe graphs and tables