North American English and the Art of Conversation
Business and social settings are challenging enough without the additional difficulties encountered by non-native speakers. Understanding the differences between British, Canadian and American English or business language vs. social language can be a struggle. Not understanding them can cause frustration in both the business environment and social contexts.
The setting of a conversation as well as the age and relationships of the participants can have as much impact on the meaning of words as their dictionary definition. This is why developing appropriate socio-linguistic skills is so important.
In our conversation training, we look at a number of aspects related to culturally-appropriate communication and functional communication. We focus on likely topics of discussion, related vocabulary, style of speech and pronunciation. Through role play, participants gain social skills while uncovering the social traps that may be present and learning how to communicate more effectively and acceptably.
Cross-cultural Training Improves Interpersonal Communications
Business communication, whether it be discussing strategy or negotiating an agreement, requires skills that can be gained through cross-cultural training.
With one-on-one or group cross-cultural training, you fast track to better business communications. By exploring values and history, etiquette and non-verbal communications, you gain the knowledge with which to understand the impact of what you say and how you say it.
Cross-cultural training can help your employees understand the many hidden rules of interpersonal communications – both as they communicate and as they interpret others. While we adapt our services to your specific needs, training topics may include:
- Comparing cultural approaches
- North American or British social norms and values
- Levels of formality and expectations
- The meaning of eye and body language
- Tone, volume and intonation
- Giving feedback, negotiating and dealing with conflict
With cross-cultural training, we help you express yourself more clearly and interpret what others are communicating more effectively.