English Communication: How To Be a Great Conversationalist

English Communication: How To Be a Great Conversationalist Conversation is the basis of communication. It establishes rapport and connects us to our colleagues, clients, co-workers, friends, family. Confidence in your ability to converse makes you better in your work relationships and personal relationships. Susan RoAne made a survey of what she called, “ConverSensations”, people who […]

Rapport- How to?

Rapport- How to? How to get to that sweet spot of building mutual warmth and walking the same page with your audience? Answer: Put their needs and interests ahead of your own. You don’t ignore your own needs, but put the spotlight on their needs. For example,  if your audience has been listening to hours […]

What Practical Real-Life Difference will Increase in Intelligibility Make?

What Practical Real-Life Difference will Increase in Intelligibility Make? Everybody wants people to grasp what they say, so a high intelligibility score is better than a low score. It is a no-brainer. Speaking accurate English sounds and words makes life much better for the speaker and the listener! Recall the range of scores for our clients before […]

Rapport- Pure and Simple

Rapport- Pure and Simple   What makes you different from a robot?  You can grow rapport with the audience. What is the goal of rapport?  A feeling of mutual warmth and the sense that you’re on the same wavelength and mind frame.

Communication Skills Training : Space Comfort Zone in the U.S.

Communication Skills Training : Space Comfort Zone in the U.S. In all countries, people need a certain amount of space to feel comfortable in different situations. The size of these zones is determined by culture—Japanese  feel comfortable with closer contact than Latinos or North Americans. Here is what communication scientists have identified for the United […]

What do YOU want to accomplish through your speech?

What do YOU want to accomplish through your speech? Get the answer to the question of what you personally want to achieve through your speech makes developing your speech… the words and the nonverbal props and body language… easier. Do you have any of these goals? You want to build your credibility You want the […]

Communication Skills Training: Strategic Sitting

Communication Skills Training : Strategic Sitting Whenever we meet with a group of people, we often have to make a decision about where to sit.  Burton Kaplan offers advice for strategic sitting. He takes the position that where you sit says a lot about who you are and what you want to accomplish. For me, […]

Figure Out Why You Are Presenting

Figure Out Why You Are Presenting What is the function of your talk?  Are you trying to inform, persuade, inspire, or entertain. What is your motivation for speaking -Were you asked to speak? -Were you ordered to speak? -Do you want to speak? What is your audience’s motivation for listening? -Does the audience want to […]

Accent Reduction- How do Chinese Youth Learn English and English Speech in School?

Accent Reduction- How do Chinese Youth Learn English and English Speech in School? An important question is: What does the current learning of English, especially learning to speak English, consist of in China? Knowing the answer to this question would help universities, graduate schools, and employers of native-born Chinese individuals know better about what to […]

Part 2 Deciding Whether You Should Accept an Invitation to Speak

Part 2 Deciding Whether You Should Accept an Invitation to Speak Second things first, too! Do you have something to say? -Either you have bunches in your experience or -You need to research! -Sometimes it is just better to decline Must you accept immediately? -You don’t have to accept immediately. -It is often better to […]