Most of us today spend more time than we want to writing and responding to emails, often in more than one language. Did you know that the average office worker gets 121 emails per day, and that 2.4 million emails are sent per second? Incredible!

As emails are possibly the most important communication tool we have today, they’re also a key topic of current research into Business English as a Lingua Franca. Even small companies need to develop excellent email skills in English to deal with foreign business partners. I spoke at the BESIG conference in Malta this year on just this topic. I presented 2 pieces of research that show us that there are specific skills which we should include on our syllabus when teaching emailing skills, not just the standard phrases which are presented in course books.

1. Adapting and accommodating – the skills we need to make English easier for business partners. This includes choosing simpler language, producing shorter sentences, and focusing on only one or two key words to describe something, rather than using a wide variety of words for the same concept. Here’s an example:

2. Politeness and face-saving – avoiding conflict and showing respect to our partners so that communicating difficult messages is as harmonious as possible. This is summarised here:

Apart from language accuracy, I believe we need to focus on helping our learners develop 3 key skills:

1. Be more analytical – think about their partners and their language use
2. Don’t stick to one style, because that reflects who you are – be flexible because you need to also recognise who the other people are
3. Pay close attention to the emails you receive – try and mirror the style of the people you write to and see how they react.

We all teach email skills, but make sure that what you teach is up to date and reflects what learners really need, even if the don’t yet know it themselves! I’ve prepared a lesson plan on email essentials for intercultural business which you can use to practice these skills in your classroom. Specifically it focuses on simplifying language and using politeness strategies. If you have any feedback or comments I’d be happy to hear from you. Happy teaching!

This free lesson will give business English learners all the language support they need to be able to represent their company at an international trade fair, as well as to describe their products and services competently.

I’ve recently set up my own Business English training company, English for Business (www.efbtraining.de) so I’m spending a lot of time at the moment calling potential customers to let them know about my training services.  At one point or another, almost all of us will have spoken to people about what our company does. Around two thirds of the leading world trade fairs in the world take place in Germany where I live, with nine to ten million visitors each year looking to invest in new products and services. Companies invest a lot of money when they send their staff to trade fairs, so it’s important that they are able to represent the organisation they work for effectively. Everything an employee does or says, even if it’s not in the booth, reflects on their company.

It’s important today that employees can use English to promote their company and its products. This involves being able to describe the company’s position in the market, it’s history and it’s position in comparison with competitors. Our learners naturally need to be able to answer questions about specific products and services, demonstrating not just the specific features but also the benefits, which will help a customer, decide to invest their money.

The lesson is available here.  I hope you find it useful – feel free to get in touch!

P.S. If you’re teaching in Germany and would like to give your learners some extra language practice you can point them to my free training: Business English do’s and don’ts. There are interactive Quizlet exercises for each lesson, and I’ll be posting lessons twice a month, for free.

I was recently asked to teach a group of learners who needed to be able to hold tours of their production site in English. While we were walking around the factory, examining their machinery and describing various processes I noticed that suggestion boxes were located pretty frequently throughout the area. I asked my participants how often they are used and they told me that they’re very popular – they give employees opportunities to participate in decision making at work. As a result, they feel empowered and assume more ownership of their work. As well as this, there are even greater benefits to the organisation – often these suggestions increase revenue and create added value benefits for the customer, through optimisation of the products and services, as well as enhancing after-sales programmes.

In business English classes we’re involved with a wide variety of people whose jobs involve some kind of optimisation responsibilities. This may be streamlining daily admin processes, trying to hold meetings as quickly and as effectively as possible. Maybe they’re trying to improve on-site security systems or switchboard duties. Perhaps you’re even teaching the ‘big bosses’ –those in charge of the whole organisation who ultimately want everything to operate as quickly but as effectively as possible. Making suggestions is therefore a communication act which we’re all involved with. This lesson asks learners to discuss how they make suggestions at work, introduces them to the language of making, accepting or rejecting suggestions and allows them to discuss a range of employee suggestions which aim to improve the way a company operates. Have fun using it!

In 9 days (I’m not counting!) I’ll be heading off on my holidays and so I’m trying to forward plan now and get something together for the first week back.  I’ve been teaching a group of secretaries recently and they need to describe how national and international visitors can get to their organisation from the nearest airport, or from their own company, whether that be by car or by train.  After working with these ladies on the topic I realised that most people I teach at one time or another will need to give basic directions to their visitors, so I tried the same lesson with another group and they found it very useful.

There’s a wealth of language which stems from this kind of activity: imperative verb forms, discussing and comparing two or more options, making recommendations, all kinds of driving-related vocabulary and in the context of discussing directions in emails and telephones  we can start to draw on confirming, clarifying and summarising language – the list is pretty endless.

For that reason I’ve put a simple worksheet together which I’m sharing here.  This can be used with new groups after you’ve conducted a day one needs analysis, or it can be used on the first day back of an existing class to introduce other areas of language including those above.  It works well for levels A2/B1 (pre-intermediate) or above and takes about 60 minutes to work through.

To consolidate unknown vocabulary on this topic, or any other, you can try an ‘oldie but goodie’ task – half a crossword.  This link will bring you to a site where you can enter any terms and then they’re split over two crosswords.  The course participants work in pairs to define the terms on their sheet of paper, which are missing on their partner’s sheet and vice versa.  Great fun and a sound way to recycle new language.

Enjoy the holidays and have a good start back to work!

I spend a lot of my time talking to people about the tasks they have to complete in English and supporting them to carry out those tasks competently in English. I’ve recently started teaching in a number of large organisations based in very small towns and villages in Bavaria (Germany). Unlike many of their counterparts in bigger cities, these companies and their staff avoided language learning for a long time and employees struggled on with their ‘school’ English, trying to make themselves understood with the language skills which they’d acquired as teenagers – largely grammar-based – but hadn’t then practised for several years. Now that their employers have seen the light and have recognised that they need to brush up their language skills, we are in the position of negotiating what participants want to cover in their English course. When asked what they need they almost always respond ‘good grammar’. Of course as trainers we realise that a) it takes many years to get close to perfecting grammar and b) good grammar alone is not the key to carrying out one’s job competently in English. Inevitably we then go through the process of discussing what tasks they conduct in English, via what kind of communication channels and then we analyse what is missing in their communication, which would help them to be more effective. Inevitably this isn’t actually grammar but a knowledge of standard phrases which help them work more quickly, a recognition of the correct tone which helps them build better relationships, or the ability to spontaneously use suitable lexis which helps them have more professional conversations.

Rules and obligations

Grammar can’t be ruled out completely though, and of course there are tasks which can be performed better with a sound knowledge of certain grammatical structures. Last week I worked with a group of German secretaries who need to give instructions to their business partners in the UK. Some collect offers from suppliers, others coordinate photographers who produce the annual company calendar, while a number of the students coordinate travel arrangements with their counterparts in other countries. All of them need to explain obligations, whether that be defining deadlines, listing the necessary paperwork to apply for a visa or politely explaining the steps in a departmental process. In case you’re also teaching learners who need to discuss work-related obligations and processes you can try out my lesson plan which you’ll find here. Have fun with it!

I’ve been teaching English for 16 years, and there are very few courses I’ve taught which haven’t requested email writing practise – business or general English. Although most learners in the workplace who have some element of regular communication in English already write emails, most need reassurance that they’re doing a good job. I work in Germany and there are a few issues that arise time and again – Can I/ Should I really use small talk in emails? Are abbreviations and smileys unprofessional? How can I be more polite and diplomatic?

Every company and individual we work with is different, with different objectives and corporate cultures. Based on the (possibly) hundreds of times I’ve taught email writing, here are a few pieces of general advice that I give my business English learners to address their most frequent concerns:

1. Emails are usually less formal than letters, so it’s fine to say ‘Hi’ or ‘Good morning’ and to end emails with ‘Best/kind regards’ rather than ‘Yours sincerely’.
2. It’s increasingly common to use first names in international business, so don’t be afraid to do so!
3. Abbreviations are fine – writing ‘we’re’ or ‘you’d’ saves time and reflects the more informal nature of emails, but doesn’t sound less professional.
4. Prepare the subject line carefully- after the sender name it’s what the recipient looks at first. If it’s not clear what you want then they might not prioritise your message.
5. Avoid including unnecessary information – emails are written, read and replied to quickly and should be easy to understand.
6. Look for action – make sure you clearly state what you expect the recipient to do as a result of getting your email.
7. Small talk helps build relationships but it doesn’t need to be overly personal. ‘How are things?’ suffices as a way of beginning the email before getting down to business.
8. Don’t use too much jargon – always consider what the recipient already knows and don’t use terminology which may sound good to you, but which may cause confusion to the reader.
9. Always proofread your emails, and not just to ensure your grammar is perfect – much more important is the tone you’ve used!
10. Know when to call – emailing allows you to use online proofreading tools, but ultimately you may save time and effort by picking up the phone.

You can find a lesson plan here for teaching the basics of email writing, beginning with a general discussion on email style. It is based on an in-tray exercise for learners to identify standard email phrases, and then practical tasks for them to use the email language presented. I use this as my ultimate ‘go to’ lesson in business English classes and it can easily be followed up by extra writing support for professionals using their own workplace emails. Have fun!

Christmas is a pretty exhausting time in the business world, isn’t it?! Many of the course participants I teach are desperate for their holidays but at the same time they are still ploughing through mountains of work and struggling to meet rapidly approaching deadlines. For English trainers it’s a challenge to motivate learners so that they keep on attending and prioritise the last few weeks of English training.

This season is also a very interesting time to learn about individual organisations and their policies regarding Christmas festivities and practices. A number of companies where I teach in Germany forbid learners from accepting any kinds of presents, so apart from the odd mince pie, it’s basically impossible to give them any gifts. Where suppliers have gone against the ‘no present’ rule, gifts received are often put into a pot and raffled off or distributed at the staff Christmas party.

Most organisations in Germany pay their staff a bonus at Christmas, very often in the form of a thirteenth month’s salary. This is part of their contract when they begin their new job. Not bad, huh?! Another perk of working in a German organization at Christmas, especially a manufacturing company, is that there is very often a general company shut down where only a skeleton staff is employed over Christmas and New Year. This means that, for many of my clients this year, they’ll be enjoying a long and very well-deserved break from 19^th December to 7 January.

As in many cultures, this holiday period is a cause for celebration and most companies organize some kind of party for their staff. In contrast to my native UK, most companies in Germany discourage heavy drinking (!) and parties are often a fairly sober affair at a local restaurant or held on the company premises. That said, as many Christmas traditions originate in Germany – think trees, advents calendars, ‘Silent Night’ and mulled wine – company parties often centre round festive customs such as carol singing, eating traditional foods and of course reflecting on the year gone by.

My own classes are struggling to maintain motivation in the last couple of weeks, so I’ve written a light-hearted business English lesson, designed for my participants to discuss the best way to organise their next Christmas party at work. They’ll discuss the do’s and don’ts of organizing the event and will compete with each other to present proposals for the most creative and original party on a limited budget. If you’d like to use the lesson, you can find a copy here – feel free to try it out.

I hope that many of you will also be able to enjoy a relaxing Christmas period and wish you all the best for a good start to 2015! Happy holidays!

Every day, people find themselves in the tricky situation of presenting to an audience.  Stakes are often high with not only the individual’s but also the organisation’s risk at stake.  Presentations serve a multitude of purposes: to instruct or persuade the audience, to relay (un)pleasant news, propose a course of action or perhaps help influence a major decision.  It’s therefore no surprise that pre-service learners of English are often required to complete presentation training classes in English.  I found myself teaching presentation skills on a logistics course at a university this semester where I had previously only taught academic writing.  Although I have plenty of experience in presentation training, working with people already in employment is very different to teaching the same skill to a group of 20-year-old university students!  I tried out a variety of activities with them aimed at exposing learners to a range of techniques and language strategies, as well as offering them enough variety to keep them motivated over 12 weeks of the semester.  Here’s a selection of ideas that might give you some inspiration if you’re teaching presentation skills soon.

Who am I?  Language focus: structure and signposting in basic presentations

Participants were given ten minutes to present something simple about themselves to the rest of the class.  This could be a short presentation of their job or studies, a skill or talent they have, something they’re interested in or something they’ve learned.  This was a nice, simple introduction to the course, as well as for both me and the participants to get to know each other.

Describing a process – language focus: stating presentation aims, sequencing and passives.

Lots of people need to describe how something works.  It could be a process, a machine, a system or a task.  I began by eliciting the right nouns and verbs involved, as well as sequencing language (firstly, then, finally).  The learners then researched a process and presented it in teams.  We had google glass, voice recognition software, the ageing process (!), studying at university and filling your car up with petrol.

Poster presentations – language focus:  stress, intonation and making impact. 

This task allows learners to repeat a short presentation again and again, becoming increasingly confident and enthusiastic.  In pairs I asked my learners to invent a new product, and then create a poster illustrating what it is, how it works, and what the benefits are to the customer.  They were then given 5 minutes to sell their idea to another pair.  Learners circulated, alternately giving their presentations and listening to others, before voting on the winner.

The winner!

Debates – gestures, body language and asking and responding to (tricky) questions

This was a simple topic to set up.  Groups were give a role, for or against, and were then given topics to debate with another team.  We had practiced how to deal with questions, first using Bob Dignen’s RACER model (respond, answer, clarify, encourage, and return), and then using contrasting language when questions were directed which challenged the group’s position (whereas I agree, although you have a point…)

Job interviews – language focus: giving and defending opinions, responding spontaneously to questions, avoiding hesitations

This task took place after a lesson on CV/resume writing.  Half the learners were appointed to conduct interviews (As), the other half we to be interviewed (Bs).  Everyone received a job description.  A’s prepared a series of questions for their interview candidates, B’s prepared how they could relate their work experience and qualities to meet the requirements of the job.  Each interviewer then met three candidates, before appointing one, who was put through to a second round of interviews.  Finally one class member was appointed the job!

Discussing the news – language focus: hypothesizing

Participants brainstormed the major stories being reported in the press at the time.  Each group was allocated one story.  The objective was for them to them present the story in more detail, including background to the event and a hypothesis of its potential consequences.  They concluded by suggesting who had been most affected by the news and how, as well as the possible consequences on the world of business.

Presentations in pictures – communication focus: giving presentations without being dependent on text, minimizing hesitations

We practiced 5 minute presentations on a topic of their choice, but whereas they could use PowerPoint slides, they were only allowed to show pictures.  One very tricky element of presenting is the ability to speak freely, and text on PowerPoint slides often acts as a crutch.  This practice helped learners appreciate that they can speak freely and that pictures are enough of a support to get them through the presentation.

The language trip of a lifetime – language focus: convincing and persuading

Groups were asked to present a plan of where the whole group could go on a language course abroad.  We ruled out the normal favourites: UK, Ireland, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, as these would be too predictable.  They were given a number of factors to consider and then had to convince their class members that their plan was the most interesting, while also being the most productive way to spend the budget.  You can find my lesson plan on how we carried out this presentation project here – feel free to use it!

If you’re looking forward to a semester of academic presentation practice soon, or you’re just looking for a few ideas for lighthearted practice of this skill, you’re very welcome to try out any of these ideas. I’d love to hear how they go!

Many of us teaching languages have also experienced being on the other side of the desk: learning them.  Over the years I’ve pretty much mastered German, I’m fairly fluent in Spanish, have a good working knowledge of French and I’ve even dipped into Russian and Japanese…  Of the many embarrassing experiences I’ve had in most of those languages almost all of them occurred when I made assumptions about language use rather than checking I really understood.  Literally translating ‘I am full’ from English, I managed to tell the French host family I stayed with at 14 that I was having a baby – you should have seen their faces!!  At 20 I told my new German housemates I wanted to go to a strip club or ‘Nachtklub’ rather than the nightclub/disco I’d been thinking of.  On countless occasions I’ve asked for directions two or three times and still failed to find my destination, and I can count on more than one hand the number of times a dish has arrived at restaurants which bore no resemblance to what I thought I had ordered.

One major language strategy can’t be taught enough: the skill of negotiating meaning.  This is a process in which a listener asks for clarification and confirmation of a message, and a speaker follows up these requests, often using repetition, elaboration, or simplification of the original message.  All levels of language learners frequently fail to confirm and clarify their own use of language, as well as their understanding of an intended message.  Why’s it so important?  Well, the number of English speakers in the world is currently estimated at around 1.5 billion.  It is the language of international business and therefore considered the key to prosperity.  Multinationals such as Airbus, Siemens, Nokia and Renault have introduced English as the language of internal communications, but it’s also the language which Chinese business people are using to conduct business with Indians, Russians with Argentinians, and so on.  At a meeting of non-native speakers of English the room for misunderstanding is huge.  Where there are financial or strategic consequences at stake, those speakers need to ensure they can adequately negotiate meaning.    And in a more simple context which I came across recently, had one learner thought to confirm his own language use with his native speaker colleagues, rather than assume he was correct, he would now be carrying around business cards which announced he was the ‘Freight Manager’, and not the ‘Fright Manager’  – scary, isn’t it?!

In the business English classroom there are a number of ways in which we can practice this strategy.  Giving and receiving complex instructions between colleagues, information gap activities such as jigsaw readings and spot the difference exercises are excellent activities that give learners the opportunity to develop their communicative competence through negotiation of meaning as they share information.   I’ve prepared a lesson which you can download here, to draw learners’ attention to the importance of clarifying and confirming understanding, as well as providing them with an opportunity to practice language items which will help them negotiate meaning.  I hope it is useful – please drop me a line and give me your feedback!