Cultural surprises in the workplace for new residents

New residents to the USA, whether here for a H1B visa or some other special status, frequently are surprised about our way of life here. It is not what they had anticipated.
One woman commented on our large, clean supermarkets with so many choices. A man was surprised about the fact that others in his workplace are not taking time to do social activities with him outside of work.

If you are a new resident to the USA, where are you from and what 1 thing surprised you most about our culture? It could be in the workplace or the community. Please share your ideas!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in the pronunciation of American English, cultural awareness, executive communication and more. Visit www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com for more information.

Checklist for assessming your company's communication skills

How well do your employees communicate? Poor communication can turn away prospective customers, frustrate employees, and cost your bottom line.

Rate your company's communication skills!

Check any statement that applies to your company. For some items, you may need to call the company from the outside and pose as a prospective customer or employee.

______1. Employees who are foreign-born and whose pronunciation is difficult to understand at times have all been offered speech training by the company.
The company understands this training can increase communicative efficiency and is very supportive to the employee's career growth.

______2. Local employees can all be clearly understood on the telephone and in presentations to people from other parts of the country.

______3. Employees who give presentations know how to prepare and deliver them effectively.

______4. Managers all have high levels of professionalism in their listening skills, and understand different communication styles.

______5. Sales staff and front desk staff have excellent skills in making small talk with prospective customers and others.

______6. Brainstorming sessions actually result in many new, applicable ideas.

______7. Employees consistently answer the telephone with a cheerful greeting, which is clearly pronounced and easily understood by a prospective customer.

______8. Employees all use standard grammar in speaking and writing, which promotes the company's professionalism.

______9. Employees can all state why their work is important to the company's mission or purpose.

______10. On performance appraisals, all employees receive acceptable ratings on their communication skills.

Key: For each missed area, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com to learn about available coaching . Concise, practical e-books are also available at www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com/ebooks.

Work in the US and have a strong foreign accent?

(American English) Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals is a three day intensive course on pronunciation. In some countries, this is called elocution or diction. This "immersion-style" course will be offered June 16 - 18, 2010; a second session will be taught July 2- 4, 2010.

The course is limited to only six learners, and will be taught in Chattanooga, TN.
For more information and to enroll, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes .

Business Speech Improvement also offers courses on regional accent modification, executive communication skills, public speaking and other topics. Great speech makes business sense!

Regional Accent Modification Helps with National Business Contacts

Many people with strong regional accents who give presentations or speak with people on the telephone in other parts of the country feel self-conscious about their speech. They report that customers ask them to repeat themselves, tell them their accent is "sweet" or "just like my Grandma's". If they give presentations, they note that listeners notice their speech patterns so much that they do not necessarily focus on the speech's message.

One tip regional speakers can do is to listen to the news on a national TV channel to determine what sounds are produced differently, and try to speak that way.

Many speakers, though, need feedback and more specific recommendations on what to change, and how to do it. They need help to go through the stages of speech training.

Business Speech Improvement (http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes) offers group seminars on regional accent modification, as well as
Individual Speech Coaching that can combine accent modification with other skills such as
presentation skills or customer service skills.

Recruiting: Corporate first impressions in communication for potential applicants

As a manager, executive or recruiter, do you know what kinds of impressions your company gives potential applicants? For example, does everyone involved respond promptly, within 24 hours, to an applicant's resume being received, or to questions from applicants, especially in high-demand fields? When there is a problem and an application is not responded to in a timely fashion, do employees blame each other - in e-mails sent to the applicant - and thus feel OK about the situation, or does someone take responsibility and indicate "the buck stops with me, and I erred"?

If a valued applicant turns down a position, does anyone ask the person why the position was not accepted, so the company can learn from the situation? This can benefit the bottom line as the company develops a better system next time.

Business Speech Improvement provides training in Executive Communication Coaching, which includes training in employee retention and other communication skills. Individual speech coaching in this and other skills can be scheduled. For more information, visit http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Classes.

Executive Presence: What Is it?

When you see a stranger coming into your company, at a meeting elsewhere, or even in a nice restaurant, what tells you that he or she is an executive? Is it well tailored and expensive clothes, elegant accessories, posture, diction, a commanding tone of voice, something else, or a combination of these?

Business Speech Improvement is conducting an informal survey of readers. Please answer the question and share your ideas!

Business Speech Improvement (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com) provides intensive, customized training in executive communication skills, accent modification, professional diction, sales communication, presentation skills and more! Both group and individual coaching are available.

Hate talking to strangers at a meeting or party?

Memorial Day is coming up! Have you been invited to a social event? Or maybe you are going to a professional meeting. In either case, you will get more out of it if you talk to strangers there.

Here are two tips to get you started successfully. Before going to the event, start by deciding what you and any other person there have in common. Then craft 2 sets of statements + follow-up questions relating to that commonality. For example, "This is a wonderful party! How do you know (the people who are giving the party)?" Another option is "I saw you at the X session at the conference. What did you think of the speaker?"

Listen for "free" information and follow it up with questions. If the other person says, "From my perspective as a resident of X neighborhood, this plan doesn't make sense, " ask about how the person likes living in that community.

Many more practical tips to start, continue and gracefully end a conversation can be found in "Small Talk: Connecting with Others" at http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?EBooks.