Comstar International Oy
Language training and marketing communications
_____________________________________________________________________________
ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONAL
COMMUNICATION
Lake Worth/Palm Beach,
Florida August 13 – 20, 2005
On this 7 day intensive language course you will:
Considerably improve your English skills
Learn how to negotiate in English
Learn how to make successful small talk
Improve your conversation skills
Learn how to use your English skills to influence
people
Get intensive
practice in the world’s most important business-to-business language
Comstar International Oy, one of Finland’s most successful and professional
language training organisations, proudly announces the next ENGLISH FOR
PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION course to be held in Palm Beach, Florida August
13 - 20, 2005.
This highly intensive seminar is limited
to just 12 people, so be sure to send in your application fast. The
price of this course is just € 1400 (not including transportation and
accommodation).
The daily programme features a 5-hour
intensive session in the morning, followed by small group tuition in the
afternoon, where groups of three or four people are accompanied by a local
professional for intensive practice of the skills learned in the morning
session, as well as conversation practice. These sessions take the form of a golf
match, business discussion, trip to a place of interest, visit to
a local enterprise – activities specially selected to be of interest and of
use to the participants.
Suitable for those who have had 4 or
more years of English at school
|
Typical daily programme: 7.30 – 8.30 Breakfast 8.30 – 12.30 Seminar programme 12.30 – 13.30 Working Lunch (during
which the participants will actively discuss various topics in English 13.30 – 17.30 Small group work 3/4
participants - golf and conversation or visit to local enterprise 17.30 –19.00 Self study period 19.30
- Evening programme – hosting a
formal dinner, cocktail party etc. |
CONTENTS OF THE COURSE
Seminar Programme: 8.30 –
12.30
The power of the
right word
Conversation
strategies
Negotiation
techniques
Language strategies
for influencing people
Combining verbal
and non-verbal communication to achieve maximum influence
Cross cultural
considerations and strategies
Avoiding words and
phrases which cause negative communication
Making successful
small talk.
The importance of
correct language to make a successful first impression
Language awareness
The power of
diplomatic questions
Lunchtime session: 12.30 –
13.30
Each
lunchtime is an integral part of the course – Lunch begins with either a guest
speaker or one of the participants making a brief 5-minute welcoming speech and
introduction to a topic of current interest, and this topic will be discussed
during the lunchtime. Participants will also be assigned tasks such as finding
out as much as they can about the work of the person sitting next to them.
Afternoon session 13.30 –
17.30
The
afternoon enables the participants to really get to grips with the language
skills learned in the seminar room. A local professional, whose task will be to
extend the participants language and make them actively participate, will take
responsibility for a group of 3 or 4 participants and involve them in an
activity. This activity will be for example:
An introduction to the local business life in the area
A game of golf where the participants practice
social/business English
Practice on hosting a group of visitors
A visit to a local enterprise
Visit to local government offices
and many
more options!
A range of
possibilities will be offered, and the participants are free to choose the
activity which they feel would benefit them most. So, for example, if an
engineer would like to spend more than one afternoon discussing production
methods during a factory visit, this is possible. Or if a restaurateur
would like to visit various restaurants in the area and discuss menus and
strategy with hotel and restaurant professionals, we will arrange it, or if an
executive needs to practice hosting skills on the golf course – this too
can be arranged, or if a lawyer requires contacts with local legal
practitioners, these can be arranged. The main emphasis of the afternoon
session is to give abundant and real practice of communication with
fellow professionals.
Self-study session 17.30 –
19.30
After the
intensive seminar and afternoon programme, the participant has the chance to
relax and review their notes for the day, or simply listen to a language CD.
Each participant
keeps a notebook containing now words and phrases they have learned, strategies
and gambits they feel they can put into practice, and also any grammar or
structural points the instructors have mentioned – the self study session is
the ideal time to review this. Those whose turn it is to make the speeches and
presentations in the evening can use this session for preparation.
Who is the course for?
Purely and simply
for those people who, in their professional and private lives, meet, converse
and do business with foreigners, using the English language, and who want to
not only improve their basic language skills, but also wish to learn those
other areas of English language communication which are not simply based on
grammar.
This is definitely
not just another language course, but a carefully structured learning
experience which provides intensive practice in those language areas that
will create a positive impression on your
conversation/negotiation/discussion/meeting partners, how to negotiate
successfully, the right word or phrase at the right time, how to use your
English knowledge to avoid embarrassing diplomacy blunders. In fact, all those
skills which will make your business partners and acquaintances enjoy your
company – you can imagine the positive effect this will have on your business.
Positive communication
in English does NOT need to be grammatically correct, most of the techniques,
gambits and strategies taught during this seminar can be very successfully
applied to achieve positive and persuasive communication without needing
"perfect grammar".
Successful
communication in English is not entirely dependent on good language skills –
but also on the use of appropriate words, phrases and responses. Unlike most
courses on offer, this course emphasises real communication.
People from all
walks of life have participated in Comstar’s seminars - engineers, business
people, marketing and sales professionals, legal practitioners, secretaries,
politicians, teachers, entrepreneurs, diplomats, restaurateurs, etc.
Those who benefit
most from the course are those who have a minimum level of 4 (on a scale of 1 -
9), in other words, an intermediate level, approximately 4 years of school
English.
Comstar
International Oy primarily uses co-operative learning as the
instructional method. Comstar is one of the pioneers of this method in
communication training in Scandinavia, and has achieved extraordinarily
positive feedback from its clients. This method maximises participant talking
time.
The Trainer
The principal trainer on this seminar is Nick
Marsh, who will conduct the morning sessions. Nick Marsh, Managing Director of
Comstar International Ltd, has over 25 years of experience training Finnish and
other nationals in English skills and negotiation language and techniques. Nick
Marsh is not just a language trainer, his background includes working as a
marketing manager for a major multinational company, and CEO of a major wholesale/import
company in Finland.
In addition to his duties for Comstar International,
Nick Marsh also works as an export marketing consultant for many Finnish firms,
and spends a lot of time representing Finnish companies at negotiations in
Finland and abroad. He has written several successful books on the language of
business, presentations and negotiation techniques, and has also conducted courses
and seminars in the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Americas.
Venue and accommodation and
transportation
The seminar will be held at Comstar International’s
facilities in Palm Beach/Lake Worth, Florida.
Accommodation will be either at the Hotel
Gulfstream of the Palm Beaches (a Holiday Inn), or at the Sungate Motel
or similar. Rooms at the Sungate are $59 – 79 per room and rooms at the
Gulfstream start from $119.
If needed, cars can be rented from the
Sungate Motel, and 4 persons sharing a car would pay around $75 per week each.
Economical flight and
accommodation packages can be arranged through Matkatoimisto M-L Lahtinen,
Tuiomiokirkkonkatu 17, Tampere, tel 03 – 2541200.
Palm Beach is approximately 25 minutes from
West Palm Beach Airport, 45 minutes from Fort Lauderdale Airport, and 90
minutes from Miami International Airport. Airport transfer can be arranged for
participants at a nominal fee.
For further information contact:
Nick
Marsh, Comstar International Ltd
tel.
Int + 358 3 3490543 (Finland) +44 1458 446427 (UK)
nick.marsh@comstar.fi