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ICM Single Subject Diploma in
International Business Communications
Course Outlines
The Process of Communication
- The objectives of communication
- The meaning of words
- Non-verbal communication
- The context or situation
- Barriers to communication
- Why? Who? Where? When?
- What? How?
- Planning the message
- Summary – how to communicate
Speaking Effectively
- Basic speaking skills
- Qualities to aim for when speaking
- Summary – good speaking
Listening
- Listening – the neglected skill
- Reasons for improving listening
- Are you a good listener?
- Ten aids to good listening
- Summary – good listening
Human Interaction and Non-verbal Communication
- Metacommunication and paralanguage
- The language of silence
- The language of the time
- Body language or kinesics
- The underlying psychology: NLP, El and TA
- The conflict between verbal and non-verbal communication
- Summary – The importance of paralanguage in human interaction
Talking on the Telephone
- Telephone problems
- Basic telephone rules
- Receptionists
- Making a call
- Gathering information by telephone
- Answering the telephone
- Voicemail
- Mobile phone manners
- Summary – good telephoning
Interviewing
- Interviewing weaknesses
- What is an interview?
- The purposes of the interview
- Types of interview information
- How to plan an interview
- Structuring the interview
- How to question and probe
- Summary – Interviewing
Being Interviewed for a Job
- Preparing – the organization
- Preparing – know yourself
- At the interview
- Tips to remember
- Summary – being interviewed for a job
Communicating in Groups
- Advantages of groups
- Disadvantages of groups
- Factors affecting group effectiveness
- Summary – making groups and committees work
Running, and Taking Part in, Meetings
- Chairing meetings
- Decision-making methods
- Responsibilities of participants
- Duties of officers and members
- The agenda
- The minutes
- Video-conferencing and audio-conferencing
- Formal procedure
Giving a Talk
- Techniques of public speaking
- Preparation
- Developing the material
- Opening the talk
- Closing the talk
- Visual aids
- Use of notes
- Practicing the talk
- Room and platform layout
- Delivery of the talk
- Summary – Being a good speaker
Using Visual Aids
- General principles
- Whiteboards, electronic copy boards, interactive boards
- Flip charts
- Build-up visuals
- Physical objects
- Models and experiments
- Overhead projector (OHP)
- Data projector or multimedia projector
- 35mm slide projector
- Videos and DVDs
- Closed-circuit television and video
- Points to remember about visual aids
- Video and DVD hire and purchase
- Summary – being in control of visual aids
Faster Reading
- How do you read?
- The physical process of reading
- Ways of increasing your vocabulary
- Summary – faster reading
Better Reading
- Determine reading priorities
- Scanning
- Skimming
- SQ3R method of reading
- Summary – better reading
Writing Business letters
- Why good letter-writing matters
- Backing up the phone call or meeting
- Planning a letter
- Layout and style
- The structure of a letter
- Dictating
- Standard letters
- Summary – writing business letters
Applying for a Job
- What sort of job do you want?
- What is available and what are they looking for?
- The application itself
- Job-hunting on the Internet
- Summary – applying for a job
Writing Reports
- What is a report?
- Types of report
- Essentials of a good report
- What is the purpose of the report?
- Fundamental structure
- Format, layout, headings, and numbering
- Long formal reports
- House style
- How to get started
- Setting your objective
- Researching and assembling the material
- Organizing the material and planning the report
- Writing the first draft
- Editing the report
- Producing the report
- Summary – report writing
Memos, Messages, Forms, and Questionnaires
- Memos
- Email
- Fax
- Postcards and reply cards
- Text messaging
- Forms and questionnaires
- Summary – other writing tasks
Visual Communication
- When to use charts and graphs
- Presentation of statistical data
- Presenting continuous information
- Presenting discrete or non-continuous information
- Presenting non-statistical information effectively
Getting to Grips with Grammar
- Why does grammar matter?
- What is grammar?
- How good is your English?
- The parts of speech in brief
- The framework of English
- The architecture of the sentence
Common Problems with English
- Subject-verb agreement
- Problems with verbs
- Problems with adjectives
- Problems with adverbs
- Problems with pronouns
- Problems with prepositions and conjunctions
- Problems with ellipsis
- Problems with negatives
- Revision of grammar
Appendices
- A Punctuation made easy
- B Using capitals
- C Using numbers
- D Business cliches or ‘commercialize’
- E Commonly misused and confused words
- F Ten (simple?) rules of spelling
- G Commonly misspelled words
- H Tips on modern business style
- I Differences between men and women communicating