40 Business Spotlight 3/2020 BUSINESS SKILLS
health and safety, and terms for building
personal relationships. You should build
a personal glossary of key terms to review,
use and internalize over time.➻^ Learn the art of clarification
Clarification is a vital tool in any situa-
tion, but it is particularly important when
you are communicating internationally
in a foreign language. Words can have dif-
ferent meanings in different places. Also,
non-native speakers often have a limited
vocabulary and are thus forced to speak
using the words they know, not necessar-
ily the words they want to use. So, ask this
question more often: “What do you mean
by that?” Or reformulate what you hear by
saying: “So, you mean that... ?” Such clar-
ification can be transformative. It slows
communication down, reducing the pres-
sure on both speakers and listeners, and
allows you to build dialogue based on
better mutual understanding.➻^ KISS: Keep ideas short and^ shared
Non-native speakers often place a lot of
pressure on themselves (and their lis-
teners) by trying to say too much in one
go. Learning how to say less is essential.
This means making just one key point
and then inviting others with an expli cit
question — “And what do you think?” —
to share their ideas. The ability to shorten
one’s own communication and integrate
others into dialogue is fundamental to ef-
fective international communication. It is
more important than any point of gram-
mar you may have spent years learning
to perfect. So, say less, hand over with a
question and enable dialogue to happen
in digestible chunks.➻^ Develop your confidence
I can imagine that some readers may be
thinking the following: “That all sounds
very simple, but I don’t feel confident
enough to do all of this. It’s just easier to
say nothing and let the more dominant
personalities and fluent speakers do thetalking. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t in-
terrupt them, and they wouldn’t listen.”
This is a fair point, but this approach can
lead to frustration over time. It can also
generate inefficiency for your team, as
your ideas — possibly the best ones in the
group — go unheard.
Two micro-skills can help you here.
First, get used to interrupting positively.
Develop the ability to stop others talking
with inclusive phrases such as: “That’s a
good point. Can I just add something?”
Sell your interruption as positive feed-
back and people will gladly give way and
allow you to participate and express your
opinion.
Second, realize that your level of Eng-
lish, with all its imperfections, is still
more user-friendly for listeners than na-
tive-speaker speech, with all its complexi-
ties and subtleties. If your level of English
is at B1+ or B2, you will normally be easily
understood by the average global speak-
er of English. Stop aspiring to talk like a
native speaker; this speaker profile can be
highly ineffective internationally. And it
is certainly less effective than you are.- Professional communication
excellence
Professional communication skills, also
referred to as “situational skills”, refer to
important aspects of working life such as
meetings, telephoning, email communi-
cation, negotiating, giving presentations
and socializing. Here are four aspects to
prioritize for these skills.
➻ Develop interpersonal connectivity
Business is at heart about people. How-
ever complex a task may be technical-
ly — and however much expertise and
equipment is needed — positive working
relationships are likely to make things
work more effectively. To get the most out
of your working relationships, develop
your ability to connect to the underlying
motivations of other people: their values,aspire to sth. [E(spaIE tu]
, nach etw. streben
chunk [tSVNk]
, Brocken
clarification
[)klÄrEfI(keIS&n]
, Klarstellung
digestible [daI(dZestEb&l]
, verdaulich; hier: gut zu
bewältigen
expertise [)eksp§:(ti:z]
, Sachkompetenz
fair point [)feE (pOInt]
, berechtigtes Argument
fluent [(flu:Ent]
, fließend sprechend,
sprachgewandt
give way (to sb.)
[)gIv (weI]
, (jmdm.) weichen; hier:
jmdm. das Wort überlassen
go unheard
[)gEU Vn(h§:d]
, ungehört bleiben
in one go [In )wVn (gEU]
, in einem Rutsch;
hier: auf einmal
mutual [(mju:tSuEl]
, gegenseitig
review sth. [ri(vju:]
, etw. überprüfen;
hier: wiederholen
socializing [(sEUSElaIzIN]
, Kontaktpflege
subtlety [(sVt<i]
, Feinheit
technically [(teknIk&li]
, hier: vom Fachlichen her
underlying [)VndE(laIIN]
, tiefer(liegend)
vital [(vaIt&l]
, unerlässlichLEARNING HOW TO SAY LESS
IS ESSENTIAL FOR
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION