Topics covered in this course include:

Module 1: Professional Communication & Office Protocols

• Introduction & Office Protocols
  • Course outline and student responsibilities
  • Basics of office protocol
  • Phone protocols and meeting procedures (role play)
  • Achieving “buy-in” with customers, peers, and supervisors (physiology of communication, persuasion cycle, persuasion rules)
• Business Correspondence
  • In-house correspondence
  • Drafting business letters and email communication
  • Letter types: requests, replies, complaints, adjustments, sales, PR, social/business
• Report Writing
  • Achieving authenticity in writing (avoiding plagiarism)
  • Summarising and identifying key ideas
  • Writing informal and formal reports, numerical reports, news articles
• Use of English (Grammar Focus)
  • Vocabulary building
  • Subject-verb agreement
  • Verb forms and tenses
  • Sentence completion and structure

Module 2: Comprehension & Presentation Skills

• Comprehension
  • Identifying thesis and supporting evidence
  • Audience awareness
  • Appeals and misleading arguments
  • Literary devices
• Presentation Skills
  • Organizing a presentation (introduction, body, close)
  • Responding to questions
  • Role play: conducting efficient workplace meetings
• Grammar & Language Development
  • Identifying key ideas, avoiding ambiguity, verbosity, clichés
  • Introduction to clauses, phrases, run-ons, and fragments
  • Pronoun/antecedent agreement
  • Grammar review and editing

Module 3: Workplace Communication & Employment Correspondence

• Employment Correspondence
  • Writing effective resumes, cover letters, and workplace communication
• Networking & Cultural Awareness
  • Speed networking and small talk
  • Turn-taking and business conventions
  • Cultural awareness in professional interactions
• Persuasive Communication & Buy-In
  • Role play: workplace persuasion scenarios
  • Strategies for achieving buy-in with supervisors and peers
• Final Session
  • Oral presentations on effective persuasive strategies
  • Peer feedback and evaluation
  • Editing for grammar, mechanics, and advanced sentence structure