Personal Presentation

First impressions last, there is often no second chance. The way you present yourself, your character, how you look, the language you use, the way you greet the person and the way you talk will all be judged by your prospective employer.

How you speak 
Think about how you come across. Are you being confident or arrogant? Are you surly or too quiet and timid? Do you speak clearly or do you mumble? Most employers are looking for a person who speaks politely and confidently.

What you say 
Your choice of words is vital, do not use slang or swear at all. Answer questions clearly and honestly and don't waffle. Be aware of what you're saying, who you're saying it to and therefore the message that might be conveyed.

Body language 
Be aware of the messages you are communicating by the way you stand, greet a person and generally hold yourself. Stand confidently, shake the hand of the person interviewing you and sit comfortably rather than slouching.

Cultural sensitivities 
It is important you look the person interviewing you in the eye and maintain that eye contact while you talk with them. This shows you have confidence and respect them. However, many people within different cultures have different beliefs. People of indigenous cultures do not make direct eye contact, be aware of these sensitivities and they will be greatly appreciated as a mark of respect for that person.

What we wear 
Think carefully about what clothing to wear. Dress according to the type of job you are applying for. If it is a gardening job you are applying for, don’t go dressed in a tuxedo. But if the job is with an up-market clothing boutique, your favourite tracksuit won’t be the best choice either! The basic rule is to be smart and dress appropriately for the position for which you are applying. Try to see things from the employer's point of view.

If you have body piercings, just be aware that a more conservative employer may not like that stud through your tongue or brow. It is advisable to take out visible body piercings and if you gain the position, then you can check with the employer if it is OK for you to wear piercings/personal jewellery.

 Source :

http://www.careercentre.dtwd.wa.gov.au/FindingAJob/BePreparedAndGetOrganised/Pages/PersonalPresentation.aspx

Making Small Talk

Why Making Small Talk Matters

Small talk is often seen as meaningless conversation motivated by social politeness: It lacks meaning and value, but you do it because that’s the proper thing. Well, I couldn’t disagree more with this idea.

In my definition, small talk is conversation on safe and somewhat superficial subjects (the weather, the news, the hottest movies or the latest fashion), but it is notmeaningless conversation.

Personally, I’ve learned to stay away from meaningless conversation. If I don’t enjoy it and don’t find significance in it, I do one of two things: I change the subject or I eject. Other than the topic, there is nothing small about small talk and this is why knowing how to make small talk matters as a people skill.

Before anything else, you need to realize that if you struggle with making small talk, it’s to a large extent a confidence issue. People who are confident in social interactions are naturally able to make small talk and connect with others.

So one way or another, you’ll need to get this handled. My conversation confidence presentation will provide you a solid foundation for this.

Keep It Meaningful

Making small talk makes a lot of sense with people you’ve just met. Imagine asking a person you know for 30 seconds: “So, how’s you sex life?” That is waaay too intrusive! Small talk on the other hand provides a method to ease into the discussion.

When I make small talk, the subjects may be superficial for comfort, but they’re subjects I care about and I approach in straightforward manner, staying away from clichés. This way, I make the discussion meaningful for me and frequently, as a result, for the other person.

Even if I’ll chat with a person I’ve just met about the weather, I’ll make the conversation meaningful. For example, if it’s winter I’ll mention how I don’t like the cold weather, how it probably has something to do with the fact I was born in mid-summer and how I can’t wait for the summer and the sunny beach.

Focus on what is interesting as a topic and on what is real within you. You’ll make the talk fun even though you keep it small.

Have a Life

It’s easy to make small talk when you have a lot of things to chat about. One key realization I had as a social confidence coach is that people who know how to make small talk well have a rich inner and especially outer life.

Conversation is for them just a matter of expressing that. It’s much harder to make small talk well when all you do is work a repetitive job or play on the computer all day.

A rich lifestyle creates content and it helps you engage others. If you don’t have one, it’s time to create it: read, travel, try new things, take on various hobbies, do some charity work and of course, socialize. Not only that this will help your conversations, but it will make your whole life a lot more rewarding as well.

Care about the Vibe More Than About the Topic

A conversation is much more than an exchange of facts and ideas. It is an exchange of energy. What many people miss is that when you know how to make small talk, it means you can create a positive exchange of energy.

The topic is just an excuse, so it doesn’t have to be a deep topic. When I’m out with my friends, we’ll spend hours talking about clothes, pubs, scooters or trends. And we’ll have a blast because the vibe of the entire interaction is positive and relaxed.

When you’re making small talk, you want to focus more on being friendly and positive than on picking the right topic or saying the right things. Smile, relax, joke around, be spontaneous and be silly.

Don’t Get Stuck In Small Talk

Last but not least, keep in mind that small talk is not a destination. It’s just a temporary station. If an interaction with a person goes well, do move the conversation to deeper and more personal topics.

You can talk about topics such as family and relationships, career plans, life goals, challenges and so on. You now find yourself in a new land: the land of big talk.

Ultimately, a strong bond between two people is created when they talk about the most meaningful things, in the most meaningful way. Conversation is very much like a journey into a mysterious forest, and a deeper you go in it, the more intriguing it gets.

I believe that knowing how to make small talk is one of the key people skills to master. From there, if you also know how to have charisma and engage others in more intimate conversation, you can get outstanding results with people and you can build a highly fulfilling social life for yourself.

 Source

http://www.redbookmag.com/life/friends-family/how-to/a2392/how-to-make-small-talk/

Suggestions

The following English phrases and expressions are all used to make suggestions and give advice to people.

Making suggestions:

·         Let’s revise our lessons.

·         What about going to the cinema tonight?

·         How about playing cards?

·         Why don't we do our homework?

·         Couldn't we invite your grandmother to our party?

·         Shall we have a walk along the river?

·         What would you say to a cup of coffee?

·         Don't you think it is a good idea to watch TV?

·         Does it matter if we use your car?

Accepting suggestions:

·         Ok. Yes, let's.

·         Yes, I'd like to.

·         Yes, I'd love to.

·         What a good idea!

·         Why not?

·         Yes, with pleasure.

·         Yes, I feel like taking a walk.

·         That sounds like a good idea.  

Refusing suggestions:

·         No, let's not.

·         No, I'd rather not.

·         I don't feel like it.

·         I dislike going for a walk.

·         What an awful / bad idea!

Things to remember about suggestions:

1.      The verb "suggest" can be followed by either:

·         should + verb = I suggest (that) we should go to the theater.

·         a verb (in the subjunctive form)= I suggest (that) we go to the movies.

2.      "That" is optional:

·         "I suggest that we should visit Paris."

·         "I suggest we should visit Paris."

Dialogue:

Two friends talking about where to go this evening:

Alice:	You know Alan, why don't we go to the cinema to watch Titanic?
Alan:	No, let's not. We've seen the film many times before. What about going to the library? We have to finish our school project!
Alice:	That sounds like a good idea. But when we finish let's go to the cafè.
Alan:	Yes, I'd love to.

Source :

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/communication-lesson-suggesting.php

Showing understanding and suggesting solutions

Showing understanding and suggesting solutions

Business Result

Starting at the top one, take turns explaining your situation to your partner and responding to their suggestions about what you should do.

Situation 1

You’ve applied for three promotions and didn’t get any because your English isn’t

good enough, but the company hardly ever pays for English courses.

Your company rarely or never advertises jobs internally, and sometimes long after advertising them externally.

Situation 2

Your project manager only gives negative feedback.

Annual appraisals don’t always happen, perhaps because the managers don’t

like doing them.

Some managers have bad communication skills.

Situation 3

You only got one week of training when you first joined the company, and nothing since then.

I can rarely ask my colleagues questions because I am always out visiting customers.

All my projects are very different, so it’s difficult to be an expert in all those

different things.

Situation 4

People don’t work together as a team. There’s an Employee of the Month award,

but it just makes people more selfish.

All the situations above are actually in one company. Work together to decide how the company’s systems should be changed.

Source :

https://tefltastic.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/showing-understanding-and-suggesting-solutions.pdf

Social Scanning is a new Trend!

Smartphone owners have the world at their fingertips. As grandiose as that may sound, advances in mobile barcode scanning technology have given rise to applications that allow for comparison shopping, QR code place checkins and ultimately a social experience around product barcodes.

What this means is that at any given moment, any smartphone owner can pull out their device, fire up a barcode scanning application, scan a code and complete activities or gain access to a wealth of immediately relevant information. Really, what we're seeing is the convergence of social media and barcode scanning to create "social scanning."

The consumer's scanning behavior is so significant that location-sharing checkin services such as SCVNGR are giving away QR code decals to retailers free of charge. Even Google is sending their own QR code decals out to small businesses with popular Place Pages. What makes the scan so significant? It is a tangible connection between the physical and digital world. For Google, SCVNGR, and the businesses they serve, it's about access to measurable offline behavior.

These scans aren't inherently social in nature, but because they can double as verifiable place checkins, they can also possess the social properties of a checkin: location-sharing with friends on the same service or via social network distribution.

Services such as Stickybits and Bakodo are taking the social scanning experience beyond the checkin and creating product-driven communities around brands and items via barcodes.

Stickybits lets users add video, text, photos and audio to the barcodes they scan in the physical world via iPhone and Andriod apps. It's a clever way to use barcodes to help people tag, share and connect around items. It has also recently become more brand-friendly. "Official bits" are barcodes that brands can claim in order to highlight their own content. New social features allow for user response in the form of threaded conversations, and voting to ensure that the best content attached to the code rises to the top.

Bakodo's iPhone app began as a barcode scanner primarily for comparison shopping, but it's evolving to add social scanning functions as well. App users can scan barcodes of all varieties to review items and check out recommendations from friends. The barcode intelligence search engine combines a wealth of product-related data and socializes the process for a comprehensive product-driven experience.

As scanning becomes a more socially acceptable practice, the barcode scan will only become more social in nature. Expect future QR code marketing efforts to tap into the social opportunities, and for brands to explore ways to engage with consumers at the scan touch point.

Source :

http://mashable.com/2010/08/20/top-5-social-media-trends/#1Lmu02Owmkq7

Invitations and Offers

1.     Invitations

Here are some useful phrases to make and accept invitations in English.

·         Inviting

Invitations are often structured into three parts: asking the person if they're free, saying what the event is, then inviting the person to attend. For example:

"What are you doing next Saturday? We're having some people over for a meal. Would you like to come?"

"Have you got anything on for this evening? A couple of us are going to the pub after work if you'd like to come."

(to have something on = to have an arrangement)

Other ways to make an invitation:

"Are you free next Thursday?"

"Are you doing anything next weekend?"

"Would you be interested in coming to the cinema with me tonight?"

"How do you fancy going out for a meal at the weekend?"

"Do you fancy coming to the cinema with us on Tuesday?"

"Would you like to join Sally and I for a bite to eat after work?"

·         Accepting

If your invitation starts with a phrase like:

"Would you like to…"

You can reply:

"I'd love to, thanks."

"That's very kind of you, thanks."

"That sounds lovely, thanks."

If the invitation begins:

Do you fancy coming to the cinema tonight?

You can accept with:

"What a great idea, thanks."

"Sure! What's on?"

"Yeah, why not!" (this can sound a little unenthusiastic, so use it with good friends.)

·         Declining

"Would you like to come over for dinner on Saturday?"

"That's very kind of you, but actually I'm doing something else on Saturday."

"Well, I'd love to, but I'm already going out to the cinema."

"I'm really sorry, but I've got something else on."

"I really don't think I can – I've planned to go away that weekend."

1.      Offers

2.1 What is an offer?

An offer is a statement of the terms which the client (the offeror) is prepared to be contractually bound. The offer must be complete, specific and capable of being accepted. It must include the fundamental terms of the agreement with the intention that no further negotiations are to take place. Client offer contractor the work and therefore the contractor must carry out the work under the client’s terms and conditions. It is possible to make a conditional offer. The effect of this is that an offer cannot be accepted if the condition has not been satisfied. For example the client requires the contractor to have a specific tool or machine before an offer can be made.

2.2 Termination of offer

An offer may be terminated or revoked if:

The offer is withdrawn or revoked at any time prior to acceptance provided there has been communication between the client and the contractor;

The client making the offer dies;

Failure of a condition;

A reasonable period of time has elapsed – a time limit is specific on the offer made.

2.3 Acceptance

A fully binding contract is only formed if an offer is accepted. Acceptance is a final and unqualified acceptance of all the terms of the offer. The offer must be accepted without introducing any new terms. Acceptance does not take place until communicated to the client making the offer. Communication of acceptance is the moment when the contract is formed and the acceptance must be in the form of designated by the client.

Source :

http://www.english-at-home.com/speaking/making-invitations/

http://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/difference-between-offer-and-invitation-contract-law-essay.php