28 Jan What’s New?
Language at Work is over 30 years old. That means we’ve taught a lot of courses in speaking, writing, and reading to adults. Often people ask us what’s new in speaking, writing, and reading.
“Tell us about the new courses you’re teaching now.”
“What are the new topics that are popular now?”
We don’t like to disappoint anyone, but the answer really is, nothing is new. The basic guidelines for communicating successfully are the same now as they were 30 years ago.
So, to be responsive, we deconstructed the questions. Maybe what’s asked is how they can offer continued communication skills training to people who think, reasonably, that since they’ve taken a course or two they shouldn’t need any more help.
The fact is that communication for almost everyone is a work in progress – forever. We always need to be reminded or assisted in using what we know. We’re always facing new situations and new people and new writing assignments, and we need to apply our communication behaviors in new ways. We all could take communication courses regularly and continue to benefit.
But, back to helping those who need ‘new’ courses. There are zillions of aspects of communication, and one way to experience tried and true training in a new package is to pick something specific on which to focus. For example, know the audience, be assertive, argue gracefully, plan a clear purpose, avoid this language, check for understanding. You get the idea.
Want to know what’s new? Let us help you dip into the communication barrel and pull out a good apple for you. What’s new? Whatever you want!