Communicating Your Competence

For every talented professional who is not native to North America, Communicating Your Competence offers an all-in-one path to connecting “American style” in business, social, and presentation situations. To improve verbal and non-verbal delivery when communicating with others, the book provides highly-focused first-language-driven pronunciation and accent reduction exercises, techniques for subtle shifts in body language, useful colloquialisms, and culturally appropriate patterns of idea expression, so that you can communicate your competence and the value of your ideas. Whether you are… A practicing professional in a scientific or medical field; An academic or visiting scholar in a North American university or other research institution; Part of a diverse workforce in a global business; An ex-pat in North America with management or team responsibilities among locally-born workers; or Someone eager to improve professional prospects by finding work or advanced education in North America …you will learn the “American style of communication” which directs the conduct of business and science throughout North America and increasingly in global settings around the world.

For professionals who are not native to North America, Communicating Your Competence offers an all-in-one path to connecting “American style” in business, social, and presentation situations. To improve verbal and non-verbal delivery, highly-focused first-language-driven pronunciation exercises, techniques for subtle shifts in body language, useful colloquialisms, and culturally appropriate patterns of idea expression will help readers communicate their competence and valuable ideas. Scientists, academics, researchers, business managers or other members of a diverse workforce in a global business, or just someone eager to improve career prospects in America…you will learn to communicate to Americans clearly and persuasively. Part I. Verbal Communication Chapter 1: Fixing Your Accent Where It Matters Each native language brings unique challenges to learning English. Chapter 1 will identify the areas that you alone should concentrate on, and not waste time on the problems of others. Chapter 2: Your Troublesome Consonants & Vowels Concentrating only on those sounds that are central to the improvement of the individual reader's accent alone, the right small adjustments can produce huge results. Chapter 3: Cultivating the “Music” of American English Here readers will adjust to the more natural-sounding “music” of the language, including patterns of stress, pacing and downward movement that are unique to a native style of speaking. Part II – Non-Verbal Communication Chapter 4: When Gestures Speak Louder than Words Readers will explore the unspoken cues that convey tremendous meaning beyond our words –how we use our bodies and gestures to approach a person, use "mirroring," and signal a desire to comment or interrupt. Chapter 5: Connecting with People This chapter will help you develop a more open American communication style, so that others will see you as an approachable and worthy leader, team player or colleague. Chapter 6: Presenting and Defending Your ideas Readers will learn to communicate their thoughts in ways that are structured to be clearly understood and have the impact they deserve. Part III. The Successful Presentation Chapter 7: Pulling It All Together This chapter shows how “connecting” is at the core of every element of a presentation as you confidently and clearly present yourself and your message to an audience of any size. Chapter 8: Your Comprehensive Checklist Here is the reader's summary review of every element of a successful presentation, from the earliest planning stages to rehearsing your final delivery.

In her 30-year career, Beverly Leach has taught and coached thousands of non-native professionals from more than 80 countries. From her base in Princeton, New Jersey, she has developed programs to improve the workplace communication of scientists, academics, managers, workers and directors of global businesses operating throughout America. Past clients have included such foreign based global corporations as BASF (Germany), Bracco (Italy), Fermenich (Switzerland), Hyundai (Korea), NEC (Japan), Novartis/formerly Ciba Geigy (Switzerland), Novo Nordisk (Denmark), Rhodia (France), Roche Molecular Diagnostics (Switzerland), and Subaru (Japan). Also academic and research institutions include Janelia Research Campus (Howard Hughes Medical Institute), the Institute for Advanced Study, New York University, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Princeton University Communicating Your Competence presents her proven methods for addressing the most crucial linguistic and cultural challenges to career success in North America.