Professional Business Skills

This course will help you to feel more confident in your ability to write effectively in the workplace so that you can  achieve your goals at work.

The course focuses on areas such as: developing skills to consistently produce clear, concise, and easy to read documents; writing documents that are focused, action orientated when necessary and avoid miscommunication; and shifting style and tone to meet audience needs and preferences.

With this hands-on course, you will master the fundamentals of professional business writing. You will be able to effectively plan, structure, and write a variety of documents that meet readers' needs. In addition, you will know how to choose the right words and adjust your tone to make a strong impact, motivating key stakeholders to respond and take action.

By the end of the course you will be able to: 

• write complete, focused documents that enable readers to take action
• produce clear, concise, accurate and coherent documents that are easy to understand quickly
• adapt word choice to match documents' formality to different audiences and contexts and better engage stakeholders.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL): B2 and above

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is an international standard for describing language ability. Track your progress.

Prefer to join a full-day workshop?

This course can also be delivered intensively as a full-day Business Writing Skills 1 workshop focused purely on skills for working professionals over one, two or three days. 

This is a foundation level course, mainly aimed at Singaporean and Malaysian employees working in an office, or in a customer-fronted workplace in which clear communication is necessary.

This course is ideal for customer service advisors, receptionists, technicians, retail/sales executives, helpdesk personnel, etc. who struggle to make themselves understood at work because of local dialect, or wish to improve their ability to code-switch between Singlish and English.

Course contents: 

• 50 most common differences between Singlish and English patterns with a focus on raising awareness of differences, increasing accuracy and expanding language range
• each unit integrates grammar, writing, pronunciation, speaking, listening practice
• coursebook and handouts for each lesson, with homework self-check task, written by the British Council experts with accumulated 75 years of experience in Singapore, teaching business skills to working professionals.

By the end of the course you will be able to excel in: 

• dealing with customers
• emails
• presenting a product or service
• reporting problems: when things go wrong
• meetings
• dealing with colleagues
• telephoning
• writing clear emails
• participating effectively in meetings
• jobhunting: presenting yourself in professional situations.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL): B1 and above

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is an international standard for describing language ability. Track your progress.

Prefer to join a full-day workshop?

This course can also be delivered intensively as one of our full-day Spoken Communication Skills workshops focused purely on skills for working professionals over one, two or three days. 

This course focuses on areas such as: managing inboxes productively; drafting and writing emails which are clear, coherent, concise, and which result in action; and shifting between formal and informal tones to make emails more appealing and appropriate to audiences.

Through this practical course, you will develop a strong foundation in planning, structuring, and writing formal and informal emails. You will know how to draft and write emails that get the exact responses you need. Your emails will be easily understood and more appealing, helping you build stronger relationships and achieve your business goals.

By the end of the course you will be able to: 

• use strategies to manage your inbox and save time
• write clear and complete emails that achieve your goals
• write and edit work to make it clear and concise
• write reader-focused emails that build relationships.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL): B2 and above

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is an international standard for describing language ability. Track your progress.

Prefer to join a full-day workshop?

This course can also be delivered intensively as a full-day Email Writing Skills 1 workshop focused purely on skills for working professionals over one, two or three days. 

Even the smallest grammar mistakes can cause miscommunication and have a negative effect on your organisation’s professional image. This course focuses on producing business documents which are clear, accurate, and avoid the negative impact of miscommunication. The course helps to develop strategies for creating documents which capture readers’ attention by using a wide range of grammatical structures and vocabulary. 

This course lays strong foundations for using English grammar accurately in a variety of business writing situations. The aim is to prevent common mistakes and write accurate, concise, and varied sentences. As a result, you and your organisation’s written communication will be more professional and polished, making a good impression on your stakeholders.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Write clear documents with accurate grammar and vocabulary to reduce miscommunication 
• Use a wide range of grammatical structures in documents to add variety and interest to engage stakeholders
• Adapt grammar and vocabulary to different readers and situations to influence readers and achieve goals

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL): B2 and above

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is an international standard for describing language ability. Track your progress.

Prefer to join a full-day workshop?

This course can also be delivered intensively as a full-day Grammar Skills for Business Writing workshop focused purely on skills for working professionals over one, two or three days. 

Communicating effectively isn’t an innate skill that some people have, and others don’t. It is a learnable skill. This course focuses on strategies to develop and master this skill.

Interpersonal skills are the skills we use every day to communicate with others. They are made up of four core skills: Verbal skills, Body language skills, Vocal skills and Listening skills. The positive outcome of an interaction is directly linked to how successfully these skills are used when we communicate.

By the end of the course you will be able to: 

• structure clear and coherent messages for common communication purposes at work
• flex your communication to ensure positive interactions with others
• strengthen the impact and clarity of your messages with vocal and physical presence
• stay focused and receptive when listening, making others feel valued and understood
• use a range of strategies and digital tools to develop and maintain relationships and networks.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL): B2 and above

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is an international standard for describing language ability. Track your progress.

Prefer to join a full-day workshop?

This course can also be delivered intensively as a full-day Interpersonal Communication Skills workshop focused purely on skills for working professionals over one, two or three days. 

This course develops the skills required to deliver clear and engaging presentations that are relevant to a range of stakeholders’ needs. The course encourages participants to create presentations which contain the appropriate amount of information and level of detail for your audience. A variety of different presentation techniques are introduced in order to appeal to various audience preferences.

Through this essential course, you will develop a strong foundation in planning, structuring, and delivering highly-effective presentations. You will be able to craft key messages that capture stakeholders’ attention. You and your organisation will strengthen its professional image through memorable presentations that make a strong impression and inspire stakeholder action.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Craft relevant, complete presentations that achieve desired outcomes based on detailed understanding of audience needs and expectations 
• Give clear, concise, coherent presentations that encourage and enable the audience to take appropriate, timely action
• Engage presentation audiences from the start through targeted verbal, vocal and visual techniques

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL): B2 and above

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is an international standard for describing language ability. Track your progress.

Prefer to join a full-day workshop?

This course can also be delivered intensively as a full-day Presentation Skills 1 workshop focused purely on skills for working professionals over one, two or three days. 

This short 20-hour pronunciation course is for students who wish to improve their ability to speak English more effectively, with clearer pronunciation and greater fluency.

By the end of the course you will be able to: 

• articulate English sounds and words correctly
• identify the differences between similar sounds
• understand word stress and its importance for clear communication
• understand and use sentence stress to convey meaning more clearly
• understand the features of connected speech 
• vary your intonation to communicate meaning precisely. 

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL): B2 and above

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) is an international standard for describing language ability. Track your progress.

Prefer to join a full-day workshop?

This course can also be delivered intensively as a full-day Say it Clearly workshop focused purely on skills for working professionals over one, two or three days.