Information for business clients

For employers

Many companies understand the value of investing in their staff to develop potential in existing or future roles. Communication is an essential element in building a strong team and public face.

It is important that companies are positive and encouraging when offering communication training to staff members, as language skill forms a key part of self-esteem. Making changes to how you communicate is always challenging, so it is important to have realistic expectations about the timeframe and what might be achievable. If you need advice about how to approach a communication problem in your team, you are welcome to contact us.

Some examples of how we have helped companies improve the value of staff:

• I.T. help-desk and project management staff: improved customer feedback and better teamwork as a result of vocabulary-focused training to correct pronunciation problems
• Key medical staff: resolved intercultural communication problems in a hospital setting and focused on speaking carefully and clearly with patients and nurses
• Advertising and real-estate sales: clearer presentation and promotion as a result of elocution lessons
• Warehouse staff: better English communication between staff from many backgrounds as a result of accent training

For employees

Not a native speaker of English? Business communication and style are a challenge for many non-native speakers, in addition to possible accent problems. We work with many clients in professions with frequent customer contact, or a lot of technical terminology (medicine, engineering, finance, etc) to help them master the language demands of these roles. The outcome is always greater confidence and a feeling that things are under better control. It can also help social interaction in the workplace.

Native speakers of English can also have problems with public speaking, pronouncing unfamiliar terminology, or speaking in an appropriate style. We have helped many clients in Melbourne and elsewhere in Australia overcome these issues which often affect self-confidence and career prospects.

Some of these issues can feel uncomfortable or embarrassing, but our job is to make you feel more confident. Our training is not like a formal classroom lesson and individual consultations mean that you can practise in a private environment.

Some examples of why you might want to use our services:

• You feel uncomfortable about aspects of your oral presentation
• Colleagues have commented on something about your speech
• You want to adapt your accent to be more like the accent of your audience
• You find it difficult to make small talk and connect with customers or colleagues
• You have a mixed accent from having lived in another English-speaking country and some of your audience find it a problem

• employees researching training for themselves that will be funded by their organisation.
• organisations planning training for one or more staff members.

If you belong to a different category, please go back to the Practical info page.

Note that we prioritise requests for one-on-one training, as group training is less effective for most of the skills development services that I offer.

Fees and terms

Our standard fee is currently A$190+GST per hour (=$209) by EFT.

We also accept all major credit cards with a 2-3% surcharge. Different fees apply for client-site visits.

For any advice or information, please contact us (below) with your training needs (reason for training, location, number of people to be trained, etc). As effective communication training is rarely as simple as many people believe, we will often need to ask you for further information.

Full terms are provided to all clients upon enquiry.