Beyond the Language of Meetings: Culture in a Business Context
January 8th, 2011
2:00pm to 5:00pm
Venue: Telecom ParisTech
Presented by Linda S. Vignac, an expert in Intercultural
Communication, Management and Pedagogy
So what happened at the meeting? Learners knew how to express ideas and opinions, agree and disagree, make suggestions... Yet when the meeting started, Sergio wouldn't let them finish their sentences; Yomika didn't say a word and Jim rushed through all the items on the agenda without leaving any time for discussing alternatives.
This workshop will be the opportunity for teachers to experience firsthand the affect of cultural differences on communication through a meeting simulation involving members of an international team. The simulation will be followed by debriefing with a presentation of the cultural dimensions involved, some useful teaching points, the exchange of ideas and questions.
Linda S. Vignac is a Franco-American pedagogue and teacher trainer and has been creating dynamic training activities for over 20 years. She began her career as an ESL Teacher/Trainer at Langues et Entreprises, one of Paris' leading corporate training companies, where she created and facilitated programs for adult professionals from a wide range of sectors: banking & finance, automobile, pharmaceutical, aerospace, insurance, hotel & tourism etc. At Langues et Enterprises still today, she is the Director of Training & Program Design as well as an author and independent consultant. Her responsibilities include ongoing training and mentoring of trainers representing over 30 nationalities. She creates and facilitates workshops and seminars on intercultural communication, management, team-building and pedagogy in both English and French throughout Europe.