Communicating the American Way

This book is designed for foreign-born professionals working in the U.S. who already possess good English skills, and yet are not polished communicators in a U.S. business environment. We provide practical advice – with student and client anecdotes interspersed throughout the text – and help foreign-born professionals change their communications skills and style to become more effective in typical business situations such as: managing meetings, understanding U.S. negotiation tactics, writing effective e-mails, delivering U.S.-style presentations, using Power English to stand out as a leader, and other communication areas such as how to reduce accents that interfere in business transactions. As a result of reading this book, the readers will be able to fit in better into the American corporate culture; they will gain a better understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses in business communications in an American environment, where most foreigners feel a need for honest feed-back but never receive it. They will be able to understand why, despite their good English, they are frequently misunderstood and can’t get the results they want, and they will learn strategies to become better communicators in typical business situations, such as meetings, presentations, conference calls, job interviews, etc. The readers will enjoy a variety of practical, actionable advice they can use immediately. Written in simple, accessible English, the book will function as a how-to guide for any foreign-born managers faced with the challenge of getting their U.S. audience on board; the light-hearted style, with lots of anecdotes and real-life experiences, will make for an enjoyable, captivating reading. Each chapter will have boxes and illustrations providing examples of typical pitfalls for foreigners in specific situations, with a short list of do’s and don’ts for foreigners (e.g., do’s and don’ts in meetings, on e-mail, etc.)ß