My thoughts on...

Welcome to my toolkit, where I share my thoughts on topics discussed in class.

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My overall conclusion for this academic year.

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Language as a commodity

- Learn how to lose your foreign accent. Sell confidence, self-development.

- Learn how to speak as a true leader. Sell status, leadership identity and authority.

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#2

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Leadership discourse

#1

Leaders or managers do not need theories, as they won’t be able to study and go through the theoretical part. Due to lack of time, they want (deliberate) practice and practical training where they learn to:

inspire and motivate their employees through language

speak as a true leader

present the organization as “we” (ventroliquism)

They may dress and act as leaders, yet they still do not speak as leaders.

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Gender-neutral language

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MPC and languages

#3

How does MPC police language use? 

Firstly, courses such as Taal in Bedrijf and Specialisatie Bedrijfscommunicatie teach us to use clear and plain language in written as well as spoken communication. 

Secondly, we must also practice speaking standard Dutch in formal settings. This means that we must loose our local accents, because when you have heavily-accentuated language,  people will take you less serious. Especially in formal conversations, for example, did you ever hear a CEO talking in his local dialect while addressing his employees? Well, me neither, because it would not be appropriate. While doing so, he looses his “power of words”.

How does MPC commodify its subdomains of management and communication? 

We are introduced to various genres and specific vocabulary, as communication is of great importance, no matter the job.

How does MPC resist or facilitate the ‘stampede towards English’?

Well, they offer the same courses in Dutch and in English. Yet, I would like to add that the level of English wasn’t always that great. For example, one professor would cause instant ‘giggling’, because while he meant “Bear with me”, the whole class understood -every single time by the way- “Beer with me”. 

How does MPC sell ‘upwardly mobile trajectories’ to prospective students?

MPC convinces prospective students that they offer both of best worlds: business and business communication. Plus, they present language as a commodity: we as soon-to-be communication specialists possess all the tricks of the trade called internal and external communication.

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#2

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Plain Language

#2 - Language as a commodity.

Plain language (also called Plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. Language that is plain to one set of readers may not be plain to others 

At the begin of 2015, radio host Jan Hautekiet launched the Heerlijk Helder-campagne, in which he promoted plain language. 

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The power of language

#1 - the text below was printed on an image I found online. As I took a closer look, I noticed it was full of typos, so I decided to ditch the image and keep the text.

How improving your language skills improves your success

- Our language is the one thing we cannot hide except by our silence.

- Our ability to use our language and the extent of our vocabulary will determine our income and our future.

- You should spend 15 minutes each day reading something, especially material calculated to stretch your mind more.

- You should add five new words to your vocabulary each week.

- Our ability to translate our thoughts and ideas into words in a powerful and effective way is inextricably linked to our growth in the world of business or any organization.

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If communication does not take place, business does not take place.

One of the respondents of Louhiala-Salminen and Kankaanranta’s research

#7

English language competence and genre knowledge:

- Competence in English was taken for granted

- Grammar was not perceived nearly as important for successful communication as specialized vocabulary and related genres.

“In other words, the shared vocabulary [know-why] of the specific field -and the shared genres and genre knowledge [know-how] which such vocaburary implies- were perceived as essential for doing the work.”

This reminds me of the first class of the academic year, where we discussed Fairclough’s quote about know-how (genres), know-that (discourses) and know-why (concepts). We concluded that business is communication is social action is talk and text... So, languages in use.

Yet, I wonder where having a heavy accent fits in this? Would it be of importance or wouldn’t it matter as the speaker knows the specific vocabulary?

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#6

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Twitter for dummies

#5

How this social media has changed our personal communication, as well as our professional communication. Not to forget our (improving) communicative skills.

Communicate effectively with your target audience or followers within a limited amount of characters = New communicative skill developed through deliberate practice

I also see a link with the Twitter assignment of one of my other courses, Specialisatie Bedrijfscommunicatie (SBC). I already knew of Twitter, yet I hesitated or better said... resisted signing up! Because my initial thought was, I have nothing interesting to share with the online community and nobody is interested in what I have to say. And I didn’t feel like “being passively active” on another social media platform. Even after finishing this assignment, I still firmly believe that Twitter just isn’t my thing. Tweeting for business, communication and school related topics - Suuuuuure, no problem. Tweeting about my personal life and thoughts - No thanks. 

My main struggle with this assignment was the limited amount of characters. More than once I found myself deleting, rewriting, editing, deleting, rewriting, editing before posting my tweet... And sometimes I even deleted everything because I didn’t know how to keep my message short and sweet. 

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'Know-how' is one thing. Putting your knowledge into words is another. Yet, the real challenge is getting your message across in an efficient and effective way.

Stephenie De Cort

#17

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#4

Crisis communication specialist at the Fire department of Antwerp, Bert Brugghemans showed us how social media is a vital part of crisis communication and how, for example, Twitter has actually helped to improve the first response strategy.

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#3

Jeroen Wils explained that professional communicators should master various communicative competences and skills.

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Collab (B)ELF

#2

Professor: What did you learn in Hazewinkel that speaks to/contradicts/corroborates Louhiala-Salminen and Kankaanranta?

Me: I have learned that professional communication has changed over the past decade. Now there is social media (skype, e-mail, twitter,...) and collaborative work methodes (such as Google docs, teamwork,...).

Professor: What are the consequences of this technical developments?

Me: Well, this implies that professional communication specialists must develop new communicative competences. For example, I have recently noticed that communication specialists are now supposed to master graphic design, to be an expert in the business field, to have all the know-how,...

Professor: How do you feel about this?

Me: It actually frustrates me. I do believe that this is possible, after having more experience, you will gain expertise by deliberate practice. But for recently graduated students, these standards are too high. They can't expect us to be experts in all these areas of knowledge. Instead, they may or must demand the willingness and motivation to practice a certain skill deliberately.

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Rapid changes in work environments, particularly advancing globalization and new technology, have highlighted the need for expanding our knowledge of the elements that constitute communicative competence in global encounters.

L. Louhiala-Salminen and A. Kankaanranta

#1

If communication is mostly nonverbal, is video the solution? - Maybe, maybe not.

We must acknowledge that the context of professional communication has changed over the past years. Nowadays, it isn’t unusual to hold a conference call over Skype with business partners in different parts of the world. This communicative innovation is easy, cheap, accessible and means less travel expenses. 

58% say they are travelling less for business purposes

59% say they are using technology more for remote business meetings

However, still 84% say they prefer in-person meetings, because 

85% says they build stronger, more meaningful business relationships

77% says they are able to read body language and facial expressions

75% says there is more social interaction, ability to bond with co-workers/clients