Using improvisation theater to learn and

practice business English

Use of business English during networking events and opportunities, for
example at conferences, parties and airports
Networking
Business English is vital in various types of business meetings, for example with
customers, suppliers and regional bosses
Business meetings
Do presentations in business English for an international audience
Presentations
Applying for an international job where business English is one of the
requirements
Job interview
Dealing with complaints from international customers in business English
Customer service
Slow progress over time due to:
Fear of making mistakes
Fast progress with our course: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
Our philosophy is that students need to
practice in order to make quick progress
We are aware that students are often afraid to
practice, because they are embarrassed to
make mistakes
Using the methods of impro theater our
students can practice their business English
without fear of making mistakes
Our motto is Dont think, just talk
With our exercises we challenge our students
to stop thinking about what to say and focus
on communicating
All our exercises are based on improvisation
theater, therefore our students are invited to
respond to the situation and just talk
Our role is that of a coach
A coach is not a teacher. We are not teaching
English. We help people train and practice
We provide a positive environment, where
mistakes dont matter (For example in our
role as coach we are not interested in
pointing out our students mistakes)
Impro makes students focus on the situation,
not on trying to speak perfect English
Improvised situations mimic real-life and are
more realistic than classrooms and help
students forget that they are in class
Impro is about paying attention and
contribute, not about being perfect
Impro stimulates playfulness
10 minutes: introduction
15 min: impro warm-up exercises
25 min: improvised business situations 1
10 min: break
30 min: improvised business situation 2
20 min: reflection
10 min: closing
Total: 120 minutes (2 hours)
Word At A Time:
Students stand in a circle, and proceed to tell a story one
word at a time. This game develops the ability to speak
the first word that comes into your head.
In order, the dialogue come out like this as an example
There spoken by the first person,
was said by second person,
once - third person,
a - fourth person,
child - fifth
named sixth,
Miguel - seventh person
During our course we practice with our
students the following business situations:
Networking and small talk
Sales meeting with foreign client
Business performance conversation with boss
Job interview
Meeting with bank about business financing
Dealing with a customer complaint
Price negotiation with a supplier
We are looking for employers with an interest
in sponsoring business English skills for their
employees
Our students are typically at intermediate
level of English and need practice in order to
advance
Group size during our course is typically 4-6
students
Our method is not a
classroom method
We do not teach
business English
We do not give
instructions
We create
opportunities for
practice
We have fun, we
laugh
In a playful way our
students actually use
business English in
realistic role plays
Lucho Herrera
Lucho Herrera
Peruvian
37 years
More than 15 years
experience in
management, shipping
and foreign trade
Experienced actor and
impro-teacher
Teacher at UPC and
Cenfotur
Lived in United States,
fluent in Spanish,
English and German
Jeroen Prinsen
Jeroen Prinsen
Dutch
36 years
10 years experience in
corporate finance and
HR
Experienced language
teacher
Teacher at Universidad
Cientfica del Sur
Lived in United
Kingdom, fluent in
English, Spanish and
Dutch
lucho@totalenglish.pe / 99 01 96191 (Lucho)
jeroen@totalenglish.pe / 99 46 74074 (Jeroen)