COMMUNICATION IN THE CORPORATE WORLD

Lead-in
1. How would you describe your communication skills?
2. Does a good communicator contribute to the success of his/her company?
3. Does motivation lead to effective communication?
4. Is good leadership about communicating?

Reading
Addressing the Needs of the Audience
 In an ongoing crisis, clear communication is more important and more difficult than when
things seem normal. Employees and customers are hungry for information, so we’re tempted to
pull together presentations and communicate with urgency instead of with careful planning. But if
we present without addressing our audience’s core questions of “what”, “how”, and “why”, we’ll
sow more confusion than we bring clarity.
Let’s put it this way: If your boss comes to you and says, “I need you take on this additional
project on top of your current work load,” what is your first question going to be? It probably has
nothing to do with setting your alarm, re-arranging your schedule, or any other version
of how you’re going to get the extra work done. When someone asks you to alter a current
behavior, your first question is usually why? Because you’re not going to try something new or
hard unless you’re motivated to do so.
Your audience is no different. If they don’t know why a new action is necessary, they won’t
be motivated to help you. Communicators often overlook answering “why” for two key reasons:
- They assume explaining “what” and “how” is the fastest way to influence their audience.
- They think the answer to “why” is so self-evident it doesn’t need unpacking.
Think about a difficult situation where it’s critical for people to rally and align. Let’s say
you are confident that if your audience executes your plan, your company will pull out unscathed.
You know how to do it. You pour all those insights into a passionate presentation. You get a
smattering of applause and then…nothing happens. Have you been there? You’ve worked through
your scenarios, planning, research, validation and poured energy into communicating “what”
needs to happen and “how” to do it. You’ve walked away disappointed by the lack of response
from the very people whose lives will be improved if they would simply do “what” you said “how”
you said to do it.
Leaders explain the “what” of their insights and the “how” of applying the findings. This
is how most leaders approach their talks, especially professionals who are deep subject matter
experts. They focus on the content they want to share. Many leaders don’t even consider
the “why” from the audience perspective because it seems so self-evident to them, they think it’s
obvious to everyone.
On the other hand, let’s say you inject your talk with a compelling of “why”— “We can
reach more people and help them advance their careers if we release our content for free.”
Answering “why” often leads to a human, who will benefit from the action you’re asking people
to take. Here are three strategies to help you get to the heart of the “why” in your next presentation.
Ask some good “what” questions.
The answers to “why” often hide in our subconscious and you may have to coax them out.
Sometimes, you can get to “why” by asking yourself a few good “what” questions such as: What
is at stake if we do or do not do this? What will the future look like if we get this done? What would
the state of the human condition be if we did or didn’t do this?
Another way to get to “why” is to have someone else ask you “so what” until you can’t
answer it anymore. That’ll get you to the root of “why.” Follow up with “because”.
Just considering the “why” isn’t enough — you have to clearly articulate the “why”. Think about
what action you’re asking your audience to take, and then follow it with “because.” For example,
“We need to improve our process, because ____.” Whatever reason follows a “we need to ______,
because _______”. Whatever that second blank is, will answer the question of “why.”
Address skeptics and resistance by addressing potential perspectives you’ve eliminated. It
might sound counterintuitive to reveal anything other than the action you’re influencing them to
take, but you can better persuade an audience by sharing ideas you abandoned and, you guessed
it, “why” you’ve eliminated them. By sharing the ideas that you considered, explored, tested, and
then abandoned, you’ll demonstrate that you’ve thought through all the possibilities.
Answering “why” is an act of empathy and adds a layer of persuasion to your
communications. When people know why they’re being asked to do something, they’re much
more likely to do it. In times like these, your customers and your employees need your wisdom
and leadership more than ever, and you have a unique opportunity to move them forward in the
midst of uncertainty. As you seek to inspire and motivate them to do the next right thing, don’t
forget to include the “why”. (adapted from Nancy Duarte, Good Leadership is About
Communicating “Why”, in Harvard Business Review1)

Focus on Vocabulary
I. Match the words on the left with the words on the right to make collocations:

1. bring a. ideas
2. share b. matter
3. think c. through
4. sow d. into
5. subject b e. load
6. insight f. content
d
7. work g. on
e
8. release h. clarity
f
9. pour i. confusion
10. take j j. energy
g

II. Find the definition (1-10) of the following terms:

persuasion, empathy, counterintuitive, scathe, articulate, perspective, coax, leadership,

insight, address

1. the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance perspective

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https://hbr.org/2020/05/good-leadership-is-about-communicating-why
 2. to influence or gently urge by caressing or flattering coax
3. the office or position of a leader leadership
4. the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously
experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present
without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an
objectively explicit manner empathy
5. to communicate directly, to deal with address
6. the act or result of apprehending the inner nature of things or of seeing intuitively insight
7. the act or process or an instance of persuading, an opinion held with complete assurance persuasion
8. to harm or injure scathe
9. to give clear and effective utterance to: to put into wordsarticulate
10. contrary to what one would intuitively expect counterintuitive

III. Find the spelling or grammar mistake in each line and correct it:

What does it take to run a successful business? Some people tell you its the art of identifying
and seyzing an opportunity - the union of preparation and luck. Some say preparation and
education best prepare people for the rigurs of the business world. Still others claim it’s all about
connections. But none of them don’t offer the whole story.
There’s one majoring element that’s essential: effective communication. Indeed, strong
communication, more than any other factor, may be the leading predicter of business success. In
some way or another, communication contribute to all those other factors. Communication helps
us learn about new opportunities, manage our education, and ultimate maintain and cultivate
important connections. But it also helps within at business; with employees, customers, and
shareholders; and in virtual every other aspect of business.
(adapted from Nick Rojas, 10 Must-Have Communication Skills for Business Success 2)

IV. Put the following questions in the proper category:

1. What are some of the best decisions you’ve made related to your studies? a
2. Why soft skills are a must nowadays? a
3. What got you into this line of business? a
4. Who, exactly, developed the communication strategy?c
5. Do you want to see a draft of the business plan before the final version? b
6. How did networking events help you improve your communication with multicultural team
members? a
7. Would you like to work in a small company or in a multinational? b

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https://www.salesforce.com/ca/blog/2015/06/10-communication-skills-for-business-success.html
8. Where did the team members sign?c
9. What do you think about this application? a
10. How do you know that the online feedback about the products was not taken into account? c
11. What are your professional goals and priorities at the moment? a
13. What is a good job?a
14. Do you like to speak in front of a large audience? b
15. Can you describe your best quality device/gadget? a
16. Would you like to study abroad? b
17. What exactly do you mean by an exit strategy? c
18. How can we make this webpage more appealing? a

Open-ended questions Closed-ended questions Probing questions

A B C

V. Write six technical open-ended (3) and closed questions (3) similar to the examples
below:

Could you please explain the back-end Javascript code template used for this webpage?
Do you want to delete your Google account?

VI. Choose the correct option:

1. If you are trying to become more innovative, communications should ………… B your
entire effort from start to finish.
a. maintain
b. underpin
c. mould
d. apprehend
2. They must work with employee communications, human relations, business unit
leaders and the C-suite, including the CEO, to …………..
A the importance of employee
innovation to the company’s strategic direction.
a. reinforce
b. prevail
c. value
d. spare
3. It’s critical to hone key messages conveyed by executives and others at ………….. B
meetings and events, in videos, articles and presentations.
a. challenging
b. companywide
c. dire
d. conjecture
4. In Silicon Valley, startups rely on nearly everyone to …………. B their strengths to
develop game changers.
a. charge
b. contribute
c. present
d. deliver
5. In big companies, cooperation and contribution tend to be more bureaucratic ………….C
and political, which stifles open communication and progress.
a. dynamic
b. global
c. siloed
d. veracious
6. Innovation is more of a team sport with diverse players rather than the traditional
…………..D of like-minded engineers following rigid processes with little perspective
from the outside world.
a. field
b. space
c. flow
d. approach
7. Winning innovations come from ………….. teams harnessing marketing, sales, human
resources, operations, engineering or business development.
a. cross-functional
b. disruptive
c. tolerant
d. humane
8. With open communication, ………….. B challenge each other, validate and co-develop
truly marketable solutions — not science experiments.
a. innovaters
b. innovators
c. competitors
d. distributors
9. Companies should invest in a strong communication platform to ………….. team-
based innovation.
a. drag
b. foster
c. match
d. offer
 10. My company pervasively communicates via multimedia channels the attitudes of
innovation, such as be urgently curious, don’t go it C
………….., empower and
support, explore diverse perspectives, stay ambitious, create a legacy of value and
discover and engage.
a. now
b. away
c. alone
d. such (adapted from Alex Goryachev, Three Reasons Why Innovation Is All About
Communication, in Forbes3)

VII. Translate the following paragraph into English:

Stilul de comunicare al liderilor ar trebui să invite la discuţii deschise, continue şi

transparente astfel încât oamenii să se simtă încurajaţi să-şi exprime opiniile şi sugestiile.
Comunicarea pluridirecţională oferă feedback continuu, crucial pentru învăţare şi procesarea
schimbărilor organizaţionale. Pe lângă îndeplinirea anumitor obiective, comunicarea internă
contribuie la crearea şi reflectarea unei culturi a comunicării, în cadrul căreia angajaţii de la toate
nivelurile se simt liberi să îşi împărtăşească ideile, opiniile şi sugestiile în mod deschis. Aceasta
va contribui la o mai bună înţelegere a angajaţilor, la construirea încrederii, stimularea implicării
şi încurajarea diversităţii. (Comunicarea organizaíonală internă4)

VIII. Read the paragraphs below. Compose a coherent and cohesive paragraph which
fits into the gap below (group work):

The world of work has changed. It used to be that most of us worked as a part of a process,
whether on an assembly line, managing interactions with customers, or any one of a thousand other
processes. Processes are ongoing, repeatable and never have an ending.
While there will always be some jobs and tasks which are process focused, most work now is a
project or has a project component to it. Any task that has a distinct beginning and ending, or
follows a specific life cycle is a project. Examples include: planning a company meeting, writing
a new brochure, implementing the new software system, etc.
.............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................

3
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/02/05/three-reasons-why-innovation-is-all-about-
communication/#1ece6c826e5c
4
https://www.pr-romania.ro/articole/comunicare-interna/142-comunicarea-organizationala-interna.html?showall=1
 Asking questions is communicating, but so is giving updates. Checking in with others and
coordinating schedules. If you are a project leader the importance of communication can’t be
overstated. If you are any team member other than the leader, communication is just as important.
You can’t leave it to the leader. Check in with others. Get their input. Find out when the pieces
you will need will be completed. Update people on your progress. Communicate! (adapted from
Kevin Eikenberry, Nine Ways to Contribute to Project Team Success 5)

Communication Skills

IX. Go to https://youtu.be/eIho2S0ZahI, watch How to speak so that people want to listen

by Julian Treasure (TED TALKS) and do the tasks below (pair work):

According to Julian, which are the 7 deadly sins of speaking?

What is dogmatism?
Explain the acronym HAIL which encompasses the principles for speaking powerfully
and for making change in the world.
According to the presentation, we can increase the power of our speaking by using
certain tools such as ………….
In your opinion, is it difficult to communicate through prosody?
Provide the synonyms of the following terms: exhaustive, rummage, conflicted, meta
language, repetitive, context

X. Fill in the blanks with the following words and answer the questions below:

assumptions, skills, dialogue, through, conversation, thought, cooperative, anxiety, shielded,

mood

Almost everyone has a device on them at all times, and the things taking away our face-to-
face contact are the new ways technology is presenting ……….. dialogue. Texting, calling and video
chatting are just some of the many ways communication can be passed through……… . Today, people
would rather send a text to someone about something rather than saying it to them in person. It is
easier, less stressful and less ………..
thoughtabout when in the process. This to some seems good, but it

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https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/nine-ways-to-contribute-to-project-team-success.php
has a large negative effect. This can damage socializing and make it harder for people to cooperate
and discuss things due to the ………..
anxiety of not knowing what to say or expect in response.
On the other hand, when over a phone, people are basically ………..
shieldedfrom that. Another
negative effect of texting is miscommunication often had between receiving and sending messages.
When talking to someone in person, you can see their expression, feel their ……….
mood and understand
their tone when they speak with you. Over texting, you can only interpret what they are saying and
asumptionand unwelcome conflict.
how they are saying it, which more often than not, leads to false …………
Losingconversetion
………… with another person may cause you to start losing communication with yourself.
Meaning, the self-reflecting, thinking and coming up with a reason for something ………. skils can
diminish. Texting takes away those cooperative
………. skills if used incorrectly. (adapted from Shay Davis,
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Communication Today )

1. Does texting play an important role in your daily life?

2. Has technology diminished your cooperation and interaction with peers?
3. Do you agree with the opinions expressed in the paragraph?

Grammar Practice

If Clauses - Mixed Types

I. Complete the Conditional Sentences. Decide whether to use Type I, II or III:

1. If I had time, I ..............the ad-hoc meeting.

2. If you ................at least two foreign languages, you will get along with the customers
perfectly.
3. If they had made a business plan, their profit .................
4. If she ...............to see us, we will arrange a meeting with the team leader.
5. I would have told you about the bid , if I ................
6. Would you mind if I ................the solution proposed by Jack?
7. If they ...................us, we would have built an effective strategy to retain our employees.
8. My co-worker .................me at the station if the manager is away .
9. If I .................. our business, would you write an article to promote us?
10. If my father ................me, I'll have the seed money to found a small company.

II. Correct the mistakes where necessary:

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 1. If I will be you, I would tell him straightaway about his constant lateness.
2. If you contact him, do not have great expectations concerning his involvement in the
project.
3. If I knew, I would never have done it.
4. Unless you taken things easy, you'll be exhausted soon.
5. Had I known about her visit, I'd have come immediately.
6. If I ...... you, I would never have spent so much money to refurbish the office.
7. Provided they got there half an hour before it starts, they will have time to prepare the
documents for the business partners.
8. Unless you stop smoking in the office, you'll have legal problems.
9. If you see him, will you tell him to contact us?
10. But for her help, I'd have been unemployed.
11. If you meet her at the conference, what would you ask her?
12. Suppose there was a problem, what measures would you have taken?
13. My boss would be able to see you if you get there before five o'clock.
14. Provided you work hard, soon you will get promoted.
15. What would you do if the manager fires you?
16. Provided you will complete the application forms, you should be interviewed next week.
17. She wouldn’t have been so worried about the meeting if the chair person had explained
things better.
18. Unless you had been there, you could have helped me.
19. If I were in your shoes, I'd be very worried about the direction of the company.
20. If you'd told me earlier, I might be able to help you with the annual report.
21. How will she cope if she lost her job in this pandemic?
22. They would have invited you to the fair if you were nice to them.
23. We will develop the application if team members get along well.

III. Translate the following sentences into Romanian:

1. Had I known about his appointment with the stakeholders, I would have forwarded him our final
report..

2. Had he helped me with the project, I wouldn’t have spent so much money on advertising.

3. Should you want to study online, you must activate your institutional email and follow the steps
mentioned in the guide. .

4. Should you want to conduct a market survey, you must take into consideration a lot of aspects..

5. Were employees not to go on a strike, they would have lower salaries.

IV. Read each situation and choose the best sentence:

1. I wasn’t at the office. I didn’t attend the meeting.

If I was at the office, I would attend the meeting.
If I had been at the office, I would’ve attended the meeting.
If I would have been at the office, I attended the meeting.

2. I didn’t know Jack’s business partners were in town. I didn’t call him.
If I had known Jack’s business partners were in town, I would have called him.
I had called Jack if I had know his business partners were in town.
I would had called Jack if I have known his business partners were in town.

3. I didn’t know conducting this survey was important for our products. I didn’t conduct it.
If I knew this survey was important, I had conducted it.
If I would have known this survey was important, I had conducted it.
If I had known this survey was important, I would’ve conducted it.

4. I walked home from the meeting. My assistant was too tired to drive.
I hadn’t walked home from the meeting if my assistant wasn’t too tired to drive
I wouldn’t have walked home from the meeting if my assistant hadn’t been too tired to drive
I wouldn’t had walked home from the meeting if my assistant hadn’t been too tired to drive

5. Helen didn’t go to the supermarket. she thought it closed at 6pm. It closed at 7pm.
If she had known the supermarket had closed at 6pm, she would’ve gone.
If she knew the supermarket would have closed at 6pm, she would’ve gone.
Helen would’ve gone to the supermarket if she know it had closed at 6pm.

6. The manager took the memory stick from the table. He thought it was his, not mine.
If the manager would have known the memory stick was yours, he wouldn’t have taken it.
If the manager had known the memory stick was yours, he wouldn’t have taken it.
The manager hadn’t taken the memory stick if he knew it was yours.

7. I am late for work. I didn’t hear the alarm of my mobile phone.

If I heard the alarm of my mobile phone, I wouldn’t be late for work.
If I would had heard the alarm of my phone, I wouldn’t be late for work.
If I had heard the alarm of my mobile phone, I wouldn’t be late for work.

8. They didn’t see Mark at the fair. They wanted to speak to him about the corporate merger.
If they saw Mark at the fair, they would’ve spoken to him.
If they had seen Mark at the fair, they would’ve spoken to him.
If they would have seen Mark at the fair, they would’ve spoken to him.
V. Study the sentences and read the explanations in the box. Compose six sentences/situations
similar to the ones below:

If I draft the report, I would be tired tomorrow.

If I had drafted the report, I would have been tired.
If I had stayed at the office to celebrate the deal, I would be happy now.

In the first sentence, drafting the report is in the future and we imagine what the situation would
be. In the second sentence, the report is in the past and we imagine what would have happened if
the person had drafted it.
In the third sentence we used a mixed third and second conditional to describe a past possible
action (third conditional) with a present result (second conditional).

VI. Study the sentences below and decide if the explanation in brackets is correct or
incorrect:

If he hadn’t been angry that day, we would have closed the deal. (no anger = deal)
If he hadn’t been angry that day, we could have closed the deal. (no anger = maybe deal)
If he hadn’t been angry that day, we might have closed the deal. (no anger = possible deal)
If it hadn’t snowed, they would have delivered the computer parts.(no snow = possible delivery)
If it hadn’t snowed, they could have delivered the computer parts. (no snow = delivery)
If it hadn’t snowed, they may have delivered the computer parts. (no snow = maybe delivery)

VII. Match the sentences/phrases (1-13) below with the appropriate idiomatic expressions
(a-m):

1. If we have to use force.

2. If what people are saying is true, let’s agree that it is true.
3. If things turn out badly, here is what we can do.
4. If you want to be responsible then you must face difficulties.
5. Consider this possibility.
6. The chance to win if one tries hard.
7. A test to see if the thing really works.
8. Even if that is true.
9. Certain things will fail if they are not done in the correct order.
10. If something bad happened, we would probably hear about it.
11. You must work hard if you want big results.
12. You have to make noise if you want to get things done.
13. If you help me then I will help you too; let’s help each other!
 a. What if
b. No pain, no gain!
c. Acid test
d. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
e. Don’t put the cart before the horse.
f. A sporting chance
g. If push comes to shove
h. Be that as it may.
i. No news is good news!
j. The squeeky wheel gets the oil.
k. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!
l. If worst comes to worst
m. If the shoe fits, wear it!
(adapted from Idioms-If 7)

VIII. Complete the sentences below using inversion:

1. ......................., please do not hesitate to contact us at our office in Harbor Street.

2. Had he not been selected for a grant, ............................. .
3. Had I studied more about the role of listening in communication, ........................... .
4. Were the companies to collaborate, .......................... .
5. ............................, please ask to see the manager.
6. ............................., please let me know about their performance.
7. ............................., I would have applied earlier.
8. ............................., the pandemic would have affected many more companies.

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http://www.goenglish.com/Idioms/If.asp