Nick Inman BSc
Effective Communication
and Team Building in English
Communication happens when two people are willing to participate in sending a message (information and ideas) between them. It is always a one-off spontaneous, collaborative process. Effective communication is when the receiver gets the message exactly as intended. Some people are natural communicators. Most of us have to be made aware of how the process works. There are many ways to obstruct or distort a message and just as many ways to ensure it gets through safely but they have to be prepared and practised. In professional contexts it is vital to use the best communicative techniques available. On my courses I show how pre-conceived notions about pronunciation and grammar – correct and incorrect English – can get in the way of the present-moment nature of contacting another person. Starting with the basics, students learn to set up the best conditions for effective communication and then perceive the way in which the other person prefers to communicate. From there, we develop a range of tools that can be adapted to the delivery and reception of information to suit each interlocutor and the prevailing circumstances.
Communicating in a foreign language can add a degree of difficulty but also offers an opportunity for rich exchanges. I believe than anyone, with the appropriate guidance, can attain a functional level of English. As an educationalist working in higher education (from undergraduate level to masters), my approach is to eliminate the English that no one needs as a first priority: it may be good to know 160 irregular verbs but only a quarter of them are essential. In class, my mission is to discover what each student needs and to give him or her a chance to practice in a nurturing environment. My work enables business students to have an immersive, simulated real-world experience to develop functional English communication skills.
The Skills of Effective Communication
- Self expression
- Speaking in public
- Intonation and elocution
- Pitching
- Presenting
- Understanding and interpreting information
- Empathy and soft skills
- Co-operation and creating consensus
- Bridge building
- Understanding and avoiding communication breakdowns
- Non verbal communication
- Visual communication
- Written forms of conveying messages
- Websites and online interaction
Education
Nick has a Bachelor Sciences Degree in Politics (Bristol University); a TEFL certicate; and a Post-Graduate Degree in Higher Education (Leeds University).
University Teaching
I have worked for a number of years as a freelance teacher for the GEA and TC departments of the IUT Tarbes (now part of UTTOP) and I also participate in Masters programmes (Management and Human resources) at CESI in Pau. I work with hands on, practical, task-based, real-world simulation modules and exercises drawn from theatre.
About Nick Inman
Born in Harrogate (Yorkshire, UK) 1956. Travelled to India overland via Afghanistan in 1977. Founder and director of the Harrogate Fringe Festival, early 1980s. Resident of the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. First book published in 1984. Moved to Spain in 1985. Deputy editor of Costa Blanca News, 1990. Contributing editor of Charming Small Hotels Guide Spain. Contributor to Lookout Magazine and many other publications, including The Guardian, The Yorkshire Post and The Financial Times. Moved to London 1993. Assistant editor of Playdays magazine, 1993. Senior editor for the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness series 1994-1999. Relocated to Southwest France in 2002. Currently working as as a writer, translator and teacher of effective business communication to undergraduates at the University of Tarbes and CESI engineeering school, Pau. Columnist for The Connexion – France’s English-language newspaper.
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