What makes one set of words more convincing than another, and how can language best be put to work in the service of diplomacy, international relations, business, and all other aspects of contemporary life?
This workshop promotes language awareness as a means of improving the skills of opinion shapers. Its primary objective is to alert participants to the power and particularities of implicit communication. This is an area of interaction that has largely been overlooked by the literature on effective communication, but which it is nevertheless essential to master if we are to achieve our objectives effectively. Implicit communication includes codes, connotations, implications, presuppositions, ambiguity and indirectness. Since successful communication has much to do with reading intentions and contexts correctly, insights are provided into relevant cultural, social and psychological variables.
The workshop is exercise driven and requires active participation. The final exercise will be based on a Hard Talk simulation aimed to develop the linguistic skills essential for effective persuasion and constructive dialogue.
Although the workshop is run in English, the lessons learned are applicable to all languages and participants are not expected to have an academic background in linguistics to actively engage in the discussions.
All participants who complete the workshop will receive certificate issued by DiploFoundation.
Workshop facilitator
Dr Biljana Scott was trained as a linguist (BA in Chinese, M.Phil and D.Phil in Linguistics, University of Oxford). She is a Senior Lecturer in Language and Diplomacy online course at DiploFoundation, and an Associate of the China Centre, University of Oxford, where she has taught for the last 25 years.
Details
1. The workshop consists of two sessions, as follows:
- Friday, 16th December, 17.00 – 20.00 hrs CET
- Saturday, 17th December, 12.00 – 17.00 hrs CET
Click here to read the full programme and check the workshop schedule.
2. Venue: Diplo Centar, Braničevska 12a, Belgrade, Serbia
3. The workshop is offered free of charge, but due to the limited number of places (maximum 20 participants) applications will be assessed on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
For further information please contact Mr Andrej Škrinjarić or +381 11 4085130