Social and Professional Interaction in English: Face-to-Face Communication at Conferences and Events (108)

15 April 2025

Ann Humphry-Baker

Would you like to feel more confident when interacting in English in social and professional situations? This workshop gives you the language skills to improve your social interaction in English.

Establishing and maintaining a professional network is essential for doctoral candidates not only while studying, but also in their professional lives for developing their career and establishing cooperative partnerships. Striking up and maintaining a conversation is not always easy but there are tools that can help you.

We will be looking at the linguistic and communicative skills you need for interacting at conferences and other professional events.

Topics covered in the workshop will include:

• Greetings and introductions
• Initiating and maintaining a conversation
• Talking concisely and effectively about your research
• Asking effective questions and responding to questions (formal and informal)
• Expressing opinions
• Telling stories
• Making a good impression
• Maintaining relationships

Learning outcomes:

The doctoral candidate should have the communicative, linguistic and social skills to help them conduct effective social and professional interaction in an international (English-speaking) academic environment.

Pedagogical methods:

An interactive workshop with theoretical and linguistic input followed by role play and discussion.

Intended Audience:

Doctoral candidates from all disciplinary backgrounds with English level from B1-B2

(Please evaluate your level of English using the Council of Europe's self-evaluation grid, which you will find here. The training will be given in English.)

University of Fribourg

Date: Tuesday 15th April 2025

Schedule: 09:15 to 17:15

Location: University of Fribourg

Trainer:

Ann Humphry-Baker has been teaching English for the last 40 years and specialises in English for Academic Purposes. She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and holds an Honours Degree in English and French from the University of Southampton and a Master's in Education from the University of Manchester. She taught at the Centre de Langues at the University of Lausanne and the HEIG-VD in Yverdon-les-Bains, is now retired and is continuing to give workshops in a variety of settings.

Participants are eligible for reimbursement of incurred travel expenses by train between the city of their university and the location of the workshop (half-fare card, 2nd class).

15