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23/07/07 Training: Advanced Report Writing
LONDON, UK - I’m just getting around to this post. A month ago I took a 2-day course in advanced report writing. Mileage varied, but the gist was business writing methodology, audience analysis, structuring, outlining, persuasive language styles, proof-reading, mind-mapping.
The best bits of these courses are always the side-line discussions. I took away a great deal when our trainer talked about communication styles to cross international cultures. The trainer drew a line on the flip-chart from top to bottom and explained it as high-context cultures (rituals/meanings) vs low-context cultures (casual hierarchy) with Japan at the top and Swiss Germans & Dutch at the bottom. The UK/Ireland is about 1/3 of the way up.
The higher context you are, the more concrete a verbal contract is, the more you need an introduction, and the more important your social standing is. Americans are in the middle of the line, they need an introduction, but they’ll give it themselves! When you hear this concept explained to you, it makes huge sense. To form a rapport with people, you need to be compatible. I now have a slider-scale tool to judge my tone of communication with any culture on-the-fly.
No doubt I’ve made a grammar mistake. Ironic. (Maybe that’s the Irish context?).
Tags: advanced report writing, capita learning, course, cultures, General, reports, Reuters, Training, writing
