Here are seven ways having good English skills can help you succeed in business.
1. It shows your willingness to go beyond basic business standards.
These days, regardless of your background and upbringing, many bosses will automatically expect you to know the language. Even if you received education in a different language or come from a place where English is barely spoken. Today you are expected to know English.
This means that in order to impress your interviewer or boss now, you have to show that you are extremely fluent and competent in both speaking and writing the language.
2. It will help you to communicate better with your colleagues.
Working in an office means teamwork and collaboration. Even if you are an introvert, you will have to interact with your colleagues. And that will be difficult if you don’t know the language they speak very well. In a worst-case scenario, it may even lead to misunderstandings that might put your job at stake.
Similarly, you need to know the right people to get the best job or a promotion at work. For that you need superior networking skills. Learning business English helps you to develop both your language and interpersonal skills.
3. It is important for delivering presentations and speeches.
As mentioned before, business English is important for effective communication. You cannot deliver a presentation to your team or be in charge of a board meeting if you speak in your native tongue and if no one else in that room speaks that language. So you need to speak the “common tongue” well, so you can translate your thoughts and ideas into coherent sentences that everyone can understand and respond to. Just having a great idea isn’t enough. You have to be able to express it to your audience.
4. Good pronunciation always makes a good first impression.
Speaking and writing business English are two different skills—you may write well, but unless you can speak clearly and fluently, you are unlikely to make an impact in the workplace. People do judge you by the way you speak.
So wherever you work, it is best to research the type of language that is spoken there, and try matching your accent more closely to the native one, to better blend in. If your interviewer gets the impression that you are at home with the language, you are already halfway to getting the job.
5. It allows you to travel.
If you have always dreamed of working for an international company or travelling around the world for business, English is the most likely language to help you communicate with strangers. After all, you don’t want to get into a situation where you are in a foreign country and no one can understand what you are saying.
6. It gives you an edge in other jobs as well.
If you have a full-time job or run your own business, but also do night shifts or part-time jobs to supplement your income, you probably already know that your English proficiency will give you an edge over other applications. Whether it is waiting tables, babysitting, being a shop assistant, helping with events or even walking someone’s pet dog, your knowledge of the English language may come in handy.
7. It allows you to express yourself in a language that everyone understands.
As I mentioned before, English is the “lingua franca” of the world due to Westernization and globalization. So being fluent in English is essentially a survival strategy in today’s competitive world. It automatically improves your chances of climbing the corporate ladder.
The way you speak and communicate is also linked to your interpersonal skills, leadership qualities and level of empathy (ability to relate to other people). So mastering the language will help you master all the “soft skills” and “life skills” you need to succeed in the workplace, too!
To improve your business English, your best option is to sign up for a proper business English course, online or offline, depending upon your needs and convenience.
Coaches at Burkley Global have many years of proven experience in business and assisting non-native English speakers in achieving their best in the business environment. Click here to sign up for one of our English Business Coaching packages.
Ready to give it a go? Then sign up here for your free, no-obligation trial session today!