Advanced Grammar for Business Communication Seminar
One Saturday ONLY!
Saturday, November 8, 2014, 9 AM – 4 PM (1-hour break for lunch. Lunch included!)
Location: Infinera Executive Briefing Center (140 Caspian Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94089)
This Full Day (6-hour) intensive seminar will help you achieve and maintain a professional image for yourself and your company through the documents you create. If you have never learned (or have forgotten) English grammar rules, this seminar is perfect for you.
The seminar covers the following topics:
- Punctuation, Capitalization, and other “Small Mistakes”
- Economy of Expression
- Sentence and Paragraph Focus
- Simple, Complex, and Compound Sentences
- Parallel Structure and the Importance of Patterns
- Who, Whom, Its, It’s, Should, Shall, and Other Difficult Word Choices
- Grammar vs. Style
We will begin the seminar with a discussion of grammar fundamentals and answer questions related to word choice: sometime vs. some time, e.g. vs. i.e., good vs. well, and many more. We will also discuss common mistakes related to plurals, possessives, spelling, and capitalization.
You will learn how to build clear and effective sentences by using phrases and clauses correctly. You will learn strategies for avoiding who/whom and that/which errors and also learn to reconstruct and manipulate sentences to present your intended message clearly.
You will analyze the most common punctuation mistakes and learn how to correct them using effective proofreading strategies. You will learn how to use semicolons, colons, dashes, commas, and other punctuation marks correctly.
We will discuss how sentence focus and document focus contribute to clear writing. We will also examine various writing styles and discuss how to cultivate an appropriate writing style for various workplace situations.
Bring your questions! We will dedicate a portion of every hour to answering your specific and individual grammar and writing questions. The seminar will be taught by two instructors, so one instructor will always be available to address your individual questions.
What is included?
- 6-hour seminar
- Handouts and reference materials
- Coffee and donuts in the morning
- 1-Hour lunch break (lunch will be provided)
About the Instructors:
Blythe J. Musteric, M.A. TESOL
Co-Founder, CEO, and Executive Coach
Ovient, Inc.
Blythe is an experienced communication consultant, a skilled educator, and an expert in curriculum development for the professional workplace. She has personally logged over 10,000 hours instructing individuals, small groups, and classes on professional communication skills. She has coached nonnative English-speaking executives and senior managers at many of Silicon Valley’s top companies. In addition, Blythe has developed and taught management seminars on working effectively with nonnative speakers. She has developed full courses based on original content in the areas of confident professional communication, presentations, polite communication, pronunciation and accent reduction, grammar, writing, vocabulary development, email and professional writing, and professional networking and small talk. She regularly gives presentations and leads workshops for English teaching professionals at TESOL conferences in California and around the country. Blythe is the author of the book, The Accent Diet: A Daily Program for Improving Your American English Pronunciation.
Marc J. Musteric, M.A. East Asian Languages
Co-Founder, COO, and Executive Coach
Ovient, Inc.
Marc has coached CEOs, CFOs, Senior VPs, and other senior managers at major technology firms throughout Silicon Valley, including Fortune 500 and Global 500 companies. He developed Ovient’s 5-step presentation development framework, co-authored The Accent Diet: A Daily Program for Improving Your American English Pronunciation, and wrote or co-wrote Ovient courses on spoken fluency, spoken communication, email communication, and business communication fundamentals. Marc is an advisor to the Fukuoka Center for Overseas Commerce in America, a Japanese government agency, and regularly reviews presentations from Japanese startups planning to enter the US market. Before co-founding Ovient, Marc worked in consulting and international relations, supporting international companies seeking to build a market presence in the U.S. Marc has logged over 5000 hours coaching professionals in Silicon Valley on improving their communication skills.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Is this seminar for native or nonnative English speakers?
A: Both native and nonnative English speakers are welcome at this seminar. While native and nonnative speakers may have different questions, the material in this seminar is useful for everyone. Many native English speakers have told us that they love this seminar because it helped them brush up on rules they had long forgotten. (Do you remember the difference between and en-dash, an em-dash, and a hyphen?)
Q: Where is this seminar located?
A: The seminar will be held at the Infinera Executive Briefing Center at 140 Caspian Ct., Sunnyvale, CA, 94089.
Q: I have questions about the seminar. Who can I call?
A: Feel free to call the Ovient office at 408-524-1649. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. You can also send us an email using the contact button on this page or post a question on our Facebook page.
Q: I cannot attend this seminar. Will you offer this again?
A: Due to a busy travel and enterprise training schedule, we are only able to offer public seminars on a limited basis. Therefore, we cannot guarantee when or if this course will be offered again. You can view all of our upcoming seminars here.
Q: If I have to cancel at the last minute, can I still get a copy of the materials?
A: Sure. After 11:59 PM on November 1 we cannot offer you a refund, but we are still happy to send you a copy of the materials. Call us at 408-524-1649 or send us an email to make arrangements for delivery.
Q: Is parking available?
A: Yes! There is plenty of free parking available.
Q: What time shoud I arrive?
A: Since this is a secure building, you will need to sign in when you arrive. This can take a few minutes, so we recommend arriving ten minutes early to make sure you do not miss any of the seminar.
Cancellation Policy: Registration may be canceled, with no charge, until 11:59 PM on November 1, 2014. Cancellations after this date will be charged the full tuition. We do not offer refunds or exchanges. Ovient reserves the right to cancel the class at anytime due to low enrollment or extenuating circumstances. If we need to cancel the class, you will be offered a full refund.