Go Straight for the Bush
Many of us might be familiar with the expression “beating about the bush”. It basically means avoiding the point. Given something to speak about or write on, we often indulge in it if we are not sure what exactly to say or don’t understand the topic. This can see you through a few situations in life but will surely go against you in professional life. When you appear in interviews or make presentations, you will be expected to stick to the topic. Digressions will not be appreciated.
For many of us, it becomes difficult initially to stop ourselves from deviating once we start speaking or writing. In academic spheres or debates between friends, one thing leads to another and before you know it, you have switched tracks. In professional life, there’s little time and you will be required to keep the pace up. Your speeches and written works need to be brief and to the point.
Practicing speaking at home or between friends is a good exercise i feel. Just choose a topic and set yourself a time limit of 5-10 minutes. Try to speak or write about it within that time. Stay focussed and suppress any urge to move away from the topic. Say or write only as much you know and do not be under the impression that you are expected to know everything. If you haven’t understood a question while facing an interview, request the interview panel to repeat the question or explain it a little so that you know exactly what is being asked. Rest assured it will be appreciated more than confusion and the consequent beating about the bush.
Think in English
Many of us are in the habit of talking to ourselves. When we are alone and don’t have anything important to do, various random thoughts drift in and out of our minds. Now if we are asked in which language we think or talk to ourselves, most of us will say that we think in our mother tongues. Even in response to a question in English, we think about the reply in our mother tongues and try to translate it into English. However, sometimes we find that we do not have/ know English equivalents for all the words in our regional languages which constitute our reply.
In professional lives, this might lead to the serious problem of being unable to express ourselves. You cannot always rehearse your speech while making presentations or explaining the nuances of a project to your clients or colleagues. You have no way of knowing what questions might be thrown at you or what new ideas you might get out of interactions. In order to be proficient in a language it is extremely important that you think in that language. So if you are learning English, make sure you also think in it. You will figure alternate ways of expressing certain concepts or words in your language for which there are no exact English equivalents. In addition to gaining confidence while communicating, this will add a lot of flexibility to your thinking.
Training Blues
While everyone agrees upon the advantages of students equipping themselves with good communication skills, what is neglected is the prospect of professionals who can train the students. I am talking about the teachers in various Engineering colleges here. It goes without saying that to be successful as a teacher in this field, one needs to have a clear understanding of the needs of the industry and the kind of communication skills desired. By and large, the industry requires its workforce to be aware of domain-specific scientific and technical vocabulary, ability to speak politely and positively, reporting, clear and precise writing and making presentations. Now the question is how many teachers teaching English courses in our Engineering colleges possess these skills?
Many of the teachers recruited by engineering colleges are graduates or post-graduates in English where the emphasis is on English literature. As a result, they are largely unaware of the demands of the industry and most of the English course outline handed out is lost on them. They struggle to make sense of the technical vocabulary and other Industry-specific nuances. Upon asking, I was told by people in the Industry that during their college days, their English teachers often found themselves as baffled by the syllabus as them. Nowadays some reputed institutions like EFLU are offering courses on TEFL/TESL which are attempting to address such demands but good courses of this kind remain few and far between. With the growing demand for professionals with good communication skills, opportunities galore for teachers/trainers who can impart these skills as well. The sooner we realize this, the better.