The year 2018 has been an interesting one. I got a new website – these pages you are reading now. I went to Joensuu in eastern Finland, where I’d studied when I first came here from Australia. I visited Riga, the beautiful capital of Latvia and Pärnu, a lovely seaside town in eastern Estonia.

I did plenty of copywriting, some presentation skills training, found some new clients, and reconnected with some old ones I hadn’t seen in a while. I worked with startups going to the annual startup event Slush, and was impressed by the quality of the performances at Talk the Talk, a Slush side event showcasing public speakers.

In my free time, I read a lot of books, made some new friends, and sang karaoke regularly.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my clients and business partners in 2018. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!

Koala Consulting and Training will not be operating from 19 December until 1 January, 2019. However, please feel free to send an email if you have something to ask or discuss.

I’ll be back in business on 2 January. See you next year!

Sometimes people learning English can get frustrated with prepositions. If their native language has such words, the way prepositions are used in English is often different. If they have no experience with prepositions, then it can be even harder, because they don’t always understand this grammatical concept.

Most grammarians recognise 150 prepositions in English. You don’t have to know them all because some are very rare, but we use others quite a lot. I’m not going to go through them all. However, I can provide a few pointers to clarify how they work. Sometimes it can seem like they are almost random, because English is such a mixture of other languages. But there are some rules of thumb that you can apply in the majority of cases.

We will not cover it all in this one blog post. I will write several blog entries to explain the most common prepositions, and identify some of the typical mistakes that learners make.

The first thing to remember is that prepositions are not to be feared. They are simply words which show the relationship of one thing to another, or the position an object is in. Note that they are always attached to a noun or pronoun. The most common types of prepositions refer to time, place, and movement.

Let’s start with this: “The cat is on the floor.”

“Pre-” means “before” and “position” means physical location in the sentence. So the preposition “on” comes before the main word it relates to – in this case, “floor”. Some languages use postpositions (after the word) to express the same thing. For example, in Finnish, it would be Kissa on lattialla, where -lla is the postposition.

In the English sentence above, “on” explains the relationship between the cat (a noun) and the floor (another noun). In this example, it is a preposition of place.

Generally speaking, we use “on” like this when we want to say that something is on a surface. The floor is a surface, so things can be on it. The food is on the plate. The plate is on the table. If you are sitting down, you are probably on a chair. If you are dressed, you have clothes on your body – your skin is a surface. You can write on paper.

If you want to talk about travelling by certain kinds of transport, you are on a plane, on a bus, on a train, on an ocean liner. However, we are in a car, in a truck, in a rowboat. I have never seen this explained anywhere, but I believe the reason is because when you are on a larger type of transport, you can walk around inside it on the surface of the floor, whereas when you are in smaller transport, there is very limited movement. You can’t walk around inside a car.

Every language student knows that English is full of exceptions. Here’s another exception: use “on” when referring to technology. So, you listen to music on the radio, you play games on your computer, you see a show on television, you talk on the telephone. “On” still refers to place here; although it’s not always a surface, it does indicate the location of electronic signals.

You can also use “on” to express time. If you are on time, you are on schedule – in other words, keeping to the timetable. If you say on Tuesday, on your birthday, or on Christmas Day, you are referring to an exact day.

People employ “on” in other ways too, but these are the most common ones when it is working as a preposition. How else have you seen it used?

As a presentation skills trainer in Finland, I know that public speaking doesn’t come naturally to shy Finns. But the Talk The Talk event put that to the test in the Concert Hall of Helsinki’s Musiikkitalo on Monday, 12 November, 2018.

Ten specially coached speakers stood in front of a sold-out audience of more than 1,000 people that was also live-streamed across the Internet to thousands more. At the end of the event, the audience was invited to vote for their three favourites through a web app on their smartphones.

The pressure was on!

Each presenter talked about different things: taking a break from social media, competitive ice skating, the importance of science, the power of appreciation, the idea that everyone is a leader, starting world peace from your kitchen, modern relationships, what true strength is, feelings about being different and integration into a new country.

It’s the mark of a professional that you sound unique and speak with your own voice when presenting. I was surprised to see that all of these young speakers had already developed their own personal style. That can sometimes take years of practice!

Other things were common to the presenters, too. They all showed confidence in front of the audience, had strong but unassuming body language, used English skillfully (as far as I know, none of them were native English speakers), carefully structured their talks around a narrative with a message, used simple slides (if they used slides at all), showed a good sense of humour, and made an emotional impact on the audience with good, clear points and touching personal anecdotes.

I was very impressed with their techniques and abilities. Their newly-acquired skills will take these young people far.

Their coaches are clearly excellent teachers and mentors. Kudos to Armi Toivanen, Bruce Oreck, Baba Lybeck, Elina Aalto, and Kai Bäckström for leading the next generation of Finnish communicators.

The whole programme was very entertaining. Congratulations to all!

In the past, if you were an employer, you had to pay for expensive job ads in a newspaper. Those looking for work had to buy that paper, and hopefully found your ad.

Today, many organisations recruit on social media. Such websites are full of intelligent, skilled and tech-savvy people who could be an excellent fit for your vacant jobs. Your company saves money on advertising costs and prospective employees don’t even have to search: they get job ads in their social media news feeds, with no cost and little effort.

However, there is one problem. Some of the people writing social media recruitment advertisements are in start-ups, where everybody does everything. Or they might be an intern at a small- or medium-sized corporation. Or they might be one of hundreds working for a headhunting firm.

The problem in all of these cases is that they are not trained in human resources. Very few of these people have been taught how to write an effective recruitment advertisement.

Unfortunately, this means I’ve seen plenty of big mistakes. A lot of them write sloppy text, full of bad grammar. Some try to attract new employees by being mysterious, providing no details except “If interested, PM me”. Occasionally, there will be one with far too much information. The result is that poor grammar makes you look unprofessional, a lack of information gives the impression that you are a fraud, and too much just confuses everybody. If your text contains any of that, you are making it harder to find the right people.

You have to remember that a job advertisement is not about you or your company. It’s about your potential employee. What does that person need to know to decide whether they will apply for your advertised job?

Your recruitment notice should contain the following information and very little else:

  • the name of your company and a little background about it
  • the job title
  • a description of the tasks involved in the job and the qualifications needed to perform those tasks (bullet points like these make it clearer)
  • compensation (approximate payment and any benefits like holidays)
  • company name and address, or a link to the company website
  • closing date for applications

Generally speaking, good writing is simple, concise and to the point. The same applies to job advertisements. Great employees do not fall out of trees. They are hard to find, so give them the best chance of finding you.

Audiences pay more attention when they feel part of what’s going on.

I’m sure you’ve sat through plenty of dull presentations. The presenter droned on about something that didn’t feel relevant. You checked your phone, people were talking, and others left the room. Nobody got any benefit.

Now, imagine you’re at a show. Many entertainers ask the audience questions at the start, such as “How are you this evening?” or “Can all the native Finns say ‘Terve’?” They might make a silly request like “Hands up if you’re wearing blue underpants.”

This simple interaction creates a connection between the person on the stage and the people watching. It grabs audience attention and draws them into the performance.  People stick around, because they have become involved.

Your presentation is a performance. The main aim of a business presentation is not entertainment, but like any stage performer, you have to attract and maintain audience attention to be successful. So, learn from the professionals, and don’t be afraid to use their techniques.

Beginner presenters often forget to involve the audience. They are too caught up in the content of their presentations and trying to be less nervous. But presenters only get nervous because they are too focused on themselves. Move the focus away from you and your anxiety will decrease. Some interaction at the start makes your presentation more like a one-on-one interaction, with a little small talk to begin. It puts your focus on the audience, energizes the room and gets people ready to hear what you have to say.

The audience also comes in handy when you get difficult questions. At most of your presentations, there will be people in the room who know more than you about your topic. But don’t worry! Use their knowledge to your advantage. If you are unsure about how to answer a question, invite those present to offer their thoughts. People love to give their professional opinion and will usually jump at the chance to share their knowledge.

So, interact with the audience, but make your comments appropriate to the situation. In most business settings, asking about people’s underwear is frowned upon. The colour of their eyes is probably a better option!

How do you start a business email in English?

This might seem trivial, but I often get this question from people who aren’t native English speakers. They understand that a courteous greeting will set the tone of their whole message.

Politeness is not easy when you don’t know the nuances of modern English. Many English classes teach a formal writing style.

However, the formal “Dear Mr / Ms / Dr …” is rarely used in email unless it’s a serious matter, such as a legal issue. In most English-speaking countries today, business email is more like talking, so we tend to use greetings like “Hello”. Even so, it’s considered poor style to start with something as casual as “Hey”.

After the salutation, most people use the preferred given name of the recipient (e.g. “Hello Mary”). But because different cultures present names differently, we might not know what that person’s given name is. If you already have an email from them, use the name they signed off with. If you are contacting them first, write what their card or web page says.

When you’re writing to several people, don’t list all the names. Just say “Hello everybody”. And if you don’t know the name(s) of your reader(s), you can write “To whom it may concern”. This is a little formal, but it looks businesslike and is a well-used phrase in English.

Occasionally, I get email that starts with “G’day”, although the writer is not Australian. They’re trying to be friendly, but it feels forced because it’s not their native-born slang. Just be yourself and write your own friendly greeting.

In a good working relationship, most people are fairly casual in their business communications. But if you’re unsure, it’s always better to be too polite. It’s easy to misinterpret a casual attitude as rude. When you’re overpolite, people will usually assume that you’re at least trying, and will appreciate that.

Starting your email well is not trivial. Regular communications done right build good relationships.

When you present, use smiling to connect with the audience.

The audience wants to feel that you care about them. Most of the times you meet your friends, you probably smile. Why do you do that? Because you are pleased to see them, you have something interesting to say, you are relaxed and confident around them.

So, when you meet the audience, smile – just like you would with your friends. It will create the same dynamic: audiences like and trust a presenter who wants to be there, has something to say, and is confident.

Some people complain that this feels fake and forced. It will come across that way only if you pretend and are not sincere. Be genuinely pleased to see them.

Nervous presenters don’t like to smile. In fact, they often have no facial expression at all. This is very off-putting to most audiences: it feels like the presenter is not sure of themselves, like they don’t care about the people they are speaking to, and that they are robotic, without any humanity.

Don’t keep smiling all the way through, though – that would make you look like a salesman, or somebody with a psychiatric disorder. Start with a smile to get the audience’s trust. Then smile at different times during your presentation when you say something funny or when you want to raise the mood of your audience.

Choose your smiling with care. With some topics, smiling might not be appropriate. But you can still use it to show kindness and empathy, even with the most serious of subjects.

It’s summertime in Finland, and to celebrate, Koala Consulting and Training has a brand new website.

Whether you’re new here, you’ve only worked with me once or twice, or you’re a long-term customer, it’s nice to have you visit. Welcome!

Now you’ve found your way to the blog.

Here you will find inside information from experienced people – both me and guest bloggers – on how to make your presentations, writing, and videos better. There will be tales of my own communication successes – and the occasional failure, because we learn a lot when things don’t work. Get to know my thoughts on how people communicate over the Internet and in the news media, and how effective (or ineffective!) that may be. Hear about the places I go, the business events I attend, the presentations I see, and the ones I make myself! And of course, there will be announcements about where you can see me presenting, new business, and upcoming publications that might interest you.

Come back regularly to see what’s happening. Sign up to my email newsletter so I can let you know when the next blog entry appears, and you can get info direct to your inbox on upcoming activities with Koala Consulting and Training.

A book to aid language learning

Annika Bourgogne is a Finn married to Gilles, a Frenchman. Born and living in Finland, their two daughters spoke Finnish as natives, using it at school, with friends, and with their mother.

However, their parents wanted them to speak fully fluent French as well, since it is their father’s native language, and widely spoken around the world. The girls were reluctant to use French, since they didn’t have much need for it, unless they were talking with their dad. Annika saw the same problem with other parents, and she couldn’t find any good resources to help.

Situation

So, using her degree in linguistics and her own real-life experience, she wrote a practical book grounded in the latest research to show parents how to bring up their children to be bilingual. She wrote in English because she wanted the book to have a wide audience, and she was fluent enough in English to write a good draft. Yet she knew that it needed proper proofreading to be marketable.

Challenge

In 2012, Annika asked me to edit her book Be Bilingual from cover to cover. As she wrote it over the course of about 9 months, from April till December, I read every word and made changes to and comments on the grammar, vocabulary and style where I thought it was necessary.

Outcome

“For a non-native English speaker like me, it has been an absolute lifesaver to work with a proofreader as professional and efficient as James Perkins. What sets James apart is his dedication to deliver the best possible end result. His understanding of the conventions and nuances of the English language is unparalleled, and his revisions and suggestions have always been spot-on. He has really taken my work to the next level, and I feel very good about sending it out to be read by people all over the world.” – Annika Bourgogne

You can visit Be Bilingual here.

Complete in-line inspection

Mapvision is a Finnish company specialising in equipment that provides quality control for car assembly components as they reach the end of factory production lines. Their Quality Gate system checks the parts using an innovative method of photogrammetric measurement.

The situation

Lasse Paakkola, the Marketing and Communications Director at Mapvision, is in charge of expanding the company’s sales area worldwide. Mapvision products are always developing, and they all need updated documentation, including product specifications, sales brochures, user manuals, and so on. These all need to be in regional languages for the best sales impact.

The challenge

In 2015, Lasse asked me to proofread and edit the English of an ever-expanding documentation set for the Quality Gate inspection system, its analysis software and the Mapvision maintenance and support programme. As technology improves and the products improve, he continues to use me as the resident Mapvision English language expert.

The outcome

“Our official documentation language is English. A professional-level native English writer and proofreader has been a must for us. We regard James as a member of our documentation and marketing team. I recommend him!” – Lasse Paakkola

You can visit Mapvision here.