English as a Second Language in the Workplace: Don’t let it be a barrier to success


By Evelina Silveira

My name is Evelina Silveira; I am TEFL certified, a diversity trainer specializing in intercultural communication, a certified mediator, a trilingual speaker, and the president of my 18- year- old company.

I know that learning a language well enough to conduct business can be a challenge. Your time is precious as an adult, and you want results quickly.

I have worked as an English as a Foreign Language Teacher for over three years with various learners from Asia, South America, Europe and the Middle East. During this time, I have learned about the different struggles various linguistic groups experience.

No matter where English as a Foreign Language speakers reside, they encounter the same issues:

  • Lacking the opportunities to practice speaking English.
  • Completing grammar-intense English classes that did not emphasize speaking skills such as pronunciation or intonation.
  • Adopting non-native English-speaking teachers’ grammatical and pronunciation errors
  • Fossilizing errors
  • Feeling reasonably comfortable with writing but being afraid to speak in public.
  • Lacking the vocabulary and confidence to get their points across

If you have at least a lower intermediate level of understanding of grammar and speaking skills, I can help you to gain the confidence and proficiency you need to advance.

Private, customized sessions are available for individuals. Corporate inquiries are welcome.

All materials are provided. Sessions are delivered on Zoom or on Tencent for clients in China.

Contact evelina@diversityatworkcommunications.com to set up a no-obligation consultation.

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Tone It Down! Course on Respectful, Diplomatic Communication


Three Smiling Businesswomen

For a complete course outline, please visit .

If you can’t attend the event but want this course delivered to your workplace in person or online, please contact us at evelina@diversityatworkcommunications.com.

Upcoming Webinars for March 2023


Check out our website and register early! Registration closes two days before the training date.

March 8 – DEI Committees -Everything You Wanted to Know

DEI Committees can be a positive agents of change. Learn how to make yours inclusive and productive.

March 22 Serving Customers with Language Barriers Over the Phone

Provide a better customer service experience, reduce stress, and have more productive calls.

March 28 – Tone It Down!

An interactive virtual workshop that will help you master the art of tactful, respectful and diplomatic communication.

March 29 – Communication Skills for Workplace Success

Learning to communicate assertively and respectfully is essential to succeeding in the workplace.

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Virtual Workshop: July 21, 2021

ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS FOR INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP

Let others know their voice matters!

Two young businessmen and a young businesswoman looking at camera — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

Let others know their voice matters!

  • Do you feel disconnected from your team, staff, or co-workers and don’t know why?
  • Do you find workplace conflicts are frequently getting in the way of team building?
  • Is there a lot of talking going on and not enough empathy in your workplace?
  • Are you seeking a sure-fast way of improving your communication skills?
  • Do diversity dialogues quickly turn to name-calling and judgment?
  • Do the same workplace problems keep on resurfacing?
  • Are you lost for ideas of how to resolve recurring service or staff problems?
  • Have you been told more than once that “you just don’t listen”?

If you have answered “Yes” to any of these? This workshop is for you! Over the last year and a half, I have received an uptake in requests for sensitivity/empathy training. If there is one common denominator to most of my calls, people are not actively listening. They may be hearing, but that’s about it. Staff, employees, co-workers, and clients give us clues about our behavior or how to improve situations, but we choose to ignore them. We may dismiss them or be too distracted to hear what others are saying. We may think we already have “all of the answers,” and our stubbornness or rigidity won’t allow for a difference of opinion. But you can change all of this. For example, I learned about active listening skills many years ago when I was a counselor for an anger management program. They were simple techniques but had a tremendous impact on building and improving relationships. I continue to teach these skills in my anti-bullying and inclusive leadership webinars. Active listening conveys humility and shows respect for others. It’s not rocket science. But, you will be amazed at the results!

Acquiring Active Listening Skills Can:

  • Help you to build stronger connections between your staff, co-workers, and clients.
  • Reduce biases against people and assess situations more clearly.
  • Improve your productivity and reduce misunderstanding.
  • Build your reputation as an empathetic listener and leader.
  • Increase your understanding of people who are different from you.
  • Open up your world to new ideas and ways of looking at a variety of issues.
  • Develop trust among your team members.
  • Improve your customer service.
  • Sharpen your mediation and conflict resolution skills.

In this webinar, you will learn:

  • The differences between passive and active listening;
  • The qualities of an effective listener;
  • Responding, encouraging, and attending behaviours;
  • Tips for being an empathetic and active listener;
  • The benefits of active listening;
  • About the attitudes and beliefs stifling active listening;
  • Verbal and non-verbal ways to communicate attentiveness;
  • The characteristics of active listening.
  • How to orient yourself to listen actively;
  • Various techniques for active listening.

This interactive workshop involves role-playing, reflective exercises, analyzing conversations, a workbook, and a hard copy certificate of completion. 3 hours

To learn more and register visit: https://www.diversityatworkcommunications.com/events/active-listening-skills-for-inclusive-leadership-1

Remember to register at least two days in advance.

Learn how to be a better leader with this upcoming virtual workshop!

May 2021 Webinar Calendar


April 2021 Webinars


The Old Girls’Network: The Politics of Exclusion


Evelina Silveira

President, Diversity at Work Communications Training

Three Smiling Businesswomen

It is rarely discussed, usually only in private circles.  You won’t see it headlining any diversity conferences on women in leadership or bias.  But, the “Old Girls’ Network” is alive and well, functioning as an elitist, exclusionary club of sameness much like its counterpart,  “The Old Boys’ Network.” 

Having worked for over 15 years in predominately female-led organizations before starting my business, I have seen firsthand how these toxic networks operate.  Valuing likeness, adoration, and organizational fit over skills rather than innovation and diversity of thought.  The insecure female executive leading the Network prefers the cloak of blandness and familiarity with admiring females who will not challenge her leadership rather than accepting different views or improving the organization.

Does this sound familiar at all?  It has all of the features of systemic discrimination, but it is not politically correct to talk about it.  After all, the traditional narrative is that men hold women back.  In some cases, they do. However, we cannot overlook in far too many female lead organizations, barring other women from professional and social networks is just as discriminatory.  Old Girls’ Networks should not get a pass any more than their male counterparts.

Those fortunate enough to be accepted into the “Old Girls’ Network” can expect specific rewards.

  • promotions you don’t deserve because the boss thinks you are easier to manage than the other employees who are more vocal with their opinions and disagree
  • achievement  awards that are based more on popularity than actual work or progress you have made
  • entry into female executives’ social circle
  • gain social capital among your peers

If you are an “outsider,”  you can expect:

  • to be considered “difficult” or a “problem.”
  • being monitored more closely than others –trying to find a time where you slip up
  • to not be recognized for your achievements or ideas
  • to be passed up for promotions
  • to feel that you are more qualified than your boss
  • to be bullied and harassed by your boss and co-workers
  • to feel demoralized because no matter how well you try to get along with your boss and co-workers, you don’t  feel “included.”
  • your performance appraisals may include comments of a personal nature rather than your professional attributes or skills.

The “Old Girls’ Network”  is not specific to any group of women. I have seen it operate among many racial and ethnic groups. 

The politics of exclusion is rooted in insecurity and fear of losing power.  How strange it is that we speak about empowering women and girls, yet this contradictory, disempowering relic is allowed to go unchallenged?

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February/March 2021 Webinar Calendar


Here’s a list of our signature webinars and content you will find no where else. Practical, engaging, with the goal of improving communication and customer service.

If you are interested in attending, please register at least two days in advance. Contact regarding customization or having a training event delivered in your timezone.

https://www.diversityatworkcommunications.com/workshopregistration

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Webinar Calendar


Check out our line-up of for December 2020 Webinars. If you would like to receive regular updates on our promotional events sign up at our website: http://www.diversityatworkcommunications.com.

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Webinar: Understanding and Responding to Intercultural Conflict


July 10 or 16, 2020

With global business communications and diverse workplaces increasing, intercultural conflicts and misunderstandings are bound to happen.
Ethnocentric approaches  mistakenly  assert that all conflicts are pretty much the sameiand should be handled similarly. But, this is ineffective and does not take into consideration the uniqueness of various cultures.
Intercultural conflicts are different. 


Hone your cultural competencies skills and  learn to look at intercultural conflict from a ethnorelative lens.
In this webinar you will:

  • Learn how differences in cultural perceptions can trigger discord.
  •  Theories of intercultural conflict.
  •  Figure out if a conflict is culturally-based.
  •  Gain strategies for dealing with intercultural conflict when it arises.
  •  Understand how different cultures approach and resolve conflicts.   
  • Ways of preventing or minimizing intercultural conflict in the future.
  • Obtain specific questions for mediating intercultural conflicts in the workplace.

This is a condensed version of a one-day workshop.  
If you want to improve the communication skills among your global teams, culturally diverse clients or staff, this is for you!

Learn more and register:

https://www.diversityatworkcommunications.com/webinars

  • Sensitivity Empathy Training for Workplace Bullies

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  • Workplace Inclusion and Customer Service Publications

  • Anti-Bullying and Harassment Training for Groups

  • Learn more about our English as a Foreign Language Coaching for Business Success

    Teacher Pointing at Map of World ca. 2002

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