C1 Advanced Professional Communication
Advanced workplace English for persuasion, negotiation, high-stakes presentations, stakeholder management, leadership communication and sophisticated professional writing.
Module 1 — Stakeholder communication
Adapt the same message to different audiences
Executives, technical teams and clients need different levels of detail. Advanced communication involves selecting what matters to each audience without changing the underlying facts.
Module 2 — Persuasion
Claim, evidence, consequence, recommendation
Persuasion is stronger when reasons are explicit. Avoid unsupported intensity such as clearly or obviously.
Module 3 — Negotiation
Interests, constraints and conditional trades
| Function | Language |
|---|---|
| Explore | What is driving that requirement? |
| Test flexibility | How much room is there on the implementation date? |
| Trade | If we extend the term, could you reconsider the fee? |
| Reframe | The issue may be less about price than risk allocation. |
Module 4 — Difficult conversations
Behaviour, impact and expectation
Avoid labels. Describe observable behaviour and its effect.
Better: “In the last three weekly meetings, you joined more than ten minutes late. That meant key decisions had to be repeated. From next week, I need you ready to start at 9:00.”
Module 5 — Executive presentations
Lead with the decision
Senior audiences often need the conclusion first: recommendation → evidence → risk → decision required.
Module 6 — Reports and proposals
Controlled claims
Distinguish evidence from interpretation: shows, suggests, indicates, is consistent with, may reflect, cannot establish.
Module 7 — Diplomatic disagreement
Challenge the claim, not the person
I'm not sure the current evidence supports that conclusion. / I agree with the objective; my concern is the assumption behind the timeline.
Module 8 — Leadership language
Direction without overcontrol
Use questions to create ownership: What do you think is blocking progress? What would you need to resolve it? What are you committing to by Friday?
Final task
Source note
Original Corrigan School teaching material. Communicative aims are aligned with CEFR professional-language progression and informed by established business communication practice. Explanations, cases and exercises are newly written.