About

mojcaweb1What is this blog about?

The easiest way to describe it would be – it’s about communication. WHAT can you do and above all HOW can you do it to improve you communication skills.

The communication is not about YOUR MESSAGE, but it’s about the RESPONSE you get from others after you have sent them your message. And very often there is a huge gap between these two areas: what you INTENDED and what ACTUALLY HAPPENED. This is the core of the communication skills: How to tell what you want so that you get the result you want and need?

There are many replies to this question and this blog offers many, from different areas: negotiations, presentations, writing skills, meetings, body language … The posts are full of examples about communication and the beauty is – you can immediately apply them to your life.

WHO AM I?

My values:

MY FAMILY

To be able to spend as much quality time with my family as I can. To give Matteo and Nina what they give to me and even more.

THE WORK THAT I DO

To make audiences of my workshops, seminars and conference speeches see that the only constant thing is our lives is  – a change. A change in communication, which makes people happier by creating better relationships among us and as a result make achieving professional and personal goals easier and with more satisfaction.

MAKE MOST OF THIS DAY

This includes teaching my daughter that she needs to share her toys with others (a rather strenuous task :-) , collapsing on the sofa in front of TV or climbing Piazzale Michelangelo at 39 degrees C just to see the beautiful view of Florence. There are no limits.

What do I do?

1. I teach people how to communicate better.

2. Business English is my second area of work.

3. Workshops of Neuro-linguistic programming the third.

And not necessarily in this order. Everything I do professionally is about communication. Based on what I see, hear and experience every day, I’ve come to a conclusion that if we can communicate well, we can truly become happier.

To complement the work of a trainer, I  also write about communication: books, articles, seminar materials and – this blog.

I can and do train in four languages: Slovenian, English, Italian and Serbo-Croation (Serbo-Croatian doesn’t exist any longer, because my productive knowledge does not distinguish between Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian).

How do I train?

The thing is that all the three areas of work listed under the previous point usually mix, melt well, get worked on and as a result we get a course packed with energy, motivation and the desire to improve. Me  included.

Training Officers and people, who come to the courses all know that I work on three areas, different, yet easily used together. This fact usually gives added value to the workshops that I run. Let me give you a few examples:

- I have to run a workshop on Presentation Skills in English. The core need of the participants here is the vocabulary. But how can I not use what I know from the area of NLP, when they say how afraid they are of public appearances?

- Or I train people about how to manage complaints in writing. When I tell them how they could work better, they feel like they have to move the Rockies. Why not using what I know from the seminars that I run on change management?

- Or I teach people how to run and participate in meetings more effectively. In English. All of a sudden they say that something like that just wouldn’t work in their culturally mixed environment. Living in a “melting pot” of Florence and studying this area in great detail, gives me the ability to reframe the content.

Otherwise I use the material I get from various sources: When I teach business English or any communication skill in English I tend to join language with the way the language is used in practice. I firmly believe that a business English trainer can train far better if he or she knows well a particular communication skill (e.g. knows how to negotiate).

The courses I run in Slovenian excel at preparing the program and materials from the working environment of the group. It is necessary to make participants see how the skills trained can be applied in practice. For this reason I tend to use their working background.

As an NLP trainer I also use neurolinguistic programming throughout the workshops, especially when building rapport with the participants, exploring, discovering and building the entire workshop from their (limiting) beliefs and values.

To conclude: The workshops that I run tend to be an excellent springboard to become more self-confident and assertive, also more sensitive to the needs and circumstances of the people around you. As a result you can achieve faster, better, more and with less effort.

What and where did I study? I studied English in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Later on I studied in UK to get a licence for teaching Business English, afterwards I started studying neuro-linguistic programming in Ljubljana and the USA (Santa Cruz, CA and Orlando, FL). Later on I attended aspiring and extremely useful workshops on negotiations at Harvard Law School, Boston, MA.

I was trained by some exceptional trainers such as Tatjana Zidar Gale,  Tatjana Dragović, Robert Dilts, Judy deLozier and Susie Smith from “the cradle of NLP”, Santa Cruz, dr. Richard Bandler (the founder of NLP),  John La Valle and Katherine La Valle from Society of NLP, the faculty of Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiations and by William Ury, the ultimate authority on negotiations and the (co)author of Getting to Yes and Getting Past No.

Lately I have been working with Dott. Amadeo Furlan, an expert in team-building events, who has given me the opportunity to get the insight on team management, dynamics and behaviors.

What books have I published?

- English and German in Office Management, PlanetGV, Nov 2009.
- Business English in Practice, PlanetGV, April 2008.
- Business Dialogue in English (Persuasive Presentations, Proposals and Negotiations by E-mail), PlanetGV, November 2006.
- E-communication in English with Elements of NLP, GV Izobraževanje, May 2004.

What about articles? I write for HRM magazine, Poslovna asistenca, Finance …

And interviews?

- After being awarded the trainer of 2008: »Effective Training As Defined by a Trainer«, published in Nov 2009 in HRM magazine, PlanetGV.

- “Mojca Žirovnik Bocelli, a Trainer and an Entrepreneur”; Between South and North and East and West, Naša žena, March 2010 ”

- What Can Macedonian Negotiators for EU Accession Learn from Slovenian Colleagues?”, Vest, Macedonia, June 2010

What awards have I received for my work? I’ve been awarded as a Slovenian Trainer of 2008 (www.planetgv.si) and was among TOP 10 Trainers of 2007 in Slovenia.

Who are my clients? PlanetGV, Mobitel d.d., NLB d.d., Trimo d.d., Krka d.d., Telekom d.d., Ministry of Agriculture, Beiersdorf d.o.o., Mercator, Lisca, Hermes Softlab, Novo Nordisk, Niko Železniki, SPEM komunikacijska skupina, Summit Motors (Ford), Government of the Republic of Kosovo, Government of the Republic of Macedonia, Slovenian Railways, Hewlett Packard …

What about future? The words of Walt Disney: “It’s quite fun to do the impossible!” still apply to me and my life. But at this point I’d like to add a wisdom of a client and also a dear friend of mine. He and his partner were expecting another baby and I said: “Now you’ll have to divide your love between two!” His reply was: “No! It’ll just double!”

I am already applying his words to all areas of my life.


mojcaweb1O čem govori ta blog?

Najbolj preprost opis – o komunikaciji. KAJ lahko narediš in predvsem KAKO, da izboljšaš svoj način komunikacije.

Komunikacija namreč ni TVOJE SPOROČILO, ampak ODZIV, ki ga prejmeš na sporočilo, ki si ga posredoval določeni osebi. Med tvojim sporočilom in odzivom nanj se zelo pogosto nahaja globoko brezno: kakšen je bil NAMEN sporočila in KAJ se je dejansko ZGODILO.

In tukaj leži bistvo komunikacijske spretnosti: Kako povedati, kar želim, da dobim odziv (rezultat), ki ga želim in potrebujem?

Zgornje vprašanje ponuja ogromno odgovorov in ta blog jih ponuja iz različnih področij komuniciranja: pogajanja, prezentacije, pisno komuniciranje, sestanki, govorica telesa … Objave vsebujejo cel kup preprostih in konkretnih primerov, ki jih lahko pričnega uporabljati – takoj. Doma in v službi.

KDO SEM?

Vrednote, ki poganjajo moj vsakdan?

Nedolgo tega sem čestitala stranki in prijatelju, ker sta z ženo pričakovala drugega otroka. Poleg čestitke sem dodala: “No, sedaj bo potrebno ljubezen razdeliti med dva!” Sunkovito se je obrnil, se prav očetovsko nasmehnil in odgovoril: “Ne, Mojca. Ljubezen, ki jo imava se bo preprosto podvojila!”

Njegove besede so mi povsem zaprle usta. Kakšen prelep življenjski moto, kajne? Sedaj tudi moj. Ko gre za mojo družino ali delo, ki ga opravljam.

Moj poklic – predavateljica …

… kako izboljšati lastne komunikacijske veščine;

… besedišče poslovne angleščine;

… nevrolingvistično programiranje: kaj to je, kako ga uporabljati v vsakdanjem življenju, doma in v službi;

Tri različna področja, vendar vsa v povezavi s – KOMUNIKACIJO. Izkušnje z različnimi vsebinami, različnimi ljudmi, drugačnimi okolji so samo potrdila moj začetni “sum”: “Boljša komunikacija zagotovo vodi k prijetnejšemu in uspešnejšemu življenju!”

Delo predavateljice dopolnjujem s pisanjem: knjig, člankov, seminarskih gradiv in tega – bloga.

Predavam v štirih jezikih: slovenskem, angleškem, italijanskem in (srbo)hrvaščini.

Kako predavam in kje se moj način dela razlikuje od drugih?

Vsa tri področja, ki jih navajam v prejšnji točki so v povezavi s komunikacijo.In vsa področja se med seboj zelo učinkovito dopolnjujejo, ne glede na temo delavnice. Kaj to pomeni?

- Ko vodim delavnico na temo poslovne prezentacije v angleščini, kjer je poudarek na primer na besedišču, se vedno spotaknemo ob strah pred javnim nastopanjem; tukaj uporabim znanje s področja nevrolingvističnega programiranja in predstavim učinkovito tehniko, ki pomaga pri premagovanju strahu na “odru”;

- Na večini delavnic na temo komuniciranja, npr. oblikovanje pisnih odgovorov na pritožbe strank se srečujem z obrazi, ki sporočajo, da so nad predlogi navdušeni, bi pa veliko raje videli, če bi novi način uporabljali “drugi” ali pa bi ga v delo uvedli “ko bo za to primeren trenutek”; v takem trenutku ponavadi zelo pomaga nekaj informacij s področja upravljanja s spremembami;

- Spet na delavnici vodenja sestankov, kjer sem ravno razložila način argumentacije se oglasi udeleženec, ki pravi, da ni ravno prepričan, če bi tak način deloval v njihovem pestrem kulturnem okolju; glede na to, da sama živim v okolju, ki mu pravim “melting pot” lahko uporabim tako neposredne izkušnje, kot tudi znanje s področja vodenja delavnic medkulturnega komuniciranja, da spretno prilagodim način argumentacije za drugačne potrebe;

Sicer pa pri poučevanju poslovne angleščine ali katerekoli komunikacijske veščine v angleščini združujem slovnico in besedišče z načinom kako komunicirati. Izkušnje kažejo, da je rezultat in odziv udeležencev pri takšnem načinu dela veliko boljši, kot pri izoliranem poučevanju jezika.

Delavnice v slovenščini temeljijo predvsem na vsebini prirejeni za naročnika, ki vedno vključuje študijske primere iz delovnega okolja udeležencev. Samo na tak način lahko udeleženci spoznajo kakšno vrednost ima pridobljeno znanje v praksi.

Poleg tega pa pri delu vseskozi uporabljam načela nevrolingvističnega programiranja, posebej pri izgradnji odnosa z udeleženci, ko potek delavnice gradim na (omejujočih) prepričanjih in vrednotah vseh prisotnih.

Delavnice so tako polne energije, motivacije, želje po boljšem komuniciranju. Odlična odskočna deska, da postanete bolj samozavestni, odločni in dovzetni za potrebe in okoliščine, v katerih se nahaja vaš (poslovni) partner. Zato, da lahko dosežemo več, boljše, hitreje in z manj napora.

Kje in kaj sem študirala, se izobraževala? Študirala sem angleščino v Ljubljani, kasneje nadaljevala z usposabljanjem v Veliki Britaniji, kjer sem pridobila mednarodno licenco za poučevanje poslovne angleščine. Za tem pa sem se posvetila študiju nevrolingvističnega programiranja, in sicer v Ljubljani in Ameriki (Santa Cruz, CA in Orlando, FL).

Tako sem se usposabljala pri nekaterih izjemnih trenerjih in predavateljih, kot na primer Tatjani Zidar Gale, Tatjani Dragović, Robertu Diltsu, Judy deLozier, Susie Smith, dr. Richardu Bandlerju, Johnu La Vallu in Katherine La Valle. V zadnjem času tudi veliko sodelujem z  Amedeom Furlanom pri team-building dogodkih.

Znanje sem si nabirala tudi na Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiations, kjer sem med drugih sledila delavnici Williama Ury-ja,soustanovitelja Instituta za pogajanja in velikega strokovnjaka za področje pogajanj in razreševanja konfliktov, (s0)avtorja Getting to Yes and Getting Past No.

Izdala sem naslednje priročnike:

- English and German in Office Management, PlanetGV, nov 2010
- Uporabno besedišče poslovne angleščine v praksi, PlanetGV, april 2008.
- Poslovni dialog v angleščini (prepričevalne prezentacije, oblikovanje ponudb, pogajanja preko e-pošte), PlanetGV, november 2006.
- Sporočanje po elektronski pošti v angleščini z elementi NLP, GV Izobraževanje, maj 2004.

Kje objavljam članke? Revija HRM, Poslovna asistenca s prilogo Moja tajnica, Finance …

Intervjuji:

- Po prejemu priznanja Predavateljica leta 2008, intervju z naslovom »Učinkovito izobraževanje – trenerjev pogled«, nov 2009, objavljeno v reviji HRM, PlanetGV.

- “Mojca Žirovnik Bocelli, predavateljica in podjetnica”, Med jugom in severom, med vzhodom in zahodom, Naša žena, marec 2010

-  “Kaj se lahko makedonska pogajalska skupina za EU nauči od slovenskih kolegov”, Vest, Makedonija, junij 2010

Kakšne nagrade sem prejela za svoje delo? Za l. 2008 sem prejela naziv Predavateljice leta 2008, l. 2007 pa sem se uvrstila med 10 najboljših predavateljev v Sloveniji (www.planetgv.si).

Nekaj mojih strank: PlanetGV, Mobitel d.d., NLB d.d., Trimo d.d., Krka d.d., Telekom d.d., Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo, Beiersdorf d.o.o., Mercator, Lisca, Hermes Softlab, Novo Nordisk, Niko Železniki, SPEM Communication Group, Summit Motors (Ford), Vlada republike Kosovo, Carinska uprava republike Makedonije, Vlada republike Makedonije, Slovenenske železnice, Hewlett Packard …

Cilji v prihodnje: “It’s quite fun to do the impossible!”, so besede Walta Disneyja, ki so postale moj življenjski moto, ki sestoji in učenja, poučevanja, iskanja izzivov, podiranja ovir, z drugimi besedami – živeti polno.