How to read your boss

Linguistic Profiling video transcript

How to Read Your Boss is based on a model called
I have
designed this model so that people from across different businesses, organisations
and cultures can raise their conscious awareness of the language strategies used in
their workplaces in order to understand, enrich and enhance everyday workplace
communication.
The linguistic profiling approach offers a fresh perspective as it is based upon findings
of studies of real-life conversations that have actually taken place. In sociolinguistics
the focus on analysing authentic conversations is paramount and this is what makes
the linguistic profiling approach really distinctive.
The other key part of the linguistic profiling model is its set of accompanying
linguistic toolkits. The toolkits are large in number and account for a range of different
communicative settings and business purposes. The ones that we have decided to
focus on for this course have been chosen to give you the broadest range of
-to-face settings.
The profiling model and its accompanying toolkits are used by us at the University of
Nottingham for research projects, teaching, and for research consultancy and
continuous professional development (CPD) training.
We will now introduce you to the key components that underpin the linguistic
profiling model.
The following diagram illustrates that there are four key components that form part of
the coherent whole. At the centre of the model is the concept of face, referring to our
public self-image. Face is embedded within the notion of Identities, which ranges from
aspects of our personality right through to our professional identity construction. Face
and Identities are contained within a broader model of Rapport Management, basically
referring to how harmony is maintained in the workplace. And all three of these
components are contained within an overarching model of culture. Culture here is
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defined in a micro sense in terms of individual workplace cultures and also in a more
macro sense, thinking about broader cultural definitions, such as national cultures.
In each of the steps that follow, we will now move on to address these components in
turn.