The art of criticism: How to be polite and constructive

In our professional life, we all have to master the art of criticism at some point. This task can be challenging even in a native language, and it often looks daunting when we face the necessity to criticize people from other cultures in a foreign language. 

The aim of the workshop "How to criticize politely," which Heather Belgorodtseva ran at the AWC on April 9, was to help colleagues find the balance between informativeness and delicacy when offering criticism. Heather spoke about positive and negative politeness and provided some real-life cases to illustrate the most effective politeness strategies. A series of engaging tasks gave participants an opportunity to apply these strategies in practice. Finally, the colleagues focused on the principles of writing a critical peer review, which is particularly relevant to researchers.

The participants voiced their impressions in the feedback:

• “The manner of doing the workshop was amazing, very friendly, with a great sense of humor. Besides, the topic is really useful.”
• “Everything was very useful, tasks, references to publications. Very rich vocabulary, very elegant and pointed wording.”
• “Excellent speaker with a good sense of humor, vocabulary, fast speed but not too fast - it was amazing!”

Did you know that in English exaggerated politeness turns into rudeness? If you missed the workshop, follow our YouTube channel: the recording will be posted soon.

For those who value live interaction, we have prepared one more face-to-face workshop this semester. Join us on May 14 to communicate and acquire new knowledge and skills.