The crisis call service LifeLine is one of the best-known brands in South Africa.

What is not so well known is that since 1998, the organisation's Life Skills division has been offering corporate training.

LifeLine is a not-for-profit organisation that has been providing emotional wellness services to people for 40 years.

In that time it has gained a great deal of experience in the areas of listening skills and expert communication.

Those skills are of vital importance in the business world, so it makes perfect sense to apply them to corporate training.

The corporate training includes courses on effective interpersonal communication skills; assertiveness and conflict resolution; diversity management; dealing with difficult clients; stress management; resilience and change; and time management.

Life Skills training manager Ami Mendelsohn believes their strength lies in the depth and experience of their trainers.

"Our professionals have undergone the intense LifeLine counsellor training and are highly skilled in group process and facilitation," she says.

"Our experiential, participative approach ensures buy-in and commitment to learning."

One of their focus areas is improving communication between a company's employees and members of the public, who are all potential customers.

A frighteningly common phenomenon is poor telephone manners, which is one of the areas where verbal communication in the workplace falls horribly short.

Good communication is vital for business.

But South Africa is a multicultural society with people of many different cultures, backgrounds and language groups.

This often leaves room for confusion and misinterpretation.

When you meet somebody for the first time, the sound of your voice accounts for 38 percent of the image created, body language and dress for 53 percent and the actual content of what you are saying 11 percent.

One can also tell a great deal about the personality of the individual by listening to their voice.

The ability to win trust, confidence and respect, and to convince the listener to meet your objectives, lies not only in the message, but also in the tone, inflection and quality of the voice.

Language problems also cause confusion in the workplace.

For example, you tell someone you'll get it for them "just now". But that person may not be familiar with the phrase "just now". In South Africa "just now" means "in a little while". But a listener could perceive this to mean that you will get the item immediately.

If you are aware of these issues and take them into consideration when communicating with other people, you can ensure that you are clearly understood and that your message is getting across.

There are three steps to successful communication:

Know what you want;

Find out what the other person wants; and

Discover how you both can win.

For more information about LifeLine Joburg's Life Skills corporate training programmes, call Judith or Ami on 011-728-1331 or email lifeskills@lifelinejhb.org.za.