Professional Behaviour & Communication

Instructor Guidance

Section 1: What Does “Professional” Mean?

Definition: Acting in a way that shows respect, reliability, and responsibility at work.
Discuss: Clothes, timekeeping, attitude, how you speak to people, body language.
Ask: “What behaviours would make a good first impression at work?”

Section 2: Group Activity – Workplace Do’s and Don’ts

Prepare cards or a handout with actions like:

• “Says good morning”
• “Uses phone during tasks”
• “Arrives 10 minutes early”
• “Argues with supervisor”
  Ask learners to sort them into “Professional” and “Unprofessional”.

Encourage discussion around why certain behaviours help or harm your reputation.

Section 3: Communication Styles

Explain types:

• Verbal – what you say
• Non-verbal – how you look/sound (tone, body language)
• Listening – how well you understand and respond
  Give examples:
  “Hi, can I help?” (friendly tone) vs “What do you want?” (rude tone).
  Ask: “How can you show you're listening at work?”

Section 4: Role Play – Simple Scenarios

Use short skits such as:

• Asking for help politely
• Responding to feedback
• Greeting a manager
  Have learners practise in pairs or small groups. Offer sentence starters if needed (e.g., “Excuse me, could you show me…”).
• Reassure them it’s about building confidence, not being perfect.

Section 5: Recap & Reflection

Prompt: “What’s one thing you could do to be more professional at work?”
Reinforce that small things—like smiling, saying thank you, showing up on time—can make a big difference.

Section 6: Careers Reflection

Rob Clark is a Senior Consultant at Nuvia. Rob discusses what he does in his role. What engineering job might you be interested in exploring?