The English Language Support Program partners with departments, programs, and student groups to offer interactive workshops that help Duke students develop practical oral communication and writing skills.   

Workshops are tailored to meet the needs of each group and typically last 60–90 minutes. Commonly requested topics are listed below. Faculty, staff, and students may contact Dr. Brad Teague to make arrangements, preferably at least three weeks in advance.    

Oral Communication

  • Interview Skills
    • Opening and Closing an Interview
    • Answering Behavioral Questions  
    • Responding to Technical Questions
  • Networking and Small Talk in Professional Settings   
  • Academic Presentations
    • Presentation Delivery: Eye Contact, Gestures, and Body Language  
    • Creating Effective Visuals  
    • Adapting Content for Interdisciplinary Audiences  
    • Responding to Audience Questions  
    • Using Transitions to Signal Organization and Relationships Among Ideas  
  • English Pronunciation  
    • Individual Sounds (Based on Language Background)  
    • Word Stress  
    • Focus Words in Phrases  
    • Thought Groups  
    • Rhythm and Intonation   

Writing  

  • Editing for Grammatical Accuracy in Academic Writing  
    • Article Usage  
    • Subject-Verb Agreement  
    • Academic Verb Tenses   
  • AI Literacy for Academic and Professional Writing   
    • Developing Focused Prompts for Specific Writing Goals   
    • Requesting Explanations of Suggested Changes  
    • Evaluating AI-Generated Revisions  
  • Summarizing and Synthesizing Sources   
  • Paraphrasing Sources Effectively and Ethically   
  • Using the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) to Strengthen Writing   
  • Writing Clearly and Concisely   
  • Creating Coherence and Flow  
  • Developing and Supporting Arguments  
  • Authorial Presence  
  • Writing Effective Paragraphs  
  • Organizing Research Papers: IMRAD Structure