Positive News

18th October 2016

As a part of the featured report for President Xi’s visit to UK. Iris had an interview with China Central Television. 

Click the link for a view (in Chinese)
http://news.cntv.cn/2015/10/18/VIDE1445135282438807.shtml

The report exhibits footage of Iris Cai, mandarin teacher at LBS, shared her experience of teaching mandarin and business Chinese culture at LBS from 2009.  The report presents LBS as one of the top business school that has started to value the importance of understanding China and cooperating with China.

Along with the interview to Prime Minister David Cameron, this report was rolling broadcasted for a whole day on China Central Television (CCTV) before and at the day of China President Xi arriving the UK.

The CCTV broadcasted this report on Sino-British cooperation in education and culture exchange. The Sino-British relations has been a heated topic in both countries recently and the authority has claimed it as the golden era for the relation between the two countries

China Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the predominant state television broadcaster in mainland China. It is accessible to more than one billion viewers.

13rd September 2016

Following up a successful academic year of teaching the first group of GMiM (Global Masters in Management) Program, Iris Cai continues to Lecture a new group of students at the London Business School in the new autumn term in 2016.

The innovative course ‘Business in Chinese - Chinese Language and Culture for Elite People’ uses a combination of language, culture and Chinese ancient wisdom to provide insights and practical applications into conducting business with Chinese people. Iris’s profound teaching methods, introduces Chinese grammar with and through culture, helping students to build confidence and progress quickly. The topics covered include; Doing business in China include, Chinese ancient wisdom and philosophy, how traditional values influence management and cross cultural differences. The program will engage heavily on how to address these aspects in and out of business.

London Business School – consistently ranked in the world’s top five MBA schools – and top Chinese establishment Fudan University, Shanghai, are responding to a rising demand for talented people who understand how to do business in both the East and the West. The Global MiM is a two-year, full time course starting in September, where you attain two internationally recognised degrees: a Masters in Management (MiM) and a Masters in Science (MSc) in International Business. Year one takes place in London. Year two takes place in Shanghai.

https://www.london.edu/news-and-events/news/london-business-school-and-fudan-launch-global-masters-in-management?display=expanded#.VhbBCRNVhHw

14th September 2015

Iris Cai Lectures ‘Business in Chinese - Chinese Language and Culture for Successful Business People’ in Global Masters in Management program in London Business School from Autumn term 2015.

With seven years teaching experience in the China Club of London Business School.  Iris has given over 200 lectures to MBA students. It has received positive feedback on the lecture and the course. Students describe Iris as a passionate, creative and diligent lecturer and the course as an informative, interesting, and inspiring one. 

This course uses a combination of language, culture and Chinese ancient wisdom to provide insights and practical applications into conducting business with Chinese people. Use innovative teaching methods, introduce Chinese grammar through culture. Help students to build confidence, speak confidently and progress quickly. 

The culture topics covered in the Ancient wisdom and philosophy and Doing business in China include: Chinese ancient wisdom and philosophy, how traditional values influence management and cross cultural differences including how to  address them. 

The culture topics include:

1. The Chinese view of Financial Planning

2. Fengshui- the art of placement: for home, office and public place

3. Win-Win Negotiation with Chinese 

4. Management consulting and Chinese traditional medicine theory

5. Brands creative translation: transfer positive impacts across language and 

culture   

6. The Art of War-Strategy and leadership

7. Internal Control and effortless management of Dao- the Way

8. China economic geography and the development trends 

9. Social media success in China 

10. Entrepreneurship in China   

London Business School – consistently ranked in the world’s top five MBA schools – and top Chinese establishment Fudan University, Shanghai, are responding to a rising demand for talented people who understand how to do business in both the East and the West.

Delivered jointly by London Business School and the renowned Fudan School of Management in Shanghai, the Global MiM gives you an unparalleled grounding in international business challenges preparing you for the opportunities of tomorrow.

The Global MiM is a two-year, full time course starting in September, where you 

attain two internationally recognised degrees: a Masters in Management (MiM) and a Masters in Science (MSc) in International Business. Year one takes place in London. Year two takes place in Shanghai.

https://www.london.edu/news-and-events/news/london-business-school-and-fudan-launch-global-

masters-in-management?display=expanded#.VhbBCRNVhHw

4 March 2015

China-UK exchanges

​ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYzFnjhG0TE

World Insight 03/04/2015 China-UK exchanges

(total 4 minutes, Iris' talk from 2:10-3:35) ​

How to getting access to the Chinese market? This is the question faced by many British culture and creative companies. 

Iris believes bring Chinese culture to the UK help enhance British creativity, when bring them British creative company to China will also help China upgrade its own industries. 

Prince William visits China marks the beginning of the first ever year of the culture exchange between China and the UK. This year we will have more chance to see events and festivals exploring the new creative partnership.Hope it will boost our trade and know each other better. 

World Insight is a round-up of world news and current affairs including live cross-overs to opinion-formers and correspondents from every corner of the world.

China Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the predominant state television broadcaster in mainland China. It is accessible to more than one billion viewers.

23rd February 2015

Iris Cai, the Director of Positive Speaking received an invitation from the Prime Minister to attend a reception for the Chinese New Year in 10 Downing Street on 23rd February 2015.

David Cameron delivered his speech at the celebration and displayed his recognition of the rise and success of modern China and the UK-China trading relationship at the reception for Chinese New Year. 

It is a true testimony of Iris’ positive influence of business Chinese culture promotion as well as the success of helping British companies to export to China.  

Chinese New Year 2015 reception - Prime Minister's speech: please see below link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chinese-new-year-2015-reception-prime-ministers-speech

17th February 2015

Iris Cai gave a talk on the BBC Local Radio station. The topic of discussion was ‘Brand Creative Translation from English to Chinese’.

A total of 101 British landmarks have been given Mandarin nicknames as part of VisitBritain’s £1.6m campaign to attract more tourists. Iris explained that Chinese people do in fact, like the idea of these British landmarks being assigned Chinese names, because they appreciate Britain’s understanding and respect for their language and cultural differences.

Iris talked about the localisation of doing business in China. Brand creative translation could help Chinese people to pronounce, remember and promote your brand. It could help you to stand out from the crowd in such a competitive business world.    

For example, Chinese people call The Big Ben, 大笨钟(da ben zhong) big stupid clock, and   Beckenham Palace 白金汉宫 (bai jin han gong) white gold man palace.

‘This has been an absolutely a sensational chat, I feel I know so much about your country and the way of words are puts together’, the BBC presenter Mark Forrest said on the program.

As a Chinese market expert, Iris helps British companies to export to China. She has many successful case studies of brand creative translations such as: Hainsworth, advising on the Royal Warrant textile fabric of the Nation to export to China. Also, Ravensbourne, helping with their innovation in digital media and design

Hainsworth英纺宝织(ying fang bao zhi)  Treasure textile made in elite country (UK)

Ravensbourne: 锐传(rui chuan) sharp media  

  ​

Please see link below for audio. (Iris' part is from the 27mins 30secs mark)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02hnzjy#auto  

BBC Local Radio Mark Forrest Show Book Swapping Tuesday 17th February. 

10th February 2015

Iris Cai gives series lectures of Business Chinese culture in the China Club of London Business School 

She talked about Fengshui for business.  

Fengshui - The Art of Placement –for home, office and public place    

Why introduce Fengshui to business school students?

If you were a CFO of Asia Pacific Regional Office, would you approve the budget of your China office, allowing them to invite a Fengshui Master to participate to their office relocation project?

When Iris was a Finance Manager at MindShare (WPP Group) China, she used to lead the office relocation project. She was surprised to see a Fengshui Master getting involved with this project. Being open minded and respecting local customs, WPP’s practice in China was a good example for global business leaders.    

Fengshui was originally recorded in The Book of Changes. In this lecture, Iris will introduce the history of Fengshui; how it works today; its benefits, modern practises,how it influences our partnerships, careers financial prosperity and success.

When Fengshui is applied in the office, it could increase productivity, promote harmony among employees and raise business profitability. Organizations such as Citibank and The Wall Street Journal as well as successful business people like Bill Gates and Donald Trump are using Fengshui to enhance business and improve lives.

In a case study, Iris will share her experience of working with a Fengshui master; from choosing the right building, adjusting the internal design and layouts which resulted in enhancing the environment and productivity in an international company. 

You will have an overall big picture about Fengshui, and hopefully, using some simple Fengshui principles, improve your own living environment.

(Iris was invited to give this speech to The Urban Design Group London in June 2013)

5th February 2015

Iris Cai joined Enterprise Nation to deliver a free webinar on how small businesses can successfully trade with China.

The webinar was hosted by Enterprise Nation founder, Emma Jones MBE, and is part of a series of Go Global events to help small businesses trade across borders that are supported by PayPal, UPS and HP.

With many successful case studies Iris discussed ten topics and gave practical advice specific for SMEs.  

At the end of the speech, SMES were further encouraged as they gained understanding about their contribution to the UK. 

I appreciate your passion and interest of doing business in China. Chinese people are looking forward to using your products to improve their lifestyle. I wish everyone success in their business. 

 Audiences gave positive feedback: This was a great webinar.

https://www.enterprisenation.com/blog/posts/how-to-do-business-in-china

https://www.enterprisenation.com/blog/posts/webinar-recording-doing-business-in-china

3rd February 2015

Iris Cai started to give series lectures of Business Chinese culture in the Spring term from 3rd February 2015. 

Since January 2009, Iris Cai and her team have taught ‘Business in Chinese - Chinese Language and Culture for Successful Business People (beginner level)’ to MBA students in the China Club of London Business School.   

Each session consists of two parts: 1. Culture appreciation (45min) 2. Language learning (60) min

The culture topics covered in the Ancient wisdom and philosophy and Doing business in China include: Chinese ancient wisdom and philosophy, how traditional values influence management and cross cultural differences including how to address them. 

The topic in Spring term:

• The Chinese view of Financial Planning

• Fengshui- the art of placement: for home, office and public place

• Win-Win Negotiation with Chinese 

• Management consulting and Chinese traditional medicine theory

• Brands creative translation: transfer positive impacts across language and culture   

• The Art of War-Strategy and leadership

This course has been taught in the London Business School since January 2009 and has received a lot of positive feedback from students.

       Topic 1           The Chinese View of Financial Planning

        How traditional values influence Chinese economic management

China has performed well in the global economic crisis. What is the magic behind this? It is the people and their decisions that make the difference. Informative, interesting and given from the cultural history perspective, Hongbing Iris Cai’s lecture will be a good opportunity to learn more about the values that made China a strong economy. The lecture also discovers how these values have evolved to the modern day underpinning China’s increasing success and influence in the world.  

In this lecture Iris will address the cultural background and heritage that impact Chinese people. It covers:

1. Present Chinese traditional value and ancient wisdom of financial planning and attitude to money. The Book of Changes, Dao-The Way, Confucius philosophies.

2. Introduce economic philosophies that helped business people to achieve great success by getting the balance between profit and morality correct.

3. Discuss China’s modern economic development history.

4. Share five key core values of Chinese culture that contribute to the world.

5. Case study: the materials had been presented to an advertising agency of an international commercial bank and transformed into a series of marketing campaigns.     

Students gave positive feedback: ‘I attended your class yesterday and it was a great experience. I look forward to future classes.’  

24th October 2014

As the China market strategic consultant of the Royal Mint, Iris Cai from Positive Speaking, attended The 2014 Beijing International Coin Exposition on October 24th -26 at the Beijing International Conference Centre.  

The Royal Mint participated in the Expo, has brought a series of coinage boutique, showing the cultural heritage of the Royal Mint in more than 1000 years of history. Its superb technology, innovative design, rich culture, history, advancing with the times and internationalisation strategy bring a unique style and inspiration for the China coins market.

The Royal Mint attaches great importance to the exhibition in Beijing. With the Sino British diplomatic relations ushered in the best period in history, cultural exchange economy in English and ushered in a new period of development. In recent years in the UK, Chinese culture has had a huge impact. 

In June this year, Premier Li Keqiang visited the UK, the British Prime Minister sent the Royal Mint lunar "Chinese horse coin" as a state ceremony, presented to the Premier Li Keqiang to show esteem and respect to the Chinese traditional culture.

2014年北京国际钱币博览会于10月24日-26日在北京国际会议中心举行。本届博览会是在中国举办的第十七届大型国际性钱币专业展会，为中外钱币界的文化和商贸交流合作搭建一个和谐、开放、多元、互动的平台，对促进中国文化与世界文化的融合，推动中国钱币事业的健康发展发挥积极作用。 英国皇家造币厂参加了此次博览会，带来了一系列的铸币精品，展示了英国皇家造币厂1000多年历史的文化传承。其精湛的工艺，创新的设计，丰富的文化，厚重的历史，以及与时俱进，国际化的战略，为中国的钱币市场带来独特的风格和启发。

    英国皇家造币厂非常重视这次在北京的展览。随着中英两国外交关系迎来了历史上最好的时期，中英经济文化交流迎来了发展的新时期。在英国，中国文化热近几年升温，学习中文，学习中国文化，学习中国经济建设的先进经验已经蔚然成风。今年6月份李克强总理访问英国，英国首相卡梅隆把英国皇家造币厂出品的十二生肖马年纪念币作为国礼，赠送给李克强总理，表现出英国人民对中国传统文化的推崇和尊敬。

23rd September 2014

This year’s Annual Lecture was delivered by the internationally renowned, and highly influential businesswoman, Iris Cai. It took place on 23rd September as part of a stream of organised events to celebrate Confucius Institute Day. The focus of this lecture was on the Chinese Business Culture from strategic and cultural perspectives.

China is outperforming others in the global economic crisis. But what is the key to this? It is the people and their decisions that make the difference. Iris Cai’s in-depth and interesting lecture was an invaluable opportunity to learn more about the cultural strengths that made China a strong economy and to discover how these values have evolved to the modern day underpinning of China’s increasing success and influence in the world.

Iris Cai delivered her first-rate knowledge and expertise to guide British companies to success when dealing with China. Informative, insightful and given from a cultural historical perspective, this lecture presents the big picture of the Chinese business culture through philosophical and practical aspects.

The lecture covered topics such as Chinese tradition and economic success, negotiation, social etiquette and its impact on marketing promotion strategies. Iris Cai also delved into the roots of the cultural differences of doing business between China and the UK

This highly beneficial lecture was surely one not to have missed, providing practical advice and guidance on how to improve cross-cultural communication skills, enrich management concepts and increase your confidence of doing business in China.

28th August 2014

 The Chinese market has huge potential and is highly competitive. ‘Culture difference is the biggest barrage between UK and China trading.’ Kenneth Clarke, the Prime Minister ‘s trade envoy said on his China trip early this year. 

The workshop offered an in- depth and insightful perspective of business Chinese culture. Search the roots of what is behind Chinese people’s thinking and decision making through both philosophical and practical aspects, using first hand successful case studies, improve cross-cultural communication skills, enhance your business practice, and much more. It offered two hours follow up consulting section to each of the delegates to meet your business specific needs.

Topics covered include: 

· _How Chinese traditional value influence people’s decision making and the way of doing business 

· _Win-win negotiation with Chinese 

· _China’s economic geography and development trends, 

· _Social etiquette and marketing promotion 

· _Relationships building and risk management 

· _The key issues facing foreign enterprises enter the Chinese domestic market and how to overcome them. 

 People who attended give positive feedback about this workshop.

1st June 2014

Iris participated On the Money program of BBC Radio 5LIVE from 13 February 2011 to 1 June 2014.  

 ‘On the Money’ is a weekly programme of the BBC’s Radio 5 LIVE: It’s Declan Curry with a lively analysis of the big business stories making the headlines. Iris introduces business Chinese culture, philosophy and traditional values that influence modern economic management as well as some Chinese phrases to the BBC audiences.  

How to deliver Mandarin language as well as the insights of business Chinese culture in 5 minutes to the radio audiences is a big challenge. It requests creativity, logical thinking and focusing on results. Iris had taught 76 lessons during the four years.  We received a lot of positive feedback from the audiences.  

The BBC has a respectful culture, full of professional, creative and passionate people. Working with the team, Iris has made good progress by meeting with over 200 guest speakers, excellent British business leaders, high fly CEO of big cooperation as well as passionate entrepreneurs from all fields. It has opened Iris’ view of different sectors and gives a wide updated knowledge and insights of British business at a high lever. 

Iris thanks BBC for giving her this opportunity. This gave her a fantastic big platform to create a more positive impact on people and add value to the cultural bridge building between the UK and China.

On the Money program finished on 1 June 2014. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r51th

30th March 2014

Iris met Martin Sorrell in BBC while both of them participate On the Money program. Martin Sorrell talked about successful management at WPP group. Iris gave advice of doing business in China and taught some Mandarin for business purposes in the program. 

As a Finance Manager, Iris Cai used to work for MindShare Guangzhou China (WPP Group) between 1999-2001. At that time Martin Sorrell was her big boss. She always admired Martin’s great leadership. It is so wonderful that after thirteen years Iris could work together with him on BBC program. 

Iris feels that WPP Group is the best company she has ever been worked for. The corporate culture, excellent internal control system, and talented people which ensured it great success in China and in the world.

Iris used her experience of working at WPP Group China as successful case study of doing business in China in her series lectures in London Business School. 

Sir Martin Sorrell founded WPP, the global advertising and marketing services group, in 1985 and has been chief executive throughout.

WPP companies provide clients with services including advertising, public relations, branding and identity, promotion and relationship marketing. 

Collectively, WPP employs nearly 175,000 people (including associates) in over 3,000 offices in 110 countries. 

03 February 2014

Iris had an interview with China Central TV (CCTV) which is similar to UK’s BBC. Iris talked about family value during the Chinese New Year holiday.

CCTV is the most influence channel in China. Family Value is a seven days series program which aims to encourage traditional values and how they can be passes on in families, generation after generation. One of those interviewed the CEO of Lenovo the chairman of China Entrepreneur Club who gave a key note speech in the China Day in Lancaster House 2012.The company recently spent 5.2billion USD to buy Motorola.

http://news.cntv.cn/2014/02/03/VIDE1391385962285137.shtml

30 January 2014

Following up to David Cameron’s trade mission to China. Iris had an interview with BBC Chinese website, where she talked about Chinese companies doing business in the UK. The two countries’ were compared in terms of culture differences as a means of learning from each other’s strengths.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukchina/simp/uk_life/2014/01/140130_life_investment_ukchina.shtml

27 January 2014

Following up to the success in the autumn term, Iris Cai and her team teach ‘Business in Chinese-Chinese Language and Culture for Successful Business People (beginner level) to MBA students in the Great China Club of London Business School.

Each session consists of two parts: 1. Language learning (45min) 2. Culture appreciation (45min)

The culture topics covered in the Ancient wisdom and philosophy part include: Management consulting and Chinese traditional medicine theory; The Chinese view of Financial Planning; Manage like a gardener: Corporate culture and “The Book of Changes”; Fengshui- the Art of Placement for home, business and public place; “the Art of the War” leadership and strategy; Internal control and “Dao, the Way”, Zen stories and release stress; From Chinese writing system to see ancient creativity and innovation.

The culture topics covered in the Doing business in China part include: China economic geography and the development trends; Win-Win Negotiation with Chinese; Social etiquette and marketing promotion; Famous brands creative translation appreciation; The relationship between company and government; Talent concepts and job market in China; Social media success in China; Luxury goods success in China; Challenges of localisation of multinational company doing business in China.

This course has been taught in the London Business School since January 2009 and has received a lot of positive feedback from students.

01 December 2013

Iris had an interview with the Sunday Times talking about business in China on 1st December whilst David Cameron was having on a three-day mission to China.

Sink your teeth into the world’s juiciest market Entrepreneurs are at the fore of Cameron’s trade trip to China — with as much to learn as to earn.

Today, the owners of about 50 small and medium-sized businesses are travelling to Beijing with David Cameron on a three-day mission that also takes place in Hangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu. They aim to discover how to crack the Chinese market, but all are just as uncertain as Cooper about how to unlock the riches of the burgeoning economy……

China has reportedly set a target of having a population of more than 50% middle class by 2050 ……

Iris Cai, a consultant who introduces small British businesses to her homeland, explained the appeal: “Salaries are increasing constantly and people want quality products made in other countries.”

Cai was born in Beijing and moved to Britain 10 years ago. She lectures budding entrepreneurs at London Business School on Chinese culture and language. “Five years ago, I had about 15 attendees to a class, now I have more than 100,” she said.

There are many lessons to be learnt from the People’s Republic, she added. “China outperformed other countries during the world’s economic crisis. It is because of the people who manage the companies. Chinese culture influences people’s thinking and decision making.“

In China, the government gives companies support. If the British government makes an effort to build a good relationship, it will have many benefits. ’

15 October 2013

BBC arranged four days to focus on topics on China in acordence with the Chancellor George Osborne’s trip to China aimed at boosting economic links between the two countries.

Iris did nine interviews for BBC General News Service. On Tuesday in the new BBC Broadcasting House, she talked about Chinese language, culture and education in the UK.

Within two hours Iris did nine interviews with nine radio stations including COV & WAR, WORLD SERVICE,  SCOTLAND, SOMERSET, LANCASHIRE and LEICESTER  in which four are live broadcast.  The topics covered are:

How easy is Mandarin to learn?

How vital is it to speak Mandarin fluently if you’re doing business with China?

Is enough being done to prepare the next generation in the UK to understand Chinese culture and language?

How widespread is English teaching in China …and how does that compare to Mandarin teaching in the UK?

  .  

The producers’ feedback: “My colleague tells me you were brilliant. I have just listened back to your interviews and I agree. Thank you so much. You put real energy into it.”

02 October 2013

The 2013 Dragon Awards dinner was held at The Mansion House on the 2rd October. Positive Speaking was invited to attend this event by its voluntary project for business education.

The 26th Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards recognise and celebrate Corporate Community Involvement in Greater London. It is designed to reward organisations that display excellence in engaging with their local communities, to provide examples of best practice and to inspire others to get more involved. Activates include charity partnerships, employee volunteering, employability initiatives and local purchasing.

Positive Speaking participated at the Education Award because of its voluntary project; this involved teaching Chinese business culture for the China Club of London Business School. The lectures presented an insightful perspective of Chinese business culture; search the roots of cultural differences of doing business with the Chinese, highlight the strong elements of Chinese culture that we could learn from, improve cross cultural communication skills, enhance management concepts and finally to add value to the business.

This on going project started in January 2009.  They have given over 180 lectures with 100% staff involvement that contribute to over 430 hours in the past five years. Over 500 participants have benefited from this project.   

Positive Speaking would like to thank the committee of the Great China Club of LBS for their trust, great support and help to make this happen. Thanks for everyone’s dedication and contribution towards the project. Thanks to all the students and audiences’ participation, commitment and hard work. It truly is successful international team work, the honour belongs to everyone.

30 September 2013

Follow up success in the summer term, by popular demand, Hongbing Iris Cai and her team teach ‘Business in Chinese-Chinese Language and Culture for Successful Business People (beginner level) to MBA students in the Great China Club of London Business School.

Each session consists of two parts: 1. Language learning (45min) 2. Culture appreciation (45min)

The culture topics covered in the Ancient wisdom and philosophy part include: Management consulting and Chinese traditional medicine theory; The Chinese view of Financial Planning; Manage like a gardener: Corporate culture and “The Book of Changes”; Fengshui- the Art of Placement for home, business and public place; “the Art of the War” leadership and strategy; Internal control and “Dao, the Way”, Zen stories and release stress; From Chinese writing system to see ancient creativity and innovation.

The culture topics covered in the Doing business in China part include: China economic geography and the development trends; Win-Win Negotiation with Chinese; Social etiquette and marketing promotion; Famous brands creative translation appreciation; The relationship between company and government; Talent concepts and job market in China; Social media success in China; Luxury goods success in China; Challenges of localisation of multinational company doing business in China. 

This course has been taught in the London Business School since January 2009 and has received a lot of positive feedback from students.

20 September 2013

Focus on senior business people, Iris’ innovative teaching method has positive impacts on people .The full page interview shared her experience of introducing Business Chinese language and culture to business people in the UK, and how to make it informative, interesting and inspiring.

23 August 2013

Iris interviewed by the China Weekly. This three pages interview talked about difficulties, opportunities and challenges and achievements about Iris’ life and work in the UK for the past ten years.  China Weekly is a Chinese newspaper in London.  It distribute on airplanes include British Airways and Chinese airlines.

14 July 2013

Iris gave an inspirational speech in Gabbitas International Summer School.  The speech topic is ‘The Power of Positive Management---for future business leaders’ to a group students age between 14 to 18 years old.  Designed for future business leaders come around the work. Iris talked about Positive thinking, positive speaking, positive money and positive learning results. 

Students felt highly motivated and said it is the best speech they have had so far for the past two weeks. The teacher wrote a feedback: “From the students and I here at Ardingly, we would like to say a huge thank you to you for your time here last week. We all thoroughly enjoyed your visit and as always you were truly inspiring and motivational. We think you are brilliant!!”

13 July 2013

Iris attended Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace with her client Hainsworth, a royal warrant textile. She interviewed Tom Hainsworth, the CEO of Hainsworth in Buckingham Palace.

Hainsworth is one of Britain's most prestigious textile mills serving markets in the UK and around the world.

A seventh generation family business, founded in 1783, Hainsworth has proven expertise in manufacturing woollen products to exacting specifications and creating innovative design-led woollen fabrics.

The company also has the Royal Warrant for supplying the Queen with interior fabrics for Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

Hainsworth is proud of its heritage and its long-standing connections with the Royal Family and is hugely honoured to have been chosen to take part in this special festival.

09 July 2013

Iris gave a speech entitled ‘China: Doing Business and Learning the Culture’ to Urban Design Group on 9 July 2013.

She talked about win-win negotiation with Chinese, the thinking differences between British and Chinese, Fengshui principles and how these apply for urban and architecture design. Audiences gave positive feedback for the deep thoughts as well as the speakers first hand case studies of doing business in China.

22 June 2013

Iris gave two lectures to Urban Scholars at Brunel Able Children's Education Centre in Brunel University on the 22nd June.

The topic title was ‘Stand out from the Crowd: Learning foreign languages’ and was delivered to a group of 16 years old students as one of the topics of career advice.

Iris’s lectures there have been very well received. It has inspired Scholars to think about studying languages in university.

This was the fifth time Iris gave lectures in the Urban Scholar programme following her lectures which took place January 2010, July 2011, February 2012 and February 2013

Brunel Able Children's Education Centre is the first university-based research centre in the education of able children in the country. The students attend its campus nine times a year for four years to be taught by university staff and visiting speakers. The programme is expanding and enhances the work they are doing at school and develops their critical thinking and problem solving skills.

It aims to search for and fulfil the submerged talent of gifted teenagers (12-16 years old) from secondary schools. Groups of 100 students from schools across London attend Brunel University campus nine Saturdays a year for the duration of four years.

22 April 2013

Follow up success in the spring term, by popular demand, Hongbing Iris Cai and her team teach ‘Business in Chinese-Chinese Language and Culture for Successful Business People (beginner level)  to MBA students in the China Club of London Business School.

Each session consists of two parts: 1. Language learning (45min) 2. Culture appreciation (45min)

The culture topics covered in the Ancient wisdom and philosophy part include: Management consulting and Chinese traditional medicine theory; The Chinese view of Financial Planning; Manage like a gardener: Corporate culture and “The Book of Changes”; Fengshui- the Art of Placement for home, business and public place; “the Art of the War” leadership and strategy; Internal control and “Dao, the Way”, Zen stories and release stress; From Chinese writing system to see ancient creativity and innovation.

The culture topics covered in the Doing business in China part include: China economic geography and the development trends; Win-Win Negotiation with Chinese; Social etiquette and marketing promotion; Famous brands creative translation appreciation; The relationship between company and government; Talent concepts and job market in China; Social media success in China; Luxury goods success in China; Food for thought: A Bite of China--from McDonalds and KFC to see international food business operation in China; Challenges of localisation of multinational company doing business in China. 

This course has been taught in the London Business School since January 2009 and has received a lot of positive feedback from students.

22 February 2013

China Daily Europe edition published an article on 22 February 2013. Changing of the guard

-Company with highest of royal credentials has plans to branch out in China. Tom Hainsworth, the CEO from Hainsworth a royal warrant textile talked about their business development in China. Positive Speaking is business strategic consultant for Hainsworth. Tom gave positive feedback of how Positive Speaking has added value on their doing business in China.  

‘Another reason that he now feels more confident about doing business in China is that he recently partnered up with a new Chinese adviser, Iris Cai, a Mandarin teacher in London.

Hainsworth and Cai met in March last year while appearing on a BBC radio program on which both were guest speakers. The friendship grew and Hainsworth says Cai has helped him understand more about Chinese culture, which he says is more different from British culture than the language gap suggests.

For example, when Hainsworth first entered China, its name was transliterated into Chinese, which had little meaning and thus was difficult to remember. Cai then gave Hainsworth the new Chinese name with the meaning of gem textile of England.

"When we translated Hainsworth into Chinese literally, it meant something completely different to what we as a company are all about. But now we understand this difference, and we apply the global to the local, the effect is much better," Hainsworth says.’

English version by Cecily Liu

http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2013-02/22/content_16247176.htm

Chinese translation version:

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_ab52eb72010171ku.html

15 January 2013

Hongbing Iris Cai and her team teach ‘Business in Chinese-Chinese Language and Culture for Successful Business People (beginner level) to MBA students in the China Club of London Business School.

This course has been taught in the London Business School since January 2009 and has received a lot of positive feedback from students.

Each session consists of two parts: 1. Language learning (45min) 2. Culture appreciation (45min)

If students are only interested in the Chinese culture session, it is possible to attend only the Culture appreciation part of the lecture.

Each week the China Club will announce precisely which topics will be covered that week.

13 January 2013

After Christmas short break, Iris continues to participate weekly live programme ‘On the Money’ of BBC Radio 5 LIVE.

‘On the Money’ is a weekly programme of the BBC’s Radio 5 LIVE: It’s Declan Curry with a lively analysis of the big business stories making the headlines.

Starting from February 2011, Iris introduces business Chinese culture, philosophy and traditional values that influence modern economic management, business opportunities in China, as well as some Chinese phrases to the BBC audiences.

Time: every Sunday evening 8:00-9:00pm

Channel: Online, on digital, on digital radio: 909/693 AM

Programme introduction, previous programme record please refer below BBC website link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tl98p

03 October 2012

The 2012 Dragon Awards dinner was held at The Mansion House on the 3rd October. Positive Speaking was invited to attend this event by its voluntary project for business education.

The 25th Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards recognise and celebrate Corporate Community Involvement in Greater London. It is designed to reward organisations that display excellence in engaging with their local communities, to provide examples of best practice and to inspire others to get more involved. Activates include charity partnerships, employee volunteering, employability initiatives and local purchasing.

Positive Speaking participated at the Education Award because of its voluntary project; this involved teaching Chinese business culture for the China Club of London Business School. The lectures presented an insightful perspective of Chinese business culture; search the roots of cultural differences of doing business with the Chinese, highlight the strong elements of Chinese culture that we could learn from, improve cross cultural communication skills, enhance management concepts and finally to add value to the business.

This on going project started in January 2009.  They have given over 160 lectures with 100% staff involvement that contribute to over 400 hours in the past three and a half years. Over 400 participants have benefited from this project.   

Positive Speaking would like to thank the committee of China Club of LBS for their trust, great support and help to make this happen. Thanks for everyone’s dedication and contribution towards the project. Thanks to all the students and audiences’ participation, commitment and hard work. It truly is successful international team work, the honour belongs to everyone.

24 September 2012

On the first day of Social Media Week, Iris Cai the Director of Positive Speaking gave a speech: Social Media Success in China.

This event is focus on small fast-growing firms to develop their global potential. Joined by country-sector experts from UKTI , Open to Export provides a platform to bring these communities and knowledge together.

Iris talked about the power of social media in China, how to use social media to promote brands and sells in China. She gave a successful case study to encourage people that using social media is quick, economic, safe, easy and fun when develop their business in China.

Social Media Week London (SMWLDN), is the third year in London and the biggest ever with 160 events and over 10,000 tickets booked. It’s part of a global festival and takes place simultaneously in 12 cities around the world.

06 August 2012

Working with the support of the Mayor of London, StartUp Britain organised an exciting event on the 6th of August. Iris Cai the Director of Positive Speaking gave a speech: China: Doing Business and Learning the Culture.

This event featured a range of expert speakers and entrepreneurs who gave a broad insight into what it takes for small businesses to go global. 500,000 visitors are expected to arrive from abroad during the Olympics, creating an opportunity for small businesses to raise their profile among a brand new pool of customers and potentially unlocking the door to a global market.

In 20 minutes speech, Iris talked about business opportunities in China, Win-win negotiation with Chinese, social etiquette and marketing promotion. People gave positive feedback about it: informative, useful and highly entertaining.  

Feedback:

1.     Watching @Iris_Cai again, this time at #TradeUpBritain - possibly one of my favourite ever speakers!

2.     Listening to an incredibly informative talk about business in China

3.     Fantastic talk on doing business with the Chinese by @Iris_Cai at #tradeupbritain. Never under-estimate value of local knowledge/culture.

4.     Once again I want to say how much I enjoyed your talk - it was most informative and highly entertaining.

5.     The wonderful @iris_cai is chatting about the Chinese perception of UK: 'british' is translated as 'elite country people'

6.     We are fast learners at #TradeUpBritain and are now Mandarin pros, thanks to our excellent coach @Iris_Cai!

7.      Inspired by #TradeUpBritain thanks to @startupbritain at City Hall. Right time, right place, right people!

8.     "Had a great time yesterday at #TradeUpBritain! Thanks to all the speakers"

9.     "StartUp Britain surpassed their own Olympian standards. #TradeUpBritain was best use of 6 hours in the history of enterprise".

27 July 2012

On the 27 July 2012, the British Business Embassy hosted the China Business Day in Lancaster House. Invited by the Lord Stephen Green, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Iris Cai from Positive Speaking attend this event.

This event draws together British and Chinese experts in areas such as branding, design and understanding the demands of the new global consumer, to the architectural solutions, smart and green technologies that will enable the sustainable cities of the future.

This event allowed businesses and Governments to exchange views and ideas, discuss local and international economic challenges, develop strong global partnerships for future growth and showcase the best of British business to the world.

During the six weeks of the Games, the British Business Embassy hosted 17 global business summits at Lancaster House. These events will allow businesses and Governments to exchange views and ideas, discuss local and international economic challenges, develop strong global partnerships for future growth and showcase the best of British business to the world.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=Speech&id=793850582

12 June 2012

Follow the success of a series of lectures in business Chinese culture and language to MBA students. In order to help students prepare well for their international trip to Shanghai, Iris gave a lecture to  the Sloan Class in the London Business School. Students learned business Chinese culture and enhanced effective communicate with Chinese people.

22 May 2012

Iris Cai the Director of Positive Speaking attended Queen’s Garden Party in Buckingham Palace on 22 May to encourage her effort of enterprise promotion and public service.

Queen Elizabeth II met guests at the first Buckingham Palace garden party of the summer on May 22, 2012 in London, England. Around 8,000 guests attended the garden party hosted by the Queen, as temperatures in the capital soared. At least three garden parties are hosted by the Queen every summer at Buckingham Palace as a way of rewarding and recognising public services.

Garden party invitations are sent out by the Lord Chamberlain' s Office in the Lord Chamberlain's name on behalf of The Queen. About 8000 People from all walks of life are invited on the recommendation of a large number of national organisations who submit lists on a pre-arranged quota. For example, the government, Lord-Lieutenants and organisations such as the Civil Service, Armed Services, Diplomatic Corps, charities and societies, all have quotas for nominations. This ensures that a representative cross-section of the community is invited and that guests are generally people who have contributed a large amount to their various organisations or society.

Iris Cai said it is her honour to have the chance to attend the Queen’s Garden Party. The UK government recognises Chinese people’s achievement in the UK. Iris would like to thank everyone’s great support and help. She said she is only the representative of Chinese people working in the UK, the honour is belongs to everyone who contribute their time, talent and positive energy to the culture bridge building between the UK and China.

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2148441/Katie-Couric-meets-Queen-Buckingham-Palace-garden-party.html#ixzz1viZaESSp    

16 May 2012

Iris gave a speech: China: Doing Business and Learning the Culture in the UKTI on 16 May 2012.

Senior leaders from UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) attended the speech. This speech is a combination of culture, ancient wisdom and first hand case studies of doing business in China. Topics covered: How traditional values influence people’s thinking and decision making ;Win-win negotiation with Chinese Business; Building relationships between government and business; Social etiquettes and its impact on business success. It provides insights and practical applications of conducting business with Chinese at strategic level. Aim to bring insights to improve effective communication, enhance management concepts and add value to international business. Joined by Riahcard Mullett, Director and Solicitor from The Legal Partners, he gave case studies of contract, IPT of doing business with Chinese companies both in China and in the UK.

The China Daily gave great support to this event by providing twenty newspapers for people’s further reading.  Senior leaders of UKTI and FCO gave positive feedback about this speech.

08 May 2012

Follow the success of the business Chinese culture workshops in January and March Sponsored by O2 Workshop, Iris Cai speaks in the third public workshop ‘China: doing business and learning the culture’.

Targeted on business people, this half day workshop use a combination of culture, ancient wisdom and modern business case studies, this workshop provide insights and practical applications of conducting business with Chinese. Improve effective communication, enhance management concepts and add value to international business.

Joined by Riahcard Mullett, Director and Solicitor from Legal and Partners, he gave case studies of contract, IPT of doing business with Chinese companies both in China and in the UK.

People from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Cambridge University Press, Cass Business School, DMH Stallard participated in this workshop. They gave positive feedback about it.

By popular demand, the next business Chinese culture Masterclass is on 13 September at O2 Workshop 229 Tottenham Court Road.

14 March 2012

Business in Chinese – Chinese language and Culture for beginners successfully completed on 14 March. Students successfully passed the first stage by presenting their self introductions in Mandarin to their classmates and examiners in the Lecture Theatre. Certificates were then awarded to all the successful Students by Hongbing Iris Cai.

This ten lesson block included 50% language study and 50% time of culture lectures, which included ‘The Chinese view of Financial Planning’ , ‘ effortless management and Dao-The Way’ ‘Win-win negotiation with Chinese’ ‘The Art of War-Leadership and Strategy’, ‘Management consultant and Chinese traditional medicine theory’ ‘Powerful Brand translation across Culture’, ‘China’s economic geography and development trend’ and "Feng Shui for Business".

The Students provided very good feedback and are looking forward to recommencing their Mandarin Studies in the summer term.In the summer term, we will run another ten lesson beginner’s class as well.

12 March 2012

Follow the success of the first business Chinese culture workshop in January, Sponsored by O2 Workshop, Iris Cai speaks in the second public workshop.
Targeted on business people, this half day workshop use a combination of culture, ancient wisdom and modern business case studies, this workshop provide insights and practical applications of conducting business with Chinese. Improve effective communication, enhance management concepts and add value to international business.

Joined by Riahcard Mullett, Director and Solicitor from Legal and Partners, he gave case studies of contract, IPT of doing business with Chinese companies both in China and in the UK.

By popular demand, the next business Chinese culture Masterclass is on 8 May at O2 Workshop 229 Tottenham Court Road.  

04 February 2012

Iris gave two lectures to Urban Scholars of Brunel Able Children's Education Centre in Brunel University on the 4th February.

The topic is ‘Study Mandarin Chinese through Culture’ to introduce Chinese language and culture to teenagers. The lectures were very popular and very well received. It has inspired some Scholars to think about studying languages as they think learning Chinese is easy and fun after experience the introduction course. Feedback from the programme director: Thank you Iris for such an informative and inspiring session, we greatly appreciate your input into the programme.

This was the third time Iris gave lectures in the Urban Scholar programme followed January 2010 and July 2011.

Brunel Able Children's Education Centre is the first university-based research centre in the education of able children in the country.
The students attend its campus nine times a year for four years to be taught by university staff and visiting speakers. The programme expands and enhances the work they are doing at school and develops their critical thinking and problem solving skills.

It aims to search for and fulfil the submerged talent of gifted teenagers (12-16 years old) from  secondary schools. Groups of 100 students from schools across London attend Brunel University campus nine Saturdays a year over four years.

27 January 2012

Iris was invited by the UK Research and Development Centre of Chinese Traditional Culture Study Centre to give a speech’ Learn from Wisdom-Chinese tradition and economic success’ to government officers and entrepreneurs as part of its Chinese new year celebration event in Scotland in 27 January.

Iris introduced the wisdom from The Book of Changes, Dao-The Way and how traditional values having positive impact on modern economic management.

People got inspirations from the lectures. A lady said it is the best lecture she has attended recently, some people thought one hour is not enough, they want to listen again as the Chinese ancient wisdom could add value to their business and increase the level of their happiness as well.

10 January 2012

Follow the great success in 2011, in this spring term, Hongbing Iris Cai and her team teach ‘Business in Chinese-Chinese Language and Culture for Beginners’ to MBA students in the China Club of London Business School.

This course has been taught in the London Business School since January 2009 and has received a lot of positive feedback from students.

Each session consists of two parts: 1. Language learning (45min) 2. Culture appreciation (45min)

If students are only interested in the Chinese culture session, it is possible to attend only the Culture appreciation part of the lecture. Each week the China Club will announce precisely which topics will be covered that week.

10 January 2012

Sponsored by Enterprise Nation and O2 Workshop, Iris Cai speaks in Business Chinese Culture Masterclass.

Targeted on business people, this one day workshop use a combination of culture, ancient wisdom and modern business case studies, this workshop provide insights and practical applications of conducting business in China. Improve effective communication, enhance management concepts and add value to international business. By popular demand. We will run the next one on 12 March.

07 January 2012

Iris continues to participate weekly live programme ‘On the Money’ of BBC Radio 5 LIVE.

‘On the Money’ is a weekly programme of the BBC’s Radio 5 LIVE: It’s Declan Curry with a lively analysis of the big business stories making the headlines.

Starting from February 2011, Iris introduces business Chinese culture, philosophy and traditional values that influence modern economic management as well as some Chinese phrases to the BBC audiences.

Time: every Sunday evening 8:00-9:00pm

Channel: Online, on digital, on digital radio: 909/693 AM

Programme introduction, previous programme record as well as Iris’ biography please refer below BBC website link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tl98p

03 Dec 2011

Hongbing Iris Cai was invited to lecture for EMLUX (Executive Master in Luxury Goods Management) in Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milan,Italy in 2-3 December 2011

The topic is ‘Luxury goods success in China’-cross cultural point of view. Iris presented a big picture about Chinese culture, history, economic geography and development trends, it covers luxury goods strategy in China, marketing, effective communication, management for both internally and externally, challenges in emerging market, the key issues facing foreign enterprises wishing to enter the Chinese domestic market and how to overcome these issues. This lecture aims to enrich effective communication, enrich management concepts, bring insights of doing business in China  and add value to future global business leaders in luxury goods industry.

EMLUX (Executive Master in Luxury Goods Management) in Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore has ranked Top 50 best master programme worldwide for luxury management fashion in 2011.

17 Nov 2011

Global Entrepreneurship Week: Enterprise Nation hosted a week-long schedule of online and offline events focused on helping small businesses go global, forming part of the overall Global Entrepreneurship Week initiative designed to encourage and promote an entrepreneurial spirit, running from 14th to 18th November 2011.  

Packed with top speakers and practical sessions, Go Global offers entrepreneurs a chance to increase sales, improve customer service and raise profile, with help from some of the most successful global brands.  Global small business trading expert - Alibaba.com is the Gold Sponsor of the international trade theme of the week.

On Tuesday 15 Nov,  Iris Cai was invited to join Declan Curry’s speech: Speaking “globish”, Curry-style. In which Declan Curry (presenter of BBC “OnTheMoney”) presents his thoughts on international trade & progress from his weekly Mandarin language lessons live on BBC radio!

Declan and Iris did a Mandarin Lesson in front of the audience. Iris then taught the audience to say: ‘ Hello, nice to meet you. I am in London. ‘ Everyone enjoyed the group learning experience.  It was great fun.

On Thursday 17 Nov. Iris Cai  gave a speech ”China: Doing business and learning the culture” It was very well received. People thought it was veryinformative and inspiring.

For more details please refer below link:

http://www.enterprisenation.com/blog/the-go-global-gallery/attachment/declan-curry1/

2 Nov 2011

Hongbing Iris Cai was invited to give series business Chinese culture lectures ‘Learning from Wisdom-Chinese tradition and economic success’ in the China Club of London Business School. 

The background: China has performed well in the global economic crisis. What is the magic behind this? It is the people and their decisions that make the difference. Given from the cultural and historical perspective, Hongbing Iris Cai’s lecture is a good opportunity to learn more about the values that made China a strong economy and also discover how these values have evolved into the modern day underpinning of China’s increasing success and influence in the world. 

The first topic 'The Chinese View of Financial Planning-how traditional values influence economic management' was presented on 2 November. It was very well received by the audiences.

More topics will be addressed in the upcoming weeks:

Manage like a Gardener-Corporate Culture and the Book of Changes 

Win-Win Negotiation with Chinese  

Internal control and effortless management of Taoism, the Way

China’s economic geography and the development trends 

Management consulting and Chinese traditional medicine theory 

Fengshui- the art of placement: for home, business and public place 

The Art of War-Strategy and leadership

Challenges of localisation of multinational companies doing business in China

20 September 2011

The 2011 Dragon Awards dinner was held at The Mansion House on the 20th September. Positive Speaking was invited to attend this event by its voluntary project for business education.

The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards recognise and celebrate Corporate Community Involvement in Greater London. It is designed to reward organisations which display excellence in engaging with their local communities, to provide examples of best practice and to inspire others to get more involved. Activates include charity partnerships, employee volunteering, employability initiatives and local purchasing.

Positive Speaking participated at the Education Award because of its voluntary project; this involved teaching Chinese business culture for the China Club of London Business School. The lectures presented an insightful perspective of Chinese business culture; search the roots of cultural differences of doing business with the Chinese, highlight the strong elements of Chinese culture that we could learn from, improve cross cultural communication skills, enhance management concepts and finally to add value to the business.

This ongoing project started in January 2009.  They have given over 100 lectures with 100% staff involvement that contribute to over 300 hours in the past two and a half years. Over 300 participants have benefited from this project.   

Positive Speaking would like to thank the committee of China Club of LBS for their trust, great support and help to make this happen. Thanks for everyone’s dedication and contribution towards the project. Thanks to all the students and audiences’ participation, commitment and hard work. It truly is successful international team work, the honour belongs to everyone.

In a stirring speech recognising the outstanding feats of this year’s entrants – who this year alone have helped over 90,000 people and contributed over 12,500 days of volunteering – Lord Mayor Michael Bear applauded the efforts of the 250 business leaders present and, driven by his own experiences of how this can work, highlighted the benefits of encouraging quality involvement from the top down.

The Load Mayor said: This year the dragon awards has attracted 80 applications from organisations leading the way in community engagement in London. I would like to thank and congratulate every organisation that applied this year. Your dedication to building stronger comities across London is applauded. I hope that everyone feeling extremely proud of the work that they are doing and inspired to do more to develop and expand your community programmes.

Positive Speaking received great recognition and is inspired ready to do more in the future. As the closing speech said:

‘As life is passion and action, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his times. For all of you men and women in this room; being so passionate in action means that you have taken and continue to take steps to make such a powerful contribution to our society.’ 

16 September 2011

The 2nd Business Chinese teacher training program was recognised by the LSE-Confucius Institute for Business London, TsingHua University (China) and HanBan (Chinese office) in LSE 16-18 September.

Iris was invited as a teacher’s trainer to give a speech of how to teach Chinese business culture to successful business people. With a business career background, Iris shared her insights and experiences of how to combine business, culture and language together to make an impact on people and add value to their business.

This was the second time Iris participated on this training programme.  Iris was voted as one of the Top Three Popular Trainers by the trainees in the 1st teacher training programme in Oct 2010.  

More than 10 professional trainers from Oxford, Cambridge, SOAS and LSE taught students in terms of methodology, linguistics, business manner, and business culture during these three day training seminars.

4 September 2011

After one month summer break. ‘On the Money’ programme of BBC Radio 5 LIVE is back on air. Iris continues to participate on this weekly programme.  

‘On the Money’ is a weekly programme of the BBC’s Radio 5 LIVE: It’s Declan Curry with a lively analysis of the big business stories making the headlines. Starting from February this year, Iris introduces business Chinese culture, philosophy and traditional values that influence modern economic management as well as some Chinese phrases to the BBC audiences.  

We received a lot of positive feedback from the audiences. ‘What a great surprise. I am very impressed with the content (business, culture and language) and the enthusiasm/competency Iris brings to the conversation. Not to mention the fact that I learned new facts about China. ‘ 

The BBC has an excellent culture full of professional, creative, passionate and friendly people. Iris has taught 20 lessons so far and has become full of confidence due to great team work. This has allowed her to create a more positive impact on people and add value to the cultural bridge building process between the UK and China.

Time:  every Sunday evening 8:00-9:00pm

Channel:  Online, on digital, on digital radio: 909/693 AM

Programme introduction, previous programme record as well as Iris’ biography  please refer below BBC website link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tl98p

2 July 2011

Iris gave lectures to Urban Scholars of Brunel Able Children's Education Centre in Brunel University on the 2nd July.

The topic is ‘Study Mandarin Chinese through Culture’ to introduce Chinese language and culture to teenagers.

The lectures were very popular and very well received. It has inspired some Scholars to think about studying languages. 

This was the second time Iris gave lectures in the Urban Scholar programme. The first time was in January 2010. The next lectures are scheduled for the 4th February 2012.

Brunel Able Children's Education Centre is the first university-based research centre in the education of able children in the country.

The students attend its campus nine times a year for four years to be taught by university staff and visiting speakers. The programme expands and enhances the work they are doing at school and develops their critical thinking and problem solving skills.

It aims to search for and fulfil the submerged talent of gifted teenagers (12-16 years old) from  secondary schools. Groups of 100 students from schools across London attend Brunel University campus nine Saturdays a year over four years.

29 June 2011

Follow the success of a series of lectures in business Chinese culture and language to MBA students. In order to help students prepare well for their international trip to Shanghai, Iris gave a lecture to a group of students of the Sloan Fellowship Programme in the London Business School. 

Iris designed a fast track lesson for pure Mandarin beginners. Students gained confidence and learnt quickly, they were left with a positive impression about Chinese culture and language in the 1.5 hour introduction lessons. 

Students have positive feedback about this lecture and hope to learn more in the future.

 ‘Thanks a lot for taking a wonderful session on Chinese language this evening. We thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot about China and its culture. I will be interested in joining further classes and would be grateful if you can let me know the schedule. Once again, thanks a lot for the wonderful work you are doing and my hope is that it continues for many more years and benefits millions like me! ‘- A student feedback from The Sloan Fellowship - Master's Program in Leadership and Strategy of London Business School   

2 May 2011

Follow the popular demand and success in Spring term, the summer term is start from 2 May. Hongbing Iris Cai and her team teach ‘Business in Chinese-Chinese Language and Culture for Beginners’ to MBA students in the China Club of London Business School.

This course has been taught in the London Business School since January 2009 and has received a lot of positive feedback from students.

Each session consists of two parts: 1. Language learning (45min) 2. Culture appreciation (45min)

If students are only interested in the Chinese culture session, it is possible to attend only the Culture appreciation part of the lecture. Each week the China Club will announce precisely which topics will be covered that week.

21 April 2011

Started from 13 February, Iris participates on weekly programme ‘On the Money’ of BBC Radio 5 LIVE. She teaches Chinese phrases, introduces business Chinese culture as well as Chinese philosophy and traditional values to the BBC audiences.

On the Money is weekly programme of BBC Radio 5 LIVE: Declan Curry with lively analysis of the big business stories making the headlines.

Iris introduced how Chinese people see the world through the country names: Chinese people pick the word which the pronunciation is similar with ‘England’ and ‘America’ to form their country names. UK  英 (Ying) means brave, hero, elite ; USA  美(Mei) means beautiful.

Chinese people  see positive aspects in other nations. This comes from Confucius teaching: ‘Everyone has something which we could learn from.’

When talked about money, Iris introduced the formation of money has two parts: gold and knife. Like a knife, money is tool, how to use money wisely, is a challenge over generations. Chinese people save money for the future, to create positive circle of economy.

How to deliver Mandarin language as well as the insights of business Chinese culture in 5 minutes to the radio audiences is a big challenge. It requests creativity, logical thinking and focus on result.  Iris also sang a French song to teach ten numbers in Chinese which created great fun to the audiences  with the age group of 4Os.

BBC has excellent culture, full of professional, creative, passionate and friendly people. Iris has taught nine lessons so far. She is full of confidence to create more positive impact on people and add value to the culture bridge building between the UK and China through great team work.

Time:  every Sunday evening 8:00-9:00pm

Channel:  Online, on digital, on digital radio: 909/693 AM

Programme introduction, previous programme record as well as Iris’ biography  please refer below BBC website link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tl98p

11 January 2011

Follow the introductory lesson on 11 January in the spring term, Hongbing Iris Cai and her  team  taught ‘Business in Chinese-Chinese Language and Culture for Beginners’  to MBA students in the China Club of the London Business School.

This course has been taught in the London Business School for two years and has received a lot of positive feedback from students. In this term, we have been able to extend the culture lecture length from 30 minutes to 45 minutes to satisfy the increasing interest of how culture affects Chinese business from students. Each session now consists of two parts:

1. Language learning (45min)

2. Culture appreciation (45min)

If students are only interested in the Chinese culture session, it is possible to attend only the Culture appreciation part of the lecture. Each week the China Club will announce precisely which topics will be covered that week.

18-22 November 2010

Hongbing Iris Cai was invited by Hanban (The Chinese Office), as well as the Beijing Language and Culture University Press, as a teacher trainer to participate in the world Chinese teacher training conference from the 18th to the 22nd November 2010 in China.

There were over 2,000 Chinese teachers who came from 77 countries came to China to attend the training conference.

Iris received positive feedback from trainees, team members and the leaders from related organisations. They appreciated Iris’ leadership, training skills and for contributing to the training program.

Iris had an interview to share her teaching experience and passion about  the promotion  Chinese language and culture in the UK with Beijing Language and Culture University Press.  The University Press published the interview video on their website main page to share with their audience.  

http://www.blcup.com/index.asp

15 October 2010

Follow the success of the summer term lessons, the China Club arranged one Mandarin Chinese class for beginners (Level Two) in the London Business School. Mrs Yanmin Xing will teach ‘Study Mandarin Chinese through Culture’ to MBA students.

2 September 2010

Hongbing Iris Cai gave a speech entitled ‘Volunteer System and Activities in the UK’ to the Volunteer organisation in the city of Guangzhou, China.

Iris shared her stories of voluntary work experience in the UK in the past seven years.  Iris recounted her personal development, joy and achievements, most importantly, introduce advanced volunteer system from the UK to Chinese people.

The voluntary sector has grown rapidly over the last 20 years in China, in comparison to the voluntary sector in the UK which has over 100 years of history. Chinese People are desperate to learn advanced volunteer management systems from UK, to improve their current work.

With seven years firsthand experience as a volunteer in the UK, Iris shared her good findings of the strength of the UK voluntary system to her Chinese friends.  The speech lasted for two hours. Over 300 people attended this speech. They were inspired and encouraged.

Guangzhou will hold the Asian Games in 11 November 2010.  They are looking forward to implementing their new knowledge into their planning.

By the end of the speech, Chinese volunteers were looking forward to hearing more stories from Iris’ experience in a new venture as the Volunteer Trailblazer of the London Olympics in 2012.

Background

Iris won the Woman Volunteer of the Year ‘MU-LAN’ achievement award which celebrated Chinese women’s achievements in the UK in the House of Lords in the 2009, in honour of her dedication and contribution to the culture bridge building between the UK and China.  While having summer holiday in China in 2010, Iris gave nine voluntary speeches to the public and attended newspaper and radio interviews to share her good experiences of England to Chinese people. 

http://so.tudou.com/isearch/义工生涯/  (video of Iris’ speech in China)

22 August 2010

Chinese people are proud to see ’Made in China’ products are everywhere in the world.  The world appreciates the great success of the Chinese economy over the past three decades.  Now it is the time to promote Chinese culture around the world.    

Iris gave a speech ‘ Promote Chinese culture to the world’ to the Country Garden English club Guangzhou China. Iris is one of the founders of the Country Garden English Club back in June 2000. The English club now has now ran 400 sessions successfully over ten years.  

From encouraging Chinese people to learn English to promote the Chinese language and culture to the world. As an international speaker, Iris would like to add value to the culture bridge building between China and the rest of the world.

10-20 August 2010

Hongbing Iris Cai trained a group of Chinese teachers in Guangzhou China. This training programme was focused on using an innovative teaching method to teach business Chinese to beginners. This Chinese business course is designed for successful business people; it is a combination of language, culture and ancient wisdom to provide an insight into conducting business in China. The teachers were inspired by this innovative teaching method as well as the teaching materials. They are looking forward to using in their new found skills.

16 June 2010

The two LBS  Beginners and Intermediate Classes both successfully completed this week.  The Beginners Class successfully passed the first stage by presenting their self introductions in Mandarin to their classmates and examiners in the Lecture Theatre. Certificates were then awarded to all the successful Students by Hongbing Iris Cai.

The ten lesson block included weekly culture lectures, which included "The Chinese view of Financial Planning" , "Powerful Brand translation across Culture", "Chinese modern Economic Development History" and "Feng Shui for Business".

The final culture Topic was "Manage like a Gardener" which was about corporate culture and how this could be improved based on teachings from the "Book of Changes".  The students found this informative and interesting and hoped they could apply some of the knowledge in their future roles in international organisations.

The Students provided very good feedback and are looking forward to recommencing their Mandarin Studies in the Autumn term.

15 March 2010

Asia House coporate programme presents "Study Mandarin through Culture" with Hongbing Iris Cai.

As the course leader, Iris taught five lessons for beginners. This course is designed for successful business people, it is a combination of language, culture, ancient wisdom to provide an insight into conducting business in China.

The culture appreciation part including the overview of , Fengshui-the art of placement, Chinese view of Financial Planning, Brands translation-transfer powerful impact across culture, social ettiqute , Chinese economic geography, strategy and leadership.   

Asia House cooperate members including BSI, Diageo, HSBC, Ove Arup & Partners, Shell and  Thomson Reuters sent staff to attended the training.  

09 March 2010

Hongbing Iris Cai is  invited to give a speech:

‘Chinese View of Finance Planning -How Traditional Values affect Economic Management'

China has performed well in the global economic crisis. What is the magic behind this?

It is people and their decisions that makes the difference.

In this lecture, Iris addressed the cultural background and heritage that impact Chinese people. It is based on the topic of 'Chinese View of Financial Planning', and covers:

1. Present Chinese traditional value and ancient wisdom of financial planning.

2. Introduce economic philosophies that helped business people to achieve long term success.  

3. Discuss China’s modern economic development history, how people’s values have changed.

4. Core values that Chinese culture contribute to the world

5. Case study

Informative, interesting and given from the culture history perspective. This lecture is good opportunity to understand what values made China a strong economy during significant periods across history, learn how these have evolved to the modern day underpinning China’s increasing success and influence in the world. 

The material was presented to an international commercial bank and transformed into a marketing campaign.

About the speaker

Hongbing Iris Cai is the founder of Positive Speaking, a company that offers tailor made Chinese language programs. She is also the winner of Mu-Lan Achievements Award in 2009 in honor of her dedication and contribution in facilitating culture exchange between the UK and China. Before moving to London, Iris worked as a Finance Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi and WPP Group in China.

17 January 2010

Follow the public lesson on 11 January, in spring term, China Club arranged two Mandarin Chinese classes for beginners in London Business School. Hongbing Iris Cai  teaches ‘Study Mandarin Chinese through Culture’ to MBA students.

16 January 2010

Iris gave lectures to Urban Scholars of  Brunel Able Children's Education Centre in Brunel University on 16 January 2010. The topic is ‘Study Mandarin Chinese through Culture’ to introduce Chinese language and culture to teenagers.  The lectures were very successful.

The Director of Brunel Urban Scholars Programme  sent Iris’ flowers on behalf of the scholars to express their appreciation and thanks:

'Thank you so much for running the sessions today for us, they were very popular and very well received. I think you have really inspired some Scholars to think about studying languages'.  

About Urban Scholar Programme

Brunel Able Children's Education Centre is the first university-based research centre in the education of able children in the country.

The students attend its campus nine times a year for four years to be taught by university staff and visiting speakers. The programme expands and enhances the work they are doing at school and develops their critical thinking and problem solving skills.  It aims to search for and fulfil the submerged talent of gifted teenagers (12-16 years old) from  secondary schools. Groups of 100 students from schools across London attend Brunel University campus nine Saturdays a year ove r four years. 

The students attend its campus nine times a year for four years to be taught by university staff and visiting speakers. The programme expands and enhances the work they are doing at school and develops their critical thinking and problem solving skills.

22 October 2009

Hongbing Iris Cai, Director of Positive Speaking received Mu-Lan Achievements  Award in 2009 in honour of her dedication and contribution in facilitating culture bridge building between the UK and China.  

The Mu-Lan Awards reception was held in the River Room, House of Lords on Tuesday, 20 October 2009. It was hosted by Baroness Margaret Jay and attended by the Lord Speaker, RT Hon Baroness Hayman, Sarah Brown, RT Hon Harriet Harman, Cherie Booth QC and a host of other guests.

The number of nominations received for the Awards surpassed the organisers’ expectations. They were closely contested, reflecting the depth, range and consistently high quality of achievements in this country. These awards celebrate the very best of the best in the category, and show that we have so much to be proud of.

Nine women received the Mu-Lan Awards of five categories:  Community Woman of the Year; Woman Volunteer of the Year; Female Benefactor of the Year;  Contribution to Public Life and Female Young Achiever.         

Hongbing Iris Cai received Women Volunteer of the Year of Mu-Lan Awards.

Hongbing Iris was a Finance Manager with Saatchi & Saatchi in China and came to London in 2003. She started voluntary work with a local organisation called Time and Talent, looking after and supporting an old lady. She is also a volunteer at Imperial College, winning the voluntary ward from the Imperial College Volunteer Centre in 2004. She has also been recognised by Time and Talent Association for 4 consecutive years. She continues to do voluntary work with her local church in Rotherhithe, South East London.

Her other voluntary work include teaching Mandarin Chinese to MBA students in the China Interest Club of London Business School. Her teaching approach ‘Study Mandarin Chinese through Culture’ is informative, interesting and inspiring and has received very good feedback from students.

She is also a prolific journalist, writing articles which promote Chinese ancient wisdom and values. Her effort and voluntary work span across the Chinese and British communities which is truly bridge building.

28 September 2009

31 May 2009