Marc Abernathy

Edit manuscripts, dissertations, theses, grant and fellowship applications, website pages, course exams, essays, and training material for universities and private individuals. Past projects have included manuscripts submitted to the following academic journals: -British Journal of Management -Journal of Small Business Management -Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal -Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice -Journal of Business Research -Journal of Management Studies

Led four-day workshops with professors, lecturers, academic staff, and students to develop skills in developing, writing, and evaluating hypotheses; refining arguments; organizing texts; revising drafts; and adapting content for different audiences. I helped participants to identify their lead arguments, independently critique and analyze abstracts, identify and communicate the importance of their research questions, evaluate and strengthen their claims, and organize their texts.

Conducted a four-hour online workshop in revising academic style for 11 participants in the History and Theatre Arts faculties. Applying well-tested principles to participants’ own work, I trained researchers in how to recognize problematic writing style and improve their own writing. In individual 90-minute training sessions, I evaluated participants’ work and helped them revise it on-screen, discussed how best to articulate it, and answered their writing and style questions.

Wrote business articles and language exercises for Smart Business English Today, a monthly subscription magazine for German learners of English. Target readers are in exports, sales, and marketing, and the highly relevant and practical contributions were between 500 to 1000 words. Contributions included articles on Netflix, pain points, and business opportunities; active listening for managers; and offline approaches to customer relationship management.

I trained individual and corporate clients, giving them the confidence they need to communicate clearly in English for business and personal situations.

Elected Board position at ELTABB. Responsible for coordinating ELTABB journal and member publication, resources page, event reviews, and other professional development-related activities.

Instructor for bachelor-level blended learning module, including online and in-person lectures, with a focus on written understanding and expression. Responsible for maintaining and updating online Moodle webpage and content, communicating with students and coaching online, and giving feedback and support for student writing assignments.

Read the room: Adapting your pitch, argument, and other business communication Sales and marketing staff look for individual motivational stories; high-level executives often prefer a topline summation followed by a logical explication of analytical thought; social-media audiences respond to a visual story with few words. Adapting your message to the needs of your audience and platforms: a critical skill for communicating effectively with many different stakeholders.

Moderated podium discussion, "Friday after-work discussion - Languages and Business: Corporate learning for successful international communication," Expolingua Berlin 2017, the 30th international trade fair for language and culture

Taught language- and skills-based courses to undergraduate and graduate students in International Business, Psychology, Healthcare Economics, and Logistics study programs. Courses included Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility; Business Topics, Affairs, and Trends; Business Topics, Current Affairs, Business Writing; Rhetoric, Public Speaking, Presentations, Communication; Business Language Issues; Business English

Supported game-development students in their other English-language coursework and assignments. Taught essay development, including structure, and writing; written analysis; grammar and language; documenting processes; describing concepts, plans, ideas, and game elements; comparing and contrasting; writing reviews; and analyzing structure and content of narrative games.

Led English-language communications course for HR staff at TH Köln to help them create glossaries; translate forms and terminology; and use English when communicating, recruiting, and hiring professors and teaching and non-teaching staff from abroad. Reviewed German university recruting and hiring policies, procedures, and laws; simulated conversations and question-and-answer sessions; and assisted in creating a dual-language document management system to improve communication with potential new hires.

Worked with professional university teaching coaches to develop their terminology and fluency in providing intake, assessment, and feedback to university professors and teachers. Developed language in English to help them express their expert knowledge from German. Translated teaching-methodology terminology, generated questions for professor interactions, and created phrasing and language so coaches could confidently respond to specific situations.

Led workshop of faculty and staff in principles of academic writing and effective communication. Using numerous examples, breakout sessions, and participant-generated materials, clarified areas of writing such as cohesion, coherence, concision, and citations.

Perfect English, Inc. was a company that provided writing, editing, and proofreading services; language training; and education consulting. The company was based in Seattle, Washington and had a client base worldwide.

Research and draft memoranda and white papers for ethics board policy positions and guidelines. Current and completed research areas include: nutritional supplements and consumer health products, investigator conflicts of interest, safety reporting (e.g., adverse events and unanticipated problems), and future use of blood and tissue samples. Investigate and draft human subjects research policies and requirements for U.S. Federal agencies.

Conducted searches and scanned articles and library sources for relevant material to be included in clinical studies monograph and later research publications. Wrote summaries, categorized research articles, and provided general assistance with daily and long-range research and publication strategy.

Following an internship on the political TV talk show Hardball, I was asked by host Chris Matthews to get his book project started, by collecting and sorting material to match his style and intention, and to organize the preliminary structure and outlines of content for his book. Drafted very early sketches of the manuscript based on conversations and discussions with Chris.