Business English Pod / Articles by: BEP / Page 80

BEP 234 – English for Conferences 2: Hosting a Social Event

Business English, Sales English, Socializing /

English Conference Party Socialize

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on hosting social events at a company conference.

Conferences and other corporate events are about much more than just speakers and workshops. They’re a chance for people to network, to socialize, and to have some fun. Every good host knows this. And every good host works hard to make sure that people are enjoying themselves.

If you think about it, hosts actually have a pretty tough job. They have to organize activities and people while maintaining a smile. They have to solve frustrating problems with a positive attitude. It’s a tricky balance, but there are techniques you can learn to help you get that balance right.

Today we’ll learn a few useful techniques that will help you to be a good host. We’ll learn to ask people about needs, elicit feedback on the event, and make yourself available for help. We’ll also learn to keep conversations going and connect people.

In the dialog, we’ll revisit a company’s regional HR conference. The host is Amy, VP of HR at the company’s Chicago office. She’s organizing people during the evening conference event. We’ll hear Amy talking with two of the participants: Tom and Hanna.

Listening Questions

1. What topic does Amy invite more detail from Tom about?
2. How do Tom and Hanna meet?
3. What does Amy encourage Tom and Hanna to do at the end of the dialog?

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BEP 233 – English for Conferences 1: Opening Presentation

Business English, Communication, Presentation in English /

Conference Presentation in English

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on hosting a conference in English.

If you’ve ever had to play host, for a conference, a meeting, a fundraiser, or any other type of event, you know it’s a lot of work. There’s months of planning and preparation, all for a single day or single weekend. And you want things to be perfect. You want the attendees to have a fabulous time. You want no problems or glitches.

Of course, it rarely works out that way. There are always problems to solve, but as the host, you can’t lose your cool. You’re the face of the event, and you’ve got to smile and make sure everyone has a great time. So, how can you do that?

Today we’ll look at some of the techniques you need to be a great host. In particular, we’ll focus on giving an opening address to kick off a conference or other event. We will learn how to officially welcome people, introduce the theme, outline goals and events, and introduce a speaker.

In the dialog, you’ll hear the official start to a conference that has brought together a company’s HR personnel from throughout the American midwest. The opening address is being delivered by Amy, the company’s VP of Human Resources in Chicago. You will hear the techniques Amy uses as host of the conference.

Listening Questions

1. What is the first goal of the conference that Amy mentions?
2. What are some of the events in Day 1 of the conference?
3. What kind of information does Amy give about the keynote speaker?

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Skills 360 – Giving and Receiving Feedback (Part 2)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Communication /

Welcome back to Skills 360 for today’s lesson on receiving feedback with a positive attitude.

How do you feel when you hear something like this from your manager: “Listen, I really need to talk to you about the work you’ve been doing on that big project.” If you’re like most people, your heart starts beating a little faster and your mind starts racing. In fact, this is a common reaction to the idea that we’re about to receive feedback. We naturally don’t like it. But it’s important, so we need to learn how to receive feedback constructively.

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Skills 360 – Giving and Receiving Feedback (Part 1)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Communication /

Welcome back to Skills 360 for today’s lesson on giving feedback.

Say “feedback” and a lot of people will immediately think of a performance review. You sit down with someone you manage and explain what they’re doing well and what they need to improve. It’s a situation we’ve all been in, on both sides of the desk.

However, feedback is much more than what we do in a structured and scheduled situation. Feedback is an ongoing process, and we give feedback to everyone around us, not just those who report to us. That includes colleagues and co-workers, and our managers or superiors. Feedback happens every day, between everyone in a company.

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BEP 232 – Discussing the Economy (Part 2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Collocations, Finance and Accounting /

In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at vocabulary and collocations for discussing the economy.

In the 21st century, the countries of the world are all closely connected. A company based in the U.S. might employ factory workers in Indonesia to make products they sell to Europeans with the help of a Chinese shipping company. In this global economy, we don’t just talk about what happens within the borders of our own country. We talk about all economies, or “the economy” in general. And we talk about it a lot!

If you’re going to do business, you need to talk about economics. And in English, there are many common expressions we use to describe the economy. Today, we’re going to listen to a dialog and learn some of these expressions.

The expressions we’ll practice today are examples of “collocations.” A collocation is a group of two or more words that we usually use together. For example, maybe you have heard the expression “to have an interview.” We can’t say “do” an interview or “make” an interview. The common expression, or combination of words, is “have an interview.” Learning collocations like these is very important, because they will make you sound more natural. When you hear today’s dialog, listen to how the speakers combine words naturally. Then we’ll explain what they mean and practice using them.

In the dialog, we rejoin David and Gordon, two expats in Southeast Asia talking about the economies in the region. Gordon has recently arrived in the area and done a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma, while David has worked in the region for several years.

Listening Questions

1. What does David predict for Burma’s GDP?
2. What advantage does Burma have, according to Gordon?
3. How does David think their company should approach Burma?

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