Business English Pod / Articles by: BEP / Page 82

BEP 229 – Presenting in English: Freestyle Q&A (1)

Business English, Communication, Presentation in English /

Presenting in English - Question and Answers

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on handling questions during a presentation in English.

So you’ve planned your presentation carefully and you’ve rehearsed it in front of the mirror. You walk into the room, you bring up your first slide, and you begin. But you’ve hardly finished your introduction when someone throws out a question. How do you deal with it?

You’d better be ready for this situation, because you know it’s coming. How often do people actually wait for you to finish before politely raising their hands and asking you questions? It just doesn’t happen. So you need to learn how to respond on the fly. You need to read the situation and react accordingly. Your presentation isn’t ruined if you know the right things to say and do.

Today we’ll look at some of the techniques we can use to handle questions and keep our presentation flowing. These techniques include anticipating questions before they’re asked, using a question to transition to another point, and buying time. We’ll also learn about dismissing a question that you’ve already answered and redirecting a question to the entire group.

In the dialog, we’ll hear part of a meeting in a publishing company. Amy is giving a presentation about a potential overseas partnership. Brenda and Dennis, two senior managers, are asking Amy some tough questions along the way.

Listening Questions

1. What does Amy anticipate that the audience might be wondering about?
2. Which topic does Amy have to ”˜buy time’ for before talking about it?
3. When Brenda asks about priorities, how does Amy deal with the question?

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VV 34 – Financial English Vocabulary: Macroeconomics (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Video, Finance and Accounting /
YouTube video

In this business English vocabulary lesson, we’ll look at some key macroeconomic terms related to consumers and prices. This includes ideas such as the income gap, the cost of living, and the consumer price index (CPI). We will also explore concepts such as inflation and purchasing power, as well as disposable income, household debt, and consumer spending.

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VV 33 – Financial English Vocabulary: Macroeconomics (1)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Video, Finance and Accounting /
YouTube video

In this business English vocabulary lesson, we’ll look at some key macroeconomic terms, such GDP and GNP. We’ll explore the natural business cycle, which includes periods of expansion, recession and sometimes even depression. We’ll also look at the idea of trade balance between countries, which can be described as either a trade surplus or a trade deficit.

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BEP 228 – Telephoning: Making Sales Calls in English (2)

Business English, Sales English, Telephone English /

Sales Call English

Welcome back to Business English Pod for the second part of our lesson on making sales calls.

Being successful in sales begins with getting your foot in the door. If you can sit down with someone in their workplace and show your product, or talk about your service, you’re more than halfway to making a sale. But if you don’t get the chance to sit down face to face, making the sale will be a lot harder.

There’s lots of advice out there about making cold calls in English. But usually you’ve got more to work with than just a phone number. A good lead might be someone you’ve talked to at an event, or someone you’ve been referred to by another customer or friend. So, you’ve got a name and number and perhaps a previous conversation or mutual acquaintance.

You call the person, you use your best professional greeting, you make a connection and you try to get them to talk about their company and their needs. Now comes the hard part. You need to make the next step and actually ask them to agree to meet with you. Today we’ll learn some great techniques that will help you get to that point. We’ll start with showing the value of your product or company, then we’ll cover asking for a meeting, dealing with a refusal, emphasizing the need to meet, and expressing gratitude.

In the dialog, we will hear the second part of a telephone conversation between Kate and Tina. Kate is a salesperson with a company called Thompson Medical. And Tina works at a dental office. Kate’s company sells machines called “autoclaves,” which are used to sterilize tools in medical clinics.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Kate mention ‘flexibility in the setup’?
2. How does Kate respond when Tina says that it’s hard to schedule a meeting?
3. What does Kate offer to do if Tina agrees to sit down and talk?

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BEP 227 – Telephoning: Making Sales Calls in English (1)

Business English, Sales English, Telephone English /

English Sales Call

In this Business English lesson, we take a look at making sales calls.

Many people hate making sales calls in English. They pick up the telephone and instantly feel a pit in their stomach. They might be afraid of rejection. Or they might know that most people hate receiving sales calls. But fear not! When you pick up the telephone, you’ve got an opportunity. If you approach it positively, you’ll have more positive results.

You start with a list of leads. This might just be names and numbers. They might be people you’ve met at a networking event or a trade show. Now it’s time to work those leads. In the first call, you’re not going to give them a hard sell or a pitch. You can save the real selling for a face to face meeting. And that’s your short-term goal: getting someone to agree to sit down with you.

You’re not the first person who has ever called someone to arrange a meeting. And there are some tried and true techniques that you can rely on. Today, we focus on the first part of a sales call. We’ll look at using a friendly professional greeting, showing respect for time, and referencing other clients. We’ll also look at both asking about a client’s needs and summarizing those needs.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Kate, a salesperson with a company called Thompson Medical. She’s calling Tina, who works at a dental office. Kate’s company sells “autoclaves.” An autoclave is a machine that sterilizes, or cleans, tools and equipment. It’s an important piece of equipment in any medical office.

Listening Questions

1. Why do you think Kate mentions that Tina must be very busy?
2. What does Kate say about another clinic that she visited?
3. What are the basic problems that Tina’s office has with their current system?

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