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Skills 360 – Diplomatic and Direct Language

Business English, Business Skills 360, Communication, Management English /

In this Business English Skills 360 lesson we take a look at the language we use in a crisis. In our last two lessons (BEP 179 and BEP 180), we listened to a team dealing with a serious crisis: an accident at a factory. You probably noticed how some of the people are quite careful about the words they use.

A crisis is a sensitive situation. Emotions are running high and people are on edge. There is the potential for conflict if you do or say the wrong thing. At the same time, the clock is ticking and you may not have time to manage everyone’s feelings. For these reasons, you have a very fine balancing act between being diplomatic and being direct.

So, when should you be diplomatic and when should you be direct? Well, you need to assess the situation and determine which is best. Diplomatic language can protect people’s feelings. It can also avoid conflict and build trust. Those can all be very important in a crisis, when everybody needs to be on board with a plan. On the other hand, direct language can show a sense of urgency and seriousness, and it can prevent confusion. Those are also important in a conflict, when things must happen quickly and misunderstanding is just not an option. Remember that to be a good crisis manager, you need to adapt your style and strategy to the situation.

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Skills 360 – Tips for Successful Presentations 2

Advanced, Business English, Business Skills 360, Presentation in English /

Welcome back Business Skills 360 – the podcast that looks at the other side of Business English.

This is the second part of our series on effective English presentations. Last week, we talked about keeping it short, simple, engaging, and real. Much of that happens in the preparation. Today, we’re going to talk about what happens when you stand up in front of that audience and have to start speaking.

Your first goal should be to make a connection with each and every listener. That connection is the pathway along which your message travels. If you have a good connection, there’s a good chance your message will sink in. To make this connection, you have to do two things: you need to control the audience’s attention and you need to engage their minds. And to do these two things, you have three tools: your voice, your props such as PowerPoint – and your body or movement.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the most difficult part of speaking in front of a group of people?
2. What different types of visual aids are commonly used in presentations?
3. When you give a presentation, do you usually stand in one place or move around?

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Skills 360 – Tips for Successful Presentations 1

Business English, Business Skills 360, Presentation in English /

Welcome back Business Skills 360. We’re going to kick off the New Year with some tips for making your English presentations more effective and relevant.

A good presentation in English is one that connects to your audience with a clear, organized message that can be easily understood. So, what can we do to make an impact? How can we connect our message to the audience? What do we need to think about when preparing our presentation? And how do we work to our strengths and minimize the challenges of presenting in English? Tim’s got some ideas, so let’s hear what he has to say.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think PowerPoint is used effectively?
2. How long can you keep an audience focused during a presentation?
3. Think about the good presentations you’ve seen. What qualities did the speaker have?

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Skills 360 – Achieving Your Goals (Part 2)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Management English /

Welcome back Business English Skills 360 for the second part of our series on achieving your goals.

In this episode, we’re going to talk about how to maintain your focus and motivation while you work toward achieving your goals. Remember that achieving your goals is a process, not an event. It takes time, energy, motivation, and the ability to deal with adversity. It doesn’t happen all at once. But if you set SMART goals, manage them well, find the right time and resources, and maintain motivation, you’ll get there.

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Skills 360 – Achieving Your Goals (Part 1)

Business English, Business Skills 360, Management English /

Welcome back Business English Skills 360 for the first part of our series on achieving your goals. In this episode, we’re going to focus on setting SMART goals and effective goal management.

Now, when I talk about goals, I’m talking about any kind of goal. It could be a personal goal, like improving your sales pitch, or an organizational goal, like expanding successfully into new territory. The basics are the same and these tips apply to goals of any size or scope.

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Download: Podcast MP3