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BEP 117 – Negotiations: Clarifying and Evaluating Positions

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Negotiating /

In this Business English Pod lesson we’re going to look at how to clarify and evaluate positions during a negotiation.

An important part of any discussion is making our position clear; at the same time, we must make sure we understand the other side’s point of view. Achieving mutual understanding can help us save money by avoiding missed opportunities. In addition, the ultimate goal of any negotiation is to create value. Therefore, evaluation – determining whether an offer or position is good or bad – plays an important role. So in this show we’ll study stating, clarifying, and evaluating positions.

Peter is the owner of mobile phone ringtone and game provider, Textacular. He is attempting to roll up, or buy, other small companies like his in an effort to increase the value of his company. Eventually, he wants to sell his business to a larger, regional service provider for a profit. In the listening, he is meeting with Maxine, owner of Gamester, to discuss a possible merger. As you listen, pay attention to how they clarify and evaluate each other’s positions.

Listening Questions

1) What is the basic source of disagreement between Maxine and Peter?
2) What are Maxine’s reasons for insisting on her price?
3) What does Peter mean when he says he has done “months of due diligence?”

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BEP 116 – Presentations: Analyzing Trends

Advanced, Business English, Business English e-Books, ESL Podcast, Presentation in English /

In this Business English Pod episode, we’ll be completing our discussion of charts and graphs by studying language for making predictions and for supporting your predictions with analysis. We’ll also look at a couple of advanced ways to rhetorically emphasize a point. Rhetorical means using words effectively to get your message across.

Today’s listening continues Pat’s presentation of the market trends for Ambient and its competitors. This time Pat is coming to the “real story” – the main point – of his presentation. As you listen, see if you can catch what it is.

Listening Questions

1) What is the main focus of this part of Pat’s presentation?
2) What happened in 2005 that caused the trend in RPU to “break out” of “existing trend lines?”
3) What are Pat’s predictions for Ambient’s RPU in 2007?

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BEP 115 – Presentations: Describing Trends

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Presentation in English /

In this episode from our e-Book on presenting in English, we’ll look at how to describe the trends show by a chart or graph. To get the background to the presentation and to review language for introducing visuals, you can refer back to BEP 103 – Charts and Trends 1.

A trend is the general direction or tendency of a metric or measurement – upward, downward, flat, fluctuating, peaking, bottoming out, and so on. So, you’ll be learning how to use these and many more terms for describing your charts and graphs in fluent, vivid sentences so that you can present your data with maximum impact.

Pat, Ambient’s new Central European finance director, has just finished talking about sales revenue and is now moving on to discuss market share. The visual he will be talking about is a line graph that compares the trends in market share over the last six quarters from Q1 2006 to Q2 2007. His discussion centers on the top three players in the mobile phone business – his own company, Ambient, and their two top competitors, CallTell and Sirus.

As you listen, pay attention to the trend language that Pat uses to describe the recent changes in the market.

Listening Questions

1) Which company has the largest share of the market at the beginning of 2006?
2) How does Pat describe his own company’s performance in 2006?
3) How big is the “others” group share of the market in Spring 2007?

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BVP 03 Business Vocabulary – Office Manager

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, ESL Podcast, Management English /

Today’s podcast continues our series on business vocabulary, with a special focus on collocations or word partnerships. By focusing on words that are commonly used together you can improve your vocabulary and also your ability to understand your English-speaking colleagues.

When you think of “office administration”, what are the first things that come to mind? They might be things like paperwork, filing, copying, and other boring and repetitive tasks. Most people probably don’t think of an office manager’s job as a crucial service that supports the successful running of a company and, therefore, its ability to make money.

Well, today we’re about to meet Thomas, who’s going to tell us about the role he plays as office manager at the Mexican subsidiary of a multinational chemical company.

Listening Questions

1) How does Thomas summarize his role as Office Manager?
2) What characteristics does Thomas list as important qualities of an office manager?
3) According to Thomas, what is a common misunderstanding about the best way for an office manager to do his job?

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