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Business News 05 – Virtual Meetings

Business English, Business News, Communication, English for Meetings /

How do you conduct your meetings? Face-to-face, on the phone, by videoconference or maybe even using VOIP/Skype? Well, now there is a new way – virtual meetings, or meetings where participants are represented by computer generated characters.

Listen to how IBM is using the virtual world of a website called Second Life as the next best thing to in person corporate meetings. After listening to the article, we’ll highlight some of the new vocabulary and provide definitions and further examples.

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BEP 22 – Telephoning: Handling Enquiries and Technical Problems

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Telephone English /

A new version of this lesson is available here: BEP 22c – Telephone English: Making Enquiries

In this Business English Podcast lesson we continue our series on making telephone calls in English by looking at how to deal with technical problems and clarify information using alternative choice questions. This questioning technique is useful when you need to clarify important information or reach a decision.

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BEP 21 – Telephoning: Opening Calls and Taking Messages

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Telephone English /

A new version of this lesson is available here: BEP 21 A – Telephone Skills: Starting a Call

This is an intermediate level Business English Podcast on making telephone calls in English. Some of the key language phrases we cover in this episode are: identifying yourself and the caller, stating the purpose of your call and leaving a message.

These telephone calls are about a contract between a large aircraft company and one of its suppliers, also known as a subcontractor. The contracts department from the client is calling to ask about a proposal it is expecting from the supplier for a new contract. Time is very short for all the proposals to be received, and so far, the aircraft company hasn’t received anything from this supplier.

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BEP 20 – Meetings: Supporting your Position (Part 3)

Advanced, Business English, English for Meetings, ESL Podcast /

A new version of this lesson is available here: BEP 20c – Presenting a Cohesive Argument

In the final episode of our three-part series on supporting your position in meetings, we look at language used to make your statements more persuasive.

Jack is going to summarize his proposal for the move to Costa Rica and hopes to get a final recommendation on the outsourcing project to present to the Board. He must persuade the managers to proceed, and answer the objections raised at the last meeting.

Key language: Making coherent, persuasive arguments, and effective use of language to support your arguments.

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