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BEP 289 – English Interview Skills 1: Talking about Experience

Advanced, Business English, Job Interview English, Popular Lessons / June 25, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on talking about your work experience during a job interview in English.

An interview in english might just be one of the most stressful experiences in our working lives. The stakes are high, because there’s a job on the line. And it’s our one and only shot to show people why they should choose us over all the other applicants.

So how do you convince someone you’re the best candidate? Well, you need to answer their questions, of course. But you also need to look behind the questions to see what the interviewer is trying to learn about you. And you need to take the questions as opportunities to impress.

Fortunately, there are techniques and language you can learn to help you make a great impression. You can highlight transferable learning from your previous experience. You can also highlight accomplishments and their impact as well as describing your personality. And finally, you can show why you want to work for the company. In today’s lesson, we’ll learn how to use these techniques in a job interview.

In the dialog, you’ll hear Ryan, who’s interviewing in English for a job at a large software company. Two managers from the company – Sandra and Victor – are asking questions about Ryan’s experience and personality.

Listening Questions

1. What does Ryan say he learned at his previous job?
2. Ryan describes one of his accomplishments. What does he say was the impact of that accomplishment?
3. How does Ryan describe his own personality?

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VV 50 – Legal English: Intellectual Property and Copyright Law (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Video, Legal English / June 19, 2016

In this lesson we’ll learn legal English vocabulary related to copyright. Copyrighted works are created by authors, who receive royalties for the use of their work. Copyright exists for a specific term, and may be assigned to others. Limits to copyright include works in the public domain as well as fair use. We’ll also look at ideas like copyright infringement and piracy.

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VV 49 – Legal English: Intellectual Property Law (1)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, English Video, Legal English / June 9, 2016

In this lesson we’ll look at legal English vocabulary related to intellectual property, or IP. Intellectual property includes patents, as well as trademarks and trade secrets. IP may be licensed to others, but it still belongs to the rights holder. We’ll cover activities such as counterfeiting, as well as reverse engineering. And finally, we’ll look at designation of origin.

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BEP 288 – Sales English 4: Dealing with Doubts

Advanced, Business English, Sales English / May 29, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on dealing with a customer’s doubts about a proposed solution during the sales process.

Customers rarely agree to buy after an initial pitch. Sales typically involves a lot more work than just the initial approach. You need to get to know the customer, understand their needs and offer them good solutions. And somewhere along the way, you’ll have to deal with their questions and doubts. After all, people want to be sure they’re making the right choice, and that they’re spending their money wisely. And even when you’ve shown them all the right reasons to buy from you, they might still be on the fence. So what can you do?

Well, there are a few useful techniques that can help you deal with a customer’s doubts. We can ask about reasons, and propose solutions. We can also relieve their fears and anticipate their concerns. And finally, we can show them why the other alternatives are not good choices. In today’s lesson, we’ll learn how to use these techniques.

In the dialog, we’ll rejoin Aaron, a salesman at a commercial refrigeration company. He’s been talking with a hotel about providing cooling systems for their restaurant and bar. Aaron has taken the time to get to know his customer, and he’s submitted a proposal that he thinks matches their needs. But now the customer has some doubts. Besides Aaron, you’ll hear Eva, the hotel manager, and William, the contractor who’s renovating the hotel.

Listening Questions

1. What is Aaron’s solution to Eva’s first concern?
2. What other concern of Eva’s is Aaron able to guess?
3. Why does Aaron think that not choosing his solution for the freezer is a bad idea?

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BEP 287 – Sales English 3: Matching a Solution to Needs

Advanced, Business English, Sales English / May 22, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on matching solutions to customers’ needs during the sales process.

Have you ever been frustrated by a salesperson who tried to sell you something you didn’t need? Yes, we all have! And so if you’re the one doing the selling, remember that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t likely to work. Instead, you need to build a relationship and learn about your customer’s needs. Only then can you provide the right solution.

In our last two lessons on the sales process, we looked at how to make your initial approach and understand the customer’s needs. So in this lesson, we’ll look at the next step in the process: matching a solution to those needs.

There are several techniques we can use to offer a solution to a customer. We can warn them against doing things a certain way. That is, we can advise them against solutions that don’t match their needs. We can also emphasize cost benefits or quality, and ask hypothetical questions in order to persuade them. And finally, once we’ve used these techniques, we can finish by summarizing agreement.

In today’s dialog, we’ll rejoin Aaron, a salesperson with a commercial refrigeration company. He has been talking to customers at a new hotel who need equipment for their bar and restaurant. Aaron has visited the hotel to meet them and talk about their needs. Now Aaron is putting together a proposal, and he calls the hotel manager, Eva, to talk about some of his proposed solutions.

Listening Questions

1. What does Aaron advise Eva against doing at the beginning of their conversation?
2. What point does Aaron emphasize when he recommends the Coil-Pro unit?
3. At the end of the conversation, how does Aaron introduce his summary of their discussion?

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