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BEP 23c – Telephone English: Getting Action

A2, Business English, Telephone English / May 8, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to get action over the telephone in English.

Being productive at work means getting stuff done. And sometimes to get our own work done, we need other people to get things done. So when you need action from someone, what’s the best or quickest way to get it? Well, often we just pick up the phone and call the person.

And what do you say? Is it okay to just come out and say “hey, do this” or “hi, do that?” Not really. You need to be firm and direct, but not that firm and direct. You might need to emphasize how important the issue is. Next, you might lead into the main issue before you actually talk about what you want or need done.

But that’s not all! If you want action, you want to make absolutely sure you’re going to get it. That’s why you might ask for a guarantee, which is like a promise from the other person. And finally, just to be 100% sure, you should finish off by confirming the action. In this way, you’re not being too direct or bossy, but you’re still firmly doing more than just making a polite request.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Nathan, who works for an aircraft company called Cyclops. Nathan is calling George at a company called Airtronics. Nathan is calling because he wants to get action on a proposal from George. More specifically, he wants to make sure George is going to submit the proposal to Cyclops today.

Listening Questions

1. Why does Nathan think it’s important for George to submit a proposal today?
2. What important question does Nathan ask that relates to whether George can complete his proposal?
3. Near the end of the conversation, Nathan asks George to do something just to confirm that the proposal is being sent. What does he ask George to do?

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BEP 22c – Telephone English: Making Enquiries

A2, Business English, Intermediate English, Popular Lessons, Telephone English / April 24, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to make an enquiry on the telephone in English. Making an enquiry means that you want to ask a question, or questions, to get information.

Getting information over the telephone in English can be challenging! You need to be very clear about what you need, and sometimes you need to ask the other person for clarification when you can’t hear or don’t understand. If information isn’t correct, or if it’s misunderstood, there could be big trouble. So it’s important that you learn good ways of making telephone enquiries.

What do you actually do when you make an enquiry? Well, to begin, you will want to ask for information. That could simply mean telling the other person what you want to know more about. Sometimes you might also use an alternative choice question, like “is it A or is it B?” Giving limited options like that can help make things clear.

Now, what if you can’t hear the other person correctly? Well, you might have to use an expression like “sorry, what did you say?” to get the other person to repeat himself. And sometimes a word or abbreviation might not be clear and you might have to spell it out, letter by letter. All of these are ways of making sure your enquiry and the information is clear.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear George, who works for a company called Airtronics. George’s company is writing a proposal to make radios for an aircraft company called Cyclops. George is talking to Simon at Cyclops Aircraft to get some information he needs for his proposal. The telephone connection isn’t always clear, which creates some difficulty in the call.

Listening Questions

1. George asks Simon about “shipping,” or delivering the radios. What are the two choices George gives Simon about shipping?
2. At one point, George can’t hear what Simon says. How does George ask Simon to repeat himself?
3. Simon uses two words to make it clear to George that he means “XV.” What are the two words?

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925 English – Lesson 3: How to Keep a Conversation Going

925 English, A2, Business English, English Video, ESL Podcast, Socializing / April 17, 2016

In our last 925 English lesson, we had a look at how to start a conversation in English. In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to keep a conversation going and how to end it.

There’s no point in striking up conversation with someone if you can’t keep it going. But what does that involve? I mean, it’s more than just asking and answering questions, right? So, what kinds of things can we say or do to make the conversation flow naturally? Well, one important way that we keep a conversation going is by showing interest in what someone says. Besides learning how to keep a conversation going, we’ll also look at language for showing interest, changing the topic and ending the conversation.

925 English will be a new business English podcast for beginner and intermediate learners. 925 English lessons will focus on chunks of language and English expressions that you can use in work and business. Each 925 English lesson will feature English phrases you can use in different situations and advice on why and how we use them in Business English.

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BEP 286 – Idioms for Describing Personality and Character (2)

Business English, Business Idioms, Human Resources / April 10, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English idioms related to people’s personality and character.

Think about all the different people you live and work with. There are probably some you get along with well, and others you don’t. There are some you would hire but not invite for dinner, and others you’d invite for dinner but would never hire. And the difference between all these people is probably their personality.

Different personalities make for more than just an interesting life; they make conversations interesting. Listen to the conversations around you in the staff room or at the café, and what do you hear? People talking about people. And because we talk so much about people, English has lots of idioms for describing personality. We’ll learn how to use some of these idioms in today’s lesson.

We will rejoin a conversation between three colleagues: Lola, Shane, and Anne. They’ve been trying to decide who in their company they should send on an overseas placement to Korea. They use lots of great idioms in their discussion of the different personalities under consideration.

Listening Questions

1. What does Lola think Marco would do well?
2. In Shane’s opinion, why isn’t Simone a good candidate?
3. What do the speakers say about Hank’s personality?

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BEP 285 – Idioms for Describing Personality and Character (1)

Business English, Business Idioms, Human Resources / April 3, 2016

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on Business English idioms for describing people’s personality and character.

In English we have a saying that “it takes all sorts to make a world.” This means that the world is made up of many different people and different personalities. And every company or organization needs different personalities for different roles and different kinds of work. This diversity of personality in the workplace is a popular and interesting topic of conversation, as you surely know from listening to your colleagues.

Whether we’re discussing which job applicant to hire or gossiping after hours about coworkers, we all talk about personalities. And English has lots of great idioms for describing personality and character, which is what we’ll look at in this lesson.

You will hear a conversation between three colleagues: Lola, Shane, and Anne. They are trying to figure out who to send to South Korea to work in their company’s office there. As they discuss the different possibilities, they use a lot of different idioms for describing personality.

Listening Questions

1. Why won’t they send David overseas?
2. What do the speakers say about Paula?
3. How does Shane seem to feel about Douglas?

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