Business English Pod / Intermediate English

Intermediate English

Our intermediate business English lessons are suitable for learners with an English level of CEFR B1 and above. Develop your language skills for Intermediate English at CEFR level B1 and B2.

BEP 39c – English for Project Management: Reporting on Progress

Business English, Intermediate English, Project Management /

BEP 39c - Project Management English: Reporting on Progress

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on reporting on the progress of a project.

Project management isn’t just for people who consider themselves a “project manager.” No matter what kind of work you do, you’ll likely have to lead or participate in some kind of project. And if you are a project manager, then today’s lesson is particularly important.

Reporting on progress can happen in various settings, ranging from formal meetings with stakeholders to more casual interactions, like a quick chat at the water cooler or over a coffee. While the tone and format may differ, the core principles remain the same. Effective communication in these moments is crucial to keep everyone aligned and ensure no details slip through the cracks.

For example, you’ll likely want to ask for an update and confirm key details. You’ll also have to identify follow-up actions, assign responsibility, and establish clear deadlines. Ultimately, strong reporting and follow-up skills are essential to fostering accountability and driving projects to successful completion.

In this lesson, we’ll hear a project manager named Rudi giving updates to his boss, Wolfgang. They work for a company that maintains and modifies jetways, the bridges that connect airplanes to the airport gates. They’ve been working on a project to modify jetways at an airport for a large type of plane called an A380.

Listening Questions

1. How does Wolfgang respond to the possible problem that Joe has identified?
2. What actions does Wolfgang ask Rudi to take after he mentions Joe’s solution?
3. After they discuss costs and budget, what topic does Wolfgang ask about near the end of the conversation?

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BEP 37c – English for Presentations: Questions and Answers (2)

Business English, Intermediate English, Presentation in English /

BEP 37c LESSON - English for Presentations: Questions and Answers 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for the second part of our lesson on English for presentations and handling a question and answer session at the end of a presentation.

Presentations can be stressful. Speaking in front of the public, or even just your colleagues, makes even confident people nervous. And there’s one part of a presentation in particular that might dial up the nerves: the questions people ask at the end of your presentation.

The Q&A requires you to think on your feet. Some of the questions you get might be really difficult. And for that reason, it may be important to check that your answers are sufficient for the question-asker. At the same time, the questions might not even be relevant! So you’ll need a strategy for that situation as well.

Sometimes a person will ask a question that you think you’re not the best person to answer. In that case, you can figure out who to redirect the question to. And if this entire Q&A situation is stressful, well at least you have some control. You can control the timing, instead of letting it go on forever.

In this lesson, we’ll continue listening to a Q&A in a meeting at a steel company. Nick, a sales director, has just given a presentation. He and his boss Max are dealing with questions from Bryan and Cindy.

Listening Questions

1. After telling Cindy about measures of success, what question does Nick ask her?
2. What does Max say about Cindy’s question regarding morale and how the sales staff are feeling?
3. How does Nick respond to John’s question about marketing in the U.K.?

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BEP 36c – English for Presentations: Questions and Answers (1)

Business English, Intermediate English, Presentation in English /

BEP 36c LESSON - English for Presentations: Questions and Answers 1

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to deal with the question and answer session at the end of a presentation in English.

A presentation can be planned, organized, scripted, and rehearsed. But that’s simply not possible with the questions you might get at the end of your presentation. Sure, you can try to anticipate what people might ask, but you never really know. They may refer to specific points in your presentation and challenge you on these points.

For this reason, you need the skills to handle whatever you’re faced with. And sometimes that means overcoming doubt or resistance to your ideas. You might have to use buffers to deal with tough questions and concede certain points to your audience. You may also find yourself clarifying a point and paraphrasing your audience’s questions.

In this lesson, we’ll listen to the Q&A following a presentation in English by Nick, a sales director for a steel company. Bryan and Cindy are posing some difficult questions. Nick, and his boss Max, are using several techniques for dealing with these questions.

Listening Questions

1. How does Nick respond at first when Bryan asks a tough question about the survey results?
2. Cindy begins to ask a question about retraining the salespeople. What does Nick say to clarify what he meant?
3. How does Nick deal with Cindy’s question about measuring success?

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BEP 34c – Clarifying and Confirming What Was Said

Business English, ESL Podcast, Functions, Intermediate English /

Business English - BEP 34c - Clarifying What Was Said

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to clarify what was said during a conversation.

Communication is rarely easy. There’s so much that can go wrong in a conversation, especially on the phone. We might not hear someone well, we might hear them incorrectly, and we might not understand words or expressions in the same way. For that reason, we need to be able to clarify what was said.

There are a few basic ways to clarify that are extremely useful. We can use “WH” questions, like who, what, where, when, and why. We can ask people to repeat what they said and repeat things for people when they haven’t understood us. And we can use tag questions to confirm that we’ve heard correctly.

Today we’ll listen to a telephone conversation between three colleagues: Benny, Wim, and Andre. They are speaking on the phone for the first time in a while. During their conversation, they use several expressions to clarify what was said.

Listening Questions

1. What does the receptionist say that Benny doesn’t understand right away?
2. What question does Benny ask that Wim needs repeated?
3. What question does Benny restate about the river in Rotterdam?

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BEP 31c – English for Meetings: Responding to Suggestions

Business English, English for Meetings, ESL Podcast, Functions, Intermediate English /

BEP 31 LESSON - English for Meetings: Responding to Suggestions

Welcome back to Business English Pod. Today’s lesson is the second in a series about handling suggestions in English meetings. Last time we looked at how to make suggestions. And this time we’re going to look at how to respond to suggestions.

Business is a team sport. And behind every successful team is a healthy internal dialog and debate. If you want to succeed in business and be a good team player, you need opinions and the skills to express them effectively. But that doesn’t only mean making your own suggestions. It also means responding to other people’s suggestions.

So in this lesson, we’ll learn different ways of responding to suggestions. That includes responding positively, by accepting or praising the idea. It also includes rejecting ideas or casting doubt on them.

In today’s dialog, we’ll listen to a marketing team meeting at a sports shoe company. The four colleagues are talking about a new ad campaign. They are making suggestions for a “spokesperson,” or recognizable figure to promote their shoes. During the discussion they use a variety of techniques and language to respond to suggestions.

Listening Questions

1. What does Miguel think of Sven’s idea to hire an overweight business executive as a spokesperson?
2. How does Karen react to Miguel’s suggestion of hiring a famous sports star?
3. What is the group’s response to Karen’s final suggestion of hiring a golfer?

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