Category Archives: Advanced

BEP 63 PP – Indirect Persuasion in a Social Context

The persuasive process we learned in BEP 59, 60 & 62 is useful not just for formal business situations, but across all sorts of contexts that come up many times every day. You don’t always want to use the indirect approach to persuasion, but it’s often very useful.

Here’s an example of the persuasive process at work in an everyday situation: Julie is persuading her husband, Steve, to try a new vacation spot.

The podcast practice section and online exercises provide further opportunities to brush up your skills and language for the final step of the Monroe Sequence – Asking for Action.

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BEP 63 Study Notes
BEP 63 PP – Persuasion 3 – Quiz

BEP 63 PP – Persuasion 3 – Gap-fill

BEP 63 PP – Persuasion Review – Language 1

BEP 63 PP – Persuasion Review – Language 2

BEP 63 PP – Persuasion Review – Language 3

BEP 63 PP – Persuasion Review – Vocabulary Flashcards

BEP 62 ADV (Transcript & Activities) – Persuasion 3

In the first two shows (BEP 59 & BEP 60) of this Business English Pod series on persuasion, we saw how getting your audience’s attention and demonstrating a clear need were essential to the persuasive process. We learned that in the indirect method of persuasion you should demonstrate the problem before you offer a solution.

After you have established the need, you then describe the future benefits if your proposal is accepted. This is the visualization step: Talk about how accepting your proposal will have positive future outcomes or maybe how not accepting it will have negative outcomes. Finally, you need to make a concrete, specific call to action – what the audience can do right now to implement your proposal.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 62 ADV – Persuasion 3 – Quiz

BEP 62 ADV – Persuasion 3 – Gap-fill

BEP 62 ADV – Persuasion 3 – Language 1

BEP 62 ADV – Persuasion 3 – Language 2

BEP 62 ADV – Persuasion 3 – Language 3

BEP 62 ADV – Persuasion 3 – Vocabulary Flashcards


Listening Quiz: BEP 62 ADV – Persuasion 3

1) How long will it take Swift to get back the investment in air conditioning?

2) How much extra profit can Swift make per year by adopting Nick’s proposal?

3) What specific action does Steve ask his manager’s to take?

BEP 60 ADV (Transcript & Activities) – Persuasion 2: Establishing the Need

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BEP 60 Study Notes

BEP 60 PhraseCast
BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Quiz

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Gap-fill

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Language 1

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Language 2

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Language 3

BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2 – Vocabulary Flashcards


Listening Quiz: BEP 60 ADV – Persuasion 2: Establishing the Need

1) What’s the highest temperature in the welding room?

2) What does Steve present first – the problem or the solution?

3) What kind of strategies does Steve use to paint a vivid picture of the need for his solution?

BEP 59 ADV (Transcript & Activities) – Persuasion 1: Getting Attention

Do you ever need to persuade or convince someone of your point of view? Do you need to win support for a proposal, or get backing for a project? Of course you do. Persuasion – convincing someone of something – is an essential part of almost everything we do, from informal discussions to formal negotiations. To be successful, you need to be persuasive. You need to get people to accept a different point view, to see things your way. How can you be more persuasive? In this three-part series, we’ll be giving you some answers.

Throughout the years, many talented speakers and researchers have been developing ways to persuade people effectively. One of the most widely used methods is Alan H. Monroe’s. In the mid-1930s, Monroe created a persuasive process called the “Monroe sequence” that has become a standard in business, media and politics. Once you know it, you’ll recognize it everywhere – in speeches, statements, proposals, advertisements. It’s popular because it is logical and effective.

So over the next three episodes, we’ll be studying language and strategies for persuasion based on the Monroe Sequence.

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BEP 59 Study Notes

BEP 59 PhraseCast
BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Quiz

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Gap-fill

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Language 1

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Language 2

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Language 3

BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1 – Vocabulary Flash Cards


Listening Quiz: BEP 59 ADV – Persuasion 1: Getting Attention

Bad example
1) Whose needs does Franz focus on? That is, whose needs is he taking into consideration when he makes the proposal?

2) Why is Franz’s proposal so ineffective?

Good example
1) What does Steve do at the beginning of his presentation?

2) Whose needs does Steve focus on – the workers’ or the management’s?

BEP 54 ADV (Transcript & Activities) – Resolving the Complaint

This is the second in a two-part Business English Pod series on handling angry customers on the telephone. In today’s show we’ll be looking at how to resolve the customer’s complaint.

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Study Notes

Phrases & Practice
BEP 54: Resolving the Complaint – Quiz

BEP 54: Resolving the Complaint – Gap-fill


Listening Quiz: (Click a question to see the answer)

1) How does Sandy show that he is actively listening to Steve?

2) What does Steve need?

3) What steps does Sandy take to ensure that Steve is satisfied with the outcome of the call?