As the world rang in 2013, many analysts and commentators feel that it’s time to pull out the crystal ball and try to determine what’s in store in the coming 12 months. As the OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria explains, there’s still a lot of work to do.
The world economy is far from being out of the woods. The US ”˜debt ceiling debate’, if it materializes, could tip an already weak economy into recession, while failure to solve the euro area crisis could lead to a major financial shock and global downturn. Governments must act decisively, using all the tools at their disposal to turn confidence around and boost growth and jobs.
In today’s Skills 360 lesson we’re going to build on last weeks ideas and look at how you can implement at positive attitude at work.
In our last episode we talked about positive thinking. Today it’s all about maintaining a positive attitude toward others because it will help them feel good. And if you can do that, customers will want to do business with you, colleagues will want to work with you, and bosses will want to see you do well.
Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast for today’s lesson on keeping a positive outlook.
It’s the start of a new year. And when you look ahead at 2013, what do you see? Do you see great things for yourself, for your business, or for your career? Or do you see doom and gloom, trouble in the workplace, and a global economic mess? Well, I hope you focus on all the positives, even if the negatives exist. And what I want to do is to help you focus on these good things, because positive thinking can help us get where we want to go.
80% of new businesses fail within the first five years. Those don’t seem like very good odds, do they? But new businesses continue to be born every day. And every one of them is started with a dream of success. Yes, the possibility of success motivates us, inspires us, and keeps us going to work every morning. Or is it the fear of failure that does this? Do we keep trying because if we don’t, we might fall on our face and disappoint everyone around us? Either way, success and failure are two sides of the same coin.
At work and in business, we almost have an obsession with success and failure. Just think of your conversations about colleagues past and present. What is it you talk about? Well, you might talk about their health and their families. But you probably spend more time talking about whether they’ve made a million bucks yet.
Fortunately, English has lots of great expressions for talking about this common topic. We looked at a few in our last episode, and today we’ll learn lots more.
In the dialog, we’ll rejoin Sam and Dylan, two former colleagues who have been talking about their own successes and failures. Today we’ll hear Sam and Dylan discussing the fortunes of someone they both know named Cameron Smith.
Listening Questions
1. What did Cameron do when his photo-sharing app was successful?
2. What happened as a result of Cameron’s lack of management skills?
3. What did Cameron’s investors decide to do?
In this Business English Pod lesson, we’ll look at business English idioms related to success and failure.
Every business has its ups and downs. And so does every person. In other words, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail. Another common way of saying this in English is “You win some and you lose some.” Nobody wins all the time, even the great success stories that we read or hear about.
Think of a successful entrepreneur. Now, do you think that person achieved great success on their first try? In 99% of cases, the answer is no. Every successful businessperson learned through failure. Now have a look at your favorite business news site. You’ll see that almost every story can be put into either the category of success or failure. Businesses either grow or shrink but they don’t remain the same.
It’s clear that success and failure are important and common topics. And to talk about them, there are lots of great English idioms.
In this lesson, we’ll hear a conversation between Sam and Dylan, two former colleagues. They have just run into each other and are catching up on their recent experiences. In their conversation, you will notice many idioms related to success and failure.
Listening Questions
1. How is Sam’s work going?
2. How does Dylan feel about his recent investments?
3. What happened to the wireless company that Dylan was involved in?
In this English Video vocabulary lesson, we’ll look at business English vocabulary for international trade. International trade is a cornerstone of our global economy, as goods are constantly flowing by air and ship around the world. In this lesson, we’ll look at how it all works. Along the way, we’ll learn key vocabulary related to the process of international trade.
Imagine you’re in a meeting. You are expressing your opinion about something, when a colleague across the table interrupts you. He disagrees with what you’re saying, and he’s determined to make his point. What do you do? Do you sit back and smile? Or do you accept the challenge and defend what you’re saying?
This situation plays out every day in every office. Sometimes the discussion remains calm and the people remain diplomatic. But other times the conversation becomes more heated. At a certain point, it doesn’t seem like a conversation any more but an argument. People interrupt each other, they criticize and accuse, they defend themselves, and they become emotional.
Arguments are a normal part of working life. You can’t avoid them, so you’d better be prepared for them. In our last episode, we looked at several techniques for holding your own in an argument. Today we’ll look at several more key skills, including how to defend yourself against an accusation, how to correct someone, and how to dismiss trivial points. We’ll also learn about rephrasing another person’s words in an argument and bringing an argument back to a reasonable place.
We are going to rejoin Paula, Gavin, and Matt, who have been talking about a promotional event put on by their department store. The event wasn’t as successful as they had hoped for and Matt, Gavin and Paula’s boss, wants to figure out the reasons why the event failed. However, Paula and Gavin seem more intent on arguing about who is responsible rather than why the event was a failure.
Listening Questions
1. What does Paula think Gavin could have done to give input on the planning of the event?
2. What does Paula think is not worth discussing?
3. What does Matt want to figure out?
Does everyone in your office always agree all the time? When someone makes a suggestion, does everyone just smile and nod in agreement? When you bring forward an idea, do people just accept it? Well, if you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you are in an extremely unusual workplace. People are people. And people butt heads. They disagree, they argue, and they fight. You can’t get around it. But you can learn to deal with it.
To hold your own, you need to learn how to argue effectively. If you’ve got an opinion, you need to defend it. And if you have a problem with something a colleague has done, you need to let them know. This can make for some difficult discussions and meetings, but this is just a part of life and business.
So how can you argue effectively? Well, you need several skills which we’ll look at today. We’ll learn how to interrupt someone, finish something we’re saying after someone else has interrupted us, and cast doubt on something someone has said. We’ll also learn some useful expressions for backing up an accusation and trying to keep the discussion focused. When an argument breaks out, these are the kinds of skills you need.
In this lesson, we will hear a meeting between three people in the retail business talking about a recent promotional event. Apparently, the event wasn’t a great success. Paula and Gavin disagree about why things didn’t work out, while their boss Matt tries to work out the truth and keep the discussion focused.
Listening Questions
1. What does Gavin think was the general reason for the event’s failure?
2. Why does Gavin mention “the papers and the radio spots”?
3. At the end of the dialog, what does Matt want to do?
In this Business English News lesson, we take a look at the economic prospects for the USA and China.
The relationship between the world’s two biggest economies is sure to undergo some major changes in the months ahead. With Obama set to remain in the White House for 4 more years, and Xi Jinping moving in to Zhongnanhai for the next decade, all eyes will be on how the new faces work together amid these tough economic times.
Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast for today’s lesson on organizing your ideas.
Last week we looked at several ways to brainstorm ideas. But once you have a big list of ideas, what are you going to do with them? That’s what we’ll talk about today.
We’ll look at how to organize your ideas around your objective and put them into groups of related points.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the different situations in your work in which you have to persuade people?
2. How much time would you normally spend preparing for a one-hour presentation?
3. What techniques do you use to develop and organize your ideas?
