In this Business English News lesson, we take a look at the economic aspects of the Olympic Games.
The Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ will be in full force this year as London hosts the 30th Olympic Games. However, it won’t be just the athletes trying to go ‘higher, faster, stronger’, but also companies poised to rake in the dough in what many hope will be a financial windfall.
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In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue our look at brining your visuals to life during a presentation in English.
Have you ever had to stare at a complicated chart and wished the presenter would just give you the main points? Or have you had someone try to explain a chart and tell you exactly what you can already see yourself? There are better ways to handle visual information and that’s what we’re going to look at in this lesson.
Charts and graphs are very useful for presenting information, especially numbers. But you must learn to use them carefully. If you don’t, your presentation might not have the effect you want. That might mean it’s seen as boring, but it could also mean that you fail to convince someone of your idea.
So how can we use visuals successfully? How can we bring them to life? Well, last week we looked at some ways to engage your audience using analogies and rhetorical questions. This week we’re going to introduce some more useful techniques, including using descriptive language and stating the gist of a graph. We’ll also learn how to set up a new visual, interpret a visual, and state the implications of information.
In today’s dialog, we rejoin David, a manager seeking support for his idea to consolidate logistics by building a new facility in China. In our last episode, we heard David introduce his plan to the finance department. Today, David will be presenting more information and visuals to support his plan.
Listening Questions
1. Why does David talk about the cost of warehousing and shipping?
2. What does the cost benefit analysis chart show?
3. What does Alison say about the future of the company?
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In this Business English Pod lesson, we look at how to bring your visuals to life in a presentation in English.
We’ve all sat through some pretty boring presentations. And in those presentations, we’ve all seen complex charts and graphs that tell us either way too much or nothing at all. For the most part, visuals aren’t naturally interesting or informative. It’s what we do with them that is important.
You can’t just put a graph on a screen and then explain each point on the graph. And you can’t put up a table of figures and then read out each column and row. What you really need to do is tell the story of the data and to bring the visuals to life. What should people focus on? What is the important number on the screen? What does the graph actually tell us?
Bringing visuals to life is necessary if you want to give effective presentations. We’ll look at how to do this today. In this lesson, we’ll cover several important functions, including using analogy, defining terms, using rhetorical questions, and highlighting key numbers.
You will hear David, an engineer in a manufacturing company. He’s giving a presentation to members of the finance department. His purpose is to explain a new plan that he hopes to get financed.
Listening Questions
1. Why does David ask the listeners about traveling to work?
2. Which important term does David define for the listeners?
3. What is David’s idea for shipping?
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Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast, today we’re talking about how to say “no.” That’s right, someone asks you for something or to do something, but you have to say “no”. That’s not always easy, but it’s important.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you ever have too much to do in too little time?
2. How do you feel when someone says “no” to you?`
3. What are some ways we can reject or refuse someone nicely?
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Why is it so difficult to say “no”? Well, of course you want to be polite, and kind, and agreeable. And if it’s your boss who is asking you for something, you may fear losing favor or opportunities. And if it’s a client or customer asking for something, you might not want to ruin the relationship.
But what I want to tell you is that in many cases you should say no. And you should know how to say it. You need to be clear, firm, and honest.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you usually find it difficult to say “no” when someone asks you to do something?
2. Who do you have the most difficulty saying “no” to?
3. Why do you think saying “no” can sometimes be difficult?
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In this Video Vocab lesson, we’ll look at English vocabulary for describing some of the processes involved in managing the supply chain, such as warehousing, purchasing, and materials management. We’ll also cover more advanced concepts such as enterprise resource planning, just in time manufacturing, and quality assurance.
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In this Video Vocab lesson, we’ll look at business English vocabulary for describing the basic steps in the supply chain, beginning with suppliers, who sell materials or parts to the manufacturers that assemble products. The products then go to distributors, who transport them to retailers, where they are then sold to consumers or end users.
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In this Business English News lesson, we follow up on Facebook’s recent IPO.
After a long wait, and even more hype, Facebook joined NASDAQ on May 18th; although it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Zuckerberg and friends. After opening 30 minutes late, and climbing briefly from the opening price of $38 a share; reality set in.
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Welcome back to Business English Pod for this lesson on English idioms. Today we’re going to be talking about English idioms related to color.
What do I mean by ‘colorful idioms’? I mean expressions that either use the word ‘color’, or mention a specific color. English is full of these expressions. We have color idioms that describe people, moods, situations, activities, and frequency. We even have some that relate specifically to money and finances.
That’s right. Color is important in all parts of life, including business. Just ask your tailor. He might advise you to wear a dark blue suit to show authority, a grey suit to convey security, or a brown suit to show openness. So, just as you should pay attention to color in your clothes, you should be mindful of color in your speech.
In today’s lesson, we’ll continue with a conversation between Mike and Rachel. They’re talking about the possibility of Rachel changing positions, and her interview experience. In their conversation, you will notice that both Mike and Rachel use several business English idioms related to color. Make a note of these idioms, and we’ll go through the conversation again and look at what they mean.
Listening Questions
1. Why was Rachel embarrassed at her interview?
2. What did Rachel accomplish that Mike is impressed by?
3. What does Mike think Rachel should decide about the job offer?
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In this Business English Pod lesson we’re going to look at business English idioms related to colors.
Every culture attaches special meaning to different colors. But different cultures attach different meanings. Take the word “red” for example. In English, when we say “in the red,” we mean in debt or operating at a loss. But to Chinese, “red” indicates good luck or gains in the financial markets. So, in English it’s negative, but in Chinese it’s positive. It could be pretty easy to make a mistake, either in speaking or in understanding.
In English, we can find idioms related to almost any color. But two colors are more common than others: black and white. In most cases, black comes with a negative meaning and white comes with a positive meaning. In most cases, that is. In this series we will see one idiom using the word “black” that has a positive meaning.
In today’s lesson, we’ll hear a conversation between Mike and Rachel, two colleagues at a large company. We will hear them casually discussing some of their recent experiences at work. And in their conversation, you will notice many idioms related to color. Try to keep a mental note of the idioms you hear, and we’ll go through them in the debrief to explain what they mean and how you can use them.
Listening Questions
1. What kind of mood was Mike in earlier in the day?
2. What did Dan do at a party?
3. What does Mike say is one positive outcome of the situation?
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