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Skills 360 – Diplomatic and Direct Language

Business English, Business Skills 360, Communication, Management English /

In this Business English Skills 360 lesson we take a look at the language we use in a crisis. In our last two lessons (BEP 179 and BEP 180), we listened to a team dealing with a serious crisis: an accident at a factory. You probably noticed how some of the people are quite careful about the words they use.

A crisis is a sensitive situation. Emotions are running high and people are on edge. There is the potential for conflict if you do or say the wrong thing. At the same time, the clock is ticking and you may not have time to manage everyone’s feelings. For these reasons, you have a very fine balancing act between being diplomatic and being direct.

So, when should you be diplomatic and when should you be direct? Well, you need to assess the situation and determine which is best. Diplomatic language can protect people’s feelings. It can also avoid conflict and build trust. Those can all be very important in a crisis, when everybody needs to be on board with a plan. On the other hand, direct language can show a sense of urgency and seriousness, and it can prevent confusion. Those are also important in a conflict, when things must happen quickly and misunderstanding is just not an option. Remember that to be a good crisis manager, you need to adapt your style and strategy to the situation.

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BEP 180 – Handling a Crisis 2: Strategizing

Business English, Communication, Management English /

In this Business English Pod lesson, we’ll see how important it is to strategize and plan when you’re handling a crisis.

Any crisis is a test of business strength. To be more specific, it’s a test of people in business. There’s nothing like a crisis to show us who can handle the pressure and who will crack. Can your business come through a crisis well? Do you have people with the right leadership skills and decision-making abilities to handle the crisis successfully? Let’s see how our team handles things.

Our last episode was about taking control in a crisis. We heard Sandy and Mike report a factory accident to their boss Frank. Frank handled that early part of the crisis well. He calmed his employees down, gave them clear orders, and reassured them.

Today, we’ll see how they develop a strategy to handle the crisis. Mike has been instructed to call the company’s VP of Communications in Singapore. Her name is Monika Jing, and she’ll show some clear thinking in assessing the problem and making a plan going forward.

Listening Questions

1. Who has Mike talked to about the incident?
2. What does Mike say could happen if the situation is really bad?
3. What does Monika want Mike to do while she contacts other people?

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BEP 179 – Handling a Crisis 1: Taking Control

Business English, Communication, Management English, Teleconference English /

This is the first in a series of Business English lessons on handling a crisis.

Imagine this: it’s four o’clock in the morning and you’re sound asleep. The phone rings. It’s one of your managers. There’s been a terrible accident! What do you do? What do you say?

At some point in your career, you will have to deal with a major crisis. It could be a labor strike or an environmental disaster. And there are minor crises, like missing an important delivery or running out of paper, that can happen every day. These events can certainly do damage, but how much? That depends on how you deal with them.

Good crisis management is the key. Your success and reputation depend on it. So in this lesson, we’ll look at what happens when a crisis breaks, or begins. This is all about “Taking Control in a Crisis.” We’ll cover some useful techniques and language to deal effectively with that early morning phone call about an accident.

We’ll hear Sandy and Mike, who work at a factory in China that has just had an accident. Sandy is the plant manager, while Mike is the lead production engineer. A pipe has burst, releasing gas and injuring two workers. Now Sandy and Mike are calling their boss, Frank Menzies, in the U.S. Let’s listen as Sandy and Mike deliver the bad news and Frank takes control of the crisis.

Listening Questions

1. Why isn’t Mike on the call at the beginning?
2. What information about the incident does Frank want to know?
3. What does Frank instruct Mike to do at the end?

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BEP 178 – English Presentations: Making an Impact (2)

Advanced, Business English, Persuasion, Presentation in English /

English Presentation

This is the second in a two-part usiness English Pod series about adding impact to your business English presentations.

Nobody likes a long and boring presentation. In fact, a long and boring presentation can do a lot of damage. People might actually feel less convinced of your idea. And that’s certainly not what you want. It doesn’t matter if you’re giving a presentation at a staff meeting or a sales presentation to a potential client. You have to make an impression. Most business people have to sit through a lot of meetings and presentations, and it can be difficult to impress them. So how are you going to make them sit up and listen? How are you going to convince them of your idea?

You need impact. Fortunately, there are specific things you can do to add impact. And that’s what we’re talking about today.

In our last episode, we heard Ben talk about the problem of too many documents on too many computers in too many locations. He finished by suggesting that he has a solution to this problem. In today’s lesson, Ben will continue his presentation. He’s going to talk about cloud computing, which he thinks can solve many problems in the department. He’ll use several different techniques for adding impact.

Listening Questions

1. What are the benefits of the system that Ben is suggesting?
2. Why does Ben mention several large companies such as IBM and Dell?
3. What does Ben think that people should spend less time doing?

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BEP 177 – English Presentations: Making an Impact (1)

Advanced, Business English, Persuasion, Presentation in English /

Presenting in English>

This is the first in a two-part Business English Pod series about adding impact to your business English presentations.

We’ve all sat through boring presentations before. And we’ve all worried during our own presentations that others might be feeling that way. So what can we do to prevent this?

A presentation needs impact. It needs to make the audience feel something, understand something, or believe something. And it needs to make them want to do something. Fortunately, there are some simple techniques and language that you can learn that will add impact to your presentations. And then people will look at you, and not out the window.

In this lesson, we’ll hear part of a presentation delivered by Ben. Ben is going to talk to his colleagues and managers about cloud computing. But first he is going to identify a problem and then show that there needs to be a solution to that problem. Only then can he help them understand what cloud computing is and what benefits it might bring to the company.

Listening Questions

1. What happened to Ben on Monday morning?
2. Where is Ben’s stuff stored?
3. What does Ben say about the number of documents in their department?

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Skills 360 – Tips for Successful Presentations 2

Advanced, Business English, Business Skills 360, Presentation in English /

Welcome back Business Skills 360 – the podcast that looks at the other side of Business English.

This is the second part of our series on effective English presentations. Last week, we talked about keeping it short, simple, engaging, and real. Much of that happens in the preparation. Today, we’re going to talk about what happens when you stand up in front of that audience and have to start speaking.

Your first goal should be to make a connection with each and every listener. That connection is the pathway along which your message travels. If you have a good connection, there’s a good chance your message will sink in. To make this connection, you have to do two things: you need to control the audience’s attention and you need to engage their minds. And to do these two things, you have three tools: your voice, your props such as PowerPoint – and your body or movement.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the most difficult part of speaking in front of a group of people?
2. What different types of visual aids are commonly used in presentations?
3. When you give a presentation, do you usually stand in one place or move around?

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Skills 360 – Tips for Successful Presentations 1

Business English, Business Skills 360, Presentation in English /

Welcome back Business Skills 360. We’re going to kick off the New Year with some tips for making your English presentations more effective and relevant.

A good presentation in English is one that connects to your audience with a clear, organized message that can be easily understood. So, what can we do to make an impact? How can we connect our message to the audience? What do we need to think about when preparing our presentation? And how do we work to our strengths and minimize the challenges of presenting in English? Tim’s got some ideas, so let’s hear what he has to say.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think PowerPoint is used effectively?
2. How long can you keep an audience focused during a presentation?
3. Think about the good presentations you’ve seen. What qualities did the speaker have?

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BEP 176 – English Idioms: Gambling Idioms (Part 2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms, ESL Podcast /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for the second episode of our two-part series on English gambling idioms.

Any time we take a risk with money, we’re gambling. Whether it’s a card game, a horse race, or a game of dice, we bet money in the hopes of winning more. Business also involves taking risks with money, and for this reason gambling idioms have become very common in business. They are especially common in the world of investing. If you think about it, betting money on cards is a lot like making a high-risk investment.

For today’s lesson, we’ll continue our look at gambling idioms and explore how they are used in business discussions. As you listen to the dialog, you might hear some phrases that are new to you. Keep a note of these expressions and we’ll go over them in the debrief and explain what they mean and how they can be used.

In our last episode, we heard Kevin and Dan talking about investing their money. Kevin likes to invest in stocks, but Dan normally prefers safer methods. However, Kevin tells Dan that he has just found out about an investment opportunity that might be very profitable. Today, we’ll hear Kevin try to convince Dan to accept some risk and take the opportunity.

Listening Questions

1. Why is Kevin excited about the company called Golem Mining?
2. What does Kevin say about the amount Dan would have to invest?
3. What does Dan finally decide to do about the investment opportunity?

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