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BEP 80 – Travel English: Checking In to a Hotel

Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

In this Business English Podcast lesson, we will focus on phrases and vocabulary – both for checking in and for enquiring about hotel services whilst checking in.

Arriving at a hotel after a long, hard day of travel, you need to do one last thing before you can take a hot shower and relax in front of the TV – you need to check in. That means registering for the room by filling out any necessary forms and giving the hotel your credit card number.

Checking in to hotels is another important part of travel, whether it’s for business or for pleasure. This episode follows on from BEP 79 Travel: Reserving a Hotel Room, in which Sarah Johnson called to reserve a room at the Majestic Hotel in New York. Sarah has now arrived, and she is ready to begin her stay.

In the listening, Paul, at reception, helps Sarah register for the room. Pay attention to the language Sarah uses.

Listening Questions

1) When she reserved the room, Sarah asked for a dinner reservation. What is the name of the hotel’s restaurant? Which floor is it on?
2) What do guests need to bring with them to the fitness center?
3) How does Sarah pay for her room deposit?

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BEP 79 – Travel: Making a Hotel Reservation

Business English, Customer Service, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Travel /

Today’s Business English Podcast lesson is on making a hotel reservation.

It’s something all of us need to do: Whether it’s for a company business trip, or for personal travel – we all need to, at some time or another, call a hotel to reserve a room. Of course, making reservations is not only useful for hotels but also for all sorts of situations – conferences, restaurants, airplane travel, and any other type of event that requires us to book in advance.

That is the skill that we will be practicing in this episode – making reservations. Along the way, we’ll also be learning vocabulary for staying in hotels.

In the listening, Sarah Johnson is going on vacation with her husband. She calls the reservations desk at the Majestic Hotel in New York, where a staff member, Tony, picks up the phone. As you listen, pay attention to the language Sarah uses, and try to answer the following questions.

Listening Questions

1) What kind of room does Sarah want?
2) What extra request does Sarah have?
3) Tony makes a mistake while taking Sarah’s reservation. What is it?

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BEP 78 – Socializing: Discussing Politics

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Socializing /

They say there’s one rule of conversation that you should always follow in business – don’t talk about politics, sex or religion. Actually, however, it seems like 90% of casual conversations are about just those things – politics, sex and religion. So in this episode, we’ll be focusing on one of these topics – politics. We’ll be learning some language that will help you cope with this difficult topic.

There’s a trick to talking about politics in business. In international business culture, it’s usually better not to express strong opinions. The focus is generally on the exchange of information rather than on debate, because the main goal is to maintain harmonious relations. Often, we state our opinions non-committally. That means we don’t commit ourselves to an opinion – in other words, we don’t voice a strong view one way or the other. Instead, we prefer to be vague, or ambiguous. This strategy helps avoid conflict.

So in this podcast, in addition to covering some general phrases and vocabulary for discussing politics, we’ll be studying how to soften your questions and be non-committal when necessary.

We’ll be listening to Ricardo and Lars, old colleagues who have met each other again at an international conference. They’re talking about the political situations in their home countries, Brazil and Denmark.

Listening Questions

1) Ricardo says he has heard that the Danish government is pretty far “right”, that is, conservative. But Lars seems to think that this has a good side. What is it?
2) Lars mentions that Brazil has won its bid to host the World Cup. Ricardo says that Brazil has a lot of work to do in which areas?
3) Lars talks about a certain kind of problem that has “cropped up”, that is, appeared or occurred during Brazilian President Lula’s presidency. What is it?

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BEP 106e – Presenting for Success: Using your Voice

Business English, ESL Podcast, Presentation in English /

In this Business English Podcast lesson we’ll look at how to speak naturally and how to emphasize, or highlight, key language and ideas. In addition, we’ll be looking at a few key English expressions and phrases you can use to add extra emphasis to your presentation in English.

Today’s listening takes place at PharmaTek, an international pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Switzerland. A group of European journalists are taking a tour of PharmaTek’s new high-potency production center in Beijing, which is scheduled to start making PharmaTek’s new blockbuster medication, Zorax, in the fall of 2007. “Blockbuster” means hugely successful. “High-potency production” refers to using highly potent or very strong chemicals. This is a manufacturing technique that requires “state-of-the-art” or very advanced technology.

We’ll be hearing PharmaTek employees introduce the new plant. Let’s start with a couple bad examples, where the voice needs a lot of work. Listen to Gunter Schmidt, the manager of PharmaTek’s corporate affairs division. As you listen, focus on his voice. What does he do wrong?

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BEP 77 – Casual English: After-Work Socializing

Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Socializing /

In many countries, having a drink after work with colleagues is a popular way to relax: This kind of socializing helps us get to know each other and to build team spirit. To attract customers who are just getting off work, many bars and clubs have a “happy hour.” This is a promotion in the early evening, usually lasting an hour or so, when pubs and bars offer a special prices on drinks, such as “buy one get one free” or “all drinks half price.” So in this business English podcast, we will explore language that we can use to socialize with colleagues during happy hour or during other informal occasions.

Whether you drink alcohol or not, in many places around the world you will likely be invited to the bar or pub with colleagues. It’s important to know how to offer to buy drinks for others and how to make polite excuses when you’ve had enough or when it’s time to go. The same skills are also useful for other types of after-work social activities.

In the dialog, we join Greg, a manager, and three people in his team – Joanna, Gary, and Ben – as they order.

Listening Questions:

1) Who is paying for the first round of drinks? How can you tell?
2) Who is the person who doesn’t drink?
3) When it’s time for her to go, what excuse does Joanna make?

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BEP 76 – Performance Appraisals: Setting Goals (2)

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Human Resources, Management English /

This is the second in a two-part Business English Pod lesson on performance appraisals. In the first lesson, we covered giving feedback. In this ESL podcast, we will discuss setting goals.

The American poet Carl Sandberg once said, “Nothing happens unless first we dream.” To this we can add the words of time management expert Diana Scharf Hunt: “Goals are dreams with deadlines.”

To reach our dreams, it’s necessary to set goals. Without goals, there is no change, no development, no success. This is just as true for an individual as it is for an organization. That’s why, along with feedback, goal setting is a very important part of the appraisal process. So in this follow-up podcast on job appraisals, we’ll be focusing on strategies and expressions for setting goals during the appraisal interview. Much of the language we’ll be learning in this lesson is also useful in any meeting where we need to discuss and set targets.

Wendy and Derrick, Wendy’s manager, have already discussed her progress and set goals for the areas of customer satisfaction and job training. As the listening continues, they turn to talking about two important productivity measurements.

Pay attention to the language Derrick uses to structure the conversation and to negotiate and agree goals with Wendy.

Listening Questions

1) What are the two important productivity measurements that Derrick discusses with Wendy?
2) How does Derrick feel about Wendy making one-off (that is, special) solutions for each customer?
3) What does Derrick advise Wendy to tell a customer who has not booked enough bandwidth?

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BEP 75 – Performance Appraisals: Giving Feedback (1)

Advanced, Business English, ESL Podcast, Human Resources, Management English /

Performance appraisals – sometimes called job performance evaluations or reviews – are a powerful way to develop staff’s potential. These skills are important not just for HR (Human Resources) professionals, but for any manager or supervisor who has responsibilities over other staff.

For performance appraisals to succeed, however, it’s important that they are conducted in a structured way. In addition, it’s important that skill and diplomacy are used to handle the two main tasks of the appraisal – giving effective feedback and setting goals.

So this is the first in a two-part Business English Podcast lesson that focuses on structure, skill and diplomacy in performance appraisals. In this podcast, we will deal with giving feedback. In the second, we will handle setting goals.

This episode focuses on giving effective feedback that creates a positive environment and builds trust. These feedback skills are useful not only in performance appraisals, but also in any situation that requires making critical comments to someone about their work.

Wendy is a new hire at ConStar’s videoconference call center. She has been working there for about 10 months, including training, so now it’s time for her first six-month performance review. Derrick, the manager of the operations department, will be giving Wendy her appraisal.

As a “videoconference coordinator” for ConStar, Wendy’s job requires using special equipment to set up and connect videoconferences for Fortune 500 clients. ConStar’s customers hold regular remote meetings among multiple locations all around the world. Wendy’s job is to make the connections between locations and to solve customer’s problems when they call into the help desk.

What kind of feedback will Derrick give Wendy? She is really smart, but she tends to get hot under the collar when she works under pressure. That means, she gets upset when she feels job stress. Sometimes she loses her temper, and her colleagues have complained about it.

Listening Questions

1) How many meetings is Wendy handling per day at the moment?
2) What’s the main issue that Derrick wants to give Wendy feedback on?
3) What advice does Derrick give Wendy to help her correct the problem?

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BEP 74 – English Idioms: Business is War (2)

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

This is the second in a two-part Business English Pod series on English idioms related to war.

Everywhere you look in business, you will find the language of war: We often think – and talk – about business competition in terms of attacking and defending, gaining and losing ground.

During the first business ESL podcast in this series, we studied many such war and military related idioms. We learned the meaning of “taking flak,” “reinforcing one’s position,” “laying low,” “making a move” and many others. In this podcast, we will continue exploring useful war idioms.

The dialog picks up where we left off at the Luminex management meeting. Jane has just explained that they need to think “strategically.” He explains that this means “laying low,” by which he means waiting to take action until the economy improves.

As you listen, pay attention to the war idioms Jane and her colleagues use. You may not understand them the first time. After you hear the debrief, go back and listen again, then things should be much clearer.

Listening Questions

1) What does Jane mean when she says their competitor, Meyers, is its own worst enemy?
2) The speakers describe their new strategy as an “ambush” that will “surround” Meyers. Why do they say this? What is the strategy?

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BEP 73 – English Idioms: Business is War (1)

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

Business and war. War and business. It’s no accident that many business strategies and management techniques were first developed in the military. Actually, it’s quite natural that we think about business competition in terms of war. Companies fight each other for market share. We strategize about how to win the battle. You try to attack my market position, and I defend it. Business is full of such war idioms. Though it’s not the only way we think about business, it is certainly the main way we talk about it. Therefore, to communicate effectively in a business environment, we need to learn these war idioms.

In today’s dialog, the management at Luminex, a producer of LCD TVs, is discussing how to respond to a attack on their market position by a competitor, Meyers. Traditionally, Meyers has been strong in the premium (high value) market and Luminex has been strong in the mid-range market. Recently, however, Meyers has tried to take mid-range market share from Luminex.

Pay attention to the war idioms that the meeting participants use as you listen. Don’t worry if they don’t make sense to you the first time you listen. After you’ve heard the idioms explained in the debrief, go back and listen again, and the dialog should be much clearer.

Listening Questions

1) The first two speakers talk about “always being on the defensive” and “taking way too much flak.” What do they mean and what do they propose doing?
2) How does Jane’s point of view differ from the first two speakers?

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BEP 72 – Telephoning: Voicemail Messages

A2, Business English, ESL Podcast, Intermediate English, Telephone English /

When you call someone but they aren’t there, often their voicemail “picks up” or answers the phone. Then you have to leave a message. Anyone who uses the phone in their job has to deal with voicemail.

Have you ever started to leave a message on someone’s voicemail, then when you heard the “beep” sound, you didn’t know what to say? When you’re speaking a foreign language, talking without preparation can be challenging, especially when you cannot see or hear the person you’re talking to. But with a little practice, you’ll be a voicemail pro.

That’s what we’ll be studying in this Business English lesson – standard phrases and language for voicemail messages, so that next time you here that “beep” you’ll know exactly what to say.

First we’ll hear a bad example. Justin Thomas works for a shipping broker called Trivesco. Brokers are “middlemen” – in this case Justin is a “newbuildings” broker, which means he helps people buy and sell new ships. Justin is calling Sylvie Peterson, a manager at the shipbuilding company Schmidt and Larsen. In the second example we hear Justin’s colleague, Mark Rand, leave a more professional message.

Listening Questions (Good Message)

1) What is Mark Rand hoping to talk to Sylvie about?
2) When will he be available to take Sylvie’s call?
3) How does Mark put a positive finish on the message?

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