BEP 189 – Getting Your Ideas Across in Meetings (1)

English Meeting Phrases

This is the first in a three-part Business English Pod series on getting your ideas across in meetings in english.

Meetings are an important part of most people’s jobs. And doing well in meetings requires very effective communication skills. You need to make sure you are getting your ideas across clearly with the right amount of subtlety and tact. If you do this well, then you will be able to influence people and the direction of the organization you work with.

So, how can you get your ideas across with tact and clarity? That’s what we will look at in this lesson. We’ll cover some important ways of giving opinions of differing strength. And we’ll learn about supporting and contradicting other people’s opinions.

In today’s dialogue, four managers are meeting to discuss ways of saving money on travel expenses. The chair of the meeting is Alison. The other participants are Stewart from sales, Pat from HR, and Nate from marketing. We’ll hear the group express a variety of opinions as they discuss how to cut 15% from the travel budget.

Listening Questions

1. What are three things that Pat mentions could be cut?
2. What does Pat think they should focus on?
3. Why does Stewart disagree with Pat?

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Skills 360 – Telephone English Tips (Part 2)

Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast.

Communicating effectively on the phone is an essential skill. And whether you’re talking to a client, a colleague, a supplier, your boss, or a bicycle courier, you need to make sure your purpose and the information is clear. Last week, we focused on your telephone attitude. Today, we’ll look at ways you can make sure information is flowing smoothly and that you are guiding the conversation.

Discussion Questions

1. How much planning do you usually do before an important telephone call?
2. What do you usually do when you don’t understand what someone is trying to say on the telephone?
3. What information do you normally include when you leave a message for someone?

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Skills 360 – Telephone English Tips (Part 1)

Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast.

Today, we’re going to take a look at an activity we do every day: talking on the telephone. We’ll look at how to start the call off on the right note by using a positive attitude, smiling over the phone, being polite, and speaking clearly.

Discussion Questions

1. How do you usually answer the telephone at work?
2. What do you think a good telephone attitude involves?
3. What do you think it is okay to speak informally on the telephone?

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VV 25 – IT Vocabulary: Internet Technology (2)

YouTube video

This business English video vocabulary lesson is the second of our two-part series on Business English vocabulary related to Internet technologies. In our last episode, we looked at the basic tools and concepts behind Web 2.0. In this lesson, we’ll focus on the programming of websites and web-based applications.

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