{"id":7268,"date":"2015-04-19T03:48:01","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T11:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.businessenglishpod.com\/?p=7268"},"modified":"2023-01-08T20:12:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T04:12:42","slug":"bep-24c-business-english-diplomatic-language-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9to5english.com\/wordpress\/2015\/04\/19\/bep-24c-business-english-diplomatic-language-1\/","title":{"rendered":"BEP 24c &#8211; Diplomatic Language (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7268-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/bizpod\/BEP024c-Diplomatic-Language1.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/bizpod\/BEP024c-Diplomatic-Language1.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/bizpod\/BEP024c-Diplomatic-Language1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>Welcome back to Business English Pod for today&#8217;s lesson on how to use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessenglishpod.com\/2011\/03\/13\/business-english-skills-360-diplomatic-and-direct-language\/\" title=\"diplomatic language\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">diplomatic language<\/a>. That means language that is careful, or not too direct. <\/p>\n<p>This lesson is part of our new series of fresh takes on some of our older lessons. We&#8217;ve kept the same dialog but have new explanations and practice for our lower level learners.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as I said, diplomatic language is careful, polite, and not too direct. For example, imagine you&#8217;re talking to your boss about a problem. You could just say &#8220;We have a problem.&#8221; But you want to be careful, right? So how about saying: &#8220;We might have a slight problem.&#8221; Using words like &#8220;might&#8221; and &#8220;slight&#8221; makes it softer, or more diplomatic, don&#8217;t think? Now imagine you&#8217;re the boss and your employee is explaining a problem, but you don&#8217;t understand. Well, you could say &#8220;I don&#8217;t understand.&#8221; But doesn&#8217;t that sound kind of short and direct? You don&#8217;t want to start an argument, you just want to understand. So you can try something like: &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;m not quite sure what you mean.&#8221; Don&#8217;t you think that sounds softer?<\/p>\n<p>This is the kind of language we&#8217;re going to learn and practice today. You&#8217;ll learn how to ask probing questions carefully and how to ask for clarification when you don&#8217;t understand. You&#8217;ll also learn how to minimize, or make something seem smaller or less serious than it really is. And finally you&#8217;ll learn how to disagree carefully using &#8220;yes, but&#8221; statements.<\/p>\n<p>In the dialog, you&#8217;ll hear a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessenglishpod.com\/category\/teleconferencing\/\" title=\"Business English Lessons for Teleconferences\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teleconference meeting<\/a> between four managers who work for a guitar company. Jack is the production manager at the guitar plant, or factory. He&#8217;s talking to Jim, Dan, and Angie at the company&#8217;s headquarters. They&#8217;re talking carefully about some recent problems at the plant. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Listening Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1.\tHow does Jim ask Jack about the problem at first?<br \/>\n2.\tJack doesn&#8217;t want to say \u201csome workers couldn&#8217;t breathe\u201d because that sounds too serious. What does he say instead?<br \/>\n3.\tAt the end of the dialog, Dan wants to disagree with Jack. What does he say before he disagrees?<\/p>\n<p>[tp no_translate=&#8221;y&#8221;]<strong>Premium Members: <a href=\"https:\/\/businessenglishpod.com\/learningcenter\/Premium2008\/transcripts\/BEP24cSN-Diplomatic-Language1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">PDF Transcript<\/span><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/businessenglishpod.com\/learningcenter\/Premium2008\/quiz\/BEP24c1QIZ\/presentation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Quizzes<\/span><\/a> | <a href=\"\/learningcenter\/Premium2008\/phrasecasts\/BEP24c1PC.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">PhraseCast<\/span><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/businessenglishpod.com\/learningcenter\/Premium2008\/quiz\/BEP24c2POD\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lesson Module<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Download: <a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/bizpod\/BEP024c-Diplomatic-Language1.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Podcast MP3<\/a><\/strong>[\/tp]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how to use diplomatic English, or indirect language, to communicate about sensitive issues in Business English.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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