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BEP 24c – Diplomatic Language (Part 2)

Business English, Communication, Meeting English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on using diplomatic, or indirect, language.

What do I mean by diplomatic language? Well, imagine you’re in a meeting and you disagree with someone. Is it okay to say “I disagree with you?” Well, maybe in some situations. But usually we need to be less direct. For example, you could say “I’m not so sure I agree with that.” Using “not so sure” makes it softer, or more diplomatic.

This kind of language is really important when we talk about problems, right? And we can use careful language to downplay a problem. What is “downplay?” That means to make a problem seem less serious. For example, maybe your coworker is worried about a computer problem. You could downplay the problem by saying “there’s no reason to think it will happen again.” You didn’t say there isn’t a problem, right? You just made it seem less serious.

So, what kind of careful language will you learn today? Well, you’ll learn how to disagree carefully and how to guide people to a key idea. You’ll also learn how to interrupt politely, downplay a problem, and highlight the main point.

In the dialog, you’ll hear a teleconference between four managers who work for a guitar company. In our last lesson, we heard Jack talking carefully about a problem at the factory. Some workers got sick, and the other managers were worried because the workers complained to the government. Now those managers want to know more about what might happen to the factory.

Listening Questions

1. Jack thinks the others are exaggerating, or overstating, the problem. What does he say before he tells them this?
2. Dan interrupts Jack when he’s talking. How does Dan do this? What does he say?
3. According to Jack, are these new problems?

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BEP 24c – Diplomatic Language (Part 1)

Business English, Communication, Meeting English /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to use diplomatic language. That means language that is careful, or not too direct.

This lesson is part of our new series of fresh takes on some of our older lessons. We’ve kept the same dialog but have new explanations and practice for our lower level learners.

Now, as I said, diplomatic language is careful, polite, and not too direct. For example, imagine you’re talking to your boss about a problem. You could just say “We have a problem.” But you want to be careful, right? So how about saying: “We might have a slight problem.” Using words like “might” and “slight” makes it softer, or more diplomatic, don’t think? Now imagine you’re the boss and your employee is explaining a problem, but you don’t understand. Well, you could say “I don’t understand.” But doesn’t that sound kind of short and direct? You don’t want to start an argument, you just want to understand. So you can try something like: “I’m afraid I’m not quite sure what you mean.” Don’t you think that sounds softer?

This is the kind of language we’re going to learn and practice today. You’ll learn how to ask probing questions carefully and how to ask for clarification when you don’t understand. You’ll also learn how to minimize, or make something seem smaller or less serious than it really is. And finally you’ll learn how to disagree carefully using “yes, but” statements.

In the dialog, you’ll hear a teleconference meeting between four managers who work for a guitar company. Jack is the production manager at the guitar plant, or factory. He’s talking to Jim, Dan, and Angie at the company’s headquarters. They’re talking carefully about some recent problems at the plant.

Listening Questions

1. How does Jim ask Jack about the problem at first?
2. Jack doesn’t want to say “some workers couldn’t breathe” because that sounds too serious. What does he say instead?
3. At the end of the dialog, Dan wants to disagree with Jack. What does he say before he disagrees?

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Business English News 32 – Currency Wars

Business English, Business News, Finance and Accounting /

Business English News 32 - Currency Wars

In today’s Business English News lesson, we look at how countries are using competitive devaluations of their currencies to stimulate economic growth.

It’s been a wild ride since the global economy welcomed in the New Year, and the scale of global easing that’s taking place has stunned investors. On average, an interest rate has been cut somewhere in the world once every 3 days, catching everyone off guard. If 25 countries cutting rates since the start of the year wasn’t proof enough, this week’s warning from Janet Yellen about the dollar’s strength confirmed that the world’s top central banks are fighting a currency war.

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BEP 267 – Presenting Numbers in English (Part 2)

Business English, Presentations /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on presenting numbers.

In the course of your work, you’ve probably had to sit through a dull English presentation in which the speaker reads out numbers from a chart or PowerPoint slides. And maybe you thought that your time would have been better spent just reading a report with all the data.

Sure, numbers are important. However you don’t need to give a presentation just to report the numbers. But you may need to give a presentation to explain which numbers are most important and what the numbers mean.

In today’s lesson, we’ll look at some great techniques for presenting and interpreting numbers. We’ll learn how to show causation and correlation, how to group data, and how to highlight important numbers. We’ll also look at drawing conclusions from data and making predictions.

In the dialog, we’ll rejoin Toni, who works for a large grocery chain. Toni is giving a presentation in English about recent promotional activities targeting the young singles market. We’ll also hear two company executives, Ellen and William.

Listening Questions

1. What does Toni say was the reason for increased footfall on Sundays?
2. Which key number does Toni want to highlight?
3. What does Toni feel confident will happen in the future?

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BEP 266 – Presenting Numbers in English (Part 1)

Business English, Presentations /

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on presenting numbers in English.

In business, numbers are everywhere. Whether you work in sales, marketing, finance, or management, you deal with them all the time. You’ve got data, metrics, projections, and results, all expressed in numbers. We read about numbers, we discuss numbers, and we often have to stand up in front of our colleagues, our clients, or our bosses and present numbers.

Giving a presentation in English about anything can be challenging. Giving a presentation about numbers and data can be especially difficult. You have to describe those numbers, to interpret them, and to connect them to ideas and decisions. In today’s lesson, we’ll begin looking at some techniques for this situation. We’ll learn how to approximate and how to describe change. We’ll also learn how to talk about increases and decreases, as well as how to compare and contrast numbers.

In the dialog, we will hear Toni, who works in marketing for a large grocery chain called Foresters. Toni is giving a presentation about the outcomes of a new promotional campaign targeting the young singles market. We’ll also hear Ellen and William, two executives with Foresters.

Listening Questions

1. What does Toni say has improved as a result of the company’s national campaign?
2. What decreased as a result of the national campaign?
3. What two things does Toni say increased at the test stores?

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