Link:
http://http-ws.bbc.co.uk.edgesuite.net/mp3/learningenglish/2009/04/prog_12_audio_v1_au_bb.mp3
Script:
This program was first broadcast in 2001.
This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript of the program.
In this program we join Carmela and business English expert David Evans, for the last in the series of Business Language to Go - the series that brings you the kind of everyday English that you won’t learn from your standard text book.
Carmela: Today we’re looking at business socializing. And as usual I’m joined by business English expert, David Evans. David - how would you describe business socializing?
David: Well I suppose business socializing really means any kind of communication between business people which doesn't relate specifically to the job that they are doing at that time. So it could be some colleagues socializing after work, or it could be people entertaining their customers maybe over a meal or over drinks. It could be the kind of conversation that happens at a conference or at some kind of party or social event at which business people are meeting one another. In fact socializing is often one of the hardest things for business people to do. In a meeting or in a presentation there is a clear purpose to the business communication but when you are socializing there are just no rules.
Carmela: But having said there are no rules there are certain expressions that you’ll often hear and we’ll be looking at those throughout today’s program. Let’s join our first scenario. We’re going to a breakfast meeting of Business Network International - a group of people from all professions who regularly get together to make business contacts.
CLIP
Louise: Oh Hello, you must be Darren Johnston.
Darren: Yeah, hi there. Nice to meet you. You are...?
Louise: I’m Louise Moore. I think we met last time in Birmingham.
Daren: Right. Yes of course. Sorry I forgot all about it. That’s right, that was a couple of years ago wasn't it.
Louise: Actually Darren, I think there would be somebody that would be really useful for you to meet. Let me introduce you to Kevin Hann later. He’s a financial advisor.
END OF CLIP
Carmela: A very typical start to a conversation there. David, can you talk us through some of the phrases those two people used.
David: Yes, they used a lot of very good expressions for introducing people or meeting people. Right at the beginning we heard her say you must be Darren. She’s using that phrase because she thinks she knows his name, she’s not certain of it but she thinks she does, so she says you must be. Then they remember the previous time that they met and if you think you’ve met someone before you might well say I think we met last time in…in Birmingham, in this case. And then finally when she wants to introduce the man to somebody else she uses again a standard phrase - let me introduce you to Kevin, she says.
Carmela: Now let’s hear another conversation. This next one is the kind you might have during a coffee break at a conference.
CLIP
Callum: Hi I’m Callum. I don’t think we've met before.
John: No, hello I’m John.
C: Pleased to meet you
J: So what line of work are you in?
C: I work in new media … mainly online projects, web design, that kind of thing.
And what about you?
J: Well quite similar to you really. I’m in new media too ... but more on the broadband technology side.
C: Oh broadband, do you know Alison Weaver? She’s also here at the conference. She’s in broadband too.
J: No, I don’t think I've met her.
END OF CLIP
Carmela: So some similar expressions to the ones we heard earlier. David, can you pick some of them out?
David: There was a very good way of introducing yourself to someone you don’t know there. The phrase was I don’t think we’ve met before, to which the reply here was pleased to meet you, a very standard way of greeting someone. I think in the previous conversation we had the phrase nice to meet you, which again has exactly the same function. They then move the conversation on when the person asks, what line of work are you in? It’s a very common, a very friendly way of asking, what’s your job? The other one replied I’m in new media, meaning I work in the new media industry. He could have said I’m in sales / I’m in insurance. And he then returns the question by simply saying. What about you….?
Carmela: Now let’s go beyond simple introductions and move on to some phrases that are useful for asking more detailed questions about people’s jobs.
CLIP
Male 1: So…. how long have you been in business?
Male 2: I've been in this business for about four or five years now, providing IT solutions for companies.
Male 1: So what exactly do you do? I mean I know you've mentioned IT solutions but what exactly do you do?
Male 2: I used to only provide computer training and now I’m also providing database solutions and internet solutions by way of web development and setting up networks.
END OF CLIP
CLIP
C: Everyone’s talking about it. Broadband is a very interesting area at the moment. How did you get into it?
J: Well to be honest it happened by accident. I was involved in a project with a strong broadband element and I just sort of fell into it, really. What about you? How long have you been in web design?
C: Well not very long at all, actually. Only about a year. Before that I was a teacher.
END OF CLIP
Carmela: Now in both conversations people are going into a lot more detail about their professions and there were lots of questions. Could you isolate some of the questions we heard there?
David: Well yes, to ask someone to tell you in a little more detail about their job you can use the question what exactly do you do? This will mean they won’t just say, I’m a teacher, I’m a web designer or I’m a policeman, they will tell you the way that they spend their working day.
Carmela: And once you've actually got a few details about their duties, about the kind of things that they do at work, what would be the next logical question to ask them?
David: Well there we heard the person ask How long have you been in web design?
How long have you….. been in something, again is a good way of moving the conversation on. And the other question that they used to move the conversation on was how did you get into it? In other words how did you start in this particular profession or this particular career?
Carmela: And again we heard someone ask the same question back with that phrase
What about you? Of course, often the whole point of business socializing is to network and make useful contacts for future possible business. So knowing how to get people’s contact details is extremely important.
CLIP
Female: So what line of work are you in?
Male: I’m actually a VAT consultant for a firm of chartered accountants.
Female: Oh really? Do you have a business card I could take?
Male: Yes sure, hold on.
Female: Oh thanks ever so much. Are you on email?
Male: Yes, yeah, I do have email. In fact, I do most of my work via email now. So it’s actually on the bottom of the card.
Female: Oh sorry. So I’ll be in touch.
Male: OK, that would be great.
Female: Thanks…
Male Bye.
END OF CLIP
CLIP
J: Well it was a pleasure to meet you. Your work sounds very interesting. Maybe we could swap some ideas at some point in the future. Can I take your business card?
C: Yep by all means. There you go.
J: And are you on email?
C: Yes, sorry, that’s, that’s an old one. So the email address is on the back.
J: Well I must go and say hello to a former colleague of mine. Enjoy the rest of the conference. I’m sure I’ll see you around, and I've got your contact details so I’ll be in touch.
END OF CLIP
Carmela: Lots of giving out of the all-important business card there and David, there were lots of useful expressions too. Can you pick out some for us?
David: Yes if you want to maintain contact with somebody I suppose the three key phrases you need to remember are Can I take your business card?, Are you on email?, and just to show that you are going to maintain the contact remember the phrase I’ll be in touch.
Carmela: Plus we heard an extremely useful expression there that’s a great way of ending a conversation, that phrase I must go and….
David: Yes, that’s a very good way of ending a conversation. You can use all sorts of different reasons for ending it. I must go and talk to my colleagues, I must go and speak to my boss, I must go and introduce myself to a customer. Any phrase like that will do and it’s a good, polite way of showing that the conversation is over.
Carmela: Many thanks to David Evans for talking us through the expressions used every day in the workplace. I hope Business Language To Go has equipped you with some quick phrases for those different situations that occur during your working day.
Link:
http://http-ws.bbc.co.uk.edgesuite.net/mp3/learningenglish/2009/02/prog_04_au_bb.mp3
Script:
This program was first broadcast in 2001
This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript of the program
Carmela: We’re looking at the language of presentations.
As usual I’m joined by business English expert David Evans. David, presentations …. They can be scary, even if you’re just doing them in front of colleagues. Can you reassure our listeners that they don’t have to be a huge or deal?
David: Yes, I mean of course it’s true that presentations can be challenging but the important thing is just to prepare properly. Make sure you know who your audience is, what they expect from you - and of course most importantly, what the aim of your presentation is.
Carmela: And if you like to prepare properly for today’s program - than grab a pen and paper now - so that you can write down today’s phrases.
Okay, let’s move on to our first example of a presentation.
We start at Kelly Services, which is an international recruitment company. Claire Francis, Head of Communications is doing a presentation for her colleagues.
CLIP
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming along here today. I hope my presentation isn't going to take too long and that you will find it interesting. The purpose of today’s presentation is to discuss how we can improve internal communications within our company.
Now let me begin by explaining that I’d like to talk about the business case for better communication, secondly I want to cover different styles and methods and finally I would like to finish off by talking about some of the basics we need to have in place to deliver good quality, consistent communications across the company. I’d be very happy to invite you to ask questions at the end of the session and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for us to discuss some of the points that have been raised.
END OF CLIP
Carmela: Now have a listen to the beginning of another presentation. You’ll notice that it follows a similar pattern to the last example. Listen out for how Tim starts his talk.
CLIP
“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for finding the time to come and join me for this presentation this afternoon. My name is Tim Mason, I‘m a retail consultant and many of you will have seen me shadowing you in your jobs and looking through the accounts and so on in the company over the last week. I've invited you here today to have a look at my findings. First, I’d like to have a look at the performance of the company, the sales of the company over the last three years. Then I’d like to have a look at our market share in the women’s wear market and look at our competitors and, thirdly I’d like to suggest some improvements in our range of women’s wear. At the end I’d be happy to answer any of your questions.
Carmela: David, what were some of the key expressions that we heard in those two presentations.
David: Well, I think it was very interesting that both of those presentations followed the standard pattern for an introduction. We heard in both cases the standard welcome “ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming”. Than they moved on and they stated the purpose or the aim of the presentation - again with a very simple phrase “The purpose of this presentation - is to talk to you about …this subject”. Then they move on to a summary of the main points of the presentation. Now, normally the summary would focus on three main points and you’d hear expressions like - “I’d like to talk about …”I want to have a look at…” I’d like to finish by saying…” - those kinds of phrases
Carmela: And then both speakers invite questions from the audience - could you pick out the phrases that they use to do that.
David: They use a phrase like “at the end, you can ask questions”. And the reason they do this is because they don’t want the audience interrupting them continually with questions during the presentation - but they want to show that they are open to questions and that they welcome discussion as part of the session .
Carmela: Now let’s talk about the body of the presentation. Presentation and people often use visual aids to illustrate their points here. Listen out now for the language used to introduce visual aids.
CLIP
“If you have a look at this first graph you can see that our sales topped 50 million the year before last. Then last year sales dropped to 40 million with a slight recovery at the end of the financial year. However this year sales have continued to drop to an all-time low of 30 million. (Paper) Now let’s look at our market share. As you can see we have 25% of the market share, 10% down on last year.”
END OF CLIP
CLIP
A good example of how important internal communications are, is shown by some findings from research that we have recently undertaken. Good communications is a very key factor in staff motivation. If you look at this slide, you will see how important it is to get the basics in place. You need to identify your communication requirement, agree your objectives and success criteria, identify your target audiences, define the content of your message. And determine the style of delivery. A good illustration of the communication process is when all those basics fall into place naturally.
END OF CLIP
Carmela: Lots of language there for drawing attention to graphs, statistics and other additional information. David, could you pick out some of the key expressions that were used there?
David: Yes, I mean, again it’s interesting that both presenters make it very, very clear to their audience what exactly they are looking at. If you look at this first graph, we heard, if you look at this slide, we also heard, and obviously they are introducing this kind of information to provide examples. And we could hear them signposting these with expressions like: A good example of this is or A good illustration of this is: And again we heard some signposting language to make it clear when the speaker was moving from one point to the next. Now let’s look at … -was the expression that we heard to do that.
Carmela: Now let’s look at how a presentation might typically end. We’re going back to Tim.
CLIP
Tim: Ladies and gentlemen if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them now.
Carrie: yeah, can I just ask .um. Graph number 3 that last one you showed us can you explain to me where you’re intending to find the extra income to increase the design arrangement in the maternity wear?
Tim: Yes, a very good question I've looked at the office ware range and it is quite heavy on material, holiday ware tends to be much lighter much smaller amounts of material involved and I think that s an area… FADE OUT ……where will certainly find a large saving.
END OF CLIP
Carmela: Now, having told them at the beginning that they’d be able to ask questions,
Tim then points out that this is a time that they can do just that. He invites some questions from his audience. How, how did he signal that it’s question time?
David: Yes, he said: Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions I‘d be happy to answer them now. That’s quite a long way of saying - I mean a more simple way - would have been to say … Does anyone have any questions? It’s also interesting that he handles the questions very well, making the person feel valued, feel wanted. A way of doing this is simply to say “that’s a good question”.
Carmela: Thanks David. David Evans will be joining me next time for more Business
Language to Go.
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