Communication – Business English Skills 360 https://www.mybeonline.com The ESL Podcast that Looks at the Other Side of Business English Sat, 19 Sep 2020 18:57:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.mybeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cropped-business-english-skills-360-amp-banner-1-32x32.png Communication – Business English Skills 360 https://www.mybeonline.com 32 32 Business English Skills 360 podcast lessons provide essential tips and language for communicating in English. Free transcripts and PDF downloads are available on the website: https://www.BusinessEnglishPod.com www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean episodic www.BusinessEnglishPod.com BusinessEnglishPod@mac.com BusinessEnglishPod@mac.com (www.BusinessEnglishPod.com) Copyright Business English Pod Ltd. 2006-2020 Business English Skills 360 - The podcast that looks at the other side of Business English. Communication – Business English Skills 360 https://www.mybeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/Business-English-Skills-360-iTunes-1500.png https://www.mybeonline.com/category/business-english-communication/ TV-G Skills 360 – Using English Metaphors (2) https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-using-english-metaphors-2/ https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-using-english-metaphors-2/#respond Sun, 22 Oct 2017 01:12:25 +0000 https://www.businessenglishpod.com/?p=10875 Learn how to use metaphors in English to make your speech more powerful.

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-using-english-metaphors-2/feed/ 0 Learn how to use metaphors in English to make your speech more powerful. Lesson Module | Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Business English Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I want to give you some more tips for using metaphors in English.

If you tuned in last time, you’ll remember that a metaphor is when you compare something you’re talking about to another idea. A classic example of a metaphor is “time is money.” But, if you really want to use metaphors to take your English to the next level, you’ll need to learn to think outside the box.

Whoa, wait a second. What did I just say? “Take it to the next level” and “think outside the box?” Well, those expressions are idioms, which is one kind of metaphor. But haven’t you heard those expressions a bit too much? I sure have. And that’s why I suggest avoiding these kinds of extremely common metaphors, or clichés. A cliché is an expression that is used so much that people don’t really think about its meaning any more. And if you use clichés, you won’t make a good impression on people.

So don’t just memorize extremely common metaphors. Instead, make new ones. But about what? Well, in business we cook up metaphors from many interesting topics. Take sports, for example, which are easy to compare with business. This is why you might talk about “performance,” or “scoring a goal,” or “coaching.” And that’s why we use expressions like “drop the ball” and “down to the wire” and “slam dunk.”

Sports aren’t the only source of metaphors. Other great topics are food, war, games, gardening, and mechanics. But really, the list of topics is endless. The important thing is that you use metaphors that connect with your audience and your purpose.

So which topic might be useful if you’re trying to motivate your team before taking another company to court? Well, then you might pull out the war metaphors and talk about “doing battle” and “sharpening your swords” and “attacking the enemy.” Or if you’re giving a presentation to engineers about teamwork, you might draw on mechanics. For example, you might talk about “interlocking gears” and “a well-oiled machine.”

These kinds of metaphors are very direct. We are saying that one thing is another thing. But sometimes we rely on longer comparisons between two things to show how they’re parallel. For example, I’ll always remember when I heard a speaker compare a business to a plant. To paraphrase, he said something like “a business is like a plant, in that it’s either growing or dying. There’s nothing in between.” He went on to explain how helping a plant grow and taking care of a business are very similar. It stuck with me because it really made sense. He could have expressed all the same ideas about business without talking about plants. But the comparison really helped explain the ideas.

We call this kind of comparison an analogy. It’s similar to a metaphor, but it’s less direct. We compare two things and show how they’re similar in many different ways. Analogy helps people understand and remember. It gives them a way to think about something that makes sense to them.

One great example of analogy comes from the world of computers. It’s an analogy that helped transform computers from big mysterious machines to everyday tools for the home and office....]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com 8:13 Skills 360 – Using English Metaphors (1) https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-using-english-metaphors-1/ https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-using-english-metaphors-1/#respond Sun, 15 Oct 2017 10:51:20 +0000 https://www.businessenglishpod.com/?p=10864 Learn how to use metaphors to add impact to your speech.

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-using-english-metaphors-1/feed/ 0 Learn how to use metaphors to add impact to your speech. Lesson Module | Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Business English Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I want to give you some tips for using metaphors to make your speech more powerful.

Have you ever heard of Alfred Sloan? He was the head of General Motors during the Great Depression. He once gave a speech where he talked about GM at the time as a “great ship in a fierce storm.” From that description, you get a sense of danger, of a big boat getting tossed around in the unpredictable ocean waves. And you can imagine that everyone on that ship has to work hard to get through the storm which, like all storms, would one day end.

Alfred Sloan was using a metaphor. GM isn’t really a ship. And the economy isn’t really an ocean. He could have talked about how the company needed to improve its balance sheet during a time of economic uncertainty. But a ship in a storm is a much more memorable and impactful way of describing the situation. And if you read or listen to speeches by great leaders, you’ll see they are full of interesting comparisons like this.

So what exactly is a metaphor? Well, a metaphor is when you compare something you’re talking about to another idea, for example: “time is money.” This comparison helps us understand, or see something from a new perspective. Just as “time is money” helps us see time as very valuable. Or, as Alfred Sloan said, GM is like a ship. And the Great Depression is a storm. And metaphors aren’t reserved just for big speeches by famous people. Metaphors are everywhere in our language.

One of the most common kinds of metaphor we use are idioms. For example, we often say “climb the corporate ladder” to mean try to attain higher positions in a company. But saying “climb the corporate ladder” is more evocative. That is, it has more emotional power.

When you’re tired, you can say you’re “running on empty,” like a car with no fuel. When you don’t have all the right information, you can say you’re “missing a piece of the puzzle.” And when you’re waiting for someone else to make a decision, you can say “the ball in his court.” You may have learned some of these idioms, but you may not have known they’re all a kind of metaphor.

To harness the power of metaphors, you don’t have to just learn some idioms. You can create your own metaphors to make what you say more impactful. You might be making a speech, or giving a presentation. Or you might be negotiating, selling something, or trying to convince your colleagues to support your idea. In all these situations, metaphors can be effective.

What exactly do I mean by “effective?” Well, for starters, metaphors can help to simplify a complex idea. Think again of the idea of a ship in a fierce storm. There are a lot of complex ideas behind the situation of a large company in an economic recession. But the metaphor helps people understand quickly and simply.

Metaphors can also appeal to our emotions and imagination. Consider Tropicana, the company that makes orange juice. They could have described the health benefits of their juice and hope that people make a logical decision to buy their product. But instead, they called their orange juice “your daily ray of sunshine.” That has emotional power. Who wouldn’t want a ray of sunshine in the morning?

The Tropicana example is a good one,]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com 7:37 Skills 360 – How to Sound Credible (2) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-how-to-sound-credible-2/ https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-how-to-sound-credible-2/#respond Sun, 16 Oct 2016 06:10:20 +0000 https://www.businessenglishpod.com/?p=9703 Learn what not to say in order to sound more credible in English.

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-how-to-sound-credible-2/feed/ 0 Learn what not to say in order to sound more credible in English. Learn what not to say in order to sound more credible in English. www.BusinessEnglishPod.com 6:54 Skills 360 – How to Sound Credible (1) https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-how-to-sound-credible-in-english-1/ https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-how-to-sound-credible-in-english-1/#respond Sun, 09 Oct 2016 06:10:04 +0000 https://www.businessenglishpod.com/?p=9684 Learn how to sound credible and believable in English.

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-how-to-sound-credible-in-english-1/feed/ 0 Learn how to sound credible and believable in English. Learn how to sound credible and believable in English. www.BusinessEnglishPod.com 6:09 Skills 360 – Dealing with Criticism (Part 2) https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-dealing-with-criticism-2/ Sun, 02 Nov 2014 14:06:17 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=1015 Learn tips and techniques for dealing with criticism.

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]]> Learn tips and techniques for dealing with criticism. Lesson Module | Quizzes | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and today I want to look at some more ways of dealing with criticism.

Unless you’re perfect, you have room to improve. That doesn’t sound like a difficult idea to accept, but what is difficult is when other people point it out to us. They might tell us that we’ve done something wrong, or done something poorly, or shouldn’t have done something at all. Some people might tell us in a polite and professional manner, just as a wise and diplomatic boss might. But others might just sound harsh or rude. So, what should we do in the face of criticism?

Well, today I want to focus on validity. That is, on whether the criticism is valid, justified, or reasonable. If it is, then we should treat it as helpful and constructive. And if it’s not, then we might need a different approach.

All right, but first how do we know if criticism is valid or not? How do we know it is correct and reasonable? Well, sometimes you know it’s valid if you’ve heard it before. So, the first time you hear that you don’t sound polite enough on the phone, you might just think it’s one person’s opinion. But if you hear it numerous times, then you’d better watch your language.

Also, valid criticism is often tied to specifics. That is, the person says exactly what is wrong, not just generally that something is wrong. So, “you work too slowly” is questionable. But “you need to pick up the pace because you’ve delivered the past three reports late” is specific.

Of course, as I mentioned in the last lesson, you can ask questions to encourage the person criticizing you to be more specific. And that will help you figure out if the criticism is valid.

But sometimes criticism isn’t valid. Sometimes it’s unfair. Sometimes it’s a grumpy colleague who thinks he will look better if you look bad. That kind of criticism is sometimes delivered emotionally, rather than calmly and reasonably. Sometimes invalid criticism lacks specifics. And sometimes it just comes naturally from people who don’t play well with others.

Again, asking questions can help you figure it out. If the person can’t give you specifics, then maybe the criticism isn’t so valid after all. And if you’re really not sure, you can always try asking for a second opinion. So when Mike tells you that you’re a terrible negotiator, go ask Larry whether it’s true or not.

So why think about whether criticism is valid? Well, first of all because valid criticism is an opportunity to improve. We all need good feedback to learn how we can change or adapt what we do in order to get better. Don’t be afraid of that feedback. Embrace it. It will help you grow.

In other words, you need to learn to say “you’re right,” even when it hurts. In fact, sometimes we get most upset when someone criticizes us for something that we know is perfectly true and that we already feel bad about! But if the criticism is valid, then take it. And if that means you need to swallow your pride, then swallow it.

In some cases, criticism isn’t completely valid, but only partly. Surely you know someone who adds “never” or “always” to every piece of criticism? As in, “you never pick up your stuff in the staff room” or “you always change my settings when you use my computer.” Well, you should still acknowledge the valid part, even if it’s not completely true or it’s exaggerated. So you might say, “well, it’s true that I changed some settings last week, and for that I’m sorry.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 7:53 Skills 360 – Dealing with Criticism (Part 1) https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-dealing-with-criticism-1/ Sun, 26 Oct 2014 13:59:42 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=1010 In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we look at how to deal with criticism.

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]]> How to deal with criticism at work. Lesson Module | Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript | Mobile Quizzes

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and today I want to look at ways to deal with criticism.

Criticism is something we all have to face. During a performance review, we have to listen as our boss criticizes our work. In meetings, people criticize our ideas. And every day we might hear people criticize us in the staff room and over the phone. We might also hear praise in these situations, but more often than not it’s the sting of criticism that lingers. And let’s face it: hearing people criticize our work, or criticize us, is never really easy.

So, how can we face criticism with the right attitude and approach? Well, start by thinking about the situation and the source. The situation might be formal, like your performance review or another evaluation process. Or it might be informal, like in the staff room.

In formal situations, it’s often a supervisor or superior who is criticizing; in informal situations, well, it could be anyone. It’s important to think of the situation and the source, because that might help determine whether the criticism is constructive or destructive.

Although some people use the word “criticism” to refer to unfair negative comments, a lot of criticism is actually constructive. I mean, it’s intended to help us do something better, to improve, to change in positive ways. Of course, there’s always destructive criticism, which has different motivations. Destructive criticism is sometimes personal, intended to hurt people rather than help people. You need to be able to handle both.

Now, we’ve talked about formal and informal situations and constructive and destructive criticism. You can probably see the difference here: constructive criticism in formal situations is just a part of working life! More than that, it’s necessary. And your job probably requires you to deliver this type of criticism too. So you should look at this criticism as an opportunity – as hard as that might be to do.

Okay, but what about destructive criticism, especially in informal situations? I mean, what do you do when Dave your snarky colleague says “Geez, you really messed up that presentation, didn’t you?” Well, your attitude and approach shouldn’t actually be too different, even though you want to tell Dave exactly what you think of him.

You see, the best thing to do first, no matter what the situation, is to ask a question. If your boss says you need to take more initiative, you can ask “can you give me an example of a situation where I should have taken more initiative?” And if Dave tells you you’re terrible with PowerPoint, you can ask, “what do you think I need to do better, Dave?” By asking questions, you show that you take constructive criticism seriously, and you can challenge destructive criticism. Either way, you are maintaining a professional attitude.

The alternative to maintaining a professional attitude is getting defensive, angry, or resentful. In other words, responding emotionally. Nothing good will come of that type of reaction, regardless of the situation. In fact, studies have shown a connection between emotional responses to criticism and a lack of confidence or self-esteem. It’s true! If you get defensive, you show people that you’re fragile, and that’s not one of the qualities that leads to success.

Maintaining a professional attitude also means not sh...]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 7:00 Skills 360 – Communication Skills 2: Clarifying https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-communication-skills-2-clarifying/ Mon, 21 Apr 2014 06:14:30 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=997 In this Skills 360 lesson, we look at Business English techniques for clarifying what was said, or what was meant.

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]]> Learn Business English techniques for clarifying what was said, or what was meant. Quizzes | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and today I want to continue our look at how you can improve your communication skills.

Communication between people is never perfect. Even with the people closest to us, who you might think we can understand very well, there is miscommunication. Sometimes we don’t hear things correctly, or we don’t hear them at all, and sometimes people don’t express ideas precisely. That’s enough to complicate the situation, but then we can throw in implied meaning and our own understanding of what’s being said indirectly. Add to that the challenges that arise when you’re working in your second, or third, or fourth language, and it might be surprising that we understand each other at all!

But have no fear. There are ways to work though the minefield of communication and make everything clear. And that’s exactly what we’ll look at today: clarifying what people have said. There are basically two reasons to clarify: first, when we don’t know what someone said because we didn’t hear them; and second, when we don’t know what someone meant because we didn’t understand them.

Let’s begin with clarifying what someone said. When you don’t hear someone, you can simply tell them, politely of course. Use diplomatic expressions like “Pardon me?” Or, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch that.” Or, “Would you mind repeating that please?” Avoid short and blunt questions like “What?” or “What did you say?” These questions seem rude to many people. And when in doubt, too formal is a better mistake than too informal.

Now, if you heard what someone said but you don’t know what it means, make sure they know that. If you use the expressions we just looked at for when you didn’t hear someone, they might just repeat what they said. But if you didn’t understand the first time, chances are you won’t understand the second time. So how do you make it clear that you haven’t understood?

Well, avoid just saying “I don’t understand.” That feels too blunt and direct. Instead, try, “I’m not sure I follow you.” Or, say a speaker uses the expression “contingency plan” and you don’t know what that means. You can say, “Could you explain what you mean by contingency plan?” Or, “What exactly do you mean by contingency plan?” These kinds of expressions let the speaker know that you haven’t understood, not just that you haven’t heard.

Okay, so in some cases you might think you understand, but you’re not sure. So you want to clarify by checking your understanding. The first thing you can do is paraphrase what someone has said and ask for confirmation that your interpretation is correct. Paraphrasing just means saying the same thing but in different words. And you can do this by acknowledging what someone has said, restating it, and confirming with a tag question.

Here’s an example: if someone says “we anticipate that the share price will continue to soar,” you might say “I see, so you’re saying the stock will remain high, right?” Or if someone says “our marketing strategy needs a complete overhaul,” you can say “okay, you mean we need to change our strategy, right?” If you’re correct, the speaker will let you know. And if you’re incorrect, he will explain. Notice that the tag question “right?” is a yes/no question. Yes/no questions make it easy for the speaker to confirm your understanding or provide further explanation if you misunderstood.

Another technique for clarifying what someone has s...]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 7:04 Skills 360 – Communication Skills 1: Listening https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-communication-skills-1-listening/ Mon, 14 Apr 2014 09:23:04 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=994 Learn language and skills for improving your listening skills in English.

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]]> Learn how to improve your English listening skills. Quizzes | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and today I want to look at how you can improve your communication skills.

We spend a lot of time looking at different ways that you can make other people understand your ideas. But what about your ability to make sure you understand what other people are saying? Some people say that there’s a good reason we have two ears but one mouth: because we should spend twice as much time listening as we do speaking. And countless business leaders have emphasized the importance of good listening skills as the foundation of good communication.

Okay, but listening and understanding are not always easy. We’ve all found ourselves in situations – it could be a meeting, a presentation, an interview, or a negotiation - where we think “what did he just say?” or “what was that word?” Well, for starters, we need to accept that we might not understand everything. That’s not necessarily a problem. But what you do when you don’t understand something is what separates a good listener from a bad listener.

You see, it wouldn’t always be a good idea to stop a speaker and say “what was that word you just used?” Or “can you repeat that sentence?” If you didn’t catch something, well, get over it. And fast. You don’t have time to stop listening and think about what something means. And you don’t have time to translate either. You’ll get lost, and it will be difficult to get your head back into what you’re supposed to be listening to. Instead, you need to grab onto what you do understand, and then fill in what you don’t with logical guesses.

What you should be shooting for, first and foremost, is the gist of what’s being said. That means the main idea or underlying point that the speaker is trying to make. Details will support that main idea, and if you don’t catch them all it’s not the end of the world.

Okay, but how do we catch the gist? Well, one way is to focus on key words. Key words are the words that we understand that show the central message. They provide direct clues to the main idea. So if you hear someone say “blah blah new plan blah blah blah terrible idea blah blah blah can’t support blah blah blah”, then you have a good idea what the person is saying without understanding all the “blah blah.” If you focus on the “blah blah,” however, you might miss those important words that you do understand.

Another thing to remember is that people often repeat or explain their ideas further. If you don’t understand an idea right away, just be patient. The speaker might explain what she means, or give an example, or repeat the idea in different words. But if you get hung up on not understanding the first statement, you risk confusion. Here’s an example: say you’re listening to someone give a presentation on the latest sales figures, and he says “The last quarter was particularly disconcerting.”

Now, do you know what “particularly disconcerting” means? If not, don’t worry too much. Because the speaker will probably go on to explain or give examples. He might say something like this: “Our electronics division was down 13%. Mobile was down 16%. And automotive was down a whopping 24%.” Now, you can probably guess that “particularly disconcerting” is negative, right? But if you stopped listening and started wracking your brain to figure out what it meant, then you might have missed the explanation.

Of course, sometimes there are things that you hear that provoke ques...]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:31 Skills 360 – Facilitating a Brainstorming Session 2 https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-facilitating-a-brainstorming-session-2/ Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:34:25 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=990 Learn how to run an effective brainstorming meeting in English.

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]]> Learn how to run an effective brainstorming meeting in English. Quizzes | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and today we’re going to have a look at some great tips for running an effective brainstorming session.

Have you ever conducted a brainstorming session that simply goes nowhere? A few people throw out some ideas, but most participants seem uninspired or bored? You ask questions, but people don’t answer? Well, today I want to give you some tips for kickstarting the process and getting the juices flowing.

Okay, so you need to provide some kind of spark. But just saying “Okay everyone, we need to get the ideas flowing” is not actually going to inspire anyone. You need something different. One idea is to use visual stimulation. Bring a box of random objects that you can hold up or pass around. Or show the group random images, either ones you’ve chosen that relate to the topic or on sites like Pinterest and StumbleUpon. Looking at images or objects can send our thinking in new directions and trigger creative associations.

Another way to get ideas flowing is to get the room flowing. Try telling the group that every time you say “move!” everybody needs to stand up, walk around the room, and find a new seat. This gives people a very short break and a tiny bit of physical activity, which can be reinvigorating.

Moving seats also means that people are looking at the room, the flipchart, and everyone else from a new perspective. And finally, participants may find themselves sitting beside and talking with different people, which can inspire different ways of thinking. So every time you see people lagging a bit, yell “move” and see what happens.

Now, sometimes if you want good ideas from a group, you can ask them to think of bad ideas first. Yes, I’m serious. Sometimes we don’t know what we want or need, but we can figure it out by talking about what we don’t want or need. Here’s an example: say you’re with a group brainstorming better ways for your company to attract talented workers. A few good ideas have come out, but not nearly enough, and people are scratching their heads and getting frustrated.

This might be a good time to ask for “opposite thinking.” Try putting this question to the group, “Okay everyone, let’s change tack here and think of reasons people would not want to work for a company. What are things that talented workers don’t like in a job?” Believe me, when you ask questions about bad ideas or the worst examples, a lot of people suddenly have a lot to say.

And once you’ve got those bad or opposite ideas, you can just turn them around. So if someone says, “people really don’t like a work environment that is ugly and boring,” then you can turn it around and make “inspiring and clean workplace” one of your new ideas.

Okay, we’ve gone over some ways to get a whole group thinking, but there are some people who just don’t like working in large groups. They might not speak out confidently in a brainstorming session, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have good ideas. In fact, these quiet thinkers might be hiding some of the most fantastic ideas. So how do you draw those ideas out?

Well, one way is by providing a non-verbal input option. I’m talking about good old pen and paper. Make sure everyone has something to write with and on, and tell them that they’re free to provide their ideas that way. Or you can ask everybody to do this at certain points in the brainstorming. Then you collect the papers and write up the ideas on a board or flipchart.

You may also find that a great way to draw quiet people out is to reduce the group size.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:35 Skills 360 – Facilitating a Brainstorming Session 1 https://www.mybeonline.com/skills-360-facilitating-a-brainstorming-session-1/ Mon, 27 Jan 2014 09:29:02 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=987 Learn business English for facilitating a brainstorming session.

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]]> Learn business English for facilitating a brainstorming meeting. Quizzes | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons, and today I want to look at how to run an effective brainstorming session.

Every company uses brainstorming sessions to generate ideas and solve problems. But do all brainstorming sessions generate good ideas? Does everyone leave a brainstorming session feeling like they accomplished something? Well, that often depends on the facilitator. And if you are the one to run the show, there are several things you need to think about.

First comes good preparation. People need to head into a brainstorming session with a good idea about what they’re supposed to be talking about. So if you’re going to be running the session, don’t keep the topic a mystery. Email everyone well in advance. Make sure people come with a head full of ideas. If they don’t know what they’ll be doing until they arrive, they may not be as prepared.

Now, what happens when you start that meeting, when everyone’s assembled and your job is to get things going? Well, you need to set the stage for a productive session, and one great way to do that is to set some ground rules. You might want to create a list of your own that includes things like “turn off cell phones” and “no judgment.” Or you might want to let the group brainstorm their own list. Let them determine what guidelines will ensure they feel safe and free to share ideas.

Either way, you should write these guidelines down and display them for everyone to see. But remember, good brainstorming happens when people feel creative, free, and happy, so don’t get too hard-nosed or serious by making a bunch of “rules.”

Once you’ve got some guidelines, now you can pose the question or topic for the group. Right at the beginning, make sure you’re encouraging and setting a positive tone. When someone produces an idea, respond with “Fantastic, thanks Ron, let’s put that up here…” That helps create the right mood, and hopefully soon ideas will start flowing more freely. Once they do, don’t interfere. Your job is to record, and to maintain the energy. Keep praising people with comments like “Great stuff Nora” and “Right on Wayne.”

Okay, but sometimes people don’t express things perfectly clearly. And when this happens, you need to get some clarification. You can do this in a couple of ways. You can straight-up ask for explanation, like this, “All right Todd, thanks. Can you explain what you mean a bit more?” Notice that we are still thanking and praising.

You can also try restating what the person said to test an interpretation. For example, you could say something like, “Okay Todd, thanks. So you’re saying that we need to hire more staff? Is that right?” Either way, don’t get too bogged down in explanation. You just want things to be clear enough that everyone knows basically what’s being suggested.

Now, one of the most important principles of brainstorming is that we should separate idea generation from idea evaluation. So producing ideas and judging them are done separately. Brainstorming is all about the former, not the latter. So when someone says something like “I don’t know Todd, that probably wouldn’t help at this point,” you need to step in. But you should do it diplomatically, like this, “Okay Todd, let’s just focus on getting the ideas out for now and later we can take a closer look, sound good?” What happens when people start evaluating ideas? They stop flowing. And that’s not what we want.

]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:12 Skills 360 – Giving and Receiving Feedback (Part 2) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-giving-and-receiving-feedback-2/ Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:42:00 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=949 In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we're going to look at how to receive feedback with a positive attitude.

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]]> In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we look at how to receive feedback with a positive attitude. Business English App for iPhone & iPad:
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Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I want to help you receive feedback with a positive attitude.

Okay now, on with the lesson. How do you feel when you hear something like this from your manager: “Listen, I really need to talk to you about the work you’ve been doing on that big project…” If you’re like most people, your heart starts beating a little faster and your mind starts racing. In fact, this is a common reaction to the idea that we’re about to receive feedback. We naturally don’t like it. But it’s important, so we need to learn how to receive feedback constructively.

Receiving feedback properly begins with thinking about feedback positively. First of all, if someone is giving you direct and immediate feedback, it’s a sign of good communication and a healthy work environment. The alternative is not getting feedback, or getting feedback too late to use it constructively. That’s not a good situation. How would you feel if, six months after finishing a project, a colleague told you that your boss wasn’t really happy with your work?

Next, when you get feedback, understand that it’s not personal, but about producing better results. Humans have a natural tendency to take feedback personally, but that will only hinder your performance. Focus on the ideas in the feedback, rather than the way the feedback is given or your relationship with the person giving it. Don’t think “why is he really telling me this?” or “why does he have to say it with that tone?” Instead, think “what exactly is he saying and how can I use that to improve my work.” Not taking things personally also means resisting the urge to become defensive. Just listen carefully and ask for clarification if you don’t understand. Try not to start every response with “but…” That’s a sign of defensiveness.

Now, sometimes it’s true that feedback is not delivered effectively. If this happens, be upfront about it. If a manager is constantly criticizing what you, tell him that you need the feedback differently. Good feedback is specific, so ask for specifics if you don’t get any. Good feedback is also actionable, so if it’s not obvious how you can use the feedback, then ask how. So if someone says “That report really needs some work,” you can say something like “is there any specific section that you think could be improved?”

Now, we’ve been focusing on negative feedback, or feedback about what you need to do better or differently. And people naturally focus on this kind of feedback. But you shouldn’t forget to recognize positive feedback when you get it. Let the praise inspire and motivate you. Build on that positive feedback and learn to apply your strengths in different areas. And if you really feel you don’t receive much positive feedback, then ask for it, like this: “Could you tell me what you thought worked really well in the report?”

So, stay positive and open-minded when you receive feedback, keep lines of communication clear, and you’ll be able to use the feedback constructively. And finally, pay attention to how people are giving you feedback. Whether you think they’re doing it well or not, you can learn how to provide better feedback to others.

]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 5:05 Skills 360 – Giving and Receiving Feedback (Part 1) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-giving-receiving-feedback-1/ Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:09:54 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=943 In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we're going to look at how to give feedback to your colleagues in English.

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]]> Learn how to give feedback to your colleagues in English. Business English App for iPhone & iPad:
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Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I want to talk about giving feedback.

Say “feedback” and a lot of people will immediately think of a performance review. You sit down with someone you manage and explain what they’re doing well and what they need to improve. It’s a situation we’ve all been in, on both sides of the desk.

However, feedback is much more than what we do in a structured and scheduled situation. Feedback is an ongoing process, and we give feedback to everyone around us, not just those who report to us. That includes colleagues and co-workers, and our managers or superiors. Feedback happens every day, between everyone in a company. You might be giving feedback and not even realize it. Every time you let someone know what you think about what they’re doing, you’re giving feedback.

Okay, now let’s talk about the kinds of feedback we give. First, there’s negative feedback, or criticism, such as “Joe, I think you need to shorten your sales presentation and work on your delivery. I think it’ll be more effective that way.”

Then there’s positive feedback, or praise, such as “Tanis, I think your presentation was great. You didn’t overwhelm people with information and the visuals really helped emphasize the key points.” Those statements are easy to recognize as feedback, but feedback can also be daily reassurance in which you let people know you’re okay with what’s happening. Like this: “Yep. Looks good.” Or this: “That makes sense. Let’s do it.”

It’s very important to balance these kinds of feedback. You don’t have to deliver every critique sandwiched between praise, but be aware of your overall balance. Too much negative feedback can damage a person’s confidence and sense of well-being. It can be demotivating, which is the opposite of what we want to do. How do you feel when someone keeps saying “Well, you could have done that differently.” Or “that just doesn’t work.” Or “that idea is never going to fly.” It’s very easy to dwell on what people need to improve, but we can’t ignore what people do well.

And we should tell them about it. Positive feedback can inspire, motivate, and reassure. How do you feel when you hear things like “Great job.” Or “I think that looks fantastic.” Or “Just wanted to let you know I read your report, and it was just what I was hoping for.”

Now, good feedback has a few important qualities: it is immediate, direct, and specific. Feedback is immediate when it comes not long after the work or behavior you’re giving feedback on. Feedback is useless, and rather annoying, when it comes months after the fact.

Feedback is direct when it’s delivered to the person who it’s intended for. That means you shouldn’t get others to deliver feedback for you. It feels disrespectful, and there’s a good chance that it won’t be delivered in the way you want.

And feedback is specific when it includes evidence to support the central idea. An example of specific feedback might be: “Joan, I noticed that some of the personnel files are incomplete. We need to make sure that each file includes signed performance reviews.”

By being specific, especially with negative feedback,]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 5:37 Skills 360 – How to Get Good Customer Service 2 https://www.mybeonline.com/business-englishskills-360-how-to-get-good-customer-service-2/ Mon, 04 Mar 2013 08:48:45 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=935 In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we're going to continue our look at how to get good customer service. In particular, we'll look at how to complain properly and get the solution you want.

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]]> In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we're going to continue our look at how to get good customer service. In particular, we'll look at how to complain properly and get the solution you want. Business English App for iPhone & iPad:
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Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I want to help you get good customer service. More specifically, we’re going to learn how to complain properly and get a good solution.

It all starts with a problem. You buy a product and it doesn’t work right. Or you buy a service and you are not served well. You get frustrated. You paid good money but you’re not getting what you expected. It’s time to complain. So you go back to the store or you ring up a customer service line. This interaction could end with more frustration or it could end with satisfaction, depending on the outcome. So how can you get a good outcome?

The first thing is attitude. Always begin with a polite approach. Don’t assume that you’re going to get bad service. If you plant an apple tree, you’ll get apples. And if you plant a positive and constructive attitude, you’ll get positive, constructive solutions. Customer service reps deal with a lot of grumpy people, and you might just brighten their day by being nice. And they might reward you for it. Now, your feeling might change. You might feel less positive or friendly if you encounter resistance, but you should always remain polite and professional.

Okay, when it comes to describing your problem, there are a few important dos and don’ts. First, explain the problem clearly, including any details that might help the person figure out what went wrong. Don’t exaggerate or become emotional. That will only damage your credibility. So it’s good to say something like “I have turned the machine on and off 5 times and each time I get the error code E44.” That’s clear and detailed. Don’t say “I’ve turned the stupid machine on a thousand times and it just won’t work.”

Next, you need to highlight your dissatisfaction and that your problem needs to be remedied. In other words, you need to tell the person you are not satisfied and that you need a solution. This might mean communicating your frustration, but you should do it by stating that you’re frustrated rather than showing your frustration. That could sound something like this: “This situation is very frustrating to me, and I need a solution.”

Now let’s talk about solutions. Sometimes you start the conversation with a solution in mind. You have already decided what will make you satisfied. In this case, you should propose it directly. If you want a refund, say “I would like a refund.” Notice that we are still being polite and professional.

But sometimes you don’t have a specific solution in mind and you would like the company to give you one. In this case, let them offer something. If you’re happy with the solution, great. But if you’re not, you need to say so. Often a customer service agent will start with the solution that is easiest or cheapest for the company. And you won’t get anything more unless you ask for it.

Sometimes you don’t get the solution you ask for and you’re not satisfied with what is being offered, not matter how hard – and politely – you push. What can you do then?

Well, you can try talking to someone else. That could mean calling back at another time. You may find that you get a different attitude, and different solutions,]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:19 Skills 360 – How to Get Good Customer Service 1 https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-how-to-get-good-customer-service-1/ Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:02:19 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=929 In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we take a look at how to get good customer service.

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]]> In this Business English Skills 360 lesson, we take a look at how to get good customer service. Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I want to help you get good customer service.

You probably know what bad customer service looks like. We’ve all been there. Maybe you’ve stood in line at a computer store to return a defective piece of equipment and the clerk asks you rudely “Well, how do you know it’s broken? Did you plug it in?” Or you’ve called your phone company to change your service and when you finally make it through the voice menus to a real person, you get put on hold for 10 minutes. It’s crazy, right? We are paying customers, and we get treated like this? So if you’ve ever felt your blood boil in situations like these, listen up. Let’s talk about how to get good customer service.

For starters, you have to think about timing. Basically, the busier people are, the more stress they have and the less time they’ll be able to give you. So avoid Mondays. On Mondays you’ve got business, and frustration, that has built up over the weekend, and customer service agents are usually overwhelmed on that day. Also think about the time of day. If you’re calling in to a customer service department or centre, do it early. The early shifts are considered plum, so the more experienced, and more able, customer service reps work at those times.

Now, you might think it’s their job to serve you. And you’re right. It is. But if you can make their job a bit easier, they’ll do it better. That starts with having the right paperwork and information ready. If you have to dig in your bag for your receipt, or if you have to rummage through your desk for your account number while the person waits, they’ll be frustrated. You know what information they’ll ask for, so be prepared.

You can not only make their job easier, but you might also make it more pleasant by being pleasant yourself. Some people think they’ll get better results if they communicate a sense of urgency and frustration. But in many cases, that backfires. Be polite and friendly, and you’ll probably get the same attitude back. Remember that it’s a person you’re talking to. That person can want to help you a lot or just a little. And the difference might depend on how much they like you. Use their name and try to create a personal connection. Even if you are really irked, maintain a positive attitude.

Okay, we’ve covered how we communicate. Now let’s talk about what we communicate. If you’re dealing with customer service, you either have a need or a problem. And you need to be able to explain that need or problem very clearly. Stick to the facts. Describe exactly what happened or your situation. Don’t go on about things they don’t give a hoot about. And don’t give them your life story.

What you should do, however, is give them your customer story. Tell them why you bought the product or service. Don’t hesitate to say something about the positive aspects of whatever it is you bought. This shows that you’ve got a balanced perspective. Still, tell them what your expectations and needs are. But remember, don’t get too verbose.

So, what might a customer story sound like? How about something like this: “Well, you guys came highly recommended by a marketing buddy. I told him we wanted t-shirts for our event that people would keep for a long time, and he said you folks would do a bang-up job. The quality of the shirts is fantastic. But I’m concerned about how the colors look. Our event is in two weeks and we need to make sure these shirts look awesome.” That’s a much better tack than “We ordered shirts and they don’t look good.”

]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 5:58 Skills 360 – Staying Positive (Part 2) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-staying-positive-2/ Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:40:45 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=923 In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to continue our look at how to start positive.

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]]> In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to continue our look at how to start positive. Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Skills 360. I'm your host Tim Simmons. In today’s lesson we're going to build on last weeks ideas and look at how you can implement at positive attitude at work.

Think about this for a second: what kind of people do you like to be around? People who moan and complain and talk about how lousy their life is? Or people who have a sense of humor, who smile, who say "great to see you," and who can find solutions to problems? Well, I'm going to venture a guess here and say that you prefer to spend your time with the second type of person. Why? Because they make you feel good.

In our last episode we talked about positive thinking. Today it's all about maintaining a positive attitude toward others. And we've just identified one great reason to do this: it makes people feel good. And if you can do that, then customers will want to do business with you, colleagues will want to work with you, and bosses will want to see you do well. That's certainly a recipe for success.

But as you know, it's not always easy. Staying positive can be very difficult, especially when other people are negative. Sometimes we're faced with mistrust, jealousy, fear, and blame. Sometimes the people we work with seem determined to drag us down. And sometimes things don't go our way. We make mistakes. We don't meet deadlines. We encounter huge problems. At times like these, it can be pretty hard to smile and say, "what a great day." But it's important to try. Others may complain, but we should refuse to participate. We can still be empathetic. We can still say, "I'm so sorry you feel that way." But we should try not to give in to negativity and say, "yeah, life really does suck."

So what does having a positive attitude involve? Let's start simple, with a smile. Smiling is one of the only universal human expressions. It means the same thing, and has the same power, in almost every culture. Smile at others, and they'll smile back. It doesn't matter what business you're in, or what situation. Whether you're a computer tech helping a company with its servers or an executive walking into a high-powered interview. Just smile.

Another part of a positive attitude is courtesy. Yes, that means saying please and thank-you and how do you do. But it’s more than that. Hold the door open for people. Shake their hands. Buy them a coffee. These simple things can do a lot to make people feel good. And here's a tip: it's pretty easy to surprise people by showing courtesy in email and other online communication. Technology has killed a lot of common courtesy, so stand out by showing you haven't forgotten how to be polite.

Now, it's not just about how you say things, it's also about what you say. Think about the last few people you talked with at work. What did you talk about? What did you say? Did you talk about problems and failures, or did you talk about successes? It can be pretty easy to focus on what is going wrong and on what needs to be improved. But we can’t forget to say good things. That means complimenting and praising people. Like this: “Hey Dave, I think you did a great job on that report.” Or “Susan, I’m really glad you’re working on this project with us.” Most of us could do with more of this positive talk in our lives. Success is addictive, and reminding people of their successes is motivating.

Of course, balance is important. You don’t want to constantly gush with praise. You don’t want to “things are great!” when they really aren’t. Because you don’t want people to think you’re a pollyanna. A “pollyanna” is someone who only sees good things and thinks e...]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:45 Skills 360 – Staying Positive (Part 1) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-staying-positive-1/ Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:02:44 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=915 In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to look at how to stay positive.

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]]> In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to look at how to stay positive. Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Transcript

[0:11] Happy New Year to everyone and welcome back to Skills 360. I’m your host Tim Simmons and today we’re going to talk about staying positive.

[0:24] When you look ahead at the year to come, what do you see? Do you see great things for yourself, for your business, or for your career? Or do you see doom and gloom, trouble in the workplace, and a global economic mess?

[0:43] Well, I hope you focus on all the positives, even if the negatives exist. And what I want to do is to help you focus on these good things, because positive thinking can help us get where we want to go.

[1:01] So what do I mean by positive thinking? Let me start by saying that it’s not the same as optimism. Being optimistic means believing that everything is going to work out great. But positive thinking is more than that. It’s a mindset, or a way of looking at the world and what you do. It’s a belief in possibility, solutions to problems, and the big picture.

[1:35] The opposite of positive thinking is, of course, negative thinking. Negative thinking means focusing on problems, obstacles, and difficulties. And most of those problems are external. We blame coworkers, the economy, our boss, the competition, a lack of money… And what’s the result of all this? Limits. We limit ourselves and what we do. We think we can’t do things before we even try. And that’s no way to succeed.

[2:19] Okay, so how do we think positively? First of all, we need to look at problems, mistakes, and failures as normal. Imagine you bomb a big job interview. A negative thinker will be bummed out by the fact that he didn’t get the job.

[2:43] A positive thinker will learn from the experience. He will analyze what he did and figure out how to do it better next time. And he’ll also think about what he did well, and try to repeat or improve on those successes. This means focusing on the big picture. That one job interview is not the end of the world. It’s a bump along your career path. There are many more opportunities out there, and probably many better jobs.

[3:25] One trick to positive thinking is to imagine how you’ll think back on things that are happening now. You know from experience that the passing of time brings a fresh perspective. There are bad things that happened last year that you can probably laugh about now. You understand what was a big deal and what was not. Try to do that in the present.

[3:57] Positive thinking often means separating the past and the future. A negative thinker will focus on the past, especially past failures. But the past can’t be changed. It’s done and dusted. The future, however, is yet to be written. And that’s where the positive thinker will focus his attention. How do I do this better next time?

[4:30] Learning is important, and we can see the power of positive thinking when it comes to problem-solving. The negative thinker looks at problems as end points. He says “we can’t do this.” The positive thinker understands that there is a solution to every problem. He says “how can we solve this?” And if you believe there is a way to do something, then there is a way to do something.

[5:06] Positive thinking is a mental habit. It takes practice. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves to focus on the future and on possibility. Sometimes it’s hard to learn from our failures or see the big picture.

[5:26] But if you can do it, there are some great payoffs. You’ll have greater confidence and a better chance of success. And there’s a lot of research to show that positive thinking actually makes us healthier.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:37 Skills 360 – Organizing your Ideas (Part 2) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-organizing-your-ideas-2/ Sun, 28 Oct 2012 12:04:01 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=906 In today's Business English Skills 360 lesson, we’ll look at how to organize your ideas around your objective and put them into groups of related points.

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]]> In today's Business English Skills 360 lesson, we’ll look at how to organize your ideas around your objective and put them into groups of related points. Business English App for iPhone & IPad:
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Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I’d like to help you organize your ideas.

Before we get into that, a quick reminder that our Business English App for the iPhone and iPad is now available in the App Store. The app comes packed with over 100 great lessons from Business English Pod – including all our Skills 360 lessons. And the best news of all? It’s free to download. Just head over to Business English Pod [dot] com for the App Store link.

Okay, now here’s a situation we all find ourselves in: we’ve got a purpose and we have a bunch of ideas. And we have to figure out how to make those ideas serve our purpose. Maybe the purpose is to convince your manager that you deserve a promotion. Or maybe you want to develop a personal goal plan. Or maybe you have to give a presentation to the Board about recent technological trends.

No matter what your purpose, you can’t just rattle off a bunch of ideas one after another. They need organization. And this is why we take time to prepare.

Last week we looked at several ways to generate ideas. But once you have a big list of ideas, what are you going to do with them? That’s what I’ll talk about today.

You need to start by revisiting your purpose. What is it you’re trying to do? Inform, persuade, set goals, warn, recommend? And who are you organizing your ideas for? A group of potential investors? Your boss? A customer or client? Or are the ideas just for yourself? With a clear purpose and audience, you can go through your list of ideas and cross out those that don’t really apply. For example, maybe you’re trying to convince a customer to switch from the competition to your company. You’ve brainstormed all the great things about your company and its products. Somewhere in your list is “positive workplace culture.” That’s wonderful. But does a potential customer care? Probably not. So nix it.

Great, so you’ve whittled down your ideas. Now what? Now you need to start combining and grouping what remains. Look at the ideas and see if any themes jump out at you. You may notice that several ideas are linked to one bigger idea. Or one big idea in your list seems to include a bunch of smaller ideas in your list. You can rewrite these groupings of ideas on a new piece of paper, or you can just draw lines connecting them. For example, maybe you are going to be introducing your company to a potential foreign partner. You’ve come up with a big list of ideas related to your business. It includes things like salespeople, products, brand image, executive, history, founder… You peruse this list and see that salespeople, executive, and founder are all people, so you put them in a group.

How many groups you end up with will vary. But if you’re going to make your ideas work for you, it’s good to aim for a manageable number of groups. Most people deal well with 2, 3, or 4. Any more than that and it becomes more complex and less memorable.

Once you’ve grouped your ideas, explore them a bit more. Remove the ideas that don’t really seem to fit perfectly, and try to think of others that you’ve missed. Strive for balance. You want your groups of ideas to have roughly the same amount of content.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:52 Skills 360 – Organizing your Ideas (Part 1) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-organizing-your-ideas-part-1/ Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:08:22 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=897 In this Business English 360 lesson, we're going to look at how to organize your ideas.

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]]> In this Business English 360 lesson, we're going to look at how to organize your ideas. Business English App for iPhone & IPad:
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Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I want to help you organize your ideas.

So, back to ideas. Sure, you’ve got lots of them. And sure, they’re important to you. But are they important to others? Well, they could be, but only if they’re clear and organized. You’ve probably been frustrated when people run on at length about what they think using vague language. And you’ve probably tuned out when someone jumps around chaotically from idea to idea without tying it all together with a purpose. That just doesn’t work. And sometimes it’s not the best ideas that win, but the ones that are most clearly articulated.

But exactly how can we do this? Ideas can be very wild animals. They don’t always come into our heads in an organized manner. Sometimes they don’t seem to come into our heads at all. And they don’t just get together in their own groups and organize themselves. So we need to generate them, tame them and get them into usable form.

Today we’ll look at a few different frameworks for generating ideas. In this case, we’re using a form of organization to actually get the ideas flowing.

But first, think about your purpose. What is it you are trying to do? Do you need to persuade someone? Are you trying to inform people? Are you trying to warn, recommend, guide, criticize, defend, describe, or inspire? Understanding your purpose will help you decide which ideas to highlight and which to deep-six.

Once you understand your purpose, try getting out as many ideas as possible. Lay it all on the table. Everything is fair game at this stage. Don’t be afraid of things that are off-the-wall. Just feel free to brainstorm, and write down whatever comes to mind. You can evaluate the ideas later. For now, you just want to generate them.

But sometimes this is easier said than done. And that’s why we use different tools or techniques for idea generation.

One useful technique is mind mapping. To make a mind map, start with one word in the center of a piece of paper. From that word, you’re going to create a radial branching system of ideas. What word do you start with? Any general idea or topic you want to explore. Say you’re planning your goals for next year. Maybe you start with that word “goals.” Now write a few words around the middle, and connect them to that central word with lines. These are major themes that relate to the central idea. So around goals, you might have “work,” “health,” “financial,” and “social.” Then do the same for each of these major themes. Keep writing new ideas around each new subword, until you have a big branching structure around the central word.

We also have something called concept maps. Concept maps have a branching structure like mind maps, but they branch down rather than out. And they illustrate how ideas are connected. Start with an idea at the top in a circle. Then jot down related concepts in circles below. Draw lines to these related concepts, and on those lines write how the first idea is related to the second. You can use phrases like “leads to” or “results in” or “creates” or just “is.” For example, imagine you’re putting together a presentation about social media, so you write that phrase at the top.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 7:59 Skills 360 – Mind your Language (Part 2) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-mind-your-language-part-2/ Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:32:21 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=891 In today’s Skills 360 podcast we’re going to take another look at how to mind your language and soften your tone.

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]]> In today’s Skills 360 podcast we’re going to take another look at how to mind your language and soften your tone. Skills 360 podcast is now available in iTunes: Free iTunes Subscription

Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Skills 360. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today we’re going to look at more ways to mind your language.

If language was just about meaning we would probably communicate very directly with as few words as possible. But it’s not, and we don’t. Every time we speak, we are not only conveying meaning but also acting socially. We need to consider relationships, feelings, and perception. So we mind our language.

Last time I talked about modals and the difference between saying “you must” do something and “could you” do something. Those two ways of speaking are miles apart. Today I’ll talk about lots of other ways to soften our language.

Let’s start with three relatively simple adverbs: “rather,” “quite,” and “fairly.” You can use these words before an adjective to soften the tone a bit. A co-worker asks you about a letter he has written. You think it’s too wordy. But you don’t say, “It’s too wordy.” Instead, you soften the effect by saying, “It’s rather wordy.” Or instead of saying “It’s too formal,” you say, “It’s quite formal.” You’re only switching one small word, but it makes a big impact.

Now let’s look at three relatively simple adjectives: “little,” “slight,” and “minor.” Think about the difference between “The website has a problem,” and “The website has a slight problem.” It’s neither here nor there how big the problem is. Calling it “slight” helps to make the statement less forceful.

It’s really amazing how adding just single words can change the effect of what we are saying. Two of the most common softening words are “maybe” and “perhaps.” These words can transform a definitive statement into a mere possibility, like this: “Perhaps we need to consider letting a few employees go for the summer.” Or this: “Maybe what you should do is talk to Jane directly.”

All of these words I’ve mentioned are part of what we call “hedging” language. Hedging language simply makes our statements less assertive.

There are more ways to hedge. One useful technique is to qualify the number, frequency, and certainty. Qualifying numbers means using expressions like “a few,” “some,” or “several.” So instead of saying “There are mistakes,” you can say, “There are a few mistakes.” It’s softer. Qualifying by frequency means using expressions such as “occasionally,” “sometimes,” or “from time to time.” On a performance review, for example, it may be useful to say, “From time to time Joe does not prepare sufficiently for presentations.” And qualifying by certainty means using modals such as “might,” “could,” and “may.” So rather than saying, “Our bid will not be successful,” you can say, “Our bid might not be successful.” In all of these examples, you can see how one expression can tone down the strength of our statements.

Sometimes hedging and qualifying require more than just one word. There are a variety of expressions we can use to change a statement of fact into one of opinion or curiosity. Here’s a situation: a designer shows up at a meeting with some new brochure designs. You think the designs are too trendy for your company. So here’s what you say: “I wonder whether these designs are a bit too edgy for our brand.” By introducing the idea with “I wonder whether,” it sounds like you are just thinking out loud,]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:29 Skills 360 – Mind your Language (Part 1) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-mind-your-language-part-1/ Sun, 26 Aug 2012 15:07:43 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=884 In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to continue our look at how to use careful, or diplomatic English.

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]]> In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to continue our look at how to use careful, or diplomatic English. Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today I’m going to encourage you to mind your language.

What on earth do I mean by, “mind your language?” Well, consider a statement like this: “We have to cut costs. Meet me in your office at 2:00 so we can talk about how to do this.” How does that sound? The statement doesn’t have any problems with grammar or vocabulary. But how does it sound? Is it acceptable? Well, what if I said this instead: “I think that cutting our costs might be a good idea. How about sitting down to talk about this? Would 2:00 in your office work?”

You can surely see that the second statement is softer than the first. I don’t just mean it’s more polite. I mean it’s less forceful and more diplomatic. Now, I don’t want to suggest that forceful or authoritative language is never useful or necessary. It is useful for some people in some situations. But in the majority of our everyday communication, we need to mind our language. I’m not just talking about keeping things nice for clients and customers. I’m also talking about fostering good relationships with colleagues, superiors, and subordinates. Yes, today’s managers have to mind their language when speaking to those they manage. So let’s talk about how we can do this.

For starters, we need to look at a very important group of words called modal verbs. Modals are words like, “might,” “would,” and “must.” These words carry not just meaning, but power. Just think about it. A project leader comes to you on a Friday morning and says “You must come in tomorrow to finish the report.” And you grit your teeth. Or he comes to you and says “We really should get that report done before Monday. Would you be able to come in tomorrow and help get that finished?” The difference is clear. The second statement uses “should” and then “would” to make a request. But the first statement uses “must,” which is too forceful. Come to think of it, how often do you really hear people use the word “must?” In fact, it’s simply too strong for most situations.

Okay then. How are these modals grouped? Well, we’ve got a bunch of strong ones, including “must,” “have to,” and “need to.” These modals present no choice. They are used to give orders or showing obligation. Then we have a group of medium-strength modals, such as “might,” “may,” “can,” “should,” “could,” and “ought to.” These expressions can be used for recommendations, suggestions, and advice. Then we have requests, which we can make with words like “can,” “will,” “could,” and “would.”

Now listen to how changing one word slightly can change the tone of a statement. Imagine a colleague comes into your office to talk about a presentation you have just given. He says, “You should have used fewer slides.” Or he says “You could have used fewer slides.” Can you see how using “could have” sounds like a gentle suggestion while “should have” sounds too opinionated?

This is really about tone and effect rather than just meaning. The trick here is that we often use softer language even when we want to express a stronger idea. For example, what if I’m a senior engineer talking to a junior technician. I want to tell him to do something. He doesn’t really have a choice. But I really don’t want to come across as a jerk. So I don’t say, “you have to finish those drawings today.” Instead, I say, “We really should have those drawings finished today.” Or “those drawings are important, so could you have them done by the end of the day please?” You see? I’m using the language of recommendation or req...]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 7:08 Skills 360 – How to Say No (Part 2) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-how-to-say-no-2/ Sun, 08 Jul 2012 14:13:30 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=876 In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to continue our look at how to say no in English.

The post Skills 360 – How to Say No (Part 2) appeared first on Business English Skills 360.

]]> In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to continue our look at how to say no in English. Skills 360 podcast is now available in iTunes: Free iTunes Subscription

Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m your host Tim Simmons, and today we’re talking about how to say “no.” That’s right, someone asks you for something or to do something, but you have to say “no”. That’s not always easy, but it’s important.

Think about the results of not saying no. If you accept everything, you’ll have too much to do and the quality of your work will suffer. Timelines will become unrealistic. You will be seen as nice, but possibly unreliable. And for you, it will mean more stress, anxiety and frustration. We’ve all experienced this. We’re overwhelmed with work and realize that we should have said “no” somewhere along the way. And when we only have ourselves to blame, we feel terrible.

In our last episode, we learned some great ways to be firm, clear, and honest when saying “no”. This will help you protect your time, your work, and your reputation. But of course you don’t want to offend anyone. Sometimes we need to manage other people’s feelings when we say no. Or we need to make sure we’re not seen as uncooperative. Today, we’ll look at some ways to do this.

One very common method is to use the word “but”. If your co-worker asks you to sit on a special committee but you don’t have the time, here’s what you can say: “That committee is important, but I have too much work right now so I’m not going to be able to help.” What you notice here is that you still have the clear and firm part: “I’m not going to be able to help.” But before the word “but” you’ve acknowledged the other person’s request. Saying “that committee is important” recognizes the other person’s work.

Also notice in this case that there is a reason for the refusal: “I have too much work right now.” You shouldn’t give a long explanation, but reasons can definitely help soften the “no”. And specific reasons are better than general ones. For example: “I can’t commit to that because I am heading up the new design project and we are facing a big deadline.” As you can see, your reason for saying “no” is a sense of responsibility to something else. And that is not a bad thing.

Another way you can soften your refusal is to offer something else in return. That something else could be a suggestion. For example: “I’ve got a big deadline so I can’t help. But you might want to ask Todd. He’s not busy today.” You see? We can’t help out directly, but we can offer a possible alternative solution.

The something that you offer could also be another part of you or your time. Imagine a colleague at another branch asks you to pay a visit and teach him how to use some new software. You don’t have time to visit, but you could offer help in another way. Like this: “I’m too busy to come by, but I could give you a half hour of help over the phone tomorrow.”

You can see that in these situations, “no” is not the final word. You have a refusal and an alternative, which is still an attempt to help.

Remember that being firm and clear and protecting your time and integrity does not mean being rude. Someone might really need help, and you should show empathy. If you can manage all of these things in your refusal, you will earn people’s respect. Think about how this sounds: “I understand you’re under a lot of pressure Brenda. With my workload,]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 5:23 Skills 360 – How to Say No (Part 1) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-how-to-say-no-1/ Mon, 02 Jul 2012 07:54:41 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=869 In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to look at how to say no politely in English.

The post Skills 360 – How to Say No (Part 1) appeared first on Business English Skills 360.

]]> In this Business English 360 lesson, we’re going to look at how to say no politely in English. Skills 360 podcast is now available in iTunes: Free iTunes Subscription

Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast! I’m your host Tim Simmons.

Today I want to start with a situation. Imagine this: you are sitting in your office trying to catch up on paperwork. A colleague walks in with a panicked look on his face. He says, “This proposal has to go out by 4:00pm but the formatting is all messed up. Could you help me?”

Sound familiar? And I bet you’d like to reply, “I’m afraid I’m too busy at the moment.” But what you really say is “well, okay.” Or “hmm, I’m kinda in the middle of something but maybe during lunch…” Or “let me think about it…”

Why is it so difficult to say no? Well, of course you want to be polite, and kind, and agreeable, and a good person who helps out his co-workers. If it’s a boss who is asking you for something, you may fear losing favor or opportunities. And if it’s a client or customer asking for something, you might not want to ruin the relationship.

But what I want to tell you is that in many cases you should say no. And you should know how to say it. You and your time are important, and if you’re too busy, well, you’re too busy! You need to avoid overcommitting. If you try to do too much, you’ll do nothing well. Saying yes to everything can lead to disaster, even though you feared the results of not saying yes.

And remember that people can usually see when you want to say no but can’t. That doesn’t make you appear very strong and confident. Those people will keep asking you until you find a way to say “no,” clearly, firmly, and honestly.

That’s the key: you need to be clear, firm, and honest. There are several ways we can do this.

First of all, treat “no” as a normal thing. If you make a big deal of your refusal, it will seem like a big deal. So avoid long explanations. And don’t be too apologetic. Many people apologize automatically, saying “I’m so sorry Dave, but I can’t.” But should you really be sorry for being busy? Save your apologies for times when you really foul something up.

Second, learn to be firm. You may want to hesitate or hedge by saying “well, I’m not sure…” or “that might be possible…” In many cases, you’re just doing this because you’re trying to find a way to say no. So just say no firmly. Don’t leave the door open to negotiation or discussion. If it doesn’t work, say “that doesn’t work.”

This is not only firm, but clear. You see, we often want to give excuses for not being able to do something without saying clearly that we can’t. So your boss asks you to come in on Saturday, and you say “Gee, that’s the weekend, and I was thinking of going golfing.” That’s not clear. “I can’t come in on Saturday” is clear.

People appreciate honesty, so tell them the truth. If something is not possible, say so. And be specific. So if a customer asks for a quick turnaround when your company doesn’t have the resources to make it happen, then say that. Like this: “There’s no way we can do it in that timeframe.” You can even highlight your honesty by starting with something like “I have to be frank here” or “to be perfectly honest with you.” That emphasizes the fact that you’re being realistic.

One final tip for today: if you really want to be clear, the start your response with our magic word itself.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:09 Skills 360 – Dealing with Problem People (Part 2) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-problem-people-2/ https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-problem-people-2/#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:36:05 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=846 In last week's Skills 360 lesson we talked about how to deal with specific incidents with difficult individuals. Today, we’re talking about how to deal with ongoing issues with problem people.

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-problem-people-2/feed/ 2 In last week's Skills 360 lesson we talked about how to deal with specific incidents with difficult individuals. Today, we’re talking about how to deal with ongoing issues with problem people. Skills 360 podcast is now available in iTunes: Free iTunes Subscription

Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Thanks for tuning in to the Skills 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons. Before we jump into today’s lesson on dealing with problem people, I just want to mention the coming release of our Course Builder web app. With Course Builder members can create courses by searching and saving lists of BEP lessons. Take a look at the demo video on BusinessEnglishPod.com to see just how quick and easy it is to make a personalized course.

So we’ve been looking at how to deal with problem people. These are the people in your office that drive you nuts because they’re so difficult to get along with. Last week we talked about how to deal with specific incidents with difficult individuals. Today, we’re talking about ongoing issues.

This is about the constant thorn in your side, whether it’s your colleague, your boss, or the angry IT guy that gets annoyed every time you ask for some simple information. In extreme cases, these people can make you dread going to work each day. So how can we deal with them?

First of all, if there’s someone causing problems on a continual basis, it’s best to act instead of just reacting. Don’t let the issue, and your resentment, fester. The problem won’t go away all by itself, and if you wait to deal with it, there’s a good chance that when you do, you’ll lose emotional control. So be proactive. You know there’s a problem, now go out and do something about it.

And doing something about it means talking to the person causing the problem. But before I get into that, there are a couple of other tips I want to share with you. The first is to document everything. Keep a log or journal of the problem. Save relevant emails. Record dates, interactions, and details. This will give you clear points to take up with the person directly and also if you have to discuss the problem with a supervisor. My second tip is to let someone know that you’re experiencing a problem with someone – the person you tell could be a colleague or it could be your boss. Don’t whine and complain, and don’t ask for help. Just let the person know there’s an issue and you’re doing what you can to deal with it.

Okay, next comes the hard part. What you need to do is confront the person who’s causing the problem. This is easier said than done, and you need to keep several things in mind when you do this to avoid making the problem worse or getting pulled into a pointless argument.

Make sure you ask the person to talk in private. You can start with some very open-ended questions to try to get the person to open up about any issues they’re having. For example, you could say, “So, I’ve noticed that you seem stressed. Is everything okay?” What you may learn is that the person has a problem that is not related at all to work or to you. You can then kindly inform the person that the problem is affecting work and the people around him or her.

The problem may also be related to work. You may find, for example, that the person feels his or her opinion or work is not valued. You can then attempt to address those problems. A little compassion can go a long way toward m...]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 7:21 Skills 360 – Dealing with Problem People (Part 1) https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-problem-people-1/ https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-problem-people-1/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:04:35 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=840 In this Skills 360 lesson, we look at how to deal with difficult colleagues at work.

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-problem-people-1/feed/ 1 In this Skills 360 lesson, we look at how to deal with difficult colleagues at work. Skills 360 podcast is now available in iTunes: Free iTunes Subscription

Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast! I’m Tim Simmons, and I’m looking forward to an especially exciting year of podcasts. There’s lots of great stuff in the works for 2012, so stay tuned.

Now, the New Year is a really important time for most people. For one thing, we use it as a time for setting goals. And if you want some help doing that, be sure to check out the Skills 360 podcast on ‘achieving your goals’. The New Year is also a time when we feel refreshed and optimistic about the future. It’s a brand new start, right? Well, unfortunately, that feeling is not shared by everyone. You might go to the office in the New Year with a smile on your face, but there are people who seem determined to wipe it off. I’m talking about problem people.

Every office has them. They might be uncooperative, rude, confrontational, overly competitive, or just plain unpleasant. Whatever the case, they’re a pain in the butt to deal with. These problem people test our patience and push our buttons. But they don’t have to. You just need to stick to a few basic principles and you’ll have better success in dealing with these situations.

Today I want to talk about how to deal with specific incidents with these difficult people. Maybe you’re in a meeting and someone is screaming and shouting at everyone and everything. Or maybe a grouchy colleague walks up to your desk and wants to start an argument. Or maybe someone on your project team is in a really bad mood. These are the kinds of incidents I’m talking about.

So how do we deal with them? Firstly, try not to judge the person. Don’t assume you know what’s going on. The source of the person’s behavior might be completely unrelated to you or work. It might simply be coming out in your presence. The other thing you need to realize is that difficult people are often difficult because of insecurity or fear. For both of these reasons, reacting in ways that increase anxiety are going to be counterproductive. Instead, you need to find ways to decrease anxiety.

This means, first and foremost, remaining cool, calm and collected. Stay rational rather than becoming emotional. Even if the person seems to be baiting you, try not to get involved in an argument. Take the high road and, even if the person is getting personal, don’t stoop to their level. In many cases, remaining calm and refusing to involve yourself in an argument can defuse the situation relatively quickly. So, if someone says to you “Hey Jack, your idea stinks. That would never work in a million years,” resist the temptation to strike back with, “Yeah, well your idea isn’t so hot either.”

If the person persists, one technique you can use is to repeat back what he or she is saying. Like this: “So, you think my idea stinks and it would never work?” Or you can rephrase it, like this: “So, you think my idea is terrible and I don’t know what I’m talking about?” Just be careful not to infer too much. You might cause a bigger argument if you overinterpret what someone says. But if you repeat back the basic idea or words, sometimes people will realize what they’ve just said and how it must sound.

Now, sometimes people cause problems because they don’t feel understood. A solution for that is very simple: listen.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:15 360 – Telephone Tips for Communicating in English 1 https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-telephone-tips-1/ https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-telephone-tips-1/#comments Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:52:39 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=543 In this Skills 360 lesson we’re going to look at telephone English. In particular, we’re going to talk about how to start a call in English..

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-telephone-tips-1/feed/ 2 In this Skills 360 lesson we’re going to look at telephone English. In particular, we’re going to talk about how to start a call in English.. PDF Transcript | Quiz & Vocab

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m Tim Simmons and I’m glad you could join me. Today we’re going to take a look at an activity you do every day: talking on the telephone.

Telephones don’t stay at the office anymore. We carry them around in our pockets. We use them when we’re commuting, when we’re out for lunch, when we’re working on the computer, and even when we’re supposed to be talking to someone else face-to-face. They’re always on. And that means we have to be ‘on’ too. Being ‘on’ means having the right attitude.

The right attitude starts with promptness. When you hear that ring, don’t delay. Grab it before the third ring so the caller knows he’s important. And when you answer, be sure to smile. You might be thinking that a smile is unnecessary because the other person can’t actually see you. But in this case, smiling is about more than just turning up the corners of your mouth. Smiling is an attitude. It means having a voice that is pleasant and enthusiastic. That voice helps create a connection with the other person and open the door to good communication. And keeping a smile on your voice is something you should do when you initiate the call as well. It’s not just the job of the person receiving the call.

Okay, you’re smiling, but what should you say? If you’re answering the phone, you can always fall back on the standard four-part greeting: you need to greet, to identify yourself – and your company – and to offer help. That goes something like this: “Good afternoon. This is Jim at Kepler Marketing. How can I help you?” Even if you know who’s calling, you should still keep this same format, even if you present it a bit more informally. For example, you might say “Hi, this is Jim. What can I do for you?” Want more information and practice on this kind of thing? Look up BEP 69A, which is all about answering the telephone.

Now, if you’re the caller, you will follow a similar blueprint. But instead of greeting, identification, and offer, you’ll have a greeting, identification, and request. That could go something like this: “Good morning. This is Fred Collins with WebStar. I’d like to speak with Mr. Tony Flair.” Again, if you’re calling someone you’re familiar with, you’ll still follow the same pattern. For example: “Hi Sue. Fred with Webstar here. Could you put me through to Tony?”

Great. You’ve started the call out with the right attitude. Now keep it up throughout the call. How you communicate is just as important as what you communicate. Remember to speak slowly and clearly. The less people have to ask you to repeat yourself, the better. Surely you’ve seen a person in the street with a mobile phone at one ear and a finger plugging the other, saying “pardon?” and straining to hear what the other person is saying. Let’s try and avoid that. That also means choosing clear words. Say “yes” instead of mumbling “uh-huh.” And “I understand” instead of “got it.”

Another important tip is to stay focused on the call and the other person. If you’re trying to do several things at once, the chances of miscommunication shoot up. And it’s usually pretty obvious to others when you’re trying to order a sandwich at the same time as talking to them. Give the other person all the courtesy you would if you were dealing with him face-to-face. That includes being patient. Let the other person take the time he needs to talk. In return, you should receive patience and the time to talk as well. The same goes for common manners.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:28 Skills 360 – Tips and Techniques for Selling your Ideas 1 https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-tips-and-techniques-for-selling-your-ideas-1/ https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-tips-and-techniques-for-selling-your-ideas-1/#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:09:14 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=414 In the Business English 360 lesson, we continue our look at techniques for selling your ideas in English.

The post Skills 360 – Tips and Techniques for Selling your Ideas 1 appeared first on Business English Skills 360.

]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/business-english-skills-360-tips-and-techniques-for-selling-your-ideas-1/feed/ 4 In the Business English 360 lesson, we continue our look at techniques for selling your ideas in English. PDF Transcript | Quiz & Vocab | Game

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Business Skills 360 podcast. I’m Tim Simmons and today we’re going to take a look at how to ‘sell’ your ideas.

You may be full of great ideas, but exactly how do you get people to buy into them? How do you get people on board with your brilliant plans? Well, today I want to share a few tools and techniques that will help you do just that.

These tools and techniques have two important effects: they build connections and they build credibility. The connections can be between you and your listeners, but they can also be between your listeners and your idea. Those connections will generate buy-in. And that credibility can be your credibility and your idea’s credibility. You, and your idea, have to be believable and trustworthy.

Okay, let’s start simple. One of the most basic yet powerful tools you can use is a person’s name. People love to hear their own name repeated in conversation. It makes them feel important. It tells them that you care about them as individuals. This creates a strong personal connection between you and your listeners, which makes them more receptive to your ideas. So instead of telling me, “I think you should do a presentation on your project,” tell me this: “Tim, I think you should do a presentation on your project.” The effect is subtle, but strong.

Great. Now, let’s talk about what you do with your idea. You need to help people connect to that idea, to understand it, and to see how great it is. Making comparisons can help do that. People love to compare things, situations, points in time, people… We do it naturally, it’s how we organize our world and how we evaluate things. So show people the difference between your idea and others. Show them exactly how your idea will make a difference. It’s like the before and after pictures in an ad for a weight loss product. It’s clear and persuasive, and people will be able to connect better with your idea.

Now, why should people believe you? Well, you and your ideas need credibility. You need to demonstrate that you’ve thought your ideas through, and that there is good reason to believe in them. To demonstrate that, you need to give evidence and provide concessions. Evidence is basically proof that your idea is a good one. Don’t assume others might agree with you just because you’re a fun colleague or a hard worker. Tell them why you believe what you do, and if the reasons are strong enough, they’ll believe it too. Keep the evidence real. Show them examples that they can relate to, ideas that improve that connection between them and your idea.

And then there’s concession. Giving concessions means actually mentioning evidence or ideas that go against what you’re trying to say. Don’t talk about this too much, but show that you realize things aren’t black and white, that nothing is perfect. It improves your credibility. Just think about the last time you heard someone refuse to admit any kind of criticism of their idea. That person didn’t sound too reasonable, did they?

Now, there’s another reason to mention ideas that go against yours: to knock them down. You set them up, then you knock them down. You have to anticipate the criticism or the arguments against your idea. Then you acknowledge them. You say exactly what they are. And then you say why they don’t make sense or should be ignored. In this way, you are taking and destroying weapons against your idea. It’s a preemptive strike, so to speak.

So remember, your ideas are only truly great if you can sell them to othe...]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:03 Skills 360 – Diplomatic and Direct Language https://www.mybeonline.com/360-diplomatic-and-direct-language/ https://www.mybeonline.com/360-diplomatic-and-direct-language/#comments Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:48:59 +0000 http://mybeonline.com/?p=347 In the Business English 360 lesson, we look at what is often called Diplomatic English.

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]]> https://www.mybeonline.com/360-diplomatic-and-direct-language/feed/ 5 In the Business English 360 lesson, we look at what is often called Diplomatic English. PDF Transcript | Quiz

Hi! It’s Tim Simmons here with another edition of Business Skills 360. I’ve been listening to the current series on handling a crisis, and I just wanted to jump in with a couple of important points on the language we use in a crisis. We’ve heard some folks dealing with a pretty serious crisis: an accident at a factory. And maybe you’ve noticed how some of the people are quite careful about the words they use. Careful is important.

You see, a crisis is a sensitive situation. Emotions are running high and people are on edge. There is the potential for conflict if you do or say the wrong thing. At the same time, the clock is ticking and you may not have time to manage everyone’s feelings. For these reasons, you have a very fine balancing act between being diplomatic and being direct.

What do we mean by being "diplomatic?" Well, diplomatic language is polite and careful. We use it so people don’t feel offended or get upset. Let’s see how this works in practice. Imagine you need to tell your boss about a bad accident. Do you say “There’s been a bad accident?” You could say this, but it’s probably too direct. To cushion the blow, you could say something like “It seems that there’s been quite a bad accident.” How is this more diplomatic? Well, it starts with “It seems...” That’s an indirect way of introducing something. “Perhaps” and “maybe” are other common ways to do this. Or you can use “apparently,” like this: “Apparently there’s been quite a bad accident.”

Now, the other thing you heard there is “quite,” as in “quite a bad accident.” That’s a minimizing expression. It makes the situation sound not as bad as it really is. We do this when we say things like “this problem is rather urgent” and “we have a slight problem.” Just by adding words such as “quite,” “rather,” “slight,” “a little,” and “a bit,” we can be more diplomatic.

Okay, another way to be diplomatic is by using questions. Imagine you think someone made a lousy decision. You could say “You made a lousy decision.” But chances are that person is going to react negatively, so you should be diplomatic. In this case, you can use a question, like “Are we sure this is the right thing to do?” Or maybe you think someone is trying to decide on a course of action too quickly. You could say “Wouldn’t it be better to talk about this a bit more?” Questions, especially ones starting with “would” and “wouldn’t,” are more diplomatic than direct statements.

Okay, but do we want to be diplomatic all the time? Definitely not. Diplomatic language can be rather indirect. And for that reason, people might not understand just how serious we are. Sometimes we need to convey a sense of urgency or give very clear instructions. In these situations, we need to be direct.

Imagine you’re having a head-to-head with an employee after a big accident, and you don’t want him to talk to the media. You could be diplomatic and say “It might not be a good idea to talk to the media.” But that’s not strong enough. In this case, you should be direct and say, “Don’t talk to the media.” This is what we call an imperative, which is a sentence with no subject. We use them for commands, like “Fix the problem” or “Tell me what happened.” Imperatives are direct, not diplomatic, which is exactly what you need here.

Direct language is also essential when you’re giving instructions, which need to be clear, especially in a crisis. Imagine you want an employee to inspect some machinery, repair any problems, and then file a report. Do you start with “Maybe we should have a little look at that machinery”? Is that clear? That sounds like you’re thinking out loud.]]> www.BusinessEnglishPod.com clean 6:49