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Business English News 47 – Post-Pandemic Workplace

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business News, ESL Podcast /

Business English News 47 - Post-Pandemic Workplace: The New Normal

In this Business English News lesson we look at English vocabulary related to how the pandemic will change the workplace.

Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred incredible changes in how we work. At the end of 2020, a whopping 42% of the American workforce continued to work remotely. This has meant rapid upskilling and massive investments in technology and infrastructure.

According to Candace Helton, operations director at Ringspo, “It’s worth noting that 70% of companies have been working on digital transformation before the pandemic hit.” But the pandemic tipped their hands, and the resulting change in work cultures around the globe will push even more businesses to accept remote options as the new normal.

In this new normal, relationships are different. There are no corner offices in the virtual workplace, no staff rooms, and no cubicles. There are fewer physical reinforcements of hierarchy. And it’s oddly humanizing to see the CEO deal with the same interruptions, like kids and barking dogs, that we all experience working from home.

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Skills 360 – Adapting to Change (Part 1)

Business English, Business Skills 360, ESL Podcast, Management English /

Business English Skills 360 - Adapting to Change (1)

Welcome back to the Business English Skills 360 podcast for today’s lesson on adapting to change.

You might have heard that “change is the only constant,” meaning nothing ever stays the same. That’s easy to say, but not always easy to deal with. Many of us like certainty and stability. We get comfortable and we want to stay that way. But being comfortable shouldn’t mean being complacent, especially in today’s world.

Change doesn’t always happen at the same pace. These days, change seems so fast. And the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new uncertainties and has accelerated certain trends, like the move toward remote work. Many industries have been battered. And the fact that people are tired of the word “pivot” only demonstrates how the pace of change has accelerated.

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BEP 364 – English for Startups 1: Preparing for a Pitch

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BEP 364 - Business English for Startups 1: Preparing for a Pitch in English

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on preparing for a pitch in English to investors.

It’s easy to look around at the economy today and applaud the tech companies that made it big. But for every success, there are a hundred failures. Anyone who’s founded a startup or worked for one knows that new businesses face a lot of uncertainty and a world of challenges.

In this economy, the success of a startup depends on many factors. If you can learn to navigate the challenges, or to see them as opportunities, then you too might make it big. One important factor in startup success is good mentorship. There’s a strong tradition of established business people helping young entrepreneurs find the path to success.

And one of the most important opportunities a mentor can help you with is preparing for your first pitch to potential investors. If there’s any time that you should learn to take advice, it’s at this point. An English pitch to investors can make or break your company. And good preparation, as any mentor will tell you, is key.

Working with a mentor depends on you being open to input. That might mean accepting critical opinions and admitting your own weaknesses. But if you can do this, then you’ll be able to use your mentor to bounce ideas off, and to ask directly for help with challenges.

In today’s dialog, we’ll listen to a conversation between Quinn – a young entrepreneur – and Kira, his mentor. Quinn is getting ready to pitch his online payments startup to a potential investor. And we’ll hear how he learns from his more experienced mentor.

Listening Questions

1. What strong opinion about his pitch does Quinn have to accept?
2. What weakness does Quinn admit to?
3. What challenge does Quinn ask Kira for help with?

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BEP 363 – English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses (2)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms, ESL Podcast /

BEP 363 - Business English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses 2

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English idioms related to strengths and weaknesses.

Job interviews, performance reviews, hiring decisions, promotions, pay raises… what do all of these important aspects of work and business revolve around? Well, one major theme is people’s strengths and weaknesses. If you can’t assess strengths and weaknesses very well – either your own or other people’s – you’re bound to make some bad decisions.

So it’s no wonder you hear so many business conversations about what people can and can’t do, or what they’re good at and what they’re not good at. And in these conversations, you’re bound to hear lots of idioms. English has tons of expressions for talking about strengths and weaknesses. And in today’s lesson, we’ll take a look at some of these business English idioms.

In the lesson, we’ll rejoin a conversation about hiring a new communications director at a mining company. Three managers are talking about the strengths the new director will need, as well as the weaknesses of the previous director, which they want to avoid. They use many useful English idioms during their discussion.

Listening Questions

1. What type of attitude does Annette say the new communications director needs?
2. What type of person does Drew think they need to deal with controversy?
3. At the end of the dialog, what kind of person does Annette say they should avoid?

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BEP 362 – English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses (1)

Business English, Business English Vocabulary, Business Idioms, ESL Podcast /

Business English Pod 362 - English Idioms for Strengths and Weaknesses 1

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on business English idioms related to strengths and weaknesses.

Walk into any office or staff room and listen to what people are talking about. There’s a good chance you’ll hear people talking about other people. And in many cases those conversations are about what they’re good at, and what they’re not good at. In other words, you’ll find people talking about other people’s strengths and weaknesses.

And it not just gossip. We talk about people’s strengths and weaknesses every time we make a hiring decision, assemble a project team, or delegate tasks. We even talk about our own strengths and weaknesses in these same contexts. Whatever the situation, and whoever you’re talking about, there are lots of English idioms for discussing strengths and weaknesses. And it’s some of these idioms we’ll learn today.

In the lesson, we’ll hear a business conversation between three managers at a mining company. They’re creating a job posting for a new communications director, and they’re discussing the strengths a good Director will have and the weaknesses they want to avoid. They’re also discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the past communications director. The three colleagues use many idioms related to strengths and weaknesses during their discussion.

Listening Questions

1. According to Annette, what did they think of the previous communications director when they hired him?
2. What does Drew say about Carl’s skills with social media?
3. What does Laura say the new director will have to do, especially with an expansion and so much work in the future?

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