BEP 292 – English Collocations for Implementing a Plan (1)

Business English Pod 292 - Lesson Module

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on English collocations related to implementing a plan.

In business, good planning is important, whether you’re talking about a long-term strategy or a short-term project. But a plan itself means nothing without action. It’s not what you decide to do that matters, but what you actually do. And what you actually do with a plan is called “implementation.” Implementing a plan is all about deciding who will do what, and when they will do it.

In this lesson, we’ll listen in on a meeting about how to implement a marketing plan. During the discussion, you’ll hear lots of useful expressions that we call “collocations.” A collocation is a natural combination or group of words. For example, I’ve already used the collocation “to implement a plan.” We don’t say “do a plan” or “activate a plan.” The natural expression is “to implement a plan.”

Native speakers use collocations like this automatically, and you can learn to use them as well. By studying English collocations, you’ll improve your vocabulary and sound more fluent. As you listen to the dialog, try to pick out some of these collocations and we’ll discuss them later in the debrief.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Carlos, Viv, Byron, and Marion. The small company they work for has just had a new marketing plan developed by a consulting company. Now they are meeting to figure out how to implement the plan.

Listening Questions

1. Carlos asks for volunteers on one aspect of the plan. What exactly does he want the volunteers to do?
2. As there’s lot to do on the website, what does Byron need to do as the lead?
3. What is Carlos going to do in three weeks time?

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BEP 20c – Presenting a Cohesive Argument

BEP 20c - Business English Lesson: Presenting a Cohesive Argument

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s business English lesson on presenting a cohesive argument.

You may have lots of great ideas. But those ideas aren’t worth much if you can’t convince other people that they’re great. And that takes more than just excitement and energy. To convince others, you need to present a cohesive argument.

So what is a cohesive argument? Well, it’s a series of logical reasons to support an idea. A cohesive argument helps you convince others of your position by providing a set of supporting points presented in a logical manner. If you do not provide a cohesive argument, then you’ll have trouble getting other people to support you.

A good argument might start by showing research and giving some context for the issue. Then you can talk about precedents for your idea, which means other times that it has been done successfully. It’s also good to think about what people might be concerned about, and address that before they even have a chance to bring it up. And finally, you can tell people why your idea is necessary. With a cohesive argument like this, you’re sure to have more support for your idea.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Jack, who’s presenting a proposal to move his company’s production to Costa Rica. In our last lesson, we heard Jack and several others discussing the idea. Jack’s argument was a bit disorganized and drew criticism from the others. He didn’t manage to convince them that moving production overseas was a good idea. In this meeting, the team has to make a decision on the issue. So Jack really needs to present a good argument.

Listening Questions

1. What has Jack done in preparation for the meeting?
2. Why does Jack mention the company Intel?
3. Jack talks about one thing that other people might be concerned, or worried about. What is it?

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BEP 19c – Arguing For or Against a Position

BEP 19c - Arguing For or Against a Position

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to argue for a position.

A position could be an opinion, an idea, or a plan. And whether you’re in a meeting, a one-on-one discussion, or a presentation, you’ll often find yourself arguing for your position, or against other people’s positions.

So how can you argue for or against a position effectively? Sure, you can just state what you think. But there are some more effective techniques you can use to support your position. For example, you can use language to make an idea stronger. Instead of just saying “this plan is disorganized,” you can say “this plan is totally disorganized.” That has a greater impact.

You can also work the other way around, and use softening and minimizing language. For example, instead of saying “we are happy with the new building but there are some problems,” you might say “overall we’re pretty happy with the new building, but there might be a few problems.” And if you want to criticize someone’s ideas, you need to introduce that carefully and balance the criticism with praise. All these techniques will help you present your position.

In today’s dialog, we’ll hear Jack, who’s trying to argue for the idea of moving his company’s production overseas, to Costa Rica. However, Angie, Dan, and Jim are not convinced that Jack’s plan is a good idea. As they argue for their positions, we’ll cover some useful techniques on both sides of the discussion.

Listening Questions

1. How does Angie introduce her first criticism of Jack’s ideas?
2. What does Jack say about the risks involved in his plan?
3. What positive thing does Angie say about Jack later in the dialog?

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Business English Course – Accepting or Rejecting Suggestions

This is a free preview of a video lesson from our Business English Kickstart Course:

YouTube video

This lesson is the second part of a two-part series on making, rejecting and accepting suggestions. In this lesson, we’ll learn appropriate ways to reject and accept suggestions. You can access the original lesson here – BEP 31 – Accepting or Rejecting Suggestions in English

The Business English Kickstart Course covers the 3 main Business English Skills of meetings, presentations and talking on the phone with 20 lessons appropriate for intermediate English Speakers.

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Business English Course – BEP 30 Making Suggestions in English

This is a free preview of a video lesson from our Business English Kickstart Course.

YouTube video

The lesson looks at language for making suggestions in a business meeting. You can check out the original lesson here – BEP 30 – Making Suggestions in English

The Business English Kickstart Course covers the 3 main Business English Skills of meetings, presentations and talking on the phone with 20 lessons appropriate for intermediate English Speakers. The course is available on the Udemy platform which provides desktop and mobile access for Android and iOS devices.

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Download: Podcast Video