Business English Pod / Socializing / Page 5

BEP 248 – Socializing with Strangers (2)

Business English, Socializing, Travel /

Travel English Socializing

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on socializing with strangers.

Imagine you’re on an airplane during a flight across the Pacific. You have to spend several hours seated right beside another person. You want to be friendly and perhaps find out what this person does and who this person is. So you turn to him or her and open your mouth to speak.

And what do you say? How do you start a conversation and then keep it going? Well, in any kind of travel situation it is useful to know some common topics and techniques. Today, we’ll look at asking a person about their destination and their purpose for traveling. We’ll also learn how to invite detail by echoing, identify a point of intersection, and summarize your work.

In the dialog, we’ll join Connie and Scott, who are sitting beside each other on a flight to Hong Kong. Connie starts up a conversation with Scott and uses many common and simple, though not always easy, ways of making small talk with strangers in a travel situation.

Listening Questions

1. What is the purpose of Scott’s trip?
2. What do Scott and Connie find they have in common?
3. What kind of work does Connie do?

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BEP 247 – Socializing with Strangers (1)

Business English, Socializing, Travel /

Social English

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on socializing with strangers.

Traveling, whether for business or pleasure, will put you into all sorts of situations with people you don’t know. They could be sitting beside you on a train, in an airport lounge, or on a ferry ride. And what if you want to strike up a conversation with these people? What can you say to get the conversation going, and to keep it going?

Well, making conversation with strangers is a useful skill, and there are some great techniques you can learn for these situations. Today, we’ll look at how to start off a conversation by commenting on your surroundings, as well as how to ask about someone’s travel. We’ll also learn about reacting with interest, telling a personal story, and giving your name.

In the dialog, we’ll hear Scott and Joe, who find themselves sitting next to each other in an airport lounge waiting for their flights. Scott strikes up a conversation with Joe, and the two demonstrate a typical interaction that you might hear between two travelers.

Listening Questions

1. What is Joe and Scott’s first topic of conversation?
2. What does Joe mention that Scott shows interest in?
3. At what point in the conversation do Joe and Scott introduce themselves?

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BEP 235 – English for Conferences 3: Actively Participating

Business English, Socializing, Training /

Conference English Training

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on attending a conference.

Conferences in English and other corporate events can be fantastic learning opportunities. They can also be good chances to connect with other people in your field. But just how good they are depends on more than just the speakers, the workshops, and the other participants. How much you get out of an event depends in large part on what you as a participant do.

You need to put your best foot forward, get engaged in the activities, and meet the people around you. In this way, you’ll learn a lot and make some good connections. But if you sit back, don’t ask questions, and just wait for others to talk to you, you’ll miss out on a great opportunity.

Today we’ll learn some techniques that can be very useful at any kind of event such as a conference, a networking social, or a fundraiser. We will learn how to ask good questions and show you’re engaged. We will also learn how to ask people about their background, give a compliment, and connect a topic to your own experience.

In the dialog, we’ll rejoin a regional HR conference of a large American company. We’ll hear Hanna, a conference attendee, during a workshop. Then we’ll hear Hanna approaching the presenter – Brent – later during lunch.

Listening Questions

1. What concept does Hanna express interest in?
2. What is the first topic of discussion between Hanna and Brent during lunch?
3. What does Hanna think Brent did well?

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BEP 234 – English for Conferences 2: Hosting a Social Event

Business English, Sales, Socializing /

English Conference Party Socialize

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on hosting social events at a company conference.

Conferences and other corporate events are about much more than just speakers and workshops. They’re a chance for people to network, to socialize, and to have some fun. Every good host knows this. And every good host works hard to make sure that people are enjoying themselves.

If you think about it, hosts actually have a pretty tough job. They have to organize activities and people while maintaining a smile. They have to solve frustrating problems with a positive attitude. It’s a tricky balance, but there are techniques you can learn to help you get that balance right.

Today we’ll learn a few useful techniques that will help you to be a good host. We’ll learn to ask people about needs, elicit feedback on the event, and make yourself available for help. We’ll also learn to keep conversations going and connect people.

In the dialog, we’ll revisit a company’s regional HR conference. The host is Amy, VP of HR at the company’s Chicago office. She’s organizing people during the evening conference event. We’ll hear Amy talking with two of the participants: Tom and Hanna.

Listening Questions

1. What topic does Amy invite more detail from Tom about?
2. How do Tom and Hanna meet?
3. What does Amy encourage Tom and Hanna to do at the end of the dialog?

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BEP 215 – Telephone English: Keeping in Touch (2)

Business English, Socializing, Telephone English /

BEP 215 - Telephone English - Keeping in Touch 2

In this Business English Pod lesson, we continue to look at language for keeping in touch with colleagues and customers by telephone.

Good business is built on good relationships. And good relationships are built on good communication. Of all the tools we use for communicating over long distances, the telephone is one of the best. We can listen and respond to the other person immediately. We can hear the other person’s voice and emotions. And we can use our own voice to convey feeling.

But talking on the phone isn’t always easy. It can be hard to set the right tone and strike a good balance between work and personal issues. There are certain techniques you can learn to help you do just that. In this lesson, we’ll hear several.

Today we’ll cover how to lower the formality in a conversation, show interest in where someone else is located, and keep the conversation going. We’ll also learn how to offer personal information and transition to work issues using a topic that has already been introduced.

We will hear Susan, the shipping broker from our last episode. She is calling from Amsterdam to a customer named Paul. Paul is an expat working in Santos, Brazil. Susan and Paul are chatting about personal matters a bit before getting down to business.

Listening Questions

1. What does Paul say about the weather?
2. What does Susan say about Venice?
3. Which word or topic that Chris mentions does Susan use to transition to work matters?

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