Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast for today’s lesson on organizing your ideas.
Last week we looked at several ways to brainstorm ideas. But once you have a big list of ideas, what are you going to do with them? That’s what we’ll talk about today.
We’ll look at how to organize your ideas around your objective and put them into groups of related points.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the different situations in your work in which you have to persuade people? 2. How much time would you normally spend preparing for a one-hour presentation? 3. What techniques do you use to develop and organize your ideas?
In today’s lesson, were going to look at how to organize your ideas.
When it comes to ideas, you’ve probably 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.
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.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you have any special ways of brainstorming ideas? 2. Think of someone who you think speaks well. How does he/she organize ideas? 3. Do you ever write out lists of advantages and disadvantages or pros and cons?
In this Business English Pod lesson, we’ll look at vocabulary and collocations for discussing the redesign of a website.
In the Internet age, every company needs a web presence. The foundation of this presence is a good website. This is where customers and the public can go to find information, engage with each other and the business, and, in many cases, purchase products and services.
It’s essential that your website is designed to convey the right image and send the right message. Not only does it have to look great, but it needs to be usable as well. This means that it must be laid out in a way that will help people find what they’re looking for with ease. Internet users have a very short attention span, so if they can’t get around your site easily, they’ll quickly move on to something else.
Before we listen, let’s talk a little about collocations. A collocation is a group of words that native speakers often use together. A correct collocation sounds natural, while an incorrect collocation sounds unnatural. For example, in English we say “go online” to talk about using the Internet. But we can’t say “proceed online” or “travel online,” even though “proceed” and “travel” mean “go.” Those simply aren’t natural expressions.
You’ll hear many useful collocations in today’s dialog. As you listen, try to pick out these natural combinations of words. Then we’ll explain what they mean and how to use them in the debrief.
We’re going to hear a conversation between a website designer named Andy and his client Penny. Penny’s company has contracted Andy to redesign their site. They are looking at the new website and discussing its features.
Listening Questions
1. What does Penny think of the website’s layout? 2. Why does Andy show Penny the website on his tablet? 3. What does Penny need to learn to do with the website?
The Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ will be in full force this year as London hosts the 30th Olympic Games. However, it won’t be just the athletes trying to go ‘higher, faster, stronger’, but also companies poised to rake in the dough in what many hope will be a financial windfall.
The value of ‘likes’ and ‘tags’ grew exponentially when Facebook filed its S-1 papers last month. Facebook will launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in May, paving the way for 27-year old founder Mark Zuckerberg, his staff, and even a graffiti artist to become exceptionally wealthy.
This month’s Business English News lesson features lots of great vocabulary for talking about company valuations, growth and social networks. Use the links below to access the free transcript and quizzes for this lesson.
