Ox english for meetings

OX.FORD i
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@Oxford University Press2oo7
Adapted from Xnglirhfor Meetingsby Kenneth Thomson
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l3
Gontents
I
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23
40
48
PAGE TITLE
Gouldwe
week?
Can we make a
now?
Ganlmakeapoint
here?
32 I'm not sure I agilee
It's a deal
So, I think we're
finished for today
PAGE APPENDIX
TOPTCS
meet next Arranginga meeting
Confirminga meetingbyemail
Reschedulinga meeting
USEFULLANGUAGEANDSKILLS
Usingfirstnames
Apologizingfor changing
a meetingtime
Gettingemaitsright
Generalmeetingvocabulary
,Vlakingsmalltalk
Writingformalandinformal
agendas
Chairinga meeting
Interruptingpolitely
Askingfor clarification
Givingyouropinion
Videoconferencing
Disagreementandcriticismin
differentcultures
Diplomatictanguage
Makingpositivesuggestions
Resolvingconflicts
Reachingagreement
Tatkingaboutpossibilities
Controttingthe timingof
a meeting
Interculturalcommunication
Talkingaboutplans
Formalandinformalminutes
Mixingbusinessandpleasure
start Sayinghe[[oandmaking
introductions
Startinga meeting
Statingtheobiectives
Introductions
Reportingprogress
Explainingcauseandeffect
Interruptinganddealingwith
interruptions
Askingforcommentsand
contributions
Expressingstrongandtentative
opinions
Agreeinganddisagreeing
Respondingto offers
Buyingtime
Takingavote
Summarizingtheresultsofa
meeting
Endinga meetingandthanking
participants
Confirmingdecisionsandaction
points
Follow-upemails
Sayinggoodbye
54
56
62
67
74
77
Test yourself!
Partner Files
Answer key
Transcripts
A-Z word list
Useful phrases and vocabulary

4l
About the book
Participatingina meetingisa realchallengefornon-nativespeakersandcancausea certainamount
ofanxiety.WhenareyouaLlorvedto makea contributionandhowdoyouwordit properly?Whenis
therighttimeto askquestionsa1d,,,natr^appensifyouactuatlyhaveto runthemeeting?Andwhat
aboutwritinguptheminutes?
EnglishforMeetingsCrese'risarithespeakingskitlsthatyouneedinorderto participateina
meetingwithconficence.Thiscompact,butcomprehensivecoursecontainstheexpressionsneeded
intypicalevervda,5-5inessmeetings- frominformalchatsto formatmeetings.EnglishforMeetings
presentsli'e','ocat.laryandexpressionsinsucha waythatyoucanlearnthemeasilyandusethem
imrnediale,y.
EngtishforMeetingsconsistsofsixunits,whichpresentdifferentareasthatyoumightcomeacross
ina mee:ing.Unitr dealswithhowto arrangea meetingandalsoincludesexpressionsneededwhen
postponinga meeting.Followingthis,otherimportanttopicsarepresented,forexample,theuseof
smalttalkatthebeginningofa meeting,howa meetingstarts,howto expressyouropinion,andhow
to interrupt.EngtishforMeetingsincludesusefulexpressionsforpeoplechairingthemeeting,as
rvellasfortheotherparticipants.Youcanalsofindouthowtodrawupanagendaandwritethe
minutesforbothformaIandinformalmeetings.
Everyunitbeginswitha Starter- thisisa warmerexercisewhereyoucandiscussyourpersonal
experiencesandthoughtsontheunittopic.Themainsectionoftheunitconsistsoflistening
comprehensionexercises,authenticmaterials,andexercisesthatenableyouto practiseusingthe
languageoftheunit.Therearespeakingactivitiesatvariouspointsthroughouttheunits,whereyou
canpractisetherelevantexpressions.AttheendofeachunitistheOutput,whereyouwitlfind
readingtextsonvariousrelatedtopics,forexample,video-conferences.Thebookendswitha fun
Testyourself!crosswordto recycleandconsolidatethevocabularyandexpressionsyouhavelearnt
inthebook.
Youwillfindtheanswersto al]exercisesintheAnswerkeyatthebackofthebook,alongwiththe
PartnerFiles,theTranscriptsofthe listeningextracts,andtheA-Zwordlist.TheUsefulphrasesand
vocabularysectionincludesalltheessentiaIphrases,organizedthematicalty;youcanusethisto
prepareforanimportantmeetingquicklyandefficiently.
TheMultiROMcontainsalltheListeningextractsfromthebook.Thesecanbeplayedthroughthe
audioplayeronyourcomputer,orthrougha conventionalCD-player.Inorderto giveyourselfextra
listeningpractice,listento it inyourcarorcopyto yourMP3-player.TheInteractiveexercisesletyou
reviewyourlearningbydoingUsefuIphrases,Vocabulary,andCommunicatlonexercisesonyour
computer;thiswittbeparticularlyvaluableifyouareusingthebookforself-study.

ls
Gouldwe meet next week?
@Workwithapartner.tlatchthedifferenttypesofmeeting(r-5)withthedefinitions(a-0.
r ! progress
-ZL--.tOratnStOfmfng. -ts, ,, awtJ
sPmeetlng i -rr-,#
g''"hotd..+ --'-*'
r-rkirk.off *'S$J
a Peoplewhoworkinthesamedepartmenthavethistypeof meetingregularly.
b Thisisa meetingofa company'smostseniormanagers.
c lfyouneednewideas,youhavethistypeof meeting.
d Thisisa meetingfora company'sinvestors.
e Atthistypeof meeting,youtalkaboutwhathasbeenaccomplishedona project.
f Thistypeofmeetingisheldatthebeginningofa project.
Nowaskyour partnerthe questionsbelowand
makea noteof the answers.Thentell the class
whatyou havefoundout.
r Howoftendoyouhavemeetingsin Engtish?
Whichofthemeetingsabovedoyouattend?
Whatothertypesof meetingdoyouhave?
. Areyourmeetingswithcotleaguesfromyour
companyorwithcontactsfromother
companies(customers,suppliers,clients,...)?
t Listento the two telephonedialoguesandcompletethe table.
Dlalogue1 Dialogue2
a Whatwillthemeetingbeabout?
b Whenwillthemeetingtakeptace?
c Howlongwillthemeetinglast?
llirc
'L
!3

6 | UNIT1 Couldwemeetnextweek?
a2-1
2 Listenagainandcompletethe sentencesfromthe dialogues.
Catt1 call2
r Couldwe_ a timeto meetnextweek? 8 _ wecouldmeetandgooverthe
z How Mondayatnine?
3 Sorry,I can't_ it then.
4 How sometimeafterlunch?
5 Shoutdwe_ forthewhole
afternoon?
6 Let'sleavethelengthofthemeeting
fornow.
7 So.l'll_ youonMondayattwo.
details ?
Whattime_you inmind?
Woutdhalfpastfive_ you?
I'm_ | haveanotherappointment
then.
Well,l'llseeyou Monday
7.3o,then.
| look_ to meetingyouthen.
9
10
11
t2
73
Wfrkt s€ntences(r-r3) canbeused:
a to arrangea meeting?
b to discussthelengthofa meeting?
c to arrangethetimeofa meeting?
d to saythata suggestedtimefora meeting
isnotconvenient?
e to confirmthetimeofa meeting?
3 Putthewordsintherightorderto maketypicatsentencesformakingarrangements.
r let'ssoonmeetinga sometimehave
Letb havea meetinqsometimesoon.
z liketo you when meetwould?
3 at Thursdayhow t.3o aboutmorning?
4 woutdfor next be Tuesdayyou how ?
5 fine wouldyes,that be
6 to forwardyou I look then meeting

4
UNlT1 Couldwe meetnextweek?| 7I
Workwith twopartnersto arrangeasuitabletimeto meet.Firsttookat theUsefulPhrases
onthispage.ThenlookatyourdiaryandtheinstructlonsinthePartnerFlles.
PartnerA File13,p.59
PartnerB File1,p.56
PartnerC File20,p.61
E$qtr ilnrsE3
Asklngfor a meetlng
Couldweschedulea timeto meetnextweek?
I'dliketo schedulea meetingassoonaspossible.
Canwemeetandgooverthistogether?
Perhapswecouldmeetandgooverthedetailsin
oerson?
Suggestinga meetingtime
HowaboutMondayat nine?
Howaboutsometimeafterlunch?
Couldwe meetnextweek?
CanI suggest7.3oonThursdayevening?
Wouldhalfpastfivesuityou?
Saylngthat youaren'tableto attend
Sorry| can'tmakeit then.
I'mafraidI haveanotherappointmentthen.
I'ma bittiedupthen.Howaboutanothertime?
Sayingthat youcanattend
Soundsgood.
Yes,thatworksforme.
Yes,thatwouldbefine.
Confirmingthe dayandtime
SeeyouonMondayatseven.
5o, I lookforwardto seeingyouonTuesdayat four.
t
._-l
5 Readthesetwoemallsconflrmlngmeetlngs.Whlchemellis forma[andwhichis informal?
o-#& ffig
_*l!F"_"*_p.lt-e!!4|j9-!4ry*
To: ian.sweeney@dbd.com
From: markpeters@dbd.com
Slbjece Meetingto discusscontractchanges
Att chm€nG: Mry23*Points_to_Dlseuss.doc
Hi lan,
It was niceto speakto you today.Thank froragreeing
to meetwith me.Justto confirm the dateandtime of
o0r meeting:Monday23 Mayat 2 p.m.My PAwill let
you know which meetingroom wdll be usinglater in
the week
I'm a$achinga list of pointsto discuss.Give me a call
if you haveanyquestionsbefore the meeting.
Lookingbrward to seeingyou on Monday.
Reg'ards,
Mark
ot,ffi ns!hld. kply kply All Fffi.rd hnt
To: armitage@lishergrp.co.uk
From: caroline@rainbow-seafch.@m
Subj€ct:Meeting
DearMrArmitage
li wasa pleasureto speakto youtoday.l d liketo
takethisopportunitytothankyouforagreeingto
meetwithinenextweek.
lwouldalsoliketoconlirmthedateandtimeof
ourrneeting:7.30p.m.onlvlonday,I September
in RainbowExecutiveSearch'sofficesat 11Great
RusssllSfee!,LondonWC1.
thould youhaveany.questionsinadvanceofour
msding,pleasedonothesitateto getintouchwith
me.
lvery muchlooklorwardto meetingyounext
Monday.
Yourssincerely
CarolineJones
T:+44(0)304454368tt
F: +44(0)3044At 3680
email:carollno@rainbow-search.oo.uk
www.rainbow-search.co.uki
ntl
tl
ll
tj

8 | UNIT1 Couldwemeetnextweek?
Wecanoften saythe samething in eithera formalor lessformalway.
Completethe tablewith sentencesfromthe emailson the previouspage.
Formal lnformal
Itwasnicetospeaktoyoutoday.
2
, It wasa pleasureto speakto you today,
I'dliketotakethisopportunityto thank
youforagreeingto meetwithme...
Justtoconfirmthedateandtimeofour
meeting:
Givemea callifyouhaveanyquestionsbefore
themeeting.
Iverymuchlookforward
Yourssincerely
GETTIIIGETAILSRIGHT
tomeetingyou...
Unlikemostwrittenbusinesscommunicationin English,emailoffersthechanceof communicatingusing
aninforma[,friendtystyleofwrittenEnglish.
Youcangreetsomeonein aninformalemailusing
phraseslike: HiMartha HelloPaula Dearlim
Veryinformalemailscanbeclosedwithphrases
suchas: AIIthebest Cheers
Whenanemailneedsto beformal- forinstance,
whenit'sto a businesscontactwhoyoudon'tknow
well- thena formalgreetingshouldbeused:
DearMr Simpson
Closingphrasesshouldalsobemorepolite:
Bestregards(neutral)
Yourssincerely(veryformaD
5
6
It'scommonto adda friendlyphrasebeforethe
close:
Lookingforwardtoseeingyousoon.(informal)
I lookforwordto ourmeetingonMonday.(formal)
Thefirstletterof anemailafterthegreetingalways
hasa capitalletter:
HelloRobert,
lustto letyouknow...
6 Writeanemailconfirmingthe dateandtime of a meetingusingoneof the notesbelow.Think
aboutwhetherthe emailshouldbeformalor informat.
Sendewall to Dawd:
confrrYwwtr*nvg (to
di r,^tt Problervrrv'titLr
cLwtwvgLantract)
Tado
Emailhlr,r Frank: c
tqkobouto4r,,r.ewi.YT ryt
, Fridory,12septet*f"t
Pack4ge
'3.00p.m.
. Wednr.rdaY,7qilLJuw
10.70a.w'
twvwYffice
a
a
. @tltcir h*rd ofrtLei gini"at

Lroto
374
UNIT1 Couldwemeetnextweek?| 9
I
Carollnefonesis phoningCharlesArmitage.Listento their conversatlon.Why ls shecalling
him?lYhatdo they decide?Thenlisten againandcompletethe sentencesfiom the dialogue.
['m-' sorry, f, f
Sorryto-e
you-ltcouldn'tbe
-10, I'm
afraid.
llatch sentoncesfromexercise7with the sentencesbelowthat havea simllar meaning.
a Wouldit bepossibleto putthemeetingbackandmeetonWednesdayat73o?
Couldwepootpone the meetin7 until Wedneodayat the aame time?
b lt'sunavoidable,unfortunately.
Doyouhaveanother
timein-"? )
'q.-..F-
f
Couldwe-7
8
l'm-2 | haveto askyou
if wecan 3ourmeetingnext
week.Somethinghas-a up.
UnfortunatelyIcan'tget
c Sorrytohavetotroubleyou.
d I reallymustapologize.
e Wouldyouliketo suggestanothertime?
I haveto attendto somethingelse.
ustilG F|RSTllAr$Es
Theuseoffirstnamesin Engtish-speakingbusinessenvironmentsiscommon.Thoughit is notthepractice
everywhere,evenseniormanagersareaddressedbyjuniorstaffusingtheirfirstnamesin someoffices.
Onfirstmeetingsomeoneit'sbestto addressthem Youmay,however,wishto asksomeone's
Afterthat,thechangeoverto firstnamesis usually Thisquestioncanbeansweredwithphrases
bytheirsurname:
It'sapleasuretomeetyou,MsCarmichael.
Pleasedtomeetyou,MrFreeman.
madequitequickly,eitherlaterduringthefirst
meetingoratthesecondmeeting.lfyour
relationshipwithyourbusinesspartnerisfriendly
andrelaxed,youcanswitchto theirfirstname
withoutaskingtheirpermission.
permissionbeforeusingtheirfirstnamewith
ohraseslike:
Doyoumind if I collyou Caroline?
sucnas:
No,notatall. Pleasedo.
Youcaninvitesomeoneto usevourfirstnamewith
phraseslike:
Please,callme Carl.
Bytheway,it'sPaula.

AIJDIO
A..a
5
10
| UNIT1 Couldwemeetnextweek?
9 Listento Mark Peters'dictaphonemessageanduseit to completethe emailhewrites later
to his assistant.
To: anna.evans@dbd.com
From: mark.peters@dbd.com
Subiect: Arrangementsformeetingwithsalesteam
HiAnna,
I'veiustarrangeda meetingwithlanSweeneyin salesforMondayat2 p.m.Canyoutakecare
ofthepreparation,please?
Couldyou a meetingroomand ' lanandmetheroom
number?Also,canyou : theagendato lanandtheconsultants?Andwe'llneed
AV- canyou a dataprojectorandanoverheadprojectorforus?Don'tforgetto
somecoffeeandbiscuits.
Finatly,canyou ' themeeting,please?ThediscussionisimportantsoI'llneed
youto theminutes.
Thanksforyourhelp.
Best,
Mark
1O Workwith a partnerandchooseoneof the'lo do' lists betow.Yourpartneris your executive
assistant.Talkaboutthe plannedmeetingandwhatyou wouldlike your assistantto do.
Thenswitchrolesanddothe samewith the otherlist.
)v
fuL"*tng to dkc*ts autu''nan
t '
-"
/uJ*t'WelwsdaY'J praduLtwwsLltrr
J 4th h'gwt,:$,*5P'vw'
A*k Sarato urra'Ve:
lvl**tvg roorw
Data Proiutor
Teorand bucwils
l'liw^tet
J
J
J
:r l^r4rr.d. f." __-yTfiii"._
Aonday,1th FebL0 o._.
Co#ee.^aiawzi"i
flike-Conrad andS.l, n*,

tt
UNIT1 Couldwe meetnextweek?| 11
Findslxverbsoftenusadwlth omeettngto makeusefulphrases.Lookfromleft to rlghtaswell
asrp anddown.Writetheverbslntothespacesbelow.Theffrstexampleis doneforyou.
t to hold
2tO
3to
4to
5to
6to
a meeting
b
c
d
e
a | | to holda meetingata latertimeor
datethanoriginallyplanned
to havea meeting
to organizea meeting
to leada meeting
to decidenotto holda meetingand
totellpeoplethis
to goto a meetingfn
3
4
D E 4P K Y E s F B A
c 1H
o L D X X N W T
F c S I W N c W D c
K D T G a E E K A C
U R P N A 5C H 6A I R
A o X G E B T *t r
t*j
NiHiic A N c E L M T
a K E S N Y K E H W
L R S V G D L N T R
2A R R A N G E D D F
llatch the yerbs(r-6) wlth the phrases(a-f).
tr
n
T
l
l{owusetheverbs(r-6) to completethesentences.
r lf Petercan'tgetherebyfive,couldn'twejust ourmeetingandhaveit early
nextweekinstead?
z Couldyou a teammeetingfornextWednesdayat4 p.m.?AskNeitCrossif he
canattendandbookoneofthelargemeetingrooms.
We'vedecidedto themeeting.Instead,couldyoujustemaiImeyourcomments?
I haveto a lotofmeetingsandspenda lotoftimetalkingaboutwork.
Unfortunately,I oftendon'thaveenoughtimeto actuallygetonwithmywork.
It'simportantthattheteamknowsaboutthesechanges.Let's
giveeveryonethedetails.
a meetingand
5 l'mgoingto ourmeetingthismorningsol'11bemakingsurethatwestickto
theagendaandthatwefinishontime.

t2 l UNIT1 Couldwemeetnextweek?
t2 Usethecluesto completethecrossword.
Across
4 She'sill so wehaveto ...themeeting.
6 CouldI ...thatwemeetandeooverthe
details?
7 WouldnextTuesdayatfour...you?
ro Thelistoftopicsin a meeting.
Down
t Weneedsomenewideas.Let's
hovea ...meeting.
z l'il ...theminutesin todav's
meeting.
3 Tochangea meetingto a laterdate.
5 Please...theagendato theother
teammembers.
8 Let'scallo ...meetingfor everyone
in thedepartment.
9 Totakethe[eadingrolein a
meeting.
t3 Putthe wordsin the right orderto makesentenceswith expressionsfromthis unit.
1 time meet could week a schedulewe to next?
2 meet go details person and over perhaps could we in the ?
3 meeting then forward to I you look
-
questions call if meeting give a me
before any have you the
5 appointmenttime l'm have that afraid
another at I
Youareinvitedto a
ona newJirrgle-sentencemi
vourcorfany. Workarpne,t
ordertoprriveattheOfrfect
secondSiartof themfting,
:cide
f
s,in
on
se
str
designfora posterth1fwill
statement.# t

UNIT1 Couldwemeetnextweek?| 13
Readthe article andsaywhether you agreethat meetingsare moreeffective lf they havea more
formalstructure.
Oldisllew:TheNewOld-FashionedMeeting
lf youthinkthat agendas,minutes,and
chairpeoplein meetingsareout,thinkagain.
As companiesseekto makemoreeffective
useof theirstaff'stime,'old-fashioned'and
formalfeaturesaremakinga big comebackin
the meetingroom,reportsJanineAdler.
In the past,companiestried to encouragethe creativity
of their staffthrough flexible, informal meetingformats.
You know the kind ofthing: no agendas,no chairpeople,
andpeopleenteredand left meetingsasit suitedthem. This trend was probably most popular
back in the late 1990s.But when the global slowdown in economicperformancecame,most
companieshadto startthinking more abouttheir costs.
'It was really quite common for meetingsto go on for hoursandthen for everyoneto get up
andleavewithout really knowing what had beendecided,'saysAaron Blumfeld, a lecturer in
businessadministration.
'A company's staffis one of its major costs,and staffmeetings are very expensivefor a company.
There is now a trend amonglarge companiesto reintroducestructureinto meetingsto make
betteruseof time.'adds Blumfeld.
SomeCEOs seethe task of making meetingsmore effrcient asso important that they aretaking
personalresponsibility for making surethat thejob getsdone.
Lynn Rossmannis CEO of LuxesAG, a subsidiaryof Hamilton-Luxes Corp. Shespenttime
looking at ways of making meetingsmore focused.In the end, shedecidedthat the good old-
fashionedmeeting format with a chairpersonand an agendawas the right one for her company.
'If you want to hold a meetingat Luxes,you haveto havea chairpersonand an agenda.It's
not that I like bureaucracy- I'm just getting peopleto usetheir time more effectively,' states
Rossmann.
Arethemeetingsyouattendformalorinformal?
Whatotherwaysarethereto makea meetingmoreeffective?
Thearticlementionssomepossibleadvantagesanddisadvantagesofformalandinformal
meetings.WhatotheradvantagescanyouthinkoPWhatdisadvantages?
a
a
a

14 1
Ganwe make a start now?
Readthelist ofstatementsaboutthechairperson'sroleanddecidewhetheryouagreeor
disagree.Thendiscussyouranswerswithyourpartner.
Adnftpa:oa dp&
r finishthe meetingon time,evenif a
decisionhasn'tbeenreached.
Aglee WE
encourageeveryoneto contribute
to thediscussion,evenif some
participantsdon'twantto.
letthemostconfidentpeopledominate
the meetingbecausetheyprobably
havethe bestideas.
followthe agendaand not allowthe
discussionto go in differentdirections.
stopparticipantsfrominterrupting
eachother.
allowan antagonisticatmosphereto
developbecauseit makesparticipants
thinkmoreclearlyand creatively.
TT
[tr
TN
a6-€
Colleaguesfromacrossfuropeareattendingakick-offmeeting.Listento thethreedlalogues.
Whatistherelatlonshipbetweenthepeoplebelow?
a Theyhavenevermetbefore.
b Theyhavemetbeforebutprobablydonotknoweachotherverywel[.
c Theyprobabtyknoweachotherquitewell.
T
T
T
SteveandGeorge
Georgeand Paula
GeorgeandJuliet
I
n
4
5
PaulaandSteve
AndreandSteve
couldn'tmakeit to
themeeting- her
Blackberryis
in thechair.

ttoto
82H
IJDO
g3
UNIT2 Canwe makea startnow?I 15
Completethe sentencesfrom the dialogues. Listenagain to checkyour answers.
Workwith a partnerto take turns readingout the completedsentences.
r Niceto youagarn. areyou?
2 , thanks.Andyou?
3 I'm thankyou.
you
colleague,JulietStrauss?
Hello,I'mGeorgeFrank.
meetyou.
6 Pleasedto
colleague,AndreJacob.
my
do?8 How
l{owlistentothethreediatoguesagain.TickI whichtopicsaredlscussed.
sport m$Slon clnema polltlcs hrfilly hotldrys hobblcs we*thar
Dialoguer
Dialoguez
Dialogue3
Workwithyourpartnertodlscusswhlchsubiectsonthelist arenotapproprlatetoplcsat
businessmeetings.Canyouaddanyothertopicsthataregoodtodiscuss?
SMALLTALK
Smatttatkis usedto breakthe iceandcreatea relaxedatmospherebeforethe realbusinessbegins.
However,makingsmalltalk canbe difficult,particularlywhenyou meetpeopleforthe firsttime.
Oneproblemis thatsmalltalkcanbe aboutmanydifferenttopicsandyouprobablywon'tbe sureof all
thevocabulary.Onesolutionis to preparetopicsthatyouwouldliketo tatkabout.lf you'regoingto
havea meetingwith peoplefromanothercountryresearchtopicsrelatingto thatcountry.Forinstance,
beingpreparedto chatwith Frenchpeopleaboutthe Cdted'Azuror DanesaboutCopenhagenwill make
youfeelmorerelaxedandmeanthatyoucanstartconversationsconfidently.
Ofcourse,makingsmatltalk is not justabouttalking- it'salsoaboutlistening,andthe moreactively
the better.Therearea numberof commonlyusedphraseswhichshowotherpeoplethatyou're
interestedin whatthey'resaying:
my
you
T
n
n
n
n
n
T
n
T
n
T
T
n
T
I
T
n
l
T
T
T
T
T
T
work
I
n
l
I see. Oh,reallyT Interesting. Thot's absolutelyfascinating!

16 | UNIT2 Canwe makea startnow?
3 Whichairport
4 Didyou
5 lsthis
6 Areyou
7 Doyouknow
4 ilatch the two partsto makesmall talk questions.
r Whichhotell a didyoufly into?
z Howlong b areyoustayingat?
c my colleague,YvonneJamieson?
d the firsttimeyou'vecomeherefor a meeting?
e a colleagueof JimRobertson's?
f comehereby plane?
g haveyouworkedforyourcompany?
@
T
T
n
n
T
l
l{owmatchthesc answersto the questions.
A Notreally.Heworksin marketing
andI'min customerservice.
B No,we cameby car.
C Almostfourteenyears.
D LondonStansted.
E No,I don'tthinkwe'vemet.
F No,it isn't.I washerein Junefor
thekick-offmeeting.
G TheCarltonInternationat,off
ShaftesburyAvenue.
5 Workwithapartnerto practisemakingIntroductionsandsmalltalk.
PartnerA
Sayhelloandintroduceyoursetf.
AskaboutBbjourneyto themeeting.
Respond.Askif thisis B'sfirstmeetingat
theheadoffice.
PartnerB
Sayhelloandintroduceyourself.
Respond.AskaboutA'shotet.
Respond.AskhowlongA hasworkedfor
thecompany.

,/

Howwasyour
journey?
Respond.

n
o9
UNIT2 Canwe makea startnow?| 17
a
O Listento achairpersontalklngat thebeginnlngof a meetlngandsaywhetherthesentences
belowaretruep orfabe P. Correctthehtse sentences.
r Nigelisthelastpersonto arriveatthemeeting.
z TimMcCarthyisfromthemarketingdepartment.
: SaltyJoneswillcometo themeetinglate.
4 Theaimofthemeetingisto discussstrategiesforincreasingsales.
5 JohnLawsonwillpresentanoverviewofwhatthecompetitorsaredoing.
5 AlisonKingwillpresentthenewsalesstrategy.
llow tistenagainandcompletethesentences.
a lt's to see
b Beforewe canI TimMcCarthyto you all.
c SallyJoneshas
d PierreKaufmanncan't either.
e As I saidin the I emailedlastweek,we'llbe our
strategiesforincreasingsales.
f Let'sgetdownto
7 Putsentences(a-0 fron exercise6 underthecorrectheadlngin thetable.
I
llow addthesesentencesto thetable.
r We'remeetingtodayto talkaboutthesalesconferencenextmonth.
z I haveapologiesfromCathyRobertsandStuartJohnson.
3 l'mgladyoucouldallmakeit today.
+ Thisis EdwardLincoln,oneof ourmanagementconsultants.
5 lt'sgreatto seeeverybody.
5 DoeseverybodyknowMarioMaleta?
7 Ourobjectivetodayisto lookatthenewadvertisingcampaign.
8 Canwegetstarted?
9 Unfortunately,JuneWrightwasn'tableto makeit today.
10So,letl begin.
T
T
T
I
u
n
rlxo
a9
her

r I uNrr2Canwemakea startnow?
t Dlo
a10
tatch thetwopartsto makesentencesforintroducingyourselforsomeoneelse.[istentothe
dialoguetocheckyouranswers.
a rortwovears.
4
6 Frankloinedustwomonthsago yourselfto everyone.
b thinkabout
Doeseveryone
z Peter,whydon'tyouintroduce b aboutvourself.
3 Tettusa bit asourheadof PR.
'vebeenwithBrentJones d knowPeterThomson?
5 wasthebusinessdevelopmentmanagerfortheWest e slnce2002.
abouta newmarketingstrategythisafternoon.
llatchtheverbsontheteftwithphrasalverbsontherightthathavethesamemeaning.
discuss a gobackover
2 revrew
3 finalize c lookat
4 examrne d talkabout
5 consider e finishoff
llowcompletethesentencesusingthecorrect
formofthephrasalverbs(a-e)aboye.
Right.Thismorningwe'ilbe
atwaysof cuttingourcostsandalsotatking
nextyear'sbudget.
2 TheannuaIconferenceis nextweek,sowe'llbe
offourfinalpreparations
thismorning.
4
3 Weneedsomenewideasabouthowto increase
oursales,sowe'ilbe
0K.Therehavebeenthreeaccidentsinthefactoryinthelastmonth.Thismorningwe'llbe
back ourhealthandsafetyguidelinesandthinking
whatwecandoto improveoursafetyrecord.
We'il lookingalso
that
be
WCways canimproveuponthem.
thenumbersfromaccountingandtalking

UNIT2 Canwe makea startnow?| 19
10 UseoneofthesGtsof notosto preparoandglvetheIntroductlonto ameetlng.Rememberto uge
phrasestowelcomepartlclpantsandto stertthemeetlng.
A
Notesfor meetwg
-aLw of mezing: rewew
ottrLastadveersLvtg
cawryagw
- rewwwtherto lntrodwe
lvlargaretHart
-aPologvu:JLwtHe*drY
(ru)
lmpo*aat rcmi44e?,
' o$*ctivei o€*ectnnf;liaefize
plansfot nextyea/s sales
conferenee
' introdvcc llany Finet €romour
eve
^t
managemenl ageacy
' apologies:l;ll C""pc r (nalliaayl
anABobCvlbe*
(fraining cours.)
tl ilatch the descrlptlonswlth the ltemson the formal meetlngagenda.
a Thisis whenissueswhicharenot on the agendacanbe discussed.lt standsfor anyother
business.
b Thesearethe mainpointsfor discussionat the meeting.
c Thisis whenthe notesof the lastmeetingarecheckedfor accuracy.
d Thisis the pointin the meetingwhenthe chairpersonreportswho is not ableto attend.
e Thisis whenanyissuesrelatingto the lastmeetingarediscussed.
Agenda
Bard meeting-
Wednesdall1{ November
Apologies
Minutesof thelastmeeling
Mattersarisingfromtheminutes
Reviewof IPOactionplan
Redesignofcorporateimage
Post-lPOinvestmentproposals
7 AOB
ilowllstenandmatchtheextrectsfromthe
n
n
n
4
5
5
neetlng
n
IUDIO
(>
11
(A-E)wlth
EnAn Bn cn
theltemsontheformalagenda.

AI,DIO
At2t2
Listento two colleaguesdiscussinga salesmeeting.Completethe missinginformationin the
memobelow.
FORMAIAilD
'XFORTAI
AGEIIDAS
Thesedays,mostagendasfor meetingsin English-speakingbusinesscontextsareinformal.Themajority
: aresentasemailsandconsistof thetime,date,andplaceof the meeting,andan overviewof the
tooicsthatwill be discussed.
; Thestyteof writingis briefandnote-like,for example:
. Updateon constructionstatus
i 0iscussionof proposedbudget
Thisbrief,note-likeEnglishis alsousedin formalagendas.Therealdifferencebetweenformaland
, informalagendasis that,in the former,eachpartof the agendais clearlynumberedandothere]ements
i areincluded.
: Formalagendasareusuallyreservedforthe mostimportantmeetingswithina companyfor instance,a
' boardmeeting- or meetingswhichbusinessesarerequiredby companylawto hotd,suchastheAnnual
GeneralMeeting(AGM).
Hieveryone,
Asyouallknow,we'rehavingtheregionalsales
meetingnextweekinsteadoftheweekafter.
Herearethepointswe'llbetalkingabout.As
usual,I'veindicatedwhowillbeleadingthe
discussion.lfyouhaveanyquestions,canyou
letmeknowwhattheyarebelorethemeeting,
olease?
Regionalsalesmeetingagenda
February13th,9.30
Room338
' s_ targetsfornext
t_- months(Francie)
' teamm_ responsiblefor
k_ accounts(Michael)
' f_ frommarketing(Ralf)
' competitorc_^ (Ralf)
Best,
Polly

UNIT2 Canwe makea start now?
t3 Theformalagendain exercisefl is fora boardmeeting.Whichofthefollowingtypesof meeting
are,inyourexperience,motelikely to haveformalorinformalagendas?
lzt
t4 Workin groupsoffourto practisethebeginningofa meeting.FirstlookattheUsefulPhrases
on this page.Thenlook at the instructionsin the PartnerFiles.
usEFUrPilRASES
Welcomingparticipants
It'sniceto seeeveryone.
Thanksfor beingheretoday.
Statlngobjectives
We'ltbe discussing...
Joaquinwill be examining...
Askingpartlclpantsto introduce
themselves
Whydon'tyouintroduce
yourselfto everyone.
Te[]usa bitaboutyourself.
Couldyoutettusallwhoyou
areandsaysomething
aboutyourselP
PartnerA file 3, p.56
Partner8 file 4,9.59
PartnerC FileT,p.57
PartnerD file 8, p.57
Introducingyoursetf i
I'mthe businessdevelopment I
manager. ,
I'vebeenwith OfitechSAsince j
2oo2. ,
I'veworkedforthe companyfor
fouryears.
I'mbasedin the Valenciaoffice.,
I workat our Bilbaobranch. ,
t5 Putthe wordsin the right orderto makesentenceswlth expresslonsfromthis unit.
1 my let introduce me colleague
z you've first this meeting come for is here the a time?
3 Smith know everyone Margaret does Ms?
4 pleasant had I iourney you hope a
5 about tell bit yourself a us
6 down business to get let's
7 nice it's meet to you person in
Yourcompanyhasbeenlefi$50,000iBthq
willofa formeremployee.theX,rrittsta$s
i
thatfte moneyshq.rldbe$enl'on i i
improvingthelivesbf pr""*'t erirpto$es'.i
Calla meetingto discusstrFwto!spefioit.i
Explainth_eggintpftnemebting..andtheS;
tryandcometo a conclusion.8 be can't Salty us today with

Readthisadviceforchairpeopleaboutrunningmeetingseffectively.Whichpiece
ofadvicedoyouthinkisthemostimportant?
Fivegoldenrulesforchairpeople
Time is god in meetin-es.Don't let a discussionrun on unnecessarily.If an
issuecan'tbe resolvedin this meeting.cut thediscussionoffand continueit in
a latermeeting.But if 1'ouandyour colleagueshaveto reacha decisiontoday,
be honestandtell them that they'll haveto sit thereuntil the iob is done.
Don'tcallmeetingsoutsideoffrcehours.
Youu antparticipantsto beenthusiasticabout
beingatyourmeeting,soneverschedule
meetingsfor eveningsorweekends.
Meetingsarefor business,notsocializing.
A certainamountof smalltalk atthebeginning
andendof ameetingdefinitelyhelpsto createa
friendlyatmosphereandbuildteamspirit.But
timeis money.Makesurethatparticipantsget
downto businessaftera few minutesof
pleasantries.Also makesurethatbusinessis
concludedbeforesomeonechangesthesubject
to footballaeain.
*
Givepeopleenoughtimeto preparefor ameeting.It's surprisinghowmany
chairpeoplecall meetingsatshortnoticeandthencomplainthatthe
participantshaven'tpreparedproperly.With advancenotice,participantswill
cometo yourmeetinghavingthoughtaboutyouragenda,readthroughthe
backgroundpapers,preparedpresentations,andcomeupwith solutionsto
problems.
Meetingsshouldbedemocraticin approachandspirit.Theonlypointin
bringingpeopletogetherfor ameetingisto letthemdiscussanissue.If you
wantto announcedecisionsthathavebeenmade,don'tdo it in ameetingbut
find anotherwayof communicatingit. Yourmeetingsshouldhaveacreative
andopenatmospheresothatyourpeoplecanmakeinterestingcontributionsto
thediscussion.
*
)
I
a
a
a
Doyouagreewiththeadvicegivenhere?
Inwhichorderof importancewoutdyou put
Whatotherpiecesof advicecanyougiveto
the fivegoldenrules?
chairpeople?
Let'smeetat
10to discussthe
a. ,-rl

lza
GanI make a point here?
!@il
Gompletethequestionnairebyticking7 eitheraorb.
r!Dlo
.t
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoaaaoo
Oa
! t Vou want to make a point in a meeting. 4 Someone is talking nonsenss. Do you: :
e Doyou:
. r---r L-l stoP them? '
o a | | warr until someone else invite^ et rhcm no on? '
. you to speak?
i5 b | | Iet them go on?
'
. -l-'l -
tPea^t
- :
. b Ll make your point immediately? 5 There's a long silence in a meeting. Do you: ]
^_r_!__!_ ^ _^-a!__ -
. ll
""y
something (anything!) to end :
! 2 Someone is speaking in a meeting and
-
" in. silence? o
. you want to say something. Do you:
- .
. r-1 .:,.,
I . L_l waituntil they have finished speak up? .
. speaking? .
ol-]-.
. b LJ interrupt them with your own 6 Someone is not being clear. Do you: :
!
noitttz . [] irrt".rrrpt and ask them to explain? :
! 3 so*"orre wanta to make a point while
b l-J let them finish and hope that you
'
o you are speaking. Would you: will understand them by the end? :
ot-ta
:
. Ll prefer that they wait until you ? Nobody want6 to listen to you. Do you: .
' have finished speaking? .
. t-.1 - a | | stay calm and continue talking? .
. b | | prefer that they interrupt you to . F- -- .
o - Lake their Doint?
b | | get angry and stop talking? .
a-O
ao
aaaaooaaaoaaaaaoaaaaoaaoaaaaaooaoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Turnto page66 to find out your score.
t listen to a meetingof the managementteamat a conference-organizingcompany,andtick @
the correctboxesin the table.
r Overallsales
z Telecomsales
3 PharmaceuticaIsales
4 Financesales
5 lTsales
Yerypoor
u
n
l
n
n
Poor
I
n
n
n
n
acceptable
!-__l
.--i
T
good
n
t_l
r-
Ll
i-
____l
T
verygood
T
n
l
t_l
T

24 | UNIT3 CanI makea pointhere?
2 ilatch the two partsof the sentences.Listenagainto checkyour answers.
AUDIO
(->
(l
a3
r I thinkthiswasdue I a resultofsomebadplanningon ourpart.
z Themarketis stitla bit depressed- b ofdebtandlowershareprices.
4
5
because
Saleswereup hereforthereason
I thinkthiswasasa
c beingthatwe madesomemistakesin our
marketresearcn.
ThelTsectorperformedpoorly,the
reason e to excellentworkby ourproductionteam.
ilow usethe wordsin botdto completethesesentences.
r Asa of someaggressive
cost-cutting,ourpre-taxprofitsarebetter
thanexpected.
Theboardpostponedthe IPO
of the current[ackof stockmarket
confidence.
3 MrAllmanhaslefthisjob,thereason
thatwewereunhappywith
hisperformance.
4 We'relookingfor a newPRagencyfor the
thatourcurrentagencyhas
runout of interestingideas.
5 Theprojectfailed to a lackof interestamongEKIP'sseniormanagement.
3 Putthe wordsin the right orderto makethe sentenceswhichGeorgeFinchusesto structure
what he is saying.
r the quick here's situation overview of a
2 at first let's tetecoms look
7
3 now pharmaceuticalsto [et's turn
4 on to I'tl finance move the now sector
5 lT about now, what ?

UNITg CanI makea pointhere?| 25
Weusethepastsimpleto talkaboutdevelopmentsin finishedtimeframes:
Ourcustomerbaselncreosedin size... - lastyear. - twoyearsago. - in lune.
- betweenzoo4andzoo8.
Weusethepresentperfectto talkaboutdevelopmentsin unfinishedtimeframes:
Oursaleshavelncrerlsed.., - duringthecurrentquarter. - for the losttwoyears.
- since lostyear. - recently.
4 PuttheverbsInbracketsIntothepastsimpleorthepresentperfectto completethesentences.
DualsoftSmarketshare (decrease)in sizein the lastquarterof 2oo4.
Thenumberof profitwarningsissuedbymajorcompanies
thecurrentquarter.
(go up) in
3 Thetimewespendoncustomeracquisition Godown)thisyear.
4 Thesizeof Euclipse'sworkforce (increase)two yearsago.
5 Pharmaprop'scapitalinvestmentspending (teveloff) sincelastyear.
5 Complaints (decline)dramaticallysincezoo4.
Therateof unemployment (reacha high)in zoo7.
Thenumberoffranchisersin Europe
zoo8.
(rise)steadilybetweenzoo4 and
Since1994,our staffsize (remainstable).
ln zoo4andzoo5,thecostof parts (falDsignificantly.
ilowwrltetheverbsfromthesentencesaboveunderthecorrectgraph.
1
2
7
8
9
10
B
75

26 I UNIT3 CanI makea pointhere?
AJDIO
a13
5 Listento GeorgeFinch'spresentationagainandcomptetethe sentences.
r Overall,oursalesperformed in the lastquarter.
z Saleswereup here,for the reasonthatthetelecomsteamperformed
3 Pharmaceuticalswasat the otherendof the scale.Salesperformed
4 Theguyson thefinanceteamperformed , as ever.
5 ThelTsectorperformed
lfowwrite the phraseswith performedon the scale.Thefirst onehasbeendonefor you.
performed pcrformed
-tffit!_
performed
nere.
6 ilatchthetwopartsto makesentencesandquestions.
r Areyousayingthatwe
z Canwe comeback
3 CouldI just
4 CoutdI make
5 Doyouthinkthat
6 Hotdon a moment,
7 lf I understandcorrectly,
8 Justa moment,please.I
9 Whatdo youthink
10 Wouldyou like
a a pointhere?
b aboutthatooint?
c promisewe'[]comerightbackto you.
d interruptyouthere?
e shouldcancelourstandat the tradefair?
f to makea pointhere?
g to yourpointin a minute?
h we shouldincreaseour marketingbudget?
i please.We'[lcomebackto yousoon.
j you'resayingthatwe shouldendthe contract.
Whichsentences(r-ro) canbeused...
a to interruptsomeoneto makea point?
b to askfor otherpeople'sopinions?
c to stopsomeonefrominterrupting?
d to clarifusomeone'spoint?

UNIT3 CanI makea oointhere?
Listentoflvemanagersata Europeanconstructioncompanymeetingtodiscussproblemswith
aproiect.Thereareseveralinterruptions.Howaretheydifferent?
Listenagainandcompletethe sentencesfromthe diatogue.
ona , please,Harry.
z We'Il right to you.
a pointhere?I possibly
CanI
Sorry
here,Norman?
you,but canI makea here?
,go
JlI ERluP_r'!9 lgLlIlI_
i.
j In Engtish-tanguagebusinessenvironments,interruptingis generatlyseenasacceptable.However,it's
j importantto makeinterruptionspolitety.Makingyourpointloudlyoverwhatsomeoneelseis sayingcan
{ be regardedas rude.
i Youcanbeginan interruptionby saying:
Sorryto interruptyou or (moreformatty)
I opologizefor interruptingbut ...
Thiscanbe followedby a quickquestionto the speakerto givethemthe chanceto acceptor reiectthe
interruption.Usequestionssuchas:
CouldI comein hereT
CouldI mokeo point here?
CouldI just commenton that?
Therearealsowaysto interruptwithoutwords.Forexample,clearingyourthroator coughinghelpsyou
to getsomeone'sattentionbeforeyouinterruptthemto makea pointor aska question.
l,27
{r0lo
?7
{,Dto
(>
14
3
4
5
6

| -8.
I ListentoextractsfromtwomeetingsandsaywhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueIt E-15
"
rv
or fake Fl .
Ze I UNtf3 CanI makea pointhere?
r Meetingr is aboutoutsourcingthe logisticsandlTdepartments.
z Ralphdoesn'twantto useBuxtonServicesbecausehethinkstheycanhandlethings
in-housebetter.
3 Jiltinterruptsbecauseshedoesn'thearwhatStephensays.
4 Meetingz is abouta takeoveroffer.
5 Robertis worriedabouttheshareholders.
5 SuewantsGordonto explainsomething.
l{ow listen againandcompletethe sentencesfromthe dialogues.Whichsentencesareusedto
dealwith interruptionsandwhichareusedto ask for clariffcation?
StephenHoldon, holdon.CanI makea pointhere?
Ralph Sorry but I haven't l whatI wassaying.
liU Sorryto interruptbut I'mafraidI don'treallyfollowyour
StephenCoutdI ; finish?
Robert Thatshould...
Gordon Robert.We'vealreadyagreedthat we ...
Robert lf I couldjust a, please.
Sue CanI saysomethinghere?I'mafraidthat I don't
Gordon Justa 6.You'llget a zto speaksoon.
Beth No,wait, let'shearwhatSue
8.Sue?
ASr(l{G FORCLARTF|CAT|Oil
lf youdon'tunderstandwhatsomeoneis saying,youcan,of course,tellthemwitha sentencesuchas:
l'm afroid I don't understandyour point here.
Youcanusethe followingphrasesin boldto beginsentencesaskingsomeoneto ctarifutheiropinion:
Areyousoyingthot we should have investedin new projectmonagementsoftware?
Doyou meonthat it was a mistaketo lower our prices?
Isyourpointthat we need to start productionearlierthan planned?
It'salsopossibleto seekclarificationby usingpositivestatementsinsteadof questions.Forexample:
lf I understondyou correctly,you needmore time to finish the report.
Youcanclarifuwhatyou weresayingwith phrasessuchas:
WhatI meantto say is ...
I wastrying to say that ...
I
T
u
T
n
l
AJDIO
r>
<3r5-16

UNIT3 CanI makea pointhere?| 29
9 Unscramblethewordsto makequestionsthataskforclarification.
a that/saying/more/are/we/staff/shoutd/you/hire/?
Areyou aayingthat weshouldhiremoreataffi
b anothermeeting/thinkthat/weshould/doyou/have/?
c thetrainingbudget/is/that/we/yourpoint/shoutdincrease/?
d upgrade/sayingthat/areyou/ourlTsystem/weshould/?
e hiscustomers/pointthat/isyour/spendmore/timewith/heshoutd/?
f youfeel/conferencenextyear/weshouldincrease/do/thelength/ofthe/?
ilowmatchthequestionsabovewith thasestatements.
r @ Theannualconferencewasnot
successfulbecauseit was
tooshort.
z I Ourcomputersystemistoo
old andslow.
3 f] Hespendstoomuchtime
in the office.
t, | | Thefinanceteamis too small.' t-__-l
5 | | Wedon'tinvestenough
moneyin stafftraining.
5 n Weneedmoretimeto talk
'Hespendstoomuchtimeintheoffice.'
aboutthis.

30 | UNIT3 CanI makea pointhere?
1O Workin groupsoffourto practisegivingopinions,makinginterruptions,andasklngfor
clarification.Lookat theUsefulPhrasesbeforegoingto thePartnerFlles.
PartnerA
PartnerI
PartnerC
PartnerD
u-sjFul-_PJlrAtEc
"-
Givingyouropinion
I think...
Weshould...
I'mconvincedthatwe should...
I tendto thinkthat it's...
It seemsto methat...
Interrupting
Sorrybut ...
Sorryto interrupt,but I feelthat...
CoutdI comein here?
I'dliketo makea pointhereif I coutd.
CanI iust saysomethingaboutthat?
Askingfor ctarification
l'm not sureI understandwhatvou're
saying.
Doyoumeanthat...?
Areyousayingthat...?
lf I understandyoucorrectly,youthink
that...
Deatingwith interruptions
Holdon,please.
,
We'l[comebackto you in a moment.
Justa second,please.I promisewe'll
comerightbackto you.
tl Putthe wordsin the right orderto makesentenceswith expresslonsfromthls unlt.
r there could just you I interrupt?
z that you what point about think do ?
3 moment come promise back you I in right to a we'll
4 something add you tike would to here?
5 | saying sure you're understand I'm what not
6 upgrade tike I correctly tike you you understand if would to
7 you saying the we that increase are should budget ?
8 I'm don't I really afraid follow argument your
Yourcompanyhasdecidedto qppointanEngligh
languagetedeher.Calla meetirganddiscltssthe
requiremontsforihispost.WhenyouhavqdecHed
onthejo6 description,designanadverttOattrAct
goodcandidates.
Filer5,p.59
File9, p.58
tite5,p.5Z
Fiter9, p.6o

UNIT3 CanI makea pointhere?| 31
Readthe article aboutvideoconferencing.Doyou agreethat havingavideoconferenceis more
difficult than havinga face-to-facemeeting?
Digitalmeetings:The grourthin video conferencing
n increasingnumberof cornpaniesare
turning to video conferencingto bring
people togetherfor meetings.Experts
predictthatin thenext l0 years,videoconferences
will replaceas much as 20o/oof businesstravel.
Sowhy has there been such growth in digital
meetings?
'Thekeydriverbehindour
useof videoconferencingis
cost,' says Martin Pile,
Directorof CorporateCom-
municationswith a multi-
national engineering com-
pany.'Thetechnologymeans
that we cansaveon airfares
and hotel bills. Our people
canmeetmorefrequentlyat
lesscost.
'Video conferencesalso
enableus to bring together
peoplewhowouldnevermeet
if the technologywas not
there.'
FionaClark,a communicationsconsultantwho
advises companiesabout digital conferencing
solutions.isalsoenthusiastic.But shesoundsanote
ofcaution.
'Companieshaveto realizethatthetechnologyis
not free.Video conferencingsystemsare getting
cheaperandmorereliable,but companieswhich
wantto usethemstill haveto makesomekind of
investment.This can be a particularproblemfor
smallandmedium-sizedcompanies,'saysFiona.
'There's also the problem of people feeling
comfortablewith videoconferencing,'sheadds.
Accordingto thearticle,whataretheadvantagesanddisadvantagesof videoconferencing?
Canyouthinkof otherprobtemsuserscanhavewithvideoconferencing?Howcouldthese
problemsbe overcome?
Haveyoueverparticipatedin a videoconference?lf so,whatdidyoulikeor dislike?lf not,
wouldvoutiketo?
'Meeting via a video link-up definitely beats
discussingissuesvia email. But usersoften find the
video conferenceenvironment difficult at first.'
Fiona often recommends companies that adopt
video conferencingto invest in training for the staff
who will meet eachother dieitallv.
'People have to realize
that a meeting via video
conference is not the
same as a face-to-face
meeting. People can feel
nervous and act in a
different $'ay than usual,'
Fiona comments.
'We provide training
whererl'evideotapeusers
and get them to notice
their nen'ous tics on
screen. If people play
with their hair or put their
hands in front of their
mouths because they're
nen'ous. rve can draw
their attention to this and help them to appearmore
relaxed,'she adds.
'We also advise people to slor*'dosn their body
language.Hand and body gesturescan sometimes
seemmoreaggtessiveon screen.'
'And don't forgetthateveryoneshouldr*'earname
tagsduring video conferences.'saysFiona.
Having a video conferencemay not be aseasyas
going to a real meeting.especiallyat first. But more
ofour meetingsaregoing to beheldvia video link-up
in the future. It looks like u'e're all going to need
someof thattraining.
a
a

32 1
ruDto
r-)<J
77
Youshouldnever
importantpartof solvingproblems.
lf it leadsto conffict,that'sgreat.
Conflictis creativeandproducesdisagreeduring meetings.
Theaim shouldalwaysbe to
reachagreement-
solutions.
Whichopinlon(s)doyouagreewlth?Discussyouranswerswlthapartner.
Threemanagetsatthepan-EuropeanconsuttancyProflexisarebrainstormingquestionsto ask
iobcandidatesinagroupintervlew.Listenandtlck@ ttresixtopicstheywanttoaskquestions
about.
I'm not sure I agree
budgets
deadlinesvs quality
flexibility
juniorandseniormembers
T
T
l
T
projectplanning
staff
teambuilding
timemanagement
A,DIO
A217
Disagreementisan
tr
n
T
r
Howwill themanagersaskfortheparticipants'opinionsduringtheinterview?Listenagainand
markthephraseorwordyouhear.
r Wouldyouliketo commenton / respondto that?
z Doyou thinkso I agree?
3 Tetluswhatyouthink about/ of this.
4 Doesanyonehaveanyopinionson / wantto sayanythingabout that?
5 Whatdoyou feel/ think aboutthat?
6 Doesanyonewantto giveustheirviews/ ideasonthis?

lNlT4 l'm notsuret agree| 33
r,0to
? 3 ilowlookat howthemanagersexpressopinions.Llstentothemeetingat Proflexlsagainand
' completethesentencebeginningsbelow.
, we needto thinkof somedifficult...
, I thinkwe shouldask...
, I thinkthatwe haven'tasked...
, it'smoreimportantto meeta projectdeadline...
, that'sprobablya[[we'ilhave...
uoto
.-)
'=j Llstenagainandmatchthe completedbeginnlngs(r-S) wlth tha endings(A-E)to make
sentencesfromthe dialogue.
r-=1
A l-Z ...timeto tatkabout.
B LJ ...thanto guaranteethequalityof the projectoutcome.
C ll ...questionsaboutprojectmanagement.
D L--] ...aboutprojectplanning.
E Ll ...enoughquestionsaboutteambuitdingin the past.
4 Unscramblethe wordsto makesentenceswhichaskfor or expressopinions.Canyou saywhich
is which?
r about/ourwebsite/youthink/whatdo/redesigning
What do you think about redesiqning our webaite?
z herjob wett/inmy mind/thatshedoes/well,/there'sreallyno doubt
'I
,T
rIAnd
+[
5n
I to finish/weshouldtry/thereport/morequickty
4 thatI shouldchair/theannualgenera[meeting/doyouthink
5 shouldinvest/thatwe/ina newlTsystem/it'sabsolutelyclear
6 instead/foryou/isit possibte/tofly to Manchester
Z a newcorporateimage/butlthink/l couldbe wrong/thatwe need
8 fee[that/byshipinstead/sendthegoods/weshould/doyou
Askingforanopinion:t Expressinganopinion:

3a I UNIT4 I'mnotsureI agree
5 Sometlmesouroplnlonsarestronger- orweaker- thannormal.Readthesentencesbelow
anddecldewhethertheoplnonsglvenarestlong,neutralnortentatlve.Compareyouranswers
wlth apartner's.
strong neutral
trn
TI
tentative
r I couldbe wrong,but don'twe needto investmore
time in this project?
z Wecouldsendhimthe minutesof thismeeting.
3 Theretno doubtin my mindthatJessshouldspend
moretimeon planning.
4 Wemightneeda biggerteamfor thisproject.
5 Weshouldtakea breakat halfpasteleven.
6 Mikedoesn'tspendenoughtimewith hiscustomers.
7 | do thinkthatJohnshouldcometo the nextmeeting.
8 ls it possiblefor herto spendlesstimein meetings?
9 Therecanbe no doubtthatwe havea problemhere.
I
I
T
T
n
tr
T
T
L_J
tr
tr
I
n
n
l
u
tr
l
tr
tl
T
I
l
A'DIO
&18
6 Somemanagprsercdlscusslngwhetherlo outsourcethelrcompany'sfacltltymanagement.
Ustenandtkk @ theapproprlatebor.Whatdotheythlnk aboutCnlg's proposal?
r Helen
z William
3 Claire
4 Oliver
T
n
tr
n
n
n
n
a up to a point.
b whetheror not I agreewithCraig'sproposa[.
c can'tagree.
d withthis,Oliver.
e a fantasticidea.
n
I
I
I
tr
ruD|o
or8
llowmetchthetwopartsto mtkescntencesfiomthedlrl€ue. Llstenegalnto checkyour
an3rett
r Absolutely.I thinkitl
z I can'tgo along
3 I'mafraidI
4 | supportthe idea
5 l'mnot sure

7
UNIT4 I'mnotsuret agree| 35
.DISAGIEETEilT*AI{D
€R|nTIsH,-
Whenexpressingdisagreementor criticismin Englishit'snormallybestto usepoliteanddiplomatic
language.Thisis especiallyimportantwhentalkingto nativeBritishEnglishspeakers,who- insteadof
saying/ disagree!- will often use(andexpectto hear)phrasessuchas:
l'm afraid I can't agree.
Generally,you canexpectbusinesscontactsfromthe USto be moredirectin theiruseof languagethan
theirBritishcounterparts.SomeBritishpeoplecanbe a ]ittlesensitiveaboutbothofferingandaccepting
criticism.Thisis probablywhy oneof the mostfrequentlyusedphrasesfor disagreeingin BritishEngtish
is:
Yes,but... . Thisreallymeanssomethingtike:'(l'msaying)Yes(becauseI don'twantto be impolite)
but ...(l don'treallyagreewithyouat all).'
Workwith apartner.Readouttheoplnionsanduie thephrasesyouhayelearnedtosaywhethel
youagree(stronglyortentetlyely),dlsagree,orarenotsure.
. Thebiggestproblemforbusinessesis thattherearetoomanyrulesandregulations.
. Wespendfartoomuchtimein meetingsandnotenoughtimedoingrealwork.
. lt'smoreimportantto havea fewcustomerswhospenda lotof moneythana lotof customers
whospendverylittlemoney.
. Unemployedpeopleshouldhaveto doworkforthemoneytheyreceive.
Workwlthtwopartnets.Youaremeetlngtwocolleaguesfromthesenlormanagementteamof
yourcompanyto dlscussthreelmportantpoUcylssues.Asyoutalk abouttheissues,practls€
asklngforandglvlngoplnlonsuslngthephrasesyouhavetearned.
PartnerA
Yourtopicis whethersmokingshouldbe
allowedin thecompony.
Tellyourpartnerswhatyouthinkaboutthe
subjectandaskfortheiropinions.
PartnerB
Yourtopicis whetheracceptingandgiving
giftsto businessportnersshouldbeollowed.
Tel[yourpartnerswhatyouthinkaboutthe
PartnerC
Yourtopicis whetheryoushouldallow
employeestoworkfromhome.
Tellyourpartnerswhatyouthinkaboutthe
8

A'DIO
o19
ge I Ulf 4 I'mnotsureI agree
9 tarry Hodglnsls tetllnghlsteamaboutaprcducthehasrccentlyseenat aconfierence!
YolceoverlP.Llstento thlsertractfromthemeetlngandseywhetherthesentsncesaretruep
orfatsef,.
r Larrydoesn'tthinkthattheyshouldusetheircomputerstomakealltheirphonecalls.
2 Hewasn'tveryinterestedin VoiceoverlP beforehe wentto the presentation.
3 Thequalityof servicefor VoiceoverlP is excellent.
4 Thetechnicaldemonstrationsat the conferencewerenot veryimpressive.
5 Metroloopsaidthe calldidn'tgo throughbecauseof a firewall.
Listcn rgeln andcompletethe sentenceswlth words from tte bor. Howdlptomatlcls the
crlticismin the diatogue?
ThecurrentVoiceoverlPsolutionsare,frankly,rather
l
n
n
l
T
A'DIO
o19
2
3
4
5
6
Thetechnicaldemonstrationsthattheygavewere
Itallsoundsa bit_.
Oneofthedemonstrationswasactuallyreally
It wasall a little , I mustsay.
Thetechnologyisstillpretty
Ssmetimesyoumaywantto expresscriticismin a stronganddirectway:
Yourperformancehasbeenterrible/awful.
But,mostofthetime,youprobabtywantto expresscriticismin a lessdirectandmorediplomatic
way.Forexample,youshouldavoidusingnegativewordssuchastenlbleandaurful:
Htsperformancewasar.ful, Hisperformancewdsnotverygood.
Herreportwas&>t1fbfte. Herreportwasnotrallyupbffindod.
Youcanalsousewordssuchasgomcrhrt andablt to softencriticism.
Yourworkan theprojed wasgmerhat unsotisfactory.
Hermanagementof theteamis o blt disappointing.
Elpressionssuchasunsatlsf,adory,belowsbndsrd,andinadequatecanbesoftenedin thisway:
Thequalttyofseruiceis mtteollydsfaebry.
Thevoicequaw ls ndrullyupbfin&rd.
Yourwo* is notreollyadequote.

UNIT4 I'mnotsureI agree| 37
1O Rewrltethesesentencesto makethecrltlcismlessstronganddirect.
r Thequatityofyourcompany'scustomerserviceis unsatisfactory.
5orry, but the quality of your companyb austomer aervice ia not really aatiafactory.
z Yourmanagementstyteis terrible.
3 Theservicewe havereceivedfromMetroloopis mediocre.
4 Theresultsof yourmarketresearcharedisappointing.
5 Yourapproachto problemsolvingis inadequate.
5 Geofflsoresentationwasbelowstandard.
TSAKII{GPOSITIVESUGGESTIOIIS
; Onewayto stopargumentsisto makepositivesuggestionsthatmightsolvetheproblem.
: Therearea numberof ohraseswecanuseto dothis:
lsuggestthotwe/theyaskfor anothermeetingwiththesupplier.
I Lefsoskherto stortworka weekeorlierthanplonned.
1 English-speakersoftenputsuggestionsintheformof questions:
: Whydon'twecontacta fewalternativesuppliersT
Couldn'twecometo theofficeat theweekendT
t Whotoboutifyouwrotehera letterexplainingourposition?
Thisensuresthatthesuggestiondoesnotsoundlikea commandoranorderandmay
' makeit easierforotherpeoptet: aCree.toil ToaCre,:,saytThat'sa goodidea.
tl Workwith a partner.look at the problemsandchoosewhichsolutionyou prefer.5uggestthe
solution using phrasesfrom aboye.
r Problem:Ourcurrenttelecomsprovideris too expensive.
Possiblesolutions:
a savemoneyin otherareas
b try to renegotiatethe contract
c getout of thecontractandfindanotherprovider.
z Problem:Ourcallcentreooeratorsarerudeto customers,
Possiblesolutions:
a providemoretrainingin customercare
b replacethe existingteamwith staffwho havea morepositiveattitude
c providecustomercareviathe Internet.

38 | UNIT4 I'mnotsureI agree
t2 Workwlththreepartnersto practiseerchanglngoplnlons.LookattheUsefulPhrasesbefore
going to the PartnerFiles. PartnerA File6, p.57
PartnerB File11,p.58
PartnerC Fiter7,p.6o
PartnsrD File16,p.59
13 Putthewordsintherightorderto makesentenceswlthexpresslonsfromthisunit.
r that about what think you do ?
z good that's very suggestion a yes
3 be sure not honest so that I'm about to
upto agree point
USEfUtPHRASES
Askingforopinions
Doyou agree?
Whatdo youthinkaboutthat?
Wouldyou liketo giveusyourviewson this?
Wouldyouliketo commenton that?
Doyouthinkweshoutd...?
lgreeing
I thinkyou?eright.
That'sright.
Agreeingstrongly
Absotutety.I thinkthat'sa fantasticidea.
I agreecompletely.
Yes,that'sdefinitelytrue.
that all afraid don't at with agree I
we about visit person if company the
Agreeingtentatively
I thinkwhatyou'resayingis trueup to a
point.
I supposethatmightbetrue.
I guessI seewhatyoumean.
Disagreeing
No,I thinkyou'rewrongthere.
I'mafraidI can'tagreewith youthere.
I don'tthinkthat'strue.
Yes,but ...
I completelydisagree.
Makingpositivesuggestions
Howaboutif we ...?
Coutdn'twe just...?
Whydon'twe ...?
Whataboutif you...?
how in?
5
6
t'm
Youare organizinga barbecuefor.twentypeople.
Youwant tgprovide hamburgerpin warm rolls,
Naked
potatoes,dalad,chilledwine,and soft drinks. Ypu
want to slt down to eat Ft 2 p.m Youhavethe
barbecueequipmentbpt nothirg els6.
work in pairs to-jtlepap a prpiqpt mggilement plan.
Remember:sometaskscan happensimultaneously.
What time do you needto start?

UNIT4 I'mnotsureI agree
Whetherwe like it or not,conflictssometimeshappenduringmeetings.Whichpieceof advice
for resolvinga conflictdoyou agreewith most?
lgs
t, Thebestwayto stopan
argumentisto getthepeoplewho
disagreeto brainstormsolutionsto the problem.
Thisworkswell becauseitb a positiveapproach
to the situation.Arguingis so negativeandsuch
a wasteof time.Brainstormingsolutions
helpseveryoneto workas a
teamagain.
An effectivewayto enda conflictis to get
the peoplewho disagreeto saywhatthe others'
positionsandopinionsare.Mostconflictshappenbecause
peopledon'treallyunderstandwhatthe othersarethinking.
lf theyhaveto thinkhardaboutthis,it takesthe heat
out of anydisagreement,no matter
howstrong.
An argumentshouldbe
D stoppedby gettingthe peopleinvolved
to saysorryto eachotherfor lettingthe situation
get out of control.lf peoplesaidunpleasantthings
to ea{h otherduringthe argument,theyshould
apologizefgr havingsaidthem.ThatSthe only
., waythat everyonecanmoveon and stop
thinkingaboutthe conflict.
ThereSno waythat
a solutionto a disagreementcanbe
foundif peopleareangryandupset.Themost
importantthingthat peopleneedto do to stopan
argumentgoingfurtheris to cooloff Theycando
this bytakinga shortbreakfromthe meeting,
sptashingsomewateron theirfaces,
andgettingsomefreshair.
Whatareyourstrategiesfor
resolvinga conftict?
Whatwasthe lastconflictyou
hadto deatwith?Howdidvou
resolveit?
Doyouthinkapologiesare
importantin business?

It's a deal
Yourpartner
r Howimportantis consensusin
the meetingswhichyouattend?
2 Dothe meetingsyouattend
usualtyendin agreementor
disagreement?
3 Whatsortof factorsgenerally
leadto disagreement?
4 ls it normallypossibteto
discussthepointcausing
disagreementuntiIagreementis
reached?
5 Whatculturaldifferencesin the
waythatagreementis reached
haveyounoticedwhenmeeting
peoplefromothercountries?
Stephanie Heller works for the UK subsidiary of a German company. Listen as she discusses
upgrading the company's lT network with a potentiat supplier and say which statements are
true@ orfalsef. Correctthefalsesentences.
r Stephanie,lsobel,andAndrewhaveneverdiscussedthistopicbefore.
z Stephaniewould[iketo ordersomenewPCs.
3 Stephaniemightordermorethan55 PCsif thepriceofferis lowenough.
4 lsobelandAndrew'scompanywillinstat]thenewPCs.
5 Stephaniedoesn'twantto paymorefor after-salesservice.
ruDto
at
n
T
n
T
n

42 lUN|T5 lt'sadeal
5 Workwithapartnerto practisethedialogue.Swaproleswhenyouhavefinishedandrepeatthe
exercise.Usetheexpressionsfromexercise4.

"/

,/

,/

PartnerA
Makeyouroffer:5o mobilephonesfor
€6,ooo
Reviseyouroffer:offera rzolodiscount.
Reviseyour offerfurther:offeran r8o/o
discount.
Offera full-serviceafter-salespackageas
well.
PartnerB
Rejecttheoffer:it3 tooexpensive!
Rejecttherevisedoffer:it'sstilltoo
expensive.
Youfindthismoreinteresting:buysome
timeto thinkaboutit.
Acceptthe offer.
WORKI]IGTOGETHERTO
REACIIAGREEIIEIIT
It canbe frustratingwhensome
participantsput off a decisionanda
meetingendswithoutagreement.
In an internationalcontext,it3 important
to understandthe reasonsforthis.For
instance,in south-eastAsianculturesit's
the groupthat'simportantin decision-
making.An individualwill seldomagree
to somethinguntila consensushasbeen
reachedamongcolleagues.
Otherbusinesscultures(suchasthose
of southernEurope)tendto be quite
hierarchica[.Executivesmaypostpone
reachingan agreementuntiltheyhave
discussedthe issuewiththeirboss.
So don'tpushfor agreementrightaway:
Youmaybe pushinga potentialbusiness
partneraway.Instead,researchbefore
a meetinghowthe decision-making
processworkswithinthe business
cultureyou'redeatingwith.

6
UNITS lt'sadeal l.l3
Thereareanumberof phraseswhlchareoftenuseddurlnganegotlatlon.Completethemlnl-
dlatogueswlth phrasesfromthebox.
Wedon'thavea lot of time.Canyou deliverthe machinepartsby nextFridayat the latest?
' howmanyotherorderswe'reworkingon rightnow.I'll checkand
' earlytomorrow.
aaa
c
D
aaa
E
F
aaa
G
H
aaa
I
I
aaa
K
L
Weoftenshowthat we aretalkingaboutpossibilitiesin a negotiationby usingconditional
forms.
Condltlonalr(to showthat somethingis tikelyto happen)
lfthe pricels right,we'llbeablebbuy more.
lf youprepare some different options for me, l'll comporethe prices and specifications,
then makea choice.
Condltionalz(to talk aboutthingsthat arenot certain)
Couldyou deliver the system quickly if wegove you the order?
Wewould bepreporedb poy more if wereceiveda good level of serviceback-up.
Notethat in conditional2, the pastsimpleformof the verbis usedin the rf partof the sentence.
i If youpreporedsomedifferentoptionsfor me,I couldcomparethepricesandspecifications,
A
B
Whatsortofafter-salesservicecanyouofferus?
Thereare j. l'[ emailyou detailsof our differentservicepackagesand
youcanchoosewhichoneyouwant.
Canyougivemea roughideaof howmuchthiswill cost?
No,sorry.Atthemoment
soonasI can.
a howexpensiveit will be.I'll letyou knowas
Willyou havea problemfinishingthe reportbyThursday?
Yes,I will.ls there 5on whenI canfinishit?CanI giveit to youa week
laterthanplanned?
Thanksfor takingthe time to talk to metoday.Now,what'sthe nextstep?
Well,l'I 6 andsendit to you.Thenyou canseein detaitwhatwe can
offeryou.
Niceto seeyouagain,Sue.
Niceto seeyoutoo. I wantedto meetyoutoday l fromlastweek.
thenmakea choice.NOT:lFyeurreu{darepare-

tf4 lUN|T5 lt'sadeal
7 Completethe sentenceswith the correctform of the wordsin brackets.
r lf they (give)usmoretime,we wouldbe ableto lookat ourlogistics
problemsin moredetait.
z l'[[giveyoua t3o/odiscountif you (place)yourordertoday.
3 | wouldbe preparedto ptacetheorderif you
servicedea[.
(offer)usa betterafter-sales
4 lfwe (confirm)thejob offertoday,he'ltbeableto startworkat the
beginningof themonth.
I lf I (come)to yourteammeetingat 10a.m.,wouldI beabteto leaveat
IO.midday?| haveanotherappointmentto get
I Workwith a partnerto do the following role-playto practisetalking aboutpossibilities.
SalesManager
Youareasalesmanagerandyouaremeeting
yourboss,thesalesdirector,torequesttwomore
membersofstaffforyourteam.Youhavemadea
noteofsomeofthebenefitsthatcanbeexoectedif
yougetthenewstaff.Useconditionalsentencesto
explaintothesalesdirectorwhathe/shecanexpect
ifyourteamisincreasedbytwonewsalespeople.
. Iwrense overallsaLu
. Proide better serwce
far LmPortantcLiznts
, FLn/ m'orcnevl
ct4,stoYn&rs
o (1e;tYnrrewwY ftovn
atstlvg ct't'stowwrs
)
15Yoiaereaseia
overalltalet
7Aolai4creasein
salegto impo*ant
clienfr
75to inereasein
profit{rom new
cvttemett
SalesDirector
Youareasalesdirectorlisteningtoarequestfrom
yoursalesmanagerfortwomoresalespeoplefor
hisiherteam.Useconditionalsentencestoexplain
theincreasesinperformanceyouexpectifyou
agreetotheincreaseinstaff.
9 Listento a meetingof the boardat Gripex,anAmerican-ownedparts manufacturer
for the automotiveindustry,wherethe directorsaremakingan importantstrategicdecision.
Choosethe wordor phrasewhichcorrespondsto what you hear.
r ChristianwantsGripexto continue/ stop productionin Germanyandto decrease/ increase
productionin Slovakia.
z Nadineis against/ supportsChristian'sidea.
3 Reginaabstains/ supportsChristian'sproposal.
4 They'llmeetagainon Tuesday/ Thursdaynextweek.
5 Theboard'sdecisionwill resultin 43o / 34o peoplelosingtheirjobs.
A'DIO
r><J
2l

UNITI lfsadeall{5
tDto
Ato21
Llrtenegdn. *r"r" *e centencesfron the dlelque wlth wordsfion the bor
rl to theboardthatwelookat shuttingdownourplantin Germany
andmovingproductionto ourplantin Slovakia.
z lsanyone to secondChristiant
3
4
5
6
7
I'll it.
Letb thisto a
?
iscarried:7 votes'fof,none'againsf,andone
Allthosein
Regina.Areyou
Christian's
11 look et s.ntancor r-E bslow.Whlchof lhc functlonr Inthechartwouldyouuscthcr 5or?
1 So,we'vedecidedto advertisethejob in TheTimesandto holdinterviewson 3othAugust.
2 So,doeseveryonethinkweshouldgivethecontractto ZafodLtd?
I Allin hvour?Thoseagainst?
4 CanI assumethateveryoneis nowhappywiththedecision?
5 Canwehavea quickshowof hands?
6 fustto confirm,we'regoingto increasethesizeofthecallcentreteamandprovidemore
customerservicetraining.
7 Arewereadyto makea decision?
8 Let'sdecidewhatwewantto do now.

46 lUN|T5 lt'sadeal
t2 Duringa meeting,the chairpersonhasto beawareof the time. Findsentencesthat canbeused
to controlthe timingof discussions.
try
3 Let's
until
6 Remember,
we
again
to
time.
without
again
don't
,90
finish
on
5 Letl
remember
',, have
much
4we
time.
the
deadlihe
time.
2 We're
running
time.
need
over
next
stitl
meet
five.
by
.i :
finish
,r'to
only
unless
withinr
through
out
of
73l":T;H"T:i,1lH:::,Til:,Tilf1T:;llf:Iil:l:trtr@ iiiiiliiiii:;j,r
USEFULPHRASES
Rejectinganoffer
Sorrybut I'mnot ableto go alongwiththat.
Unfortunately,I won'tbe ableto takeyouup
on that.
I'mafraidI can'tagreeto that.
I don'tthinkthatwouldbe oossible.
Acceptinganoffer
I thinkwe'llgo forthat.
Thatsoundsgoodto me.
Thatwouldbe great.
Askingfortimeto consider
I'dtikea coupleof daysto thinkthisover.
CanI get backto youon that?
I needsometimeto thinkit over.
R & D: 5olo
Travel: 5o/o
Facilities:5o/o
Sundriesi5o/o :
:
i
t4 Putthewordsintherightorderto makesentenceswithexpressionsfromthisunlt.
1 can we'tl
soon get
discuss we can
again?
you can't with
I I'm there
think couple to
l'd over this a
we on
d) 05
you to
back that
later that
afraid agree
tike of
oays
Yourcompanyis underthreatfrom competitors.
Youhaveto reduceoverheadsby 20o/o.Yourpresent
costs are dividedas follows:
Salaries:400/o
Marketing: 1Oo/o
Administration:100/o
Rent: 1Oo/o
Communications:100/o:'
Holda meetinganddecidehowyou can makethe
necessaryeconomres.

UNITs lt'sadeal 147
Readtheartlcteaboutinterculturaltrainingforbuslnesspeopte.Doyouthinkintercultural
awarenessis asimportantasforeigntanguageskillswhendoingbusinesswithcompanies
fromothercountries?
Building intenculturalbridges
for neachingbusiness
agneements
Discussionsbetweencompaniesfromdifferentcountriesoften
breakdownbecauseofalackofcutturalunderstanding.
Trainingininterculturalawareness- aswellaslanguages- isthe
keytobridgingthecommunicationgap,writesSamanthaCole.
More and more companiesare increasingtheir
languagetrainingbudgetsto equipstafffor global
business.But languagealoneisn'talwaysenough.
According to Neil Calder, communications
consultant,languagetraining is only half the
story. 'Companiesfrom different countriescan
usuallydealwith languagedifferencesbyleaming
foreignlanguages.But they alsoneedto be able
to deal with cultural differences.That's where
interculturaltrainingcomesin.'
Accordingto Calder,the differencesbetween
northem and southem Europeancountriesare
well documented.Executives from Germany
whowantto dobusinessin Italy or Spainneedto
understandthegroundrules.Meetingsarerarely
usedto solveproblemsandreachagreementin
thesecountries.Instead,meetingsare used to
spreadinformationaboutdecisionswhich have
alreadybeenmade.
Similarly,businesspeopleneedto understand
the cultural systemsof respectand deference
when they meet up with Asian counterparts.
For example,seniorexecutivesfrom Japanwill
only discussbusinesswith peoplefrom thesame
managementlevel. The messagefor companies
hereis, don't sendanybodybut seniorpeopleto
meetingswith Japanesecounterparts.
Calder has tumed his attention recently to
centraland eastemEurope(CEE). So what has
he foundout?
'Thereareasmanybusinessculturesin CEE
as there are countries,but we can make a few
generalizations.For one thing, you can expect
to discussa proposalat a meetingright through
to the agreementstage.But, in the end,verbal
agreementsarenot takenseriouslyin theregion:
yourbusinesspartnerswill wantto seesomething
in writing outlining the agreementin the days
afterthemeeting.'
So how doesCalder seethe future of inter-
culturalawarenessin business?
'Companiesare still investing more money
in improving foreign languageskills. I want to
seea situationwhereinvestmentin intercultural
awarenessis on the same lel'el as language
training.Onlythen*'ill companiesbeableto send
out well-roundedexecutivescapableof building
businessbridgesin theglobalenvironment.'
. In yourexperience,aretheremoresimilaritiesthandifferencesin thewaythat peoplefrom
differentculturesbehavein meetings?
r Whatculturaldifferenceshaveyouencounteredwhendoingbusinesswith peoplefromabroad?
. Whatadviceaboutbusinessmeetingsin yourcountrywouldyou offerto someonefromanother
culture?

roro
n
!oto
.-:
20
2 LlstenagalnandsayInwhlchorderthe speakersdlscussthe followlng polnts.
f sPecifications| [ Price I
l_J *ftersale s*rvice
I aetiverv,.le:itsI
3 ilatch the two partsto makesentencesfromthe dialogue,then listen agalnto check.
r I wantto explore
2 I'msurethatwe canwork
3 lf the priceis right,
4 Let'sleavethe issueof price
5 Onceyou'vedecidedwhatyouwant,
6 We'l[get backto you
4 t{hlchsentencemeansthesameasthefirst:AorB?
r Unfortunately,I won'tbe ableto take
youup on that.
z CanI get backto you on that?
3 | thinkwe'llgo forthatproposal.
4 ld tikea weekto thinkthisover.
5 | needto runthispastmy boss.
Whichofthesentences(r-5)canyouusefor:
accepting?
rejecting?
buyingmoretime?
UNITS lt'sadeat 141
a we'llbe ableto buymore.
b untillater.
c we'l[beableto getthemoutto youwithina week.
d somethingoutforyou.
e assoonaswe canon that.
f thepossibilitythatyoucouldhelpuswiththis.
;-l
_IJ quantity
%-
n
T
T
T
n
T
T
T
T
T
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
l'mafraidI can'tacceptyouroffer.
I'mafraidI can'tagreewithyou.
CanI disagreewithyouaboutthat?
CanI giveyouan answerto that later?
We'[[probablyagreeto that proposal.
We'llprobablyattackthatproposal.
I needa weekto considerthis.
I needa weekto understandthis.
I needto makesuremvbossdoesn't
findoutaboutthis.
I needto getmy boss'sapproval
forthis.
I*l instattatlon

.i
o So, I think we're finished
for today
Answerthequestlons,thenworkwith a partner
andcompareyouranswers.
Areallthemeetingsyouattendrecordedin a setof minutes?
Doyouandyourcolleaguestaketurnsto taketheminutes,or doesthesamepersonalwaysdo
thejob?
Ingenera[,howdetailedaretheminutesfromyourmeetings?
A,DIO
I
Whoaretheminutesdistributedto?
Dlscusstheadvantagesanddlsadvantagesof mlnuteswlthyourpartner.
t ThemanagementteamoftheScottlshfabrlccompanyTweedTradltlonis dlscussing
redeslgnlngthecornpany'sofflces.Llstento theendofthemeetingandcorrectthesix mistakes
ln themlnutes.
Meeting to discuss redesign/move - 18tMarch 2 p'm'
Astion PolDts:
Mike to ' contast two interior designers for guotations for office redesigm
. look for interior desigm software (irrportant!)
Sueto.talktomarketinginDundeeabouthiringafacilitydFlrager
Andy to ' talk to old building company (did work for us atready)
. get ctuotes from two other builders
Steffr to ' look for new computers
Nick to r pl,anhow to keep office running smoothly during building work
John to r talk to lawyers
Next meeting: 8s March 2'30 P'm'

UNIT6 So,I thinkwe'refinishedfor today | 49
{JDIO
:?
2 Gompletethesentenceswlth wordsfromthebox.Thenlistenagainto checkyouranswers.
congludesr frXr iust r overa partlcipati6n. thrOUghr Wrap
r Let's
zl
thingsup there.
wantto go
a timefor our nextmeeting.
our businessfor today.
whatwe'vedecidedthisafternoon.
3 Let's
4 That
5 Thanksforyouractive thisafternoon.
6 Wereallygot
T Krl{GfStr{UTES
a lot of business.
Minutesstartwiththe dateof the meetinganda shortdescriptionof whatthe meetingwas
about.Thereshouldalsobe a tistof whowasat the meetingandwhowasnot ableto attend:
Meetingto discussChristmaspublic relationsactivities- st November
Present:Norman,Una,Frazer
: Apologies:Frenco,Connor
Usualty,it is bestto keepthe minutesshortandsimple:
, Johnto talk to bank
Votesareusuallyrecorded:
' Thecommitteedecidedby 5 votesto t to hirea newsolesperson.(Thismeansthat six people
votedfor hiringa newsalesperson,andonepersonagainst.)
AiJqto
-r:l 3 www.plush-furnlshlngs.comis anonlinesoft furnishingsretaiter.Listento a meetingof the cost
21, accountingteamandanswerthe questlonsbelow.
r ls Kenhappywiththeoutcomeof the meeting?
z WhatarePetraandAlexgoingto do?Why?
3 WhodoesEdwardhaveto meet?Why?
a WhatdoesKenthinkof Edward?
5 WhatdoesKenhaveto do next?
6 Whatarethe actionpointsfromthe meeting?

A,DIO
A 4 tow llstento ameetingbetweenmanagersatacatlcentreandtakethemlnutes.Usethe
24 exampleinexerciser.
50 | UNIT6 So,I thinkwe?efinishedfortoday
AOB
Thelastitemon moreformalagendasis usuallyAOB(AnyOtherBusiness).This
describesa partof the meetingwhichis reservedforthe discussionof itemswhichare
not identifiedon the agenda.In a meetingwithan agenda,the chairpersonoftenasksat :
the beginningwhetherparticipantswantto discussanythingunderAOB:
Doesonyonehoveanythingthey'dlike to bringup underAO8?
lf a subiectcomesup duringa discussion,but is not directlyrelevantto the discussion,
a chairpersonmightaskthatthe itembe deattwith underAOB:
Couldwe dealwith thatpoint underAOB?
Thiswayhe/shecanmakesurethatthe agendais followed.
5 ilatch the two partsto makesentenceswhichcanbeusedto talk aboutAOB.
r 0K. lsthereanyother a overthatpointunderAOB?
2 Let'stalkabout b up underAOB?
3 | havean item c businessthatwe needto discuss?
4 lsthereanythingthatanyonewouldliketo bring d forAOB.
5 Coutdwe talk e thatwhenwe getto AOB.
AJDIO a
A O Listento threedialoguesofpeoptesying goodbyeaftertheirmeetingsandmatcheach
2v27 dlaloguetothecorectdescription.
r Thespeakersknoweachotherwel[.
z Thespeakersworkin the sameoffice.
3 Thespeakershavenevermetbeforetoday'smeeting.
AJDIO
€ 7 Listento thediatoguesagainandcompletethesentences.
25-27
r lt reallywasa to meetyouin personat [ast.
z Thepleasurewasall
3 Andthankyoufor thetimeto showmearoundyourplant.
4 Well,Mr Marks,Matthewwill showyou backdownto
5 | hopethatyou havea iourneyhome.Goodbye.
6 Wetl,thanksfor alongthisafternoon.
Z ltwasa asalways,Catherine.
alogue
n
T
T
Di
8 Havea safe backto Birmingham.

youagarn
UNIT6 So,I thinkwe?efinishedfortoday | 51
Catherine.9 Bye,and
10 Car[and
Anyway,
Seeyou
Garythanksfor
I'dbetter
HiGaryhiCarl,
Thanksagainfor...-1 our
teammeetingyesterday- it wasreally
usefulto haveyouthere.Attachedare
theminutesofthemeeting.
I spoketo AndreandSabineafterlunch
yesterdayandtheyagreethatthese
lessformal'inter-team'meetingsare
a goodideainadditionto ourexisting
interdepartmentalmeetings.
WhattimeareYougoingforlunch?
Letme
-2.
Cheers,
Julie
ustoday.
I haveanothermeetingin fiveminutes.gorng.
for Iunch?
8 Aftera meeting,peopleoftenwrite follow-upemails.Gompletethe threeemailswith wordsfrom
the box.
attached. attendingo in contacto greatlt . impressed.
interesting. know . spendingr taking
guys72
DearMrs Cooper,
I am writingto thankyou onceagainfor
3the time to meet me yesterday.
It reallywas most
aroundyour plant.I was verv .
by your expertisein rapid r-iooring;; f""t-
certainthat this willguaranteeyou successwith
yourexpansionplans.
It was alsofascinatingto hearaboutyour plans
to enterthe Chinesemarket.Wewill be proud
to offer you any assistancethat we can in this
venture.
Pleasenotethat I havenow spokento our sales
engineerMr Kovakwho will be ;
withyouinthenearfuture.
I 7look forward to our next
meeting.
Best regards,
BernardMarks
DearSilvius'
Itwasgoodto seeyouagainon Friday'Please.findanoutline
ofourdiscussion
8to thismail'
Thanksfor
g timelookingatournewrange
ofwater-resistantfabric=s.Aspromised,I h3v9.10wsentthe
;ili;. to you- theyshouldbewithyoubyWednesday'
l lookforwardto seeingyouinAugust'Havea niceholiday!
Bestwishes'
RogerConibear

sil UH|T6 So.I thinkwe'refinishedfor todav
9 Workwithtwopartnersto role-playameeting.LookattheUsefutPhrasesbeforegoingto the
PartnerFiles.
USEFULPHRIE:
Endinga meeting
Let'sfinishhere.
I thinkthat'severything.
I thinkthat bringsusto an end.
Confirmingdecisionsandactions
So,to sumup whatwe'vedecided...
Right.I'mgoingto ...
We'vedecidedto ...
Tracy,you'll...
Thankingsomeonefor a meeting
Thankyouall for comingin today.
Thankyouverymuchforyourtime.
Thankyou foryourhardwork.I thinkwe've
comeup witha lot of goodideas.
Sayinggoodbye
I lookforwardto seeingyou (alDagain
soon.
I hopeyou havea safejourney.
PartnerA Filerz, p,58
PartnerB File18,p.50
PartnerC Fitez, p.56
i
Havea safetrip home.
1O Putthe wordsin the right orderto makesentenceswith expresslonsfromthis unit.
r here up things wrap tet's
2 again time once you and today thank the for taking come
us visit
3 safe home that I journey you have a hope
4 get meeting minutes better another t5 so I l'd going have
5 again seeing forward to I soon look you
to
tn
I think it is
timeto finish.

UNIT6 So.I thinkwe?efinishedfortodav | 53
Haveyou everdonebusinesswith peoplefromanyof the countriesin this guide?lf so,doyou
agreewith the informationgiven?
MixingBusinessandPleasure
Gonearethedayswhenbusinesswasonlycarriedoutinofficesandconferencerooms.
Nowpeoplemixbusinessandpleasureina rangeofsettings.Butwhataretherulesof
businessentertaininginaninternationalcontext?Here'sa briefguide.
China In commonwithother
Asianbusinesscultures,theChineseare
keenon lavishbusinessentertaining.
Largeeveningmealsareverymuchontheagenda
here.Expectyourhosttoorderenoughtofeedtwelve
peoplefora partyofsix.Themealwillprobablyalso
consistofseveralcourses,soit'sagoodideat0pace
yourselfandnoteattoomuchearlyinthemeal.That
said,goodmannersrequireyoutoleavelotsofthefood
uneaten:finishingoffyourfoodwillsendtheinsulting
signalthatyourhosthasnotorderedenoughtosatisfy
yourhunger.
It'snota badideato practiseeatingwithchopsticks
beforemakingyourbusinesstriptoChina.Yourhosts
willcertainlyappreciateyoureffortsto usethemand
youshouldavoidaskingforEuropean-stylecutleryif
atallpossible.
Ja pa n ffyou'redoingbusinesshere,
youcanexpectto belavishlyentertained
afterofficehoursbyyourhost,whowill
pickupthebillforfoodanddrinks.lntheevenings,
businessisprettymuchofftheagenda,s0don'texpect
toputthefinishingtouchestoadealoversushi.Whatis
firmlyontheagenda,however,isdrinking- andquitea
lotofit.Japanesebusinesspeoplecanconsumeagood
dealof sakiduringanevening'safter-workparging
andenjoytoastingoneanother.lfsomeoneoffersyoua
toast,besuretoreturnthecompliment.
Karaokeisanespeciallypopularactivityforentertaining
businesscontacts.lf youaretakentoa karaokebar,
thegoldenruleistotakepart.lt'simportanttoshow
yourhoststhatyou'reagoodsport,evenifyoursinging
voiceisnotexactlyyourstrongpoint.
Bfitain Forserbreakrastmeernss.
They'redeeplyunpopular,eveninfonrvard-
lookingLondon.The Britishpreferto
dobusinessoverlunch0r,onoccasion,dinner.The
lattermealis,however,usuallyreservedforpleasure,
allowingbusinesscontactsanopportunityto getto
knoweachothera littlebetter,sodon'texpecttotalk
shopoveryourlambcutletandtrifle.
0neafter-hoursvenuewherebusinessandpleasurecan
bemixedisthepub.'Goingtothepub'issomethingof
anationalpastime,nolesssoamongbusinesspeople
thanthepopulationasawhole.lfyourBritishbusiness
contactstakeyouto thepub,bepreparedto drink
theBritishversionof beer.Expectsomethinga little
differentfromthelight,refreshingbeersyoumaybe
usedto.Britishbeer- warmandflat- isanimportant
nationalproduct.Makesuretotryit beforemovingon
tosomethingalittlemoredrinkable.
USA Breariasrmeerngs.*nerc
fl
businessis mixedwithsmokedsalmonEl
arruscramoreoeggs,nave
'ecome
prrny I
popularhereinrecentyears.lfyou'reinvitedtoone,set
youralarmclockforanearlyrise:suchmeetingsoften
getunderwayasearlyas7a.m.lExpecttodiscussa
lotofbusinessoveryourbreakfast.
BusinesspeoplefromtheUSarealsokeenonafter-
hoursentertaining.lt's not unusualto receivean
invitationtohaveaneveningmealwitrabusinesshost
athisorherhome.lfyoureceiveaninvihtionlikethis,
remembertoturnuppuncfually.Youcanalsoexpect
a tourof yourhost'shomebeforetheeveninggets
underway.Bringflowersorabotfleofwine.I
a
a
Aftera meetingis finished,do youpreferto socializewithyourbusinesspartnersovera drinkin
a pub,or wouldyourathertakethemto a culturaleventsuchasthetheatre?
Canyouofferadviceaboutsociatizingwith peoplefromotherculturesthatyou haveworkedwith?
Whatadvicewouldyouoffera visitorto yourcountryabouttheafter-hoursbusinessculture?

54 1
Testyourself!
Across
r Anotherwordforprepare;l' il ...oquotationforyouandsendit toyoubyFriday.
4
I
9
10
13
74
t6
20
21
22
23
(zwords- 4, z)
If I cometo yourteammeetingot 70a.m.,...I beobleto leaveat middoyT
Toholda meetinglaterthanoriginattyplanned:llnfortunatelyI can't mokeourmeetingon
Tuesday.Couldwe...themeetingto Wednesday?
Anotherword forbadly: Salesperformedvery...here.
Anotherphrasefor [ef's finish ourmeetingnow; Let's,..thingsup here.
Tosupporta motion:l'il... that.
Tostarta discussion:Whowontstoget theboll...?
Theoppositeof I thinkyou're obsolutelyright: I completely....
Torejectanofferor suggestion:l'm aftaidI won't beobleto ...youupon that.
Thevoicequalityisterrible:Thevoicequalityis notreollyupto ....
A groupof peoplewhoworktogetherin a department:.EveryTuesdoyall thepeoplein my
deportmentget togetherfor a quick...meeting.
Exptainingwhysomethinghashappenedl.I thinkthiswosasa,,,ofsomebodplanningonour
port.
25 NotexactzConyougivemeo ...ideaof howmuchthis will cost?
Down
z Anotherword forschedule:Couldyou,,,a meetingwith the marketingossistontfor next
Tuesday?
3 Tospeakwhensomebodyelseisspeaking: CanI ...here?
5 Anotherwayto sayexamine:Ourobjectivetodoyis to ...thenewadvertisingcampaign.
(zwords- 4, z)
6 (Dan)can'tcometo the meeting:(Dan)hassenthis....
7 MayI ...TimMcCarthyto you?Tim,thisis CharlotteBone.
rr Tochangethe time: Conwe...ourmeeting?l'm afraidI won't havetimeon Tuesdoyafter oll.
rz Tomakea democraticdecision:Right.Let'sput thisto a,,,,
15 Thewrittenrecordof a meeting:Haveyougot o noteof thatfor the..., MsMichoels?
r7 A personin controlof moreformalmeetings:A ...shouldfinishthemeetingon time,evenif a
decisionhasn't beenreached.
r8 Anotherword forsoysomethingabout:Doesanyonewantto ...on that?
r9 Anotherwayto sayLet'sstortnow: Let'sget...to business.
z4 Thelistof topicsto bediscussedin a meeting:Colinhasaskedmeto drawupa quick....

PartnerFiles
PartnerB
Youneedtoarrangea meetingwithtwocolleagues.
Youwanttodiscusstheproblemsyouareallhaving
withthenewcustomerservicesoftwareyour
companyhasinvestedin.Findatimethatsuitsyou
alltomeet.Donotshowyourdiarytoeitherofyour
partners.
ilonday
/2.3O-2.OO/uartrnBrown
2./5-5.3O/ et navlTPmanaaer
Iuesday
q./5-//.OOHartetbprnentatton
//.3O-/.OOProqressneetuqwithClaudtdandAndrav
Wednesday
/2.OO-2.5OBusrneasd*ehpmentmetnq
3.OO-5.45 Preparef1rA.7 ltd netinq
lhursday
4.OO-5.3OMeetnqt0diivasspa*sbleco-operatron
withAZltd
Fdday
A//-day tean -buldnqwa&shop
PartnerC
Youarechairinga meetingbetweenyourcompany,
HoldermaticLtd,amanufacturerofvending
machineswhereyouareheadofproduction,and
NoblePaints,a manufacturerofindustrialpaints.
YouhavejustfinisheddiscussingwhetherNoble
Paintscandevelopa newpaintforyourvending
machines.
Starttherole-playbyconcludingthemeeting.Make
sureyoudothefollowingthings:
. endthemeeting
. asktheotherstosummarizewhatactiontheyare
goingtotake
r thankyourvisitorfromNoblePaintsforcoming
. showyourvisitortothereceptionareaandsay
goodbye.
Afterthemeetingisover,writealistoftheaction
pointsandincludeit inanemailtoyourcolleague
andtherepresentativefromNoblePaints.
PartnerA
YouworkforBurotechPLC,anofficeequipment
companywithbranchesacrossEurope.Thefirmhas
recentlybeentakenoverbya UScompanywhich
wantstoimplementitsqualitycontroImethodsat
Burotech.TheUScompanyhasselectedstafffrom
alllevelsofthebusinessto actasQualityWorkers
andisholdingaseriesofmeetingstolaunchthe
project.
Youarethechairpersonatoneofthesemeetings.
Welcometheotherparticipants.Explainthe
obiectivesofthemeetingtothem.Askthemto
introducethemselvesandprovidesomebackground
informationabouttheirworkforBurotech.
of vnunvg:
/.urktuYw YnilAber'tto tntrodwe
thsnsdvu."ir^"r*
qualutYcontrolY'n&tfud'
7i^,1*ur* i"densabouttuwtW
-iia
cawbcLwPletwentedat
b*rotu'h.
PartnerC
YouaretheassistantfinancemanageratGenexsis
Ltd.Yourbosswantsto buysoftwarelicencesfrom
AccountSoft.He/Shewantsyourentireteamof
5opeopletohavelicences.Eachlicencecosts€5o.
He/Shethinksthatthelicencesaretooexpensive
andwantsadiscountofaboutzoo/ofor5olicences.
lf he/shecan'tgetAccountSoftLtdtoagreeto a
high-enoughdiscount,he/shewillorderfewer
licencesto beusedbykeystaffmembers.Yourboss
willnegotiatethenumberofsoftwarelicencesyou
willbuyandthepriceyouwillpayforthem,butyou
areenthusiastictotakepart.Trytospeakasmuch
aspossiblebymakingpoliteinterruptions.

PartnerC
You'rea memberofthepublicrelationsteamat a
petfoodmanufacturer.Yourleadingbrandof dog
foodis Friskeee.Unfortunately,you'vejustheard
thatFriskeeecontainssmallquantitiesof244T.This
isa chemicalwhichisnotdangerousforanimalsto
eat.lt can,however,causesicknessin humansif
theyeata lotof it. Foodsafetyguidelinesdo not
provideclearrulesaboutZ44Tandthereisnolegal
reasonwhyyoushouldwithdrawtheproductfrom
shops.Thisisstrictlya potentialpublicrelations
problem.
Youaregoingto havea meetingwithother
membersofthePRteamto decidewhatto do.Here
areyournotesforthe meeting.
PartnerFiles
customers.Instead,thereshouldbea customercare
websitewherenewcustomerscanbuyinsurance
andexistingcustomerscanfindanswersto their
questions.
Yourreasonsforthinkingthisare:
r Aneffectivewebsiteis notcheap,butyouwould
savemoneyonstaffandtraining.Thismoney
couldbeusedfordesigninganddevelopingthe
website.
. Cal[centreagentssometimesgivecustomers
inaccurateinformationandaresometimesnot
verypolite.A websitewouldletyoucontrolthe
quatityofyourcompany'scustomercare.
PartnerC
Youworkfor BurotechPLC,anofficeequipment
wantsto implementitsqualitycontrolmethodsat
Burotech.Thecompanyhasselectedstafffromall
levelsofthebusinessto actasQualityWorkersand
isholdinga seriesof meetingsto launchtheproject.
YouareoneoftheQuatityWorkers.Thechairperson
wi[[askyouto introduceyourselfandyourworkfor
thecompany.Usethefollowingdetails:
Name:Useyourownname
lobtitte:AdministrativeAssistant
Basedin: Useyourowntown
foinedcompany:2oo2
PartnerD
Youworkfor BurotechPLC,anofficeequipment
Burotech.Thecompanyhasselectedstafffroma[1
levelsof the businessto actasQualityWorkersand
is hotdinga seriesof meetingsto launchtheproiect.
Youareoneof theQualityWorkers.Thechairperson
wittaskyouto introduceyourselfandyourworkfor
Name:Useyourownnome
lobtitle:PurchasingTeamLeader
foinedcompanyi2oo4
lsz
The,sitwtitt+
seritw h?Altl4
h)ill wt cdwe any
prablemr, but it cauld
be a seriiw public relatitwr problext.
We
. wt tell oo+yovl.eoutride thz carnpany
abow the.prabtem
-ry.*
Friskux.from ail tfups
. erlwllytnte ZtpITfrorn Frkkzez iw
fl/1& lWnre
Duringthemeeting,aswe[[asofferingyour
opinions,youshouldinterrupttheotherparticipants
andaskthemtoclarifiTwhattheyaresaying.
PartnerA
Youarea memberofthecustomercare
managementteamatthesubsidiaryof a British
insurancecompanyinyourcountry.Youaremeeting
withthreeothermanagersto discusspossible
changesin thewayyouoffercustomercare.
Thecompanyhasa callcentrewith55agents.z5of
theseagentsspendtheirtimemakingcallsto
potentialcustomers.Theother4oagentsanswer
callsfrompotentialandexistingcustomers.
Thecompanyhasbeenlookingatweb-based
customercareforseveralyears.Youthinkthatcalt
centreagentsshouldnolongeranswercallsfrom

58 | PartnerFites
PartnerB
You'rea memberof thepublicrelationsteamat a
petfoodmanufacturer.Yourleadingbrandof dog
foodis Friskeee.Unfortunately,you'vejust heard
thatFriskeeecontainssmalIquantitiesof244T.This
theyeata lotof it. Foodsafetyguidelinesdonot
provideclearrulesaboutZ44Tandthereis nolegal
problem.
membersof thePRteamto decidewhatto do.Here
areyournotesforthemeeting.
thts u )4ntd serww,Problem!?uPLe
areProb^bLYnntSoLvgto ut tho
' trY to kLePthLr tvfirvnanow
confidexttaL
, k; Frt^rlcu*LwtheshtPs
,'Jthi*t" zW frow Frukze*Lwthe
fit*re
."pvspotrea PkstratEYto shlw,n)eare
'a|mr**,g zW frowt
..tl^"-
do!
ioi, toi tf themedwft'nds
"o^t
dbout thz Problew
Duringthemeeting,aswellasofferingyouropinion,
youshouldinterrupttheotherparticipantsandask
themto ctarifowhattheyaresaying.
PartnerA
YouworkforAccountSoftandhavea meetingwith
theGenexsisLtdfinancemanager.He/Shewantsto
ordersoftwarelicences.Eachlicencecosts€5o.
Normally,youdo notofferdiscountsunlessthe
customerordersat least4o licences.Thestandard
discountis 5%.However,youreallyneedto getthe
orderfromGenexsisandarereadyto bemore
flexibteaboutpricethanusual.Negotiatethe
numberofsoftwarelicencesyourcustomerwillbuy
andthepricehe/shewillpayforthem.Tryto getan
orderforasmanylicencesaspossiblewiththe
smallestpossiblediscount.
PartnerB
managementteamatthesubsidiaryofa British
changesin thewayyouoffercustomercare.
Thecompanyhasa catlcentrewith65agents.z5of
potentiaIcustomers.Theother40agentsanswer
callsfrompotentiaIandexistingcustomers.
customercareforseveralyears.Somepeopleare
sayingthatcallcentreagentsshouldnolonger
answerca[[sfromcustomers.Instead,theythink
thereshouldbea customercarewebsitewherenew
customerscanbuyinsuranceandexisting
customerscanfindanswersto theirquestions.
Youdisagreestronglywiththeidea.Youthinkthat:
. Thecompanywouldn'tsaveanymoney.A
customercarewebsitewouldbeveryexpensive
andthecompanywilllosemoneyascustomers
whodonotwantto dobusinessonthelnternet
goto otherinsurers.
o Quatityof serviceproblemsshouldbesolvedby
providingmoretrainingforcallcentreagents.A
'frequentlyaskedquestions'pageonthewebsite
willnothelpcustomerswithindividualquestions.
Also,peoplewillnotwantto buyinsurance
productswithoutfirstspeakingto a ca[[centre
agent.
PartnerA
Youarea salespersonfor NoblePaints,an
American-ownedpaintcompanywhichsellsmainly
to industrialcompanies.Youaremeetingwithtwo
productionengineersfromHoldermaticLtd,andyou
havejustfinisheddiscussingthepossibitityof
developinga paintfortheirnewrangeofvending
machines.
Inthemeetingyouhaveagreedto:
. arrangea meetingbetweenyou,NoblePaints'
headof productdevelopmentandthepeoplefrom
Holdermatic.Youwilttryto setupthe meetingfor
two weeksfromnow
. startworkondevelopingthenewpaint
. drawupa timetablefortestingthenewpaint.
Oncethemeetinghasfinished,writeanemailto
yourcontactsat Holdermaticthankingthemforthe
meetingandconfirmingtheactionyouwi[[take.

PartnerA
Youneedto arrangea meetingwithtwocolleagues.
Youwantto discusstheproblemsyouareallhaving
companyhasinvestedin.Findatimethatsuitsyou
a[[to meet.Donotshowyourdiaryto eitherofyour
partners,
PartnerB
YouworkforBurotechLtd,anofficeequipment
Burotech.Thecompanyhasselectedstafffromall
levelsofthebusinessto actasQualityWorkersand
ishotdinga seriesof meetingsto launchtheproject.
YouareoneoftheQualityWorkers.Thechairperson
willaskyouto introduceyourselfandyourworkfor
Name:Useyourownnome
Jobtitte:RegionalLogisticsManager
Joinedcompany:7997
PartnerFiles| 59
PartnerA
You'rethemanagerofthepublicrelationsteamat a
petfoodmanufacturer.Yourleadingbrandofdog
foodis Friskeee.Unfortunately,you'vejust heard
thatFriskeeecontainssmallquantitiesof 244T.This
theyeata lotof it. Foodsafetyguidelinesdonot
problem.
Youaregoingto chaira meetingofthePRteam
whereyouwittdecidewhatto do.Themeetingcould
beratherstressful.Participantswillprobablyhave
somestrongviewsonthesubjectandinterrupt
eachothera tot.Tryto befairinthewayyouhandle
interruptions.Youraimisto a[[owa discussionin
whicheveryonecantakepart.
PartnerD
changesinthewayyouoffercustomercare.
Thecompanyhasa ca[]centrewith65agents.z5of
potentiaIcustomers.Theother40agentsanswer
ca[[sfrompotentialandexistingcustomers.
sayingthatca[[centreagentsshouldnolonger
answercallsfromcustomers.Instead,theythink
Yourjobisto chairthemeeting.Youareuncertain
whereyoustandontheissue.Listencarefullyto
yourco[leagues'argumentsandaskthemto clarifu
whattheyaresaying.Bytheendofthemeeting,
decidetogetherwhatto do.
Monday 10-12.30Meet StephzvtStory
Tuesday 1.00-G.00Interwewfor teotn
auktaw job
Wednesday Iw Harwbwryowbwtness
Thursday q$4.15 lvteeftryh ducws nrxt
qunrteri targett with C4wrgeCox
11.3012.30Alalt FwvlatuIorcNab
to dkcwt nftware problevw
Friday AII-day te,ovw-butldtvg workshtp

3O I PartnerFiles
PartnerC
changesinthewayyouoffercustomercare.
Thecompanyhasa caltcentrewith65agents.z5of
theseagentsspendtheirtimemakingca[[sto
potentiatcustomers.Theother40agentsanswer
callsfrompotentialandexistingcustomers.
sayingthatca[[centreagentsshouldnolonger
answerca[[sfromcustomers.Instead,theythink
Youdisagreewiththeidea.Youthinkthat:
r Makingandmaintaininga websitewillcostas
muchasthecaltcentreagents.
o Awebsiteisessentialforgoodcustomercare.
However,customerswanthumancontactaswell,
socallcentreagentsareimportanttoo.
PartnerB
Youarea productionengineerat HoldermaticLtd,a
companywhichspecializesinthemanufactureof
vendingmachines.Youaremeetingwitha
salespersonfromNoblePaints,anAmerican-owned
companywhichproducesindustrialpaints,andyou
havejustfinisheddiscussingthepossibitityofthe
companydevelopinga newpaintforyou.
Inthemeetingyouhaveagreedto:
. makesamplesofthemetalandplasticsurfaces
whichyouneedthepaintfor
r sendthesamplesto yourcontactat NoblePaints
. drawupthetechnicalrequirementsforthenew
paint.
Afterthemeetinghasfinished,writeanemailto
yourcontactat NoblePaintsthankinghim/herfor
themeetingandconfirmingtheactionyouwilltake.
PartnerD
You'rea memberofthepubticrelationsteamat a
petfoodmanufacturer.Yourleadingbrandofdog
foodis Friskeee.Unfortunately,you'veiust heard
thatFriskeeecontainssma[[quantitiesof 244T.This
isa chemicalwhichis notdangerousforanimalsto
theyeata lotof it. Foodsafetyguidelinesdo not
problem.
membersof thePRteamto decidewhatto do.Here
areyournotesforthemeeting.
-lhe couldbe verybadfor
lLLrcowpntvlytrw4ge.We shtuJd be
covnpldelyhtnzrt abaut thz prablerw.
Othzrwke, there vwgW be d scqndal
tf the rneda ftnds aut.
We
, tell tht publir. tyny,roedwtdy!Honzsty
k thz best poh.cy
. revntveFrisku*,fram all shtps
. eJtvmtnateZW from Frirksi,
and avtwuwethe chavgesta
the yn&dtt
Duringthemeeting,aswellasofferingyouropinion,
youshouldinterrupttheotherparticipantsandask
themto clarifywhattheyaresaying.

PartnerFiles| 61
PartnerC
Youneedto arrangea meetingwithtwo colleagues.
Youwantto discusstheproblemsyouareallhaving
companyhasinvestedin.Finda timethatsuitsyou
allto meet.Donotshowyourdiaryto eitherofyour
partners.
PartnerB
Youarethefinancemanagerat GenexsisLtd.You
wantto buysoftwarelicencesfromAccountSoft.You
wantyourentireteamof 5opeopleto havelicences.
Eachlicensecosts€ 5o.Youthinkthatthelicences
aretooexpensiveandwanta discountofabout
zoo/ofor5olicences.lf youcan'tgetAccountSoftLtd
to agreeto a high-enoughdiscount,youwillorder
fewerlicencesto beusedbykeystaffmembers.
Negotiatethe numberof softwarelicencesyouwill
buyandthepriceyouwillpayforthem.
E
B
c
o
=
1.50-10.50 Angela Stevenr
5.00'G.00Brainslormingmeeling
tr
!
t
o
g
Out o{ the o$,ce all Aay
t
E
E
6
g
g
1.00-70-00 Dentist appoi ntmenf
71.00-7215Planningneefing about PR
eVenlt lo r nebtproAuct Iau nch
6
E
EI
F
70.00-72.10 A eet wilh le am IeaAers
5!15-6.00 Tearn meelin9
et
.L
All-Aay team-b vilding wo rkshop

GI
Answerkey
4f
5a
6b
1e
2C
3o
Page5
r (modelanswers)
Dialoguer
a somechangesto a contractwitha customer
b Mondayat 2 p.m.
c nospecifiedtime- meetingwill beopen-ended
Dialoguez
a a iob offer
b Mondaynextweekat 7.3o
c aboutan houranda half
behetdinmyofficeonWednesday,zgthJuneat
10.20a.m.
Lookingforwardtoseeingyouthen.
Regards
DearMrsFranks
Itwasa pleasuretospeaktoyoutoday.I'dliketo
takethisopportunitytothankyouforagreeingto
meetme.
Iwouldalsoliketoconfirmthedateandtimeofour
meeting:3.oop.m.onFriday,12Septemberatyour
headofficeinBristol.
Shoutdyouhaveanyquestionsinadvanceofour
meeting,pleasedonothesitateto getintouchwith
me.
Iverymuchlookforwardto meetingyouon
12SeDtember.
Yourssincerely
pageI
7 (modetanswer)
CarolineJonesiscattingtochangethetimeofher
meetingwithCharlesArmitage.
Theydecideto movetheirmeetingtothefoltowing
Wednesdayathalfpastsevenintheevening.
r terribty 6
z afraid 7
3 reschedule 8
4 come 9
5 out 10
mind
postpone
suit
inconvenience
hetped
b ltcoutdn'tbehelped,I'mafraid.
c Sorrytoinconvenienceyou.
d I'mterribtysorry.
e Doyouhaveanothertimeinmind?
f Somethinghascomeup.
p8t3 1(,
5 order
6 attend
Z take
4 attend
5 hotd
6 chair
page6
z Cal[r
1 schedute
2 about
3 make
4 about
5 pran
6 open
7 see
8 Perhaps,inperson
9 do,have
ro suit
rr afraid
12 on,at
13 forward
d
b
o
e
32
3
4
5
6
1,8
5'6
2,4,9,70
3'17
7,72,73
Whenwouldyoutiketo meet?
HowaboutThursdaymorningat11.30?
HowwouldnextTuesdaybeforyou?
Yes,thatwouldbefine.
I lookforwardto meetingyouthen.
pase7
TheemaiIfromMarkPetersisinformal;theemail
fromCarotineJonesisformal.
pegc8
z Thanksforagreeingto meetwithme.
3 | woutdatsotiketoconfirmthedateandtimeof
ourmeeting:
4 Shoutdyouhaveanyquestionsinadvanceofour
meeting,pleasedonothesitatetogetintouch
withme.
5 LookingforwardtoseeingyouonMonday.
6 Regards,
(modeIanswers)
HiDavid
Justaquicknoteto letyouknowthatthemeetingto
discusstheproblemswiththecleaningcontractwill
9 r book
z email
3 circulate
4 reserve
PrtBtr
112 arrange
3 cancel
4 postpone
5 chair
6 attend
1 postpone
2 arrange
3 cancel
a4
c2
d5
e3
J6

131 Coutdwe schedulea timeto meetnextweek?
2 Perhapswe couldmeetandgo overthedetailsin
person?
3 | tookforwardto meetingyouthen.
4 Givemea catlif you haveanyquestionsbefore
the meeting.
5 I'mafraidI haveanotherappointmentat that
time.
page12
12 ACTOSS
4 cancel
6 suggest
7 suit
ro agenda
Down
r brainstorming
z take
3 postpone
5 circulate
8 team
9 chair
ptgc 14
11C
zb
3a
page15
z r see,How
2 Fine
3 verywell
4 Have,met
5 Pleased
6 meet,too
7 Let,introduce
8 do you
3 Dialoguer: work,sport,famity
Dialoguez:weather
Dialogue3:work
page16
4rb-G
2g-c
3 a -D
4t -B
5 d -F
5 e -A
7 c -E
Pagery
6r/
2 X.He'sfromthecompany'sadvertisingagency.
3 I. Shecan'tattendthemeetingandhassenther
apologies.
4/
5/
5 ,x.She'llanalyseproblemsintheexistingsales
strategy.
r nice,everyone
z begin,introduce
3 sent,apologies
4 makeit
5 agenda,discussing
6 business
7 Wetcomingparticipants- 3,5
Introducingsomeone- b,4,5
Reportingapologies- c,d,z,9
Statingtheaims- e,7
Startingthemeeting- f,8,ro
Answerkey | 63
r looking,about
z finishing
3 talking
4 going,over,about
5 at,about
p88e19
ro (modelanswers)
A
Right.Wetcome,everyone.Nicetoseeyouatl.Before
wegetgoingthismorning,letmeiusttellyouthatJim
Hendrywon'tbejoiningustoday:unfortunatetyhe'sitl.
Now.DoeseveryoneknowMargaretHart?Margaret
isjoiningusforthefirsttimethismorning.Thanksfor
coming,Margaret.
OK.Weteheretotalkaboutourlastadvertising
campaigntoday.We'vegotlotsto getthroughsotet's
getdownto business.
B
He[[o,everyone.Thanksforcomingatongthisafter-
noon.We'regoingtofinalizeourplansfornextyear's
satesconferencetoday,Butbeforewebegin,canIjust
introduceHarryFinchfromoureventmanagement
agency?Thanksforcominginthisafternoon,Harry.
OK.NowunfortunatetyJil[CooperandBobCulbertcan't
ioinus.Jilt'sonhotidayandBob'sonatrainingcourse.
Right.That'senoughfromme.Let'sgetstarted.
ur d A 5
2c Br
3e c7
4,5,6 b D 2
7a E3
pege20
rz r sales
2 three
3 members
pa8e21
4 Key
5 feedback
6 catalogues
r3 (suggestedanswers)
Formal:AGM.sharehotder
Informat:brainstorming,kick-off,team,progress
r5 r Letmeintroducemycolleague.
z lsthisthefirsttimeyou'vecomeherefora
meeting?
3 DoeseveryoneknowMsMargaretSmith?
4 | hopeyouhada pleasantlourney.
5 Tettusa bitaboutyourself.
5 Let'sgetdownto business.
7 lt'sniceto meetyouinperson.
8 Saltycan'tbewithustoday.
pege 18
8rd 4e
zf 5 a
3b 6c
910
2a
3e
4c
5b
4D
5a

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