Workplace English Podcast

When you think about it, so much of business involves influencing others. Sometimes, the influence effort is effort-less. On other occasions, though, you will encounter objections. In this podcast, you will hear techniques that work, that help you get your message across. They will make your job of persuadin...

In this podcast lesson you're going to listen to an employment interview. Pay close attention to the questions asked by the interviewer – he uses a range of common interview question types.   Situation Vivian Ren is a Human Resources Assi...

When you’re given verbal instructions, it’s essential that you clarify anything you don’t understand or are unclear about. Even if you feel you’ve understood everything correctly, it’s a good idea to repeat back the instructions to whoever gave them to you to ensure that you haven’t misunderstood or miss...

In the modern business world, teleconferencing is an essential means through which business associates in different places communicate with each other. Teleconferencing may be done through audio or both audio and video channels, and is a cost-effective way of conducting business meetings with colleagues and associates who are in different parts of the same c...

Making successful negotiations is an important part of working in a professional context. It is important to remember that you should define your position clearly before you enter a negotiation. In order to define your position, you need to be sure about the following aspects of your position: 

Imagine you have just entered an elevator. As the doors start to close, a man enters and smiles briefly. A moment later, he starts to chat and asks what you do. The response you give is called an “elevator speech.” As the name suggests, the speech must be short enough to provide essential details before the door opens again and th...

Interrupting may sound like an impolite aspect of conversation, but it can be effective if it is done with politeness and skill. Interrupting may be preceded by non–intrusive gestures such as lifting your hand so that the person speaking is not caught by surprise. People speaking in meetings often tend to get carried away with what they are saying ...

Telephone selling forms a major part of many companies’ sales strategy. Some people find the technique comes naturally but for others it is very difficult and they need to make a conscious effort to develop the necessary skills. In this podcast lesson we present you with two telephone dialogues showing the right way and...

Concluding a deal is the final part of a business negotiation, and often takes place after several talks and discussions have been held to negotiate every aspect of the deal. Participating in the conclusion of the deal usually means that you have been present at earlier discussions, or are familiar with the possibilities that have already been d...

Introduction You might think that ending a conversation is as simple as saying “Goodbye,” but it’s a little more complex than that. It’s also quite different from culture to culture. In western culture, we inform the person we are talking to gently by giving hints that we need to go or want the c...