Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Thanks for tuning in to the Skills 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Tim Simmons. Before we jump into today’s lesson on dealing with problem people, I just want to mention the coming release of our Course Builder web app. With Course Builder members can create courses by searching and saving lists of BEP lessons. Take a look at the demo video on BusinessEnglishPod.com to see just how quick and easy it is to make a personalized course.

So we’ve been looking at how to deal with problem people. These are the people in your office that drive you nuts because they’re so difficult to get along with. Last week we talked about how to deal with specific incidents with difficult individuals. Today, we’re talking about ongoing issues.

This is about the constant thorn in your side, whether it’s your colleague, your boss, or the angry IT guy that gets annoyed every time you ask for some simple information. In extreme cases, these people can make you dread going to work each day. So how can we deal with them?

First of all, if there’s someone causing problems on a continual basis, it’s best to act instead of just reacting. Don’t let the issue, and your resentment, fester. The problem won’t go away all by itself, and if you wait to deal with it, there’s a good chance that when you do, you’ll lose emotional control. So be proactive. You know there’s a problem, now go out and do something about it.

And doing something about it means talking to the person causing the problem. But before I get into that, there are a couple of other tips I want to share with you. The first is to document everything. Keep a log or journal of the problem. Save relevant emails. Record dates, interactions, and details. This will give you clear points to take up with the person directly and also if you have to discuss the problem with a supervisor. My second tip is to let someone know that you’re experiencing a problem with someone – the person you tell could be a colleague or it could be your boss. Don’t whine and complain, and don’t ask for help. Just let the person know there’s an issue and you’re doing what you can to deal with it.

Okay, next comes the hard part. What you need to do is confront the person who’s causing the problem. This is easier said than done, and you need to keep several things in mind when you do this to avoid making the problem worse or getting pulled into a pointless argument.

Make sure you ask the person to talk in private. You can start with some very open-ended questions to try to get the person to open up about any issues they’re having. For example, you could say, “So, I’ve noticed that you seem stressed. Is everything okay?” What you may learn is that the person has a problem that is not related at all to work or to you. You can then kindly inform the person that the problem is affecting work and the people around him or her.

The problem may also be related to work. You may find, for example, that the person feels his or her opinion or work is not valued. You can then attempt to address those problems. A little compassion can go a long way toward making a difficult person feel less threatened or insecure.

But sometimes you can’t find a problem at the bottom of the behavior. Sometimes, that person simply has a bad attitude. In this case, you need to deal with the behaviors themselves.

What should you talk about? Talk about exactly what has crossed the line. Talk about specific behavior, not general character. That is, you can say things like “People feel rather frustrated when you interrupt them in mid-sentence,” but avoid things like “You’re so impatient and it bugs the hell out of everyone!” And focus on professional standards of behavior, not necessarily personal manners. We’re all different.

One way to prevent confrontation in a situation like this is to avoid sentences that begin with the word “you.” Think about a statement like this: “You never accept anyone’s ideas.” As soon as the person hears “you,” they will start to feel defensive. Instead, focus on the behavior or the people affected. You could say “in brainstorming sessions, we really need to listen to all the ideas before criticizing anything.”

Did you notice anything else in our bad example? Listen again. “You never accept anyone ideas.” That word “never” is definitely one to avoid. In fact, avoid all kinds of extreme words and exaggeration, words like “always,” or “completely,” or “worst.” These words will become points of argumentation themselves.

Remember, you can’t control what other people do, but you can control what you do. And control is very important. Throughout your discussion, keep your head. You might feel quite emotional, but you shouldn’t let the situation become emotional.

Once you’ve talked with the person about the problems and their behavior, then it’s up to them to make a change. If the person can’t, you may have to have another discussion. And if all else fails, you may have to escalate the situation and involve a supervisor or mediator. But that should only happen after you’ve done your best to deal with the situation, and the person, yourself.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript.

So long. And see you again soon.

Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast! I’m Tim Simmons, and I’m looking forward to an especially exciting year of podcasts. There’s lots of great stuff in the works for 2012, so stay tuned.

Now, the New Year is a really important time for most people. For one thing, we use it as a time for setting goals. And if you want some help doing that, be sure to check out the Skills 360 podcast on ‘achieving your goals’. The New Year is also a time when we feel refreshed and optimistic about the future. It’s a brand new start, right? Well, unfortunately, that feeling is not shared by everyone. You might go to the office in the New Year with a smile on your face, but there are people who seem determined to wipe it off. I’m talking about problem people.

Every office has them. They might be uncooperative, rude, confrontational, overly competitive, or just plain unpleasant. Whatever the case, they’re a pain in the butt to deal with. These problem people test our patience and push our buttons. But they don’t have to. You just need to stick to a few basic principles and you’ll have better success in dealing with these situations.

Today I want to talk about how to deal with specific incidents with these difficult people. Maybe you’re in a meeting and someone is screaming and shouting at everyone and everything. Or maybe a grouchy colleague walks up to your desk and wants to start an argument. Or maybe someone on your project team is in a really bad mood. These are the kinds of incidents I’m talking about.

So how do we deal with them? Firstly, try not to judge the person. Don’t assume you know what’s going on. The source of the person’s behavior might be completely unrelated to you or work. It might simply be coming out in your presence. The other thing you need to realize is that difficult people are often difficult because of insecurity or fear. For both of these reasons, reacting in ways that increase anxiety are going to be counterproductive. Instead, you need to find ways to decrease anxiety.

This means, first and foremost, remaining cool, calm and collected. Stay rational rather than becoming emotional. Even if the person seems to be baiting you, try not to get involved in an argument. Take the high road and, even if the person is getting personal, don’t stoop to their level. In many cases, remaining calm and refusing to involve yourself in an argument can defuse the situation relatively quickly. So, if someone says to you “Hey Jack, your idea stinks. That would never work in a million years,” resist the temptation to strike back with, “Yeah, well your idea isn’t so hot either.”

If the person persists, one technique you can use is to repeat back what he or she is saying. Like this: “So, you think my idea stinks and it would never work?” Or you can rephrase it, like this: “So, you think my idea is terrible and I don’t know what I’m talking about?” Just be careful not to infer too much. You might cause a bigger argument if you overinterpret what someone says. But if you repeat back the basic idea or words, sometimes people will realize what they’ve just said and how it must sound.

Now, sometimes people cause problems because they don’t feel understood. A solution for that is very simple: listen. Hear what the person has to say, invite him to explain more, and ask questions about his opinion. Just remember to focus on the ideas, not the personal attacks or issues. If you give a difficult person the floor, rather than taking it away from him, you will sometimes see him turn a corner and become more positive.

And let’s not forget some direct techniques. In some circumstances, you can simply tell someone directly that his behavior is disruptive or disrespectful and ask him very kindly to change. Remember to focus on behavior, not character. It’s okay to say, “Brad, everyone would feel more comfortable if you would lower your voice and focus on the task at hand.” That’s much better than saying “Brad, you’re a terrible grouch and we can’t stand being around you,” even if that’s what you really want to say.

Great. So remember to keep your cool, to listen and understand as well as possible, and to show or tell someone the effects of their behavior. If you follow these principles, you’ll have much better success with those difficult people.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript.

Next week, we’ll look at ongoing long-term problems with difficult people. You may not be able to change them as people, but you may be able to change the way they act.

So long. And see you again soon.

Free Resources: Quiz & Vocab | PDF Transcript

Hello everyone, Tim here with another Skills 360 podcast. The end of 2011 is fast approaching, and it’s the season for performance reviews and end-of-year appraisals.

Few people actually look forward to sitting down with their supervisor and talking about the past year. For most, it’s quite a nerve-wracking experience. But today I want to show you that if you’re prepared, there’s no reason to be shaking in your boots.

First up, as you may have guessed if you’re a regular listener, is preparation. I really can’t overstate the importance of good preparation. A lot of people think that the performance review is something we just have to grin and bear every year. But that’s not really the case. If you are an active participant in your own review, it can be a golden opportunity. So take the bull by the horns, make sure you’re prepared, and walk into your review with confidence and a smile on your face.

But how exactly should you prepare? Well, a good place to start is to look at the situation from your supervisor’s perspective. What is he or she looking for? What topics will likely be covered? What questions will you be asked? What are some of the things your supervisor probably doesn’t want to hear? Think about what you would do if you were the supervisor. Once you’ve given this some thought, you’ll be ready to focus on what really matters and put the trivial stuff to the side.

What else should you think about? Well, remember that a performance review, or at least an effective one, evaluates you based on established goals and past points of comparison. So look back to your last performance review. What objectives did you and your supervisor set for yourself? What did you do well? In what areas was there room for improvement? You want to show that you’ve progressed as an employee and worked hard to be successful. To do that, you need to use that last review as a point of reference.

Okay, I mentioned both the positive and the negative there, and that’s important. Performance reviews address both successes and failures. Let’s start with successes. Reflect on the past year. Browse through your reports, your calendar, and even your email just to jog your memory. As you do this, make a quick and dirty list of your greatest achievements. These could relate to how you found solutions to problems, how you made the company more money, or how you improved some aspect of the workplace. You need to emphasize achievements that relate directly to the past objectives you set as well as to your job description.

But that’s not all. You really want to show how you went above and beyond the call of duty. Show your supervisor how you stepped outside the box and did something that was not expected of you. And whenever you can, put numbers to your achievements. What do you think sounds better: “I sold more paper,” or “I established five new major corporate accounts and increased my year over year sales by 34%”? Get the picture?

Now, you have to be realistic, and you can’t overlook your failures and weaknesses. So think back on the year and make a list of instances when you could have done better. Remember that supervisors don’t expect perfection – well, some do – but they do want to see that you have identified your weaknesses and thought about how to improve them. For each of those instances you thought of, prepare an explanation. Not an excuse, but an explanation. Also think about how you plan to correct each problem or shortcoming. Again, be specific. What do you think sounds better: “I’m going to be a better employee,” or “I’m going to take some conflict resolution training so that I can handle difficult colleagues better and make a positive impact on the workplace culture”?

When it comes to weaknesses, don’t forget to look at those you identified in your last review. Be ready to talk about what you’ve done to improve. Your weaknesses might remain the same, but you probably shouldn’t be setting the same improvement objectives. Remember, you want to show how you’ve progressed as an employee.

With the right preparation, you should feel equipped to be an active participant in your performance review. You’re not there just to listen, smile, and nod. You’re there to impress. And you do that by showing that you understand your job, you have a commitment to your organization, and you can follow through on your goals. And at the end of the day, hopefully you can justify a promotion, a raise, or whatever else you hope to gain.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at our myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript.

So long. And see you again in the New Year.

Discussion Questions

1. Does your company review employee performance regularly?
2. How do you feel when you are evaluated for the work you do?
3. What kind of preparation do you think is important for a year-end review?

Transcript

Welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. My name’s Tim, and today we’re going to look at some more tips and ideas for making the most of your personal learning.

And FYI: listening to Skills 360 just got easier. Yes, this podcast now has its own channel on iTunes. If you don’t already subscribe, visit BEP or myBEonline for the free subscription links.

Okay, so last week I talked about setting yourself up with a system of personal learning. Today, I’m going to be talking about maintaining your momentum and staying on track.

All right. You’ve set some goals, found some resources, and come up with a plan for your personal learning. How are you going to stick to that plan? One of the greatest things you can do to maintain your momentum is to establish a routine. If you keep thinking that you’ll study if and when you get the time, or if you just try to fit in some listening practice every now and then when you get 20 minutes of free time, chances are you won’t achieve your goals. You’ll go nuts with frustration. You need to be regular. This usually means studying at the same time every day. Whether it’s on your commute, over your morning cup of joe, or part of your evening routine, doing it the same time every day will help make it a habit. It will become second nature, just like brushing your teeth.

Part of your routine should include a regular review of what you’ve already done. There’s nothing worse than putting in the work to learn something and then forgetting it a short time later. In last week’s episode we talked about variety, which means the breadth of input. But you also need depth. So don’t forget to look back and reinforce what you’ve already studied.

Now, remember in our last episode I talked about setting goals… SMART goals? Well, as you work toward those goals, you need to track or assess your progress. Are you actually coming closer to reaching your goals? Assessing your progress could involve breaking your goals down into stages. Reaching those stages means making progress. This could also mean keeping a careful record of what you do and what you can do. You will be able to look back through your record and see how far you’ve come. Another way to track yourself is to use our BuddyBucks system on mybeonline.com. What are BuddyBucks? Basically, they’re points that you earn for participating and learning. The more BuddyBucks you earn, the more progress you’re making. It’s a great way to see how much you’re getting done.

But tracking your progress is not always enough to keep your learning on track. You might need to dangle a carrot in front of yourself. I’m talking about rewards, which are closely related to motivation. You have to feel like you’re getting something for your hard work. You can certainly set different kinds of rewards for yourself for achieving certain milestones or reaching certain goals. For short-term goals, it could be something as simple as a cup of coffee. For larger goals, it could be a movie or concert or even a weekend away. And this is another way that BuddyBucks might help give you a spark. When you earn enough BuddyBucks, you can cash them in for access to more Business English Pod resources. Or access to human resources… by that I mean teachers… which brings me to my next point.

Sometimes learners encounter roadblocks when they have difficulty in their studies or can’t find answers to their questions. When this happens, some people flounder or become dejected. But you don’t have to. Someone has the answers to your questions, and you don’t need to suffer in silence. I’m talking about teachers. Get help when you need it! If you’re not taking a class and don’t have a flesh and blood teacher to help you, then go online. Post your questions to popular forums and watch the responses pour in. Or connect with a teacher online for one-on-one help. How or where to find a teacher? We’ll, we’ll have answer for that soon, so keep your eyes on myBEonline.com

Great stuff. That’s all for today. I’d like to wish you the best of luck in your journey of learning. Take good care of your motivation and you’ll do great. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript. So long, and see you again soon.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you have a regular schedule for studying English?
2. How can you know whether you’re improving your English skills?
3. What are your greatest personal motivators for studying English?

Business Skills 360 lessons provide essential tips and language for communicating in English. Free transcripts, quizzes and PDF downloads are available on the myBEonline website.

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Transcript

Hello everyone, Tim here with another Skills 360 podcast. Hope you had a fantastic summer and now you’re feeling refreshed and ready to get down to work. We’ve got a great lesson today on making the most of personal learning.

And here’s some good news for everyone interested in personal learning: the Skills 360 podcast is now available as its own channel in iTunes. Just head over to the BEP or myBEonline websites for the free subscription links.

Okay, now I mentioned personal learning. And I’m guessing that if you’re listening to this, you must be a pretty motivated learner. Am I right? You are keen to improve your language ability, your communication, and your overall business skills. And you’ve decided to tune in to a podcast to do those things. That’s great. But does it stop there? Is that all we have to do? No, not if you want to make good progress, so lets look at some ideas to make the most of your personal learning.

Let’s start with goals. Now, I went on a lot about goals and how to achieve them in a previous episode of Skills 360 series. Anyone remember what makes a good goal? Well, in case you don’t recall, let me jog your memory: goals should be SMART. That’s S-M-A-R-T. And what do those letters stand for? S is for specific. M is for measurable. A is for attainable. R is for relevant. And T is for time-sensitive. So make your goals specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. If you do, they’re SMART goals. Feel free to look up our previous episodes, if you want more on setting and achieving your goals.

Now, your goals can be big or small. Whatever works for you. I mean, one of your goals could be to devote one hour every day to studying English. That’s pretty straightforward. Or your goal could be to develop your skills enough to attain a high score on an English test such as TOEIC or BULATS. Achieving a goal like that will most likely mean you will have to set many smaller goals (to achieve it).

Great. Now your goals can be a part of something bigger, part of what we call a personal learning plan. To create a personal learning plan, you need to sit down and figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are, which skills you want to develop, how much time you have, how much money you can commit, and what exactly you want to accomplish. Then you can create your plan. This will help put some method behind what you’re doing.

The word “personal” is very important. Your learning should suit you, your interests, your schedule, your abilities, and your SMART goals. There are gads of online tools that can help you do this. You can use bookmarking tools like Delicious, social networking tools like Google Plus, as well as YouTube and SlideShare. In fact, if you think about the online tools that you use for business, communication, and entertainment, these are probably all useful in building a personalized learning plan. If you want to take it up a notch, you can try the new “Course Builder” tool on mybeonline.com.

All right, now one thing to keep in mind is variety. Variety in what? Variety in everything. You should be varying your type of input, the source of that input, and the difficulty of your input. Your type of input could include both reading and listening, as well as vocabulary work and grammar, if that’s up your alley. The source of your input could be radio, television, podcast, newspapers, and face-to-face interaction. And the difficulty could range from materials created specifically for language learners to those targeting native speakers. In a word, mix it up. Listen to some of my 360 shows, work on a couple of BEP podcasts, then hone your listening with CNN or BBC. Then maybe switch over to some Video Vocab lessons and read some business reports from Bloomberg or CNBC. You get the idea.

Another point I want to make about your input is that it should be relevant and interesting. I mean that it’s relevant to you personally and your job. Studying what is not relevant or interesting will make you bored. And being bored will make you unmotivated. What you study truly has to be useful.

Great. Remember to set SMART goals, and build a truly personalized learning plan that has a variety of input that is both interesting and relevant to you. Keep those things in mind and you’ll be on the road to success.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript. Next week, we’ll look at how to maintain your progress and keep on track with your personalized learning plan. So long. And see you again soon.

Discussion Questions

1. What are the different things you do to study or practice English?
2. What aspect of English would you most like to improve?
3. What do you find are the best online resources for studying English?

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m Tim Simmons, and today we’re going to have a closer look at telephone skills. In particular, we’re going to talk about controlling the call and the flow of information.

Communicating effectively on the phone is an essential skill. And whether you’re talking to a client, a colleague, a supplier, your boss, or a bicycle courier, you need to make sure your purpose and the information is clear. Last week, we focused on your telephone attitude. Today, we’ll look at ways you can make sure information is flowing smoothly and that you are guiding the conversation.

Good telephone communication can actually begin before you pick up the phone, with a bit of preparation. Grab a piece of paper and jot down your key questions or issues that you need to resolve. Put them in a logical order so that you’re not just jumping from topic to topic. The less you have to rely on your memory, the better. Nothing’s worse than hanging up and realizing that you didn’t get everything you need. People are busy, and it’s best to handle things with one call rather than two, or three. So, if you’ve got a clear purpose for your call, then you can start working down your list. And that paper and pen should be handy for taking notes as you’re talking.

Okay, you’ve managed to get ahold of the person you want to talk to, you’ve got the right attitude, and you’re dealing with information. Now you need to make sure everything is clear and that you’ve understood what the other person is saying. To do that, you need to confirm information. You can do this in a couple of ways. First off, you can repeat information back to the other person. So, if someone says “I can meet you at 4:30,” you can say “Right. 4:30.” You can also do this by asking for confirmation and restating the information in different words. So, if someone says “It’s pretty unlikely that the delivery is going to make it there on time,” you can say “Do you mean that our delivery is going to be late?” And when you do this, it’s best to restate things in the simplest and easiest language possible. Just to avoid any confusion.

Another thing you need to do with information is give feedback about it. In other words, tell the other person clearly what you think about what he or she has just said. “I can meet you at 4:30” could be followed by “4:30 is a great time for me.” Or “The delivery is going to be late” could be followed by “I understand and I’ll let everyone else here know.”

After you confirm the important points and give feedback, you can move on to another question. Remember, the person who is asking the questions is in control. By asking questions, you can direct the conversation to the topics you want.

Sometimes when you ask questions, it’s a good idea to limit options rather than leaving things open-ended. Think about the difference between these two questions: “What day is good for you?” and “How about Tuesday or Wednesday morning?” Which is easier to answer? Which will reduce the amount of discussion involved? That’s right, the second one. Tuesday or Wednesday. Whenever possible, limit the number of options to two. If neither option is acceptable, give another two.

In some cases, you won’t be able to reach the person you want to talk with and you’ll have to leave a message. Don’t forget to leave a complete message. That includes your name, your company, your purpose, and your number. Leaving out any of those pieces of information will reduce the likelihood that you’ll be called back. It will also reduce the amount of discussion needed at the beginning of the call back. One of our older podcasts, BEP 72, covers lots of language for leaving a message and is well worth a look.

Can you see what ties all these ideas together? It’s all about clarity. Information should be clear. Any time information is not clear, time and energy is wasted. And that brings us to the end of your phone call, when you want to guarantee that clarity. Before you bring the call to a close, confirm the basics of what you discussed. That means the what, the where, the when, and the how of any action that is required. It’s pretty embarrassing to have to call someone back because you didn’t understand everything.

Your telephone is one of your most important communication tools. Learning to use it is about more than just figuring out the speed dial options. Maintain a positive and professional attitude, and use the techniques we’ve covered today, and you won’t dread that next call.

If you’d like to test yourself on this lesson, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript and vocabulary explanations.

So long, and see you again soon.

Discussion Questions

1. How much planning do you usually do before an important telephone call?
2. What do you usually do when you don’t understand what someone is trying to say on the telephone?
3. What information do you normally include when you leave a message for someone?

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I’m Tim Simmons and I’m glad you could join me. Today we’re going to take a look at an activity you do every day: talking on the telephone.

Telephones don’t stay at the office anymore. We carry them around in our pockets. We use them when we’re commuting, when we’re out for lunch, when we’re working on the computer, and even when we’re supposed to be talking to someone else face-to-face. They’re always on. And that means we have to be ‘on’ too. Being ‘on’ means having the right attitude.

The right attitude starts with promptness. When you hear that ring, don’t delay. Grab it before the third ring so the caller knows he’s important. And when you answer, be sure to smile. You might be thinking that a smile is unnecessary because the other person can’t actually see you. But in this case, smiling is about more than just turning up the corners of your mouth. Smiling is an attitude. It means having a voice that is pleasant and enthusiastic. That voice helps create a connection with the other person and open the door to good communication. And keeping a smile on your voice is something you should do when you initiate the call as well. It’s not just the job of the person receiving the call.

Okay, you’re smiling, but what should you say? If you’re answering the phone, you can always fall back on the standard four-part greeting: you need to greet, to identify yourself – and your company – and to offer help. That goes something like this: “Good afternoon. This is Jim at Kepler Marketing. How can I help you?” Even if you know who’s calling, you should still keep this same format, even if you present it a bit more informally. For example, you might say “Hi, this is Jim. What can I do for you?” Want more information and practice on this kind of thing? Look up BEP 69A, which is all about answering the telephone.

Now, if you’re the caller, you will follow a similar blueprint. But instead of greeting, identification, and offer, you’ll have a greeting, identification, and request. That could go something like this: “Good morning. This is Fred Collins with WebStar. I’d like to speak with Mr. Tony Flair.” Again, if you’re calling someone you’re familiar with, you’ll still follow the same pattern. For example: “Hi Sue. Fred with Webstar here. Could you put me through to Tony?”

Great. You’ve started the call out with the right attitude. Now keep it up throughout the call. How you communicate is just as important as what you communicate. Remember to speak slowly and clearly. The less people have to ask you to repeat yourself, the better. Surely you’ve seen a person in the street with a mobile phone at one ear and a finger plugging the other, saying “pardon?” and straining to hear what the other person is saying. Let’s try and avoid that. That also means choosing clear words. Say “yes” instead of mumbling “uh-huh.” And “I understand” instead of “got it.”

Another important tip is to stay focused on the call and the other person. If you’re trying to do several things at once, the chances of miscommunication shoot up. And it’s usually pretty obvious to others when you’re trying to order a sandwich at the same time as talking to them. Give the other person all the courtesy you would if you were dealing with him face-to-face. That includes being patient. Let the other person take the time he needs to talk. In return, you should receive patience and the time to talk as well. The same goes for common manners. Unfortunately, manners often go out the window as soon as there’s a device or machine placed between two people. You can see this in email, text messages, and the attitude of people driving in their cars. And you hear it on the phone as well. But people with good telephone skills will use “pardon” over “what,” and all those other common courtesies that we accept as normal when we’re standing in front of another person.

Great. Now you’ve started the call off right, you’ve got a great attitude, you’re smiling, being polite, and speaking clearly. The communication pathway should be smooth, and what you are saying should come through clearly. And that’s what we’ll look at in our next episode. We’ll learn some tips and tricks for making sure that the content of the call gets through clearly.

If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript and vocabulary explanations.

Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Business Skills 360. I’m Tim Simmons, and I’m glad you could join me today for more tips and techniques for selling your ideas.

Now, you know your ideas are good, but how do others? You need to make them think or even just feel that they are good. Last week, we looked at some techniques you can use. In this show, we’ll look at attitudes that you can adopt. This isn’t exactly about what you say, it’s about how you say it and the feelings or impressions your delivery creates.

The first attitude is positivity. People naturally gravitate to positive people and tend to avoid negative people. So, make a habit of doing simple things like saying hello to people in the hall and at the water cooler. Keep discussions upbeat. Show excitement about your ideas and keep smiling. There’s a lot of power in a smile, and you should use yours to cultivate an atmosphere of positivity and warmth. People will be drawn to you, and, as a result, to your ideas.

Another attitude that will bring people on board with your idea is empathy. This is about showing people that you understand how they feel. Not just that you know what they’re talking about, but that you have felt it too. If that person is feeling frustrated by red tape, describe an experience in which you also felt frustrated by red tape. They will feel you’re on the same side. Show people that you get it, and they’ll be more likely to believe and follow you.

Empathy creates a feeling of inclusion, or belonging. And there are other ways of doing this. Have a welcoming attitude. Your great idea is more than just an idea. It’s an idea plus all of the people who believe in it. In this sense, your idea has its own little club, and everyone who believes in it belongs to that club. So talk about “we” rather than “I” and make people feel like accepting your idea admits them to a group. People want inclusion and fellowship. You can make them feel this with a welcoming attitude.

Okay, now there are other tacks you can take when you’re trying to sell someone on your ideas. One of them is shock and disbelief. This is a very useful tool for making people feel that another idea, maybe one that disagrees with yours, is useless or absurd. It goes something like this: “Did you hear what the consultant said? He actually thinks we should spend more on marketing. My jaw dropped when I heard that.” People who might have thought the idea was good will have doubts. After all, if you think the idea is crazy, then other people probably do too.

One more attitude or impression is something called the “last resort.” The last resort is the only option. It may not be a perfect option, but it’s the only one remaining. Your idea might actually be one of many, but if you talk about it as though it’s the only one left, people will stop considering other ideas. “Well, we’ve looked at all the alternatives and none of them are up to scratch,” then you can hit them with the punchline, “So I guess we really don’t have any other choice…” You see how this works? People will get the impression that all the other options have been explored already.

So, remember that bringing people on side doesn’t just mean giving them reasons to believe you. It also means adopting certain attitudes to create an emotional response.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete PDF transcript.

So long, and see you again soon.

Discussion Questions

1. What type of personality or attitude are you naturally drawn to?
2. What types of attitude or behavior will make you less likely to believe someone?
3. When someone appears very surprised by your ideas, how do you feel?

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the Business Skills 360 podcast. I’m Tim Simmons and today we’re going to take a look at how to ‘sell’ your ideas.

You may be full of great ideas, but exactly how do you get people to buy into them? How do you get people on board with your brilliant plans? Well, today I want to share a few tools and techniques that will help you do just that.

These tools and techniques have two important effects: they build connections and they build credibility. The connections can be between you and your listeners, but they can also be between your listeners and your idea. Those connections will generate buy-in. And that credibility can be your credibility and your idea’s credibility. You, and your idea, have to be believable and trustworthy.

Okay, let’s start simple. One of the most basic yet powerful tools you can use is a person’s name. People love to hear their own name repeated in conversation. It makes them feel important. It tells them that you care about them as individuals. This creates a strong personal connection between you and your listeners, which makes them more receptive to your ideas. So instead of telling me, “I think you should do a presentation on your project,” tell me this: “Tim, I think you should do a presentation on your project.” The effect is subtle, but strong.

Great. Now, let’s talk about what you do with your idea. You need to help people connect to that idea, to understand it, and to see how great it is. Making comparisons can help do that. People love to compare things, situations, points in time, people… We do it naturally, it’s how we organize our world and how we evaluate things. So show people the difference between your idea and others. Show them exactly how your idea will make a difference. It’s like the before and after pictures in an ad for a weight loss product. It’s clear and persuasive, and people will be able to connect better with your idea.

Now, why should people believe you? Well, you and your ideas need credibility. You need to demonstrate that you’ve thought your ideas through, and that there is good reason to believe in them. To demonstrate that, you need to give evidence and provide concessions. Evidence is basically proof that your idea is a good one. Don’t assume others might agree with you just because you’re a fun colleague or a hard worker. Tell them why you believe what you do, and if the reasons are strong enough, they’ll believe it too. Keep the evidence real. Show them examples that they can relate to, ideas that improve that connection between them and your idea.

And then there’s concession. Giving concessions means actually mentioning evidence or ideas that go against what you’re trying to say. Don’t talk about this too much, but show that you realize things aren’t black and white, that nothing is perfect. It improves your credibility. Just think about the last time you heard someone refuse to admit any kind of criticism of their idea. That person didn’t sound too reasonable, did they?

Now, there’s another reason to mention ideas that go against yours: to knock them down. You set them up, then you knock them down. You have to anticipate the criticism or the arguments against your idea. Then you acknowledge them. You say exactly what they are. And then you say why they don’t make sense or should be ignored. In this way, you are taking and destroying weapons against your idea. It’s a preemptive strike, so to speak.

So remember, your ideas are only truly great if you can sell them to others. And to do that, use people’s names, use comparison, give them evidence and concessions, and knock down your opposition’s ideas before they get a chance to mention them. With those techniques, your ideas will stick.

That’s all for today. Next week we’ll look at different attitudes you can adopt that will help sell your ideas. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript.

Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you have tricks or techniques that you use to persuade people of your opinions?
2. In which work situations do you often need to convince people of your ideas?
3. Think of people you think are good at ‘selling’ their ideas. What techniques do they use?

Hi! It’s Tim Simmons here with another edition of Business Skills 360. I’ve been listening to the current series on handling a crisis, and I just wanted to jump in with a couple of important points on the language we use in a crisis. We’ve heard some folks dealing with a pretty serious crisis: an accident at a factory. And maybe you’ve noticed how some of the people are quite careful about the words they use. Careful is important.

You see, a crisis is a sensitive situation. Emotions are running high and people are on edge. There is the potential for conflict if you do or say the wrong thing. At the same time, the clock is ticking and you may not have time to manage everyone’s feelings. For these reasons, you have a very fine balancing act between being diplomatic and being direct.

What do we mean by being “diplomatic?” Well, diplomatic language is polite and careful. We use it so people don’t feel offended or get upset. Let’s see how this works in practice. Imagine you need to tell your boss about a bad accident. Do you say “There’s been a bad accident?” You could say this, but it’s probably too direct. To cushion the blow, you could say something like “It seems that there’s been quite a bad accident.” How is this more diplomatic? Well, it starts with “It seems…” That’s an indirect way of introducing something. “Perhaps” and “maybe” are other common ways to do this. Or you can use “apparently,” like this: “Apparently there’s been quite a bad accident.”

Now, the other thing you heard there is “quite,” as in “quite a bad accident.” That’s a minimizing expression. It makes the situation sound not as bad as it really is. We do this when we say things like “this problem is rather urgent” and “we have a slight problem.” Just by adding words such as “quite,” “rather,” “slight,” “a little,” and “a bit,” we can be more diplomatic.

Okay, another way to be diplomatic is by using questions. Imagine you think someone made a lousy decision. You could say “You made a lousy decision.” But chances are that person is going to react negatively, so you should be diplomatic. In this case, you can use a question, like “Are we sure this is the right thing to do?” Or maybe you think someone is trying to decide on a course of action too quickly. You could say “Wouldn’t it be better to talk about this a bit more?” Questions, especially ones starting with “would” and “wouldn’t,” are more diplomatic than direct statements.

Okay, but do we want to be diplomatic all the time? Definitely not. Diplomatic language can be rather indirect. And for that reason, people might not understand just how serious we are. Sometimes we need to convey a sense of urgency or give very clear instructions. In these situations, we need to be direct.

Imagine you’re having a head-to-head with an employee after a big accident, and you don’t want him to talk to the media. You could be diplomatic and say “It might not be a good idea to talk to the media.” But that’s not strong enough. In this case, you should be direct and say, “Don’t talk to the media.” This is what we call an imperative, which is a sentence with no subject. We use them for commands, like “Fix the problem” or “Tell me what happened.” Imperatives are direct, not diplomatic, which is exactly what you need here.

Direct language is also essential when you’re giving instructions, which need to be clear, especially in a crisis. Imagine you want an employee to inspect some machinery, repair any problems, and then file a report. Do you start with “Maybe we should have a little look at that machinery”? Is that clear? That sounds like you’re thinking out loud. The person who hears that may or may not do it. In a crisis, that’s asking for trouble. You need to be clear and say “First, inspect the machinery. Then fix any problems you find and file a report.” No diplomatic language like “maybe” or “little.” The instructions are perfectly clear because they’re direct.

So, when should you be diplomatic and when should you be direct? Well, you really need to assess the situation and determine which is best. Diplomatic language can protect people’s feelings. It can also avoid conflict and build trust. Those can all be very important in a crisis, when everybody needs to be on board with a plan. On the other hand, direct language can show a sense of urgency and seriousness, and it can prevent confusion. Those are also important in a conflict, when things must happen quickly and misunderstanding is just not an option. Remember that to be a good crisis manager, you need to adapt your style and strategy to the situation. You can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to the language you use.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript. Next week, we’ll return to our podcast series on managing a crisis. Listen carefully to how the people use both diplomatic and direct language. So long, and see you again soon.

Transcript

Hello and welcome back to Business Skills 360. I’m Tim Simmons, and I’m glad you could join me today for the second part in our series on effective presentations. Last week, we talked about keeping it short, simple, engaging, and real. Much of that happens in the preparation. Today, we’re going to talk about what happens when you stand up in front of that audience and have to start speaking. Take a deep breath…

Your first goal should be to make a connection with each and every listener. That connection is the pathway along which your message travels. If you have a good connection, there’s a good chance your message will sink in.

To make this connection, you have to do two things: you need to control the audience’s attention and you need to engage their minds. Remember that: control and engage. And to do these two things, you have three tools: your voice, your props such as PowerPoint – and your body or movement.

Let’s start with your voice. It needs to be confident and clear. Show everyone that you know your stuff. Speak slowly and steadily. And remember that silence can be your friend. You need to pause sometimes to give people a chance to think. If you fill every space with your voice, you might start to get on people’s nerves, and the words won’t carry any power. Try very hard not to use “ums” and “ahs” when you’re thinking. Think silently, choose your words carefully, and deliver them confidently. Otherwise, people will tune you out.

When you speak, you should invite people into your presentation by asking for input. That means using questions. Ask easy ones so that people don’t have to think too much. Some of your questions can be open, to the entire audience. Some of them can be directed at specific people. Don’t move on until you get an answer. As soon as people start contributing by answering questions, their engagement goes up. They feel like they are participants, not just listeners.

The next tools are your props and visual aids. That could mean PowerPoint slides. But it could also mean a whiteboard, a flipchart, a wall chart, or anything else that people look at that is not you but is part of your presentation. The most important thing is that you use these aids. Don’t just let people look at the slides. The slides should help you illustrate your points. Don’t put up a graph and not explain it. It should be worked into your presentation.

These aids are useful, not just for giving information, but for keeping attention moving. Humans – and not just children – have short attention spans. They can’t concentrate on one thing for long. So you have to work with that, and take their attention somewhere else before it wanders somewhere else. Move people’s attention back and forth between you, your aids, other listeners, a handheld prop, back to you… and so on.

Now, your body, and what you do with it, is also important. I’m talking about body language and movement. Let’s start up top with the face. Firstly, make eye contact. Don’t just quickly scan the faces in the room. Look directly at an individual when you’re making an important point. That person will respond with his or her attention, and the connection will last. That person’s engagement in your presentation will shoot up. Try to do this with every individual in the room at some point. Okay… your face also includes your mouth. And what are you going to do with that? You’re going to smile. Sure, you’ve heard it before, but it’s easy to forget once you get nervous. The smile is universal. It has unique power to create a connection with someone. Just think about your interactions with others today. Which people smiled? What was the interaction like? I think you’ll see what I mean.

Using your body also means using movement. Do not stand in one place and drone on about your topic. Move around the room. Use the left side, the right side, and even the back of the room. This will help you control people’s attention. You must be dynamic. Remember that humans become quickly bored with something that doesn’t change. You can sit down, stand up, lean over a desk, or lean against a wall. Just don’t do one thing all the time. You are controlling their attention by moving it around. People will follow you with their eyes as you walk to the back of the room, then you can throw their attention back to your PowerPoint at the front of the room.

Right. We’ve looked at how you can use your voice, your props, and your body to control people’s attention and engage their minds. It takes practice, but if you’ve got a presentation that is short, simple, engaging, and real, then it’s a lot easier to do this.

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript. Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.

Transcript

Hello, I’m Tim Simmons and you’re listening to Business Skills 360. We’re going to kick off the New Year with an insanely great show on presentations. But first, I want to wish you all an awesome 2011. Hopefully the coming year is unbelievably wonderful for you. I know it will be for me. Now, let’s get to all that awesomeness…

Okay. Forget everything I just said. I’m not Steve Jobs, and I don’t have a shiny “new” gizmo to show you. If I keep using words like “awesome,” you’re going to get sick of me really fast. You might have heard that Steve Jobs gives great presentations. Well, he can wow a crowd of people who already love Apple, but should we really try to copy him? His style and his adjectives don’t really work when English is not your first language. And they fall flat when you are an HR manager presenting a new compensation plan, or an engineer reporting change orders on a big project.

So exactly how can you make an impact? How can you tighten up your presentation so that it connects to your audience?

I’m sure all of you have heard of the mnemonic device KISS – short for “Keep it Short and Simple”. This is excellent advice for all types of business communication, and I completely agree with it. But KISS misses a couple of key points that you also need to consider so I’ve added these and now like to use KISSER- which stands for “Keep it Short, Simple, Engaging and Real.”

Let’s look at the first term: “short.” Many bad presentations have too much repetition or unnecessary information. People want what is important and relevant, and that’s what you should give them. Try this: after you prepare your presentation, go through and cut out 30%. You should be able to do that without damaging your central message. What remains will have much more impact because it’s not surrounded by fluff. This applies to PowerPoint slides, charts, and diagrams as well. As a general rule, try to limit slides to one per minute. And if your boss gives you ten minutes to speak, make sure you can do it in just five.

Next is “simple.” Simple means organized and clear. Start with the purpose of your presentation, which you should be able to summarize in one sentence. Something like: “make people understand that expenses are too high.” From that purpose, organize your ideas into three or four points. If you want, you can frame these points as questions, like this: “What expenses can we reduce? What expenses can we eliminate? And what are the long-term savings?” And tell your audience what the outline is at the start. If your questions are good ones, they’ll want to figure out the answers.

“Simple” also applies to your language and visuals. Don’t try to impress people with technical lingo. It won’t work. And keep PowerPoint slides simple. No confusing charts or graphs. Only the essential information, in simple form. The text on your slides should not be too hard to see, no smaller than a 30-point font. This will force you to keep the text simple. I promise you, people will appreciate that.

Okay, now we come to “engaging.” You need to catch and hold people’s attention. You want them to be interested. And how do we do that? In terms of what you say, there are a lot of great techniques that we’ll cover in our upcoming podcast series on impact presentations. They include repetition, rhetorical questions, metaphors, and visualizing facts and figures. One thing that is not engaging is information overload. Don’t overwhelm your audience. Use pictures and other visual aids to illustrate your points. If you’re doing a PowerPoint, don’t put two “informational” slides right after each other. Mix it up. Give some information, then use a picture to help people understand what you’re saying, then give more information. Being engaging also means being interactive. Ask questions. Look at people. Ask for input. Get people to do something besides just listen to you talk.

Lastly, you need to keep it “real.” If you start talking about things that nobody can understand, nobody can relate to, or nobody cares about, then you will lose your audience. Guaranteed. Try using an anecdote or story – a story that everyone can connect with, something that everyone experiences. Tell them why your topic matters. Tell them how it affects them, their jobs, and their lives. Connect yourself with the people and connect the people with the topic. Another part of keeping it real is working within your abilities. If you’re not comfortable telling a joke in English, don’t tell a joke. If you have to keep the words simple, keep them simple. Presentations are hard enough as it is. Don’t try to push yourself too far outside your normal communication style.

Right. Keep it short, simple, engaging, and real. If those words can describe your presentation, you’ll do great. You don’t need to use the word awesome. You can be awesome without it

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript. Next week, we’ll look at the actual delivery of the presentation. We’ll talk about what you should be doing when you’re in front of all those people. So long. See you again soon.

Discussion Questions

1. Do you think PowerPoint is used effectively?
2. How long can you keep an audience focused during a presentation?
3. Think about the good presentations you’ve seen. What qualities did the speaker have?

Hi everyone. I’m Tim Simmons and you’re listening to Business Skills 360. Glad you could join me today for the second part in our look at “achieving your goals.” Today I’m going to talk about how to maintain your focus and motivation while you work toward achieving your goals.

Let me start off with a quote from the well-known business guru Robert Allen. Allen said: “The future you see is the future you get.” What he is talking about is visualization, which is necessary for achieving goals. You have to visualize yourself or your organization accomplishing whatever it is you’ve set out to. This is what many professional athletes do before a big competition… they walk through the match and imagine themselves winning. Let me repeat it for you: “The future you see is the future you get.”

This is one way of helping you maintain motivation, but there are others. One other way is through a system of rewards. Of course, when you finally reach your goal there is a great payoff. That could be a sense of accomplishment, greater profits, better working relationships… whatever your goal is related to. But that great payoff may not be enough to sustain you, especially when you’re working toward long-term goals. Remember how I mentioned in the last episode that you need to establish milestones or benchmarks along the way? Now, what you need to do is to attach rewards to those milestones. What kind of rewards? Well, that depends on the type of goal. If it’s a personal goal, you could reward yourself with something fun, like a night out, or by buying something you really want. If it’s an organizational goal, then maybe you need to reward all the people involved. For example, you could throw a party or give bonuses. Those rewards and incentives will help everyone stay on track and give them something real to look forward to.

Now, visualization and a system of rewards both help people remember that they’ve set goals. The mistake that many people and organizations make is to set goals and then promptly forget about them. That’s wrong. You and your employees or colleagues should be keeping your goals in mind whenever you do something. You need to remind yourself or your people of goals. This could mean writing them down, posting them on the staff room wall, or having regular updates.

In an organizational setting, goals may have their own communication plans. If you have set goals that depend on the work of other people, those people should know about it. For example, imagine you are a regional sales manager and decide that you want to increase sales by 15% in the next quarter. Who are you going to tell? Well, the salespeople, of course. You need to let them know that there is a clear, or smart, goal in place and that you want them to work together to achieve it. Then you need to check in on their progress, update the entire team, and remind them what they’re shooting for.

So, do all of these strategies guarantee success? Are these tactics foolproof? Of course not. I’m telling you right now that there will be bumps along the way. You will experience setbacks, and there will be days when the goal appears farther away than the day before. This is normal. A common mistake is to give up on a goal when mistakes are made or problems occur. You need to see these setbacks as opportunities to refocus. Look at what happened. Figure out the reason for the setback, and then you will have improved your chance of success. Failure is not falling down, failure is staying down.

Great. Remember that achieving your goals is a process, not an event. It takes time, energy, motivation, and the ability to deal with adversity. It doesn’t happen all at once. But if you set good goals, manage them well, find the right time and resources, and maintain motivation and momentum, you’ll get there.

That’s all for now. If you’d like to learn more or test yourself on today’s lesson, check out the myBEonline.com website. You’ll find vocabulary explanations, discussion questions, and a quiz. Thanks for listening, and good luck with your goals!

Hi everyone. I’m Tim Simmons and you’re listening to Business Skills 360. Glad you could join me today for the first part of our series on “achieving your goals.” We’re going to kick off it with a look at setting SMART goals and some tips for managing your goals.

Now, when I talk about goals, I’m talking about any kind of goal. It could be a personal goal, like improving your sales pitch, or an organizational goal, like expanding successfully into new territory. The basics are the same. (So the advice I’m going to share with you applies to goals of any size or scope.)

Okay, now achieving your goals always begins with setting good goals. But what exactly does a good goal look like? Well, you might have heard people talk about SMART goals. In this case, the word SMART is a mnemonic device. Each of those letters stands for something. The “S” is for specific. A goal like “I want to be a better salesman” is not specific. But “I want to improve my gross sales” is. “M” stands for measurable. Think about that phrase “A better salesman.” Can you measure that? No, you can’t. But you can measure gross sales. Next, goals should be attainable. Of course, you need to be ambitious, but you shouldn’t set goals that are clearly out of reach. In our salesman’s case, perhaps “improve my gross sales by 10%” is reasonable. Okay, the “R” in SMART means relevant. That is, is the goal aligned with the person or organization’s mission statement? Is it a worthwhile goal? And finally, goals must be time-sensitive. If we don’t attach some kind of timeline to our goal, then we may lose focus. “Sometime in the future” is not a very inspiring timeline. “Within this financial quarter” is. So, let’s see if we’ve managed to put together a SMART goal here… our hypothetical salesman’s goal is “I want to improve my gross sales by 10% within this financial quarter.” Very nice. It’s specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-sensitive. And because it is all of those things, our salesman has a better chance of success.

Okay, so you’ve created a smart goal, now the question is how are you going to manage that goal? First off, you need to make it a priority. Chances are that you or your organization is working toward several different goals. Sometimes those goals compete for precious time or resources. So if you can’t give the goal what it needs, then really, what hope does it have of being achieved? Setting aside the time to work toward your goal is key. So is good delegation, if the goal is something that depends on the work of others. In this sense, a goal is like a project. In fact, some companies rely on goal-management software to make sure they stay on track.

And staying on track can be tough, especially if the goal is a long-term one. When the desired outcome is in the distant future, people and groups can become discouraged or forget altogether what they are working toward. That’s why goal management also involves breaking a goal into concrete steps. Sometimes people call these smaller steps “objectives.” Instead of expecting people or ourselves to maintain motivation for something far off, we set milestones along the way. Then we can spread the sense of accomplishment out over the duration of the process.

Does that make sense? You see, many people and organizations like to make goals but have the terrible habit of abandoning them. And if you give up on your goals regularly, for whatever reason, what’s the point in making them? Doing this will create a feeling or culture of disappointment and failure. And that is not healthy.

So remember, making smart goals and managing them well are critical. But that’s not all there is to achieving goals. You also need to understand the importance of communicating and remembering goals, maintaining motivation, establishing rewards, and dealing with slip-ups. But we’ll save that for next week. If you’d like to learn more or test yourself on today’s lesson, check out the myBEonline.com website. You’ll find vocabulary explanations, discussion questions, and a quiz. Thanks for listening, and see you next week.

Transcript

Hi everyone. I’m Tim Simmons and you’re listening to Business Skills 360. Glad you could join me today for the second part of our look at networking skills. In this episode, I’m going to focus on what I’ll call “network maintenance,” or how to make sure your network is healthy, organized, and effective.

You see, passing out business cards is not enough. I can spend all week attending events and talking to people and manage to hand out 200 business cards but still not have a healthy and effective network. To do that, you need to maintain your network. You need to take care of it and reinforce its connections. You need to work your network. Just how can we do that? Glad you asked.

One of the first things you can do is to keep track of your network on paper or electronically. Take notes on your contacts. Record more than just phone numbers and email addresses. Write down interesting business-related information like current projects or past accomplishments. Also write down non-work information… things about family or personal interests. These things may come in very handy in the future when you talk with this contact again. Consider the difference between “Oh, hello… uh… Greg, right? Where do you work again?” and “Oh, hello Greg, I hope the furniture biz is treating you well, and by the way: how is your daughter adjusting to her new career?”

Another important part of network maintenance is following up on conversations. You meet someone, you exchange cards, and you have a brief chat. Great. A couple of days later you should send this new contact a brief email message just to say it was a pleasure talking. Mention something specific that you talked about just to help the person remember. Connections that are not reinforced will die. A brief follow-up after first meeting is a great way to increase the chance that your connection will survive.

Reinforcing your network even further means working your connections regularly. Don’t be afraid to call on people for help. If you’re faced with a difficult issue, look through your network to see if anyone can help. It might just mean placing a call for five minutes of advice. No problem. Every conversation will make weak contacts stronger. Remind people you exist. Check in regularly. If you hear a piece of news that you think someone might find interesting, pass it on. Show that you’re an active contact, and people will do the same in return.

Also remember that we’re talking about healthy and effective networks, not healthy and effective relationships. What’s the difference? Well, you may have a few dozen good business relationships, but if none of those people ever become connected, then it’s not really a network. Every relationship is simply the connection point between two people’s vast networks, and you should take every opportunity to connect other people through you. Here’s an example. You have a business associate named Nancy who needs to hire a new bookkeeper. You meet someone at a networking event named Joe who tells you he had to lay off several people in his accounting department. What do you do? You connect Nancy and Joe. Doing this strengthens your relationship with both people and puts two favors in the bank, one with Nancy and one with Joe.

You need to learn to view people as nodes in a network, not as isolated individuals. When you meet someone, don’t think only of what he or she might be able to do for you, think of what everyone in his or her network might be able to do. Good contacts are the ones that have good networks. A person who has an unhealthy network, or no network at all, is a dead-end contact. And remember other people are evaluating you as a contact. Show that you are a good one. Don’t be a dead end.

Great stuff. That wraps up our look at networking. If you’d like to learn more from today’s lesson and test yourself, have a look at the myBEonline.com website. There you’ll find discussion questions, some vocab, a quiz, and a complete transcript of for this episode. Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.

Transcript
Hello and welcome back to Business Skills 360. I’m Tim Simmons, and I’m glad you could join me for today’s show on networking.

Today also marks the start of our “Back–to-School” sale on Business English Pod. Just head over to the website at www.BusinessEnglishPod.com.

Okay, back to networking. Now, I’m not going to tell you how to connect computers… this is about business networking, talking to people, making connections… and today we’re going to discuss goal-setting in networking events. You need to go into these events with a clear objective so that you can make good use of the opportunity. We set goals for everything else, so why not networking?

First off, what do I mean by networking event? Perhaps it’s a mixer for all business people in your community, or maybe it’s a conference where you have the chance to meet people in your field. These are important opportunities, and it’s important that you use your time wisely. The fact is, at many networking events, 75% of the people stand around waiting for the other 25% to make something happen. It’s important for you to be in that 25% group. Be proactive. You can’t just stand in the corner and expect everyone to walk across the room to introduce themselves.

So… to be an active and successful networker, it’s a very good idea to set goals before the event. What kind of goals? We’ll talk about issue-based goals and human-based goals.

Let’s start with issues. Before the event, sit down and give some thought to your current situation. What issues are you currently dealing with in your business or work? Are you facing specific problems or obstacles that you need help with? Do you have certain needs? Write these things down, then rank them in order of importance. For example, your list might say… “number 1: our project meetings lack focus. Number 2: our computer servers are unreliable. And number 3: my department is spending too much on office supplies.” Great. It’s good to have a top three. Too many and you’ll lose focus.

Now, keep your top three issues in mind as you head into the networking event. Remember, the goal of your networking is to solve these problems, get help solving them, or simply get some ideas about how to deal with them. You may not meet someone who can actually solve these, but you may meet someone who has encountered them before. Steer the conversation toward these issues. They may help you get over that awkward situation in which you’ve introduced yourselves and aren’t sure what more to talk about. You can say something like… “So, you folks do a lot of project work… how do you find your meetings?” or “What kind of servers do you run in there?”

Now, let’s think about human-based goals. The purpose of networking is, of course, to build a human network. You talk to people, and your network grows. You talk to more people, and your network grows even more. That’s great, but if your purpose heading into a networking event is very general, like “talking to people,” then how do you know whether you’ve been successful? Setting specific goals will help you get more done and measure your success, especially if you feel you’re not very good at networking.

Put numbers to your goals. Set targets, just as you might for sales or other important business basics. For example, perhaps you decide that you will make three soft contacts and one excellent contact. Or maybe you decide to tell five people about your company’s new product. Or maybe you aim simply to pass out 10 business cards. Whatever the specific goal is, it will help you focus your efforts. Chatting for 30 minutes about baseball with a former co-worker may qualify as “talking to people,” but it’s not necessarily the best use of your networking time.

Right. That’s all for today. Happy networking, and if you’d like to test yourself on today’s episode, check out the www.myBEonline.com website. You’ll find some vocab explanations, discussion questions, and a quiz. And don’t forget to tune in next week, when we’ll have a look at network maintenance. Fascinating stuff. Bye for now.

Discussion Questions

1. How often do you attend networking events?

2. What do you hope to achieve when you go into a networking event?

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a networker?

Transcript

Hello and welcome. I’m Tim Simmons, your host for Business Skills 360. Glad you could join me. This is the fourth and final part in our 360 series on your first job interview. Today we’re going to tackle a few of those really tough questions that interviewers like to ask. You know they’re coming, so let’s get ready for them.

Getting ready. That’s the key. You need to spend time preparing for your interview and crafting good answers to the questions you’re going to face. Every interviewer will have one or two oddball questions that will catch you off guard, but for the most part you can predict what you will be asked. So prepare, prepare, prepare. I’ll go through five fairly standard ‘difficult questions’ today and you can prepare your answers.

Let’s begin at the beginning, with “Tell me about yourself.” This is not an easy task. Interviewers don’t want a 10-minute summary of your life. You need to be brief, crisp, and relevant, and everything you say should relate to the job or your career objectives. Describe yourself in three to five sentences, mentioning your key strengths, your most recent related experience, and your basic professional goals. This question normally comes right at the start of the interview, and first impressions are important, so you’d be wise to develop a good answer and rehearse it.

Right. Now how about that question “What is your greatest weakness?” There are several stock answers here that actually twist a positive quality, like “I’m too much of a perfectionist.” Avoid those types of answers because employers have heard them all before. You should state a true weakness and then explain how you have tried to overcome it. For example, “Well, I have had some problems with organization, but I have taken a time management course and I’m focused on improving this area.” You might just want to avoid talking about something that is a key skill or attribute of the position.

Okay, so some interviewers will ask you to give them an example of conflict and how you dealt with it. This makes a lot of interviewees uncomfortable, but remember that conflict is normal and natural. The important thing is how you deal with it. Tell the interviewer about a real conflict you experienced, but don’t chalk it up to a personality difference. Show how the conflict was the result of miscommunication or misunderstanding. Show how you tried to understand the root of the conflict and how you dealt with that directly. Then explain how things improved.

Now there’s another common difficult question that relates back to the “tell me about yourself” idea. The question is this: “Why should I hire you?” The worst thing you can do here is to seem confused or have nothing to say. You must be able to sell yourself and explain why you are right for the job. Focus on your strengths and how they relate to the company’s goals. Many products have a one-sentence unique selling proposition that explains very briefly why you should buy it. You should have a unique selling proposition for yourself.

Right. One final tough question is about your long-term objectives or plans. In this case, you should avoid mentioning specific job titles or positions. You should also avoid talking about opening your own business or going back to school. Talk about what you’d like to do for your employer and focus on certain areas of professional improvement. Be ambitious. Talk about your goals. Do not say that you don’t really have any!

Great. Let me reiterate one last time here that there is no substitute for good preparation. None of these questions should leave you scratching your head in confusion.

Head over to the Business English Pod website to get a complete transcript of today’s show and test your understanding with a free quiz.

Thanks for listening, and good luck on that next interview.

Discussion Questions

1. What types of interview questions do you think are very difficult?
2. Is it ever okay to say “I don’t know” in response to an interview question?
3. How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Transcript

Hello and welcome. I’m Tim Simmons, and you’re listening to the Business Skills 360 podcast. Glad you could join me. This is the third part in our 360 series on your first job interview, and we’re going to be looking at the topic of research. And by that I mean the research that you should be doing before you step into the interview. Okay, so let’s get started…

When you prepare for an interview, you want to arm yourself with knowledge in three key areas. Number one is the position itself. Number two is the company. And number three is the industry.

So, how do you find out about the position? Well, the job ad or posting is an obvious place to start. This should include a job description that lists all the responsibilities and skills required for the position. You may also visit the company’s website, or go to job websites that describe similar positions and the type of work that people with that job do. You can even try to talk to people who work at the company.

When you’re doing your research, you should be asking yourself several questions. What are the required skills and attributes for the job? What is a person in this position expected to deliver or produce? How much authority comes with this position? How does this position fit into the company’s organizational structure? Which other people in the company will I have to work with? The more you can find out, the better. It will help you to understand which of your skills and experiences are the most relevant or impressive. Your research will also help you discover things that you want to know more about, so you’ll be able to ask pertinent questions to the interviewer. Great, so what’s next?

That’s right, you need to research the company, and a great place to start is their website. There you should be able to find an overview of the company. What are their products and services? What is their mission? Who are the company leaders? What is the company’s history? From there you can search for the company in the news and learn about the latest developments. Try to figure out where the company fits in the market as well as how it differs from the competition. Dig deeper and read between the lines to understand what kind of corporate culture exists and to see what challenges the company is currently facing. During the interview, you may be able to speak about potential solutions to such challenges.

Finally, you should learn something about the industry and the market in which the company operates. There are plenty of resources online, but you can also head to the library or bookstore to browse books and magazines. Industry publications and newsletters can also help. As you learn about the industry in general, see where the company fits into the greater scheme of things. Also pay attention to trends, growth areas, external influences, and problems in the industry.

Okay, these are the three key areas of research that you need to cover before your interview. If you’ve done your homework, you will arrive feeling much more prepared and, therefore, more confident. You’ll be able to fit the interview questions and your responses into a broader context of the company’s goals. You’ll also be able to ask much better questions to the interviewer. Don’t feel that you have to pull out everything that you learned. The fact that you’ve done research will shine through in your responses and questions. And interviewers truly appreciate any effort you’ve put into your preparation. Hopefully, they are so impressed that they offer you the job…

That’s all for now. I’m Tim Simmons, and this is Business Skills 360. If you’d like to test your understanding of today’s show, please visit us online at www.BusinessEnglishPod.com. You’ll find a quiz as well as a transcript, plus lots of other useful material. And don’t forget to tune in to our next episode, where we’ll wrap up our series on first job interviews with a great show on how to answer those particularly difficult questions that interviewers might throw at you. See you soon.

Discussion Questions

1. When you do research, where do you usually look for information?
2. Why do you think it might be important to know something about the company where you will have an interview?
3. What are some recent important trends in the industry in which you want to work?

Hello and welcome to Business Skills 360. I’m Tim Simmons, and I’m glad you could join me today for the second in our series on your first job interview. In this show, we’re going to take a look at how to demonstrate a professional attitude during your interview. This can be a difficult thing to do when you’re feeling nervous and have a hundred other things on your mind. But it’s really important – especially for your first job interview. Here’s why.

Yes, your experience and skills are important, just like we talked about last week. But demonstrating a professional attitude is also key to setting yourself apart from other candidates. You need to show that you’re confident, comfortable, and personable. Employers can’t really see your personality or attitude from your resume. Indeed, the main purpose of an interview is to meet you face-to-face and see if you have the right stuff… the right intangible qualities… the right professionalism… to do the job right. Interviewers want to get to know you a bit and gauge how you’ll get along with others in the work environment. Remember, you’re not there just to summarize your resume. You need to make a good personal impression too. So, let’s have a look at how you can do that.

For starters, you need to look the part. Appearance is very important, and you should choose simple and conservative clothing. Make sure you’re neatly trimmed and go easy on the makeup, jewelry, and cologne or perfume. Don’t worry too much if you arrive and find that it’s a fairly casual environment. It’s better to be overdressed than underdressed, and you’re showing respect for the interviewer and the process by dressing formally.

You’re dressed for success. Now what? Well, you need to adopt an attitude… an outward self… that conveys professional enthusiasm. This starts with two things: eye contact and a smile. These show that you’re engaged and personable. Also make sure you’re ready with a firm and confident handshake. Be quick to respond when an interviewer extends his or her hand. Or take the initiative yourself.

Great stuff. You’re done with the introductions – now comes the tough part: the interview itself. Your primary job is to answer questions, but it’s not a police interrogation. You need to be an active participant in the interview. You need to engage in a dialog. Show interest in the company and position. Show excitement about your own experience and what you might bring to the company. At the same time, be careful not to take control of the conversation. Let the interviewer call the shots and set the pace. You need to show them enthusiasm, but make sure you keep your answers to the point. You prepared well for this interview, right?

So, you’ve managed to field the interviewer’s questions with professional excitement and confidence. The interview is drawing to a close and you have to think about going out on a positive note. How do you do that? Well, the end of the interview is an excellent time for you to ask some questions…. about the company, its products, the interviewer’s role in the company, or whatever else your research has prepared you to discuss. And finally, you want to thank the interviewers for their time and let them know that they can contact you if they have any further questions. Exit the same way you entered. By that I mean with a smile and a solid handshake. Walk out confidently. And if you need to wipe the sweat from your brow or loosen your tie, wait until you’re out of sight…

That’s all for today. If you’d like to test yourself on what we’ve just covered, have a look at the BusinessEnglish360.com website. There you’ll find a quiz about today’s show as well as a complete transcript. Next week, we’ll look at the topic of pre-interview research. So long, and see you again soon.

Hello and welcome to Business English 360. I’m Tim Simmons and today we’re kicking off a new podcast called Business English 360. This is where we will explore skills that are crucial to your success. Let’s call them soft skills. We’re not talking about how to use a spreadsheet here… this is about how to approach situations, problems, and people.

Appropriately enough, we’re doing this first round of shows on another kind of first: your first job interview. We’re going to have a look at four key skills, including conveying enthusiasm, doing your research before the interview, and answering those particularly difficult questions. But we’re going to start this series with one of the biggest questions: How do I show that I’m right for the job when I have little or no work experience? What am I supposed to talk about?

This is actually applicable beyond first job interviews. Perhaps you’re changing careers or transitioning into a new aspect of business. But the question remains: How do I relate what I have done to what they want?

So, where do we begin? It begins with preparation. It doesn’t matter how much, or how little, experience you have. It all starts with preparation. Don’t wait until you walk into that room to consider good answers to questions that you know are coming. Your brain is already quite busy just coping with the tension of the situation. So sit down with pen and paper well before the interview and decide what you’re going to talk about. You need to make a list of your experiences, accomplishments, and achievements. Remind yourself of those specific successes so you don’t have to wrack your brain in the middle of the interview.

Now, a big part of your preparation involves matching those experiences and accomplishments with the job’s required skills and responsibilities. To do that, you first need to read the job description very carefully. What exactly are they looking for? List the qualities. We’re talking about things like organization, leadership, delegating, time management, taking initiative. These are the traits or abilities that you’re going to prove you have. Also look beyond the job description. What other qualities do you think they need? Make a note of them and then hone them down to three or five you can easily reference in an interview.

Once you understand the kind of person they’re looking for, find things in your experience that demonstrates those qualities. If you were the captain of your tennis team for example, you’ve got a perfect match with leadership abilities. Almost everything is fair game here. Think about sports, academics, student politics, hobbies, or any other activity you’ve taken part in. When you’re thinking about academic experience, think about group work, presentations, major projects, and so on. Not just good grades. You want to show them how you got those good grades. Remember, abilities are lasting. If you show examples of taking initiative in your computer club, employers will assume that you can carry that characteristic into your work life. Don’t worry that your experience is not in exactly the same context as the prospective job. You’re showing that you have transferable skills.

Now that you’ve matched specific experiences with the skills and requirements of the job, you’ve got lots to talk about in the interview. Notice there that I said specific experiences. That’s very important. Not general, but specific. You need to talk about the situation, what you did in that situation, and the final result. Don’t say, “I was very busy and had to manage my time well.” Instead, say, “In my last semester I was enrolled in 5 courses and one independent study project, and I played basketball. It was quite a juggling act, but I still managed an A average.” You see? Specific.

Great stuff. Turns out you have more to talk about than you thought you did. Remember: prepare beforehand, match your experiences with the required skills and responsibilities, and be very specific.

Want to test yourself? Have a look at our website. You’ll find a quiz to check your understanding, as well as a complete transcript of today’s show. And don’t forget to tune in next week, when we look at how to show enthusiasm and professionalism. You don’t want to miss that one… Until then, this is Tim Simmons from BusinessEnglish360.

Discussion Questions

1. Think about your own experiences. What achievements or activities from your school life do you think demonstrate positive qualities that might impress an interviewer?
2. What do you think is more important to employers: related job experience or relevant skills and ability?
3. Are there certain types of activities or interests that you should not talk about in an interview?

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