Developing speaking skills

A:

Nowadays people talk a lot about risk management. Would you be so kind as to explain to me some of the issues that I don’t really understand about it?

B:

Sure, no problem. Actually I specialise in this sphere of management, so I’ll be very glad to help you in any way.

A:

The first thing that interests me is the description of the risk management itself. Does every company describe it in the way that seems more convenient and understandable for them?

B:

Of course not. Even though risk management is a rapidly developing discipline and there are many and varied views and descriptions of what it involves, how it should be conducted and what it is for, there already exists a certain standard in this.

A:

I am interested in the risk management standard. Do you know, who worked this standard out?

B:

The risk management standard is the result of work of a team of specialists from the major risk manage­ment organisations in the UK – The Institute of Risk Management, The Association of Insurance and Risk Management and ALARM The National Forum for Risk Management in the Public Sector. The standard also used terminology for risk set out by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

A:

I see, and what does this standard include?

B:

The main issues that the standard deals with is terminology related to the words used, process by which risk management can be carried out, organi­sation structure for risk management and objectives for risk management.

A:

I wonder who should identify risk. Are there any compa­nies dealing with this kind of services or should every company have its own specialists?

B:

Well, you see, risk identification can be carried out by outside consultants, but an in-house approach is likely to be more effective. The main aim of risk identification is to identify an organisation’s exposure to uncertainty which requires an intimate knowledge of the organisation, the market in which it operates, the legal, social, political and cultural environment in which it exists, as well as the development of a sound understanding of its strategic and operational objectives, including factors critical to its success and the threats and opportunities related to the achievement of these objectives.

A:

Who should the company report the results of risk identification to?

B:

They should be reported both internally and externally. I mean the board of directors, business units and individuals within the company and stakeholders outside the company. The only difference is that all of them need different types of information.

A:

Well, this all sounds really interesting. Do you think I could find more information in some books?

B:

Of course, if you come to my office I’ll give you the list of the best publications on the topic and answer your questions.

A:

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Good-bye!

B:

Good-bye!

A:

Good afternoon! Can I help you?

B:

Yes, please. My name is Mr. Jones. I’m the owner of a building company and I am thinking of buying insurance for my company.

A:

Take a seat, please. Do you know what type of insurance you would like to have?

B:

Not really. Can you advise me?

A:

Sure, first you should know what insurance policy is. It’s …………………………………………………………………………….……..

B:

What is the difference between coinsurance clause and deductible clause?

A:

Well, …………………………………………………………………..………...

Here is the list of insurance policies you can buy in our company. Please, look it through.

B:

I see. And which of them do you think should a building company have?

A:

……………………………………………………………………………..……

B:

Could you be so kind as to give more details about life insurance and retirement plans?

A:

But of course, ………………………………………… My advice to you is to hire a risk manager or a consultant from a company which deals with risk evaluation; it can be our company as well. He or she will evaluate risks your company is exposed to which in turn will help you to decide what kind of insurance is most necessary for you.

B:

Thank you very much for your help. I’ll take into consideration what you’ve just said. Good-bye!

A:

Good-bye! Have a nice day!

An entrepreneur

An insurance professional

You are supposed to make a telephone call to an insurance professional, deliver the purpose of your visit to him and arrange the meeting. During the meeting ask him about the details of insurance procedure, how to protect oneself from a possible failure, how to make the right choice of an insu­rance company, how to compile all the necessary documents and how much it costs to insure oneself from the problems that might appear while running a business.

You are to give professional advice on how to correctly arrange the documentation, provide the information about the latest success in performance of the most well-known insurance companies. Don’t forget to talk about the insurance risk and the ways to reduce it. Provide examples of other businesses’ failures to consider the practical solutions to the problems.

Use the following words and word combinations: May I talk to…, please; the purpose of my visit is; financial problems; to insure oneself from; risk mana­ger; amount of possible loss; reduce the risk; to buy insurance; to pay dividends; to search for the ways of managing risk.

Use the following words and word combinations: Risk is; mutual funds; pure risk; an insu­rance policy; an insurance com­pany; to purchase an insurance policy; to provide people with retirement plans; participating insurance; to guarantee health insurance; the owner insurance; to protect your business from; how to reduce the risk.