1. Chief, Guy, Sport

Calling others by generic nicknames. Using nicknames with people is fine when it is a nickname the person wants. I have never met anyone who asked me to call them "sport." General nicknames have no personal meaning and therefore have no positive impact. The possibility of having a negative affect is always there.

2. Do as I say...

Expecting employees not to follow your example. Your employees are always watching. They see what you do and what you don't. Don't make the mistake of thinking it is okay for you, but not for them. They may respond with whining if you are lucky. Or, they may become resentful and look for ways to sabotage what you are trying to create. Remember, when it comes to leadership, you can always show them better than you can tell them.

3. My Buddy

Being a friend and not a leader. We all want to be liked. As a leader, being liked must come secondary to meeting the needs of your organization and your team. Much like a parent has to do things for the good of the child (even if the child responds negatively,) a leader must lead by principles and not be impacted by the emotional baggage that friendship brings with them. We place different expectations on leaders and friends. When the roles are combined, the expectations become confusing. Confusion often leads to trouble.

4. Assumption Junction

Not checking, assuming things are going well. I am not going to use it as an acronym, but when you assume, you are putting your success in other people's hands. The more important the outcome, the less amount of assumption there should be on your part. You do not have time to check everything constantly. However, you still cannot afford to assume important tasks are coming along just fine. Follow up - even with your most trusted employees. This will offer an opportunity to correct any error, or your employees will have a great opportunity to show you their great work.

5. Not yet

Relegating small tasks to the "not yet" category. We all have to prioritize our tasks in order to manage our time effectively. However, we also need to recognize when we are not going to do something. Responding with "not yet" when asked if we accomplished a task is a trap many leaders fall into. Too many "not yets" to the same person and you start to look unreliable. Sure, you are accomplishing the big projects - but if that person keeps hearing "not yet" they will think either you are a flake, or you do not have much respect for them. Make it easy, just say "no" to the small things you will likely never get to completing.

6. Peak-a-Boo

Thinking problems will go away if left alone. You may get lucky once in a while. A problem employee quits before you talk to them about performance. Or, a new manager decides to step down from her position because they realize the position was not a good fit. It is such a relief when those things just happen in our favor. Unfortunately, the lucky breaks don't come often enough and you damage your credibility with your team by not doing the right thing. Pretending the pink elephant is not in the room makes great analogies, but it does not help motivate teams. Peak-a-Boo - EVERYONE SEES YOU!

7. WAH WAH WAH

Complaining to employees. Your organization does not benefit from hearing you complain. If you are upset about something, live with it or deal with it - but never cry to your employees about it. Two bad things can happen. One, they leverage this extra emotional power for their benefit. Two, they become jaded toward the organization, leadership, or other employees. If you are so overwhelmed by something, speak to your supervisor, a leader of the same level, hire a coach, or get a new job!

Task 2

Choose one of the articles and render it in English.

1

Що необхідно, щоб стати лідером?

У відповідь на запитання про те, що таке ідеальний лідер, багато хто називає наступні характеристики: інтелект, твердість, рішучість і бачення майбутнього. Найчастіше поза цим списком залишаються інші, більш м'які й особисті характеристики. Однак проведені недавно дослідження показують, що вони також є істотними. Хоча певні аналітичні і технічні навички і є тим мінімумом, що визначає успіх, те, що іменується «емоційним інтелектом», можливо, є ключовим чинником, що відрізняє тих, хто досягає видатних успіхів у роботі, від тих, хто лише ледь утримується на посаді.

Емоційний інтелект складається з п'ятьох елементів: самосвідомості, самоконтролю, мотивації, уміння ставити себе на місце іншого і навичок роботи з людьми. Усі п'ять характеристик звучать привабливо практично для кожної людини. Однак організації найчастіше відбивають у своїх співробітників бажання розвивати ці риси.

Самосвідомість. Емоційний інтелект починається саме з цієї характеристики. Люди з високим ступенем самосвідомості знають про свої слабкості і не соромляться говорити про них. Наприклад, той, хто усвідомить, що в умовах жорстких тимчасових рамок він виконує свою роботу слабко, буде намагатися ретельно планувати свій робочий час і буде охоче ділитися зі своїми колегами тим, чому саме він це робить. У пошуку потенційних лідерів багато керівників найчастіше помиляються, приймаючи таку добродушність за особисту слабкість.

Самоконтроль. Ця характеристика є похідною від самосвідомості, однак розвивається в іншому напрямку. Люди, яким притаманна ця риса, здатні управляти своїми імпульсами, а найчастіше навіть і направляти їх у корисне русло.

Мотивація. Прагнення досягти чого-небудь заради поставленої мети, а не просто здатність реагувати на ті чи інші види заохочень, запропоновані компанією, є таким видом мотивації, який є істотно необхідним лідеру.

Уміння ставити себе на місце інших людей. На додаток до навичок управління собою емоційний інтелект вимагає наявності механізму взаємодії з іншими людьми. Такий механізм починається з уміння ставити себе на місце іншого, тобто враховувати в процесі прийняття рішень почуття інших людей, на відміну від прийняття на себе вирішення проблем усіх оточуючих. Приклад: уявімо собі керівників двох підрозділів однієї компанії, які змушені звільняти людей. Один з керівників вимовляє гірку промову, у якій доводить до відома підлеглих, яку саме кількість людей буде звільнено. Другий керівник, не приховуючи поганих новин, бере до уваги тривоги своїх підлеглих. Він обіцяє інформувати підлеглих і поводитися чесно по відношенню до кожного з них. Багато менеджерів утрималися б від такого прояву уваги, якщо, звичайно ж, вони не хотіли б показати, що їм не вистачає твердості характеру. Однак керівник, який проявив твердість, деморалізував своїх талановитих підлеглих, багато хто з яких звільнився з цього підрозділу за власним бажанням.

Навички роботи з людьми. Усі попередні характеристики сягають своєї кульмінації саме в цій рисі — умінні налагоджувати взаєморозуміння з іншими, сприяти тому, щоб люди співпрацювали і рухалися в бажаному для вас напрямку. Менеджери, які намагаються поводитися просто по-товариськи, у той час як у них відсутні всі інші складові емоційного інтелекту, швидше за все зазнають невдачі. Навички роботи з людьми, навпаки, є проявами дружніх стосунків з певною метою.

Чи можна підвищити рівень свого емоційного інтелекту? Це абсолютно можливо, однак не за допомогою традиційних програм навчання, спрямованих на ту частину мозку, яка керує нашими раціональними діями. Тривала практика, зворотний зв'язок від колег по роботі, а також і ваш особистий ентузіазм щодо вчинення змін у собі, є істотними у справі виховання в собі справжнього лідера.

2

Духовні та світські лідери

Лідерство взагалі не є цілісним. Воно поділяється на духовне та світське. Тобто існують лідери світські, які прагнуть влади, грошей та популярності і спроможні завдяки досягненням у цих прагненнях управляти іншими.

Іноді, в специфічних ситуаціях, виникають лідери духовні, які не обов’язково релігійні, але такі, що прагнуть духовного розвитку та здійснюють його найбільш послідовно.

Духовні та світські лідери в історії завжди йшли поруч. Духовні лідери були байдужі до влади, грошей та популярності, вони уособлювали процес духовного зростання, а світські лідери шукали відносин з духовними лідерами і визнавали їх за своїх вчителів.

Поширення демократії по світу та розвиток засобів масової інформації назавжди змінили зміст та структуру лідерства. Лідерами тепер вважаються винятково світські лідери, хто прийшов до влади на виборах, про кого говорять ЗМІ, хто має грошову підтримку.

Світські лідери вже не шукають знайомства духовних лідерів, не намагаються вчитися у них, ігнорують їх або виказують їм чисто формальну повагу.

Духовні лідери перетворені на маргіналів — їх вплив суттєво зменшився, вони стали не потрібні владі, їх не люблять ЗМІ, їх відверто ігнорує бізнес. Звичайно тут є провина і самих духовних лідерів, які не змогли відстояти свою духовну позицію серед демократичних традицій та демократичних медіа.

Але таке ставлення до духовних лідерів значно погіршило і якість світських лідерів, які стали по суті сліпими вождями.

Сьогодні вважається, що лідерство це велика сила волі у досягненні своїх цілей, яка надихає та підкорює собі інших, безвідносно до сили духу такого лідера. Таке розуміння лідерства є найбільш небезпечним, бо заводить цілі народи у глухий кут історії.

Сумнівними лідерами були Гітлер та Сталін. Кожен з них був талановитим та вольовим світським лідером, але водночас і бездуховним сліпим вождем. Ці світські лідери вороже ставилися до будь-яких духовних лідерів, переслідували та знищували їх фізично.

Здатність світського лідера мислити та діяти глобально та перспективно має дуже суттєві обмеження, не дивлячись на його силу волі. Світський лідер без позитивних ідеалів або з подвійними моральними стандартами духовно губить народ.

Світський лідер, без уявлень про глобальні виклики та майбутні духовні перспективи ,веде народ у прірву історії. Ми завжди матимемо сліпих вождів, допоки не повернемо вплив духовних лідерів, які формуються та розвиваються в окремому духовному просторі. Це надзвичайно тонкий момент. Духовне лідерство має свою специфіку, воно не вміє агресивно пробивати собі дорогу до суспільної уваги, як це вміє робити світське лідерство.

Отже мова не йде про те, щоб повернути духовних лідерів у політику, більше запрошувати їх на телебачення чи заохочувати прихильність до них бізнесу. Мова йде принципово про інше — про розвиток духовного простору, який би за своїми правилами, на своїх власних засадах, здійснював та відстоював духовний суверенітет суспільства незалежно від світських справ, поза волею та діями світських лідерів.

Tapescripts

Unit I

Tapescript 1.1

We live in the information age with a billion signals, communications and meanings all competing for our attention at any one time. The memo from the boss, the phone call from home, the traffic news, the headlines in today’s newspaper, the instructions on your computer screen and the back page of the magazine you’ve just bought – are few examples of the communications you may receive at any one moment, on any one day.

Communication is like a market place where communicators are competing with other communicators for buyers or listeners, just like traders are competing against one another to sell their products.

With so much communication around how can you be sure that the messages you’re sending out are being received. The answer is that you can’t. But one thing is certain: you are sending messages continuously. The two basic laws in communication theory say, first, that you are communicating all the time and, secondly, that you cannot not communicate. If you speak, people interpret you. If you don’t speak, people interpret that too. If you are seen, people interpret that. But if you remain silent or if you are not even there, people will interpret your silence or your absence just as surely as they interpret what you say.

If we do not want to be misunderstood, we need to make sure we are communicating exactly what we mean.

Tapescript 1.2

(Interviewer, Penny Logier)

• Is communication between companies and their customers better now than in the past and are there ways of improving it further?

• Tremendous in-roads have been made over the last two to three years, in terms of communication, and it's been principally down to two quite distinct things. The first is new technology and the second is the grasp that education and training is very, very important. In terms of new technology, such things as e-mail that now the majority of people are on, makes it that we can actually talk to our clients electronically, very quickly. We can get response back from them in terms of approvals, if we need to say let's have budgets signed off, or indeed if we want to debate something electronically in terms of the schedule or indeed a proposal. This can only get better. People are now feeling far more confident in the way that they're using e-mail. As it gets more sophisticated, so we can actually attach far more detailed structures to them and they, again, can respond back and understand what we're trying to do with them.

• Can you give us examples of some really good communication between

companies and their customers?

• Yes, one of our key customers is the Volkswagen Group (or VAG) who are international. It was very important when we began a trading relationship with them to get communication lines very clear. To that end, we set up an Intranet site between the two companies. Very briefly, Intranet is an extension of the Internet which means that we can communicate with each other via almost an Internet site, but on a daily basis and it is purely for those two companies to trade from. In other words, it has no access from outside, so confidentiality is, of course, kept. This delivers to our client immediate access to any work that's in progress. They can therefore comment very quickly on changes that need to be made and we, in turn, can respond back with speed.

• Can you think of any examples of when a breakdown in communication has seriously affected a business'!

• Yes. I can think of a number of instances where we, as a company, have nearly lost clients because there's been a fundamental breakdown in communication. What I mean by that is that you’ve got two individuals who are not really either hearing or listening - for want of a better word - to what the other is saying. In other words, there's been a breakdown in understanding. Education, learning is very, very key in this in that we have to understand that quite often we talk in jargon. This has to be actually cut out because it's very important that clients understand the basic essence of what an argument is, otherwise, commercially, it can be disastrous.

• And finally, is it possible to be a good manager but a poor communicator?

• No. Communication is key. People have to understand what you're trying to tell them to do. They have to have a long-term strategy in terms of their career development. You must make it clear, as a manager, what those aims are. Verbal is more important than written. People can talk to you on a one-to-one basis. You actually encourage confidence then and you actually get a rapport and a relationship with the individual.

Tapescript 1.3

• Good morning. It’s Midlands Weekly and Suzanne Jameson, Communications Manager at LWP, has joined us to discuss the effect of new technology on companies’ communication. Welcome Suzanne.

• Thank you.

• Let’s start with the internet and intranet. They seem the perfect way for companies to communicate – but is this the case?

• Well, as workers in some companies become more geographically separated, often as a result of cost-cutting measures where operations move to cheaper areas, managers need a way to boost staff morale and build a corporate culture , that is, get employees to feel part of the same team wherever they are and teach them to understand the core qualities of the business.

• And this is where intranets have a major role?

• Exactly. In some companies certain staff rarely come into the office. For example, a quarter of IBM’s workforce is mobile, spending over 80% of their time off-site, working from home or on the road. Key people might even be based in markets abroad, a day’s air travel away from head office.

• That’s true. And things are changing faster and faster these days, so I imagine a company intranet allows you to explain to employees what’s happening, and why.

• Exactly. It allows companies to ensure that every employee shares the same corporate news, views and vision. Some use it to teach employees (and suppliers and customers) their ethical code, like the policy on accepting free gifts from suppliers. Boeing, for instance, offers an online ‘ethics challenge’.

• So what other uses are made of company intranets?

• Well, another key use is that bosses tell staff the direction they want the company to go in. For example, at Ford, which claims to have the world’s largest intranet, 170,000 staff around the world are emailed a weekly note from Jac Nasser, the CEO. A purpose-built news room there maintains a website that’s upgraded several times a day, and is available in English to Ford’s employees around the world, as well as to staff at its new acquisitions such as Volvo.

• Aha. Suzanne, we’ve been speaking about the benefits of new technology, particularly company intranets. Are there any negative effects?

• Oh yes. All this communication from on high can certainly cause problems. At SAP, the German business-software giant, for example, they found that some middle managers objected to the Chairman emailing all employees. You see their authority had rested partly on their role as a source of information, and without it they felt undermined or threatened. So what appeared to be a simple, time-saving innovation turned out to be more complex and politically sensitive.

• I see.

• And there might be some sensitivity as communications become increasingly bottom-up as well as top-down. The Chief Information Officer at Siemens, a person called Chittur Ramakrishnan, for example, has noticed a significant number of e-mails going directly to top management. The idea of going through a secretary has altered. People can send e-mails to anyone and expect a response. It’s all very democratizing.

• So it sounds. Suzanne, I’m afraid we are going to have to stop there. Thank you for joining us today.

• You’re welcome.

Tapescript 1.4

1

• Er… Tonny?

• Mmmm

• Er…I’d like to see you for a minute, would you come into the office?

• Oh, yeah, right.

• Good. Now, how did you get on in Copenhagen?

• Ah, yeah…er…well, Carlsson had the flu, so I couldn’t see him.

• Couldn’t see him”

• No, so I had to see his assistant. And, you know, we…er…we got along quite well, but…um…er…there are problems w…er…Crystals got in before us.

• Oh Lord!

• Yeah, they were in last week. So…er…they…you know, they…they spent days there and…er…it was all wrapped up really by the time I got there.

• Is it…is it a question of…of…of supply? Are we…are we not producing enough for them?

• Well, no, they didn’t really look at the figures, they…they weren’t interested.

• Yeah, well you see the trouble is that we’ve got a…we’ve got an on-going problem…

2

• Now, Barry…er…and Susanna, have you got your worksheet in front of you – fact sheet here?

• Yes.

• Now you can see here that Miss Henry is James Ferguson’s personal assistant. That’s pretty information to know. Ted Douglas is the chief export clerk.

• Ah, right.

• Er…Barry, you are going to be working with Susanna very closely here…

• Good.

• And…er…I think it’s very important, Barry, that you…er…get together with Susanna over there and try to work out the…the letter filing system here

• Uhuh

• Now, as you can see, we’ve…er…as you can see on your fact sheet here we’got it marked Urgent and Non-urgent

• Yeah.

• Er…anything essential I’ll take care of, OK? Ha-ha.

3

• OK, Martin, er…let’s go through it again. You go to the airport.

• Right.

• OK. Terminal 2.

• Terminal 2.

• Pick up Glenn Donaldson.

• Glenn Donaldson.

• Now I want you to write this down.

• Yeah, I’ve got it down.

• OK, he’s arriving from Miami on the Flight numberLX432.

• LX432.

• Have you got that?

• Yeah, I’ve got it.

• Right, off you go. Get back here as soon as you can.

• Yes,sir, Mr Green.

• Thank you.

4

• Geoff, um…could you just come over here a minute and have a look at this sketch?

• Yes, sure.

• What do you think?

• Aha, yes, well you’ve put a lot of work into it, that’s…that’s very good. I’m not too happy about this border round here…um…

• No?

• Maybe you could try another go at that.

• I will, I’ll try again. OK.

5

• Mrs Lang, could I have a word, please?

• Oh, yes, Tony, of course.

• I wondered if I might have next Friday off. My sister’s arriving from Switzerland…er…I’d like to meet her at the airport.

• Oh, Friday’s rather difficult. What time does she arrive?

• Well, the plane gets in at 4p.m.

• Oh, I know, Tony! Why don’t you go off just after lunch, then you’ll manage to get to the airport on time to meet her at four.

• Oh, thank you very much, Mrs Lang.

Tapescript 1.5

• So if you are going on a business trip, or meeting someone from another country – perhaps a different culture – what do you need to think about?

• Well, it’s not so obvious. I always try to know something about the actual political and economic situation in the other country – the politics, the economics. I should always know something about that, about what’s happening. Also if I am going abroad, I find out a little about the infrastructure – I mean the telecommunications, the transport, that sort of thing.

• And do you find out about the general background , basic information about the country?

• The culture, yes. Certainly, the religion, the language – I might learn a few polite phrases – the geography, maybe a little history. And how people live, what kind of culture it is, how people socialize, food, drink, all that is very important.

• What about family life?

• Yes, that too. How families live, if private life and business ever mix…and also business customs and conventions. I don’t want to be surprised by anything.

Unit II

Tapescript 2.1

NVC

If anyone asked you what were the main means of communication between people, what would you say? That isn’t a catch question. The answer is simple and obvious. It would almost certainly refer to means of communication that involve the use of words. Speakers and listeners - oral communication; and writers and readers - written communication. And you’d be quite right. There is, however, another form of communication which we all use most of the time, usually without knowing it. This is sometimes called body language. Its more technical name is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal, because it doesn’t involve the use of words. NVC for short.

When someone is saying something with which he agrees, the average European will smile and nod approval. On the other hand, if you disagree with what they are saying, you may frown and shake your head. In this way you signal your reactions, and communicate them to the speaker without saying a word. Incidentally, I referred a moment ago to ‘the average European because body language is very much tied to culture, and in order not to misunderstand, or not to be misunderstood, you must appreciate this. A smiling Chinese, for instance, may not be approving but acutely embarrassed. Quite a lot of work is now being done on the subject of NVC, which is obviously important, for instance, to managers, who have to deal every day with their staff, and have to understand what other people are feeling if they are to create good working conditions.

Body language or NVC signals are sometimes categorized into 5 kinds: 1. body and facial gestures; 2. eye-contact; 3. body contact or proximity; 4. clothing and physical appearance; and 5. the quality of speech. I expect you understood all those, except perhaps ‘proximity’. This simply means ‘closeness’. In some cultures-and I’m sure this is a cultural feature and not an individual one - it is quite normal for people to stand close together, or to more or less thrust their face into yours when they are talking to you. In other cultures this is disliked; Americans, for instance, talk about invasion of their space.

Some signals are probably common to all of us. If a public speaker (like a lecturer, for example) is all the time fiddling with a pencil, or with his spectacles, while he is talking to you, he is telling you quite clearly that he is nervous. A person who holds a hand over his mouth when he is talking is signaling that he is lacking in confidence. If you start wriggling in your chairs, looking secretly at your watches or yawning behind your hands, I shall soon get the message that I’m boring you. And so on. I’m sure you could make a whole list of such signals - and it might be fun if you did.

All the signals I have mentioned so far can be controlled. If you are aware that you are doing these things, you can stop. You can even learn to give false signals. Most public speakers are in fact nervous (they’d be pretty unimaginative if they were not), but a good speaker learns to disguise this by giving off signals of confidence. Other kinds of NVC are not so easy to control. Eye-contact, for instance. Unless you are confessing passionate love, you hardly ever look into someone else’s eyes for very long. If you try it, you’ll find they will soon look away, probably in embarrassment.

I’ve already mentioned proximity, so just a brief word now about our last two categories, which concern the way people dress and the way they speak. These are both pretty obvious signals. People may dress casually, which signals that they are relaxed. Or they can dress very formally and speak in a clipped manner, showing their tenseness.

In fact, non-verbal communication can, as the saying goes, speak volumes.

Unit III

Tapescript 3.1

1. Well, to tell you the truth, there’s the part of me that’s still scared I might just dry up completely. I mean, you know, your mind goes completely blank. Makes me sweat just thinking about it. I have this nightmare where the audience has gone deadly quiet, and everybody in the room’s just staring at me and I haven’t got a clue what to say next! It’s only ever happened to me once, thanks god, but I still lose sleep over it in case it ever happens again.

2. Technology. Well, it’s Sod’s Law, isn’t it? If anything can go wrong it will. About a year ago, I had not one, but two projectors break down on me. And then my mike went funny as well. I sounded like Darth Vader out of Star Wars for about half an hour until they fixed it. Completely ruined my whole presentation, obviously. I went mad with the technicians afterwards. But what can you do?

3. I always seem to run out of time and then have to rush the end of the talk or, even worse, run over schedule. Audiences hate that. I’ve had people tell me I over prepare, but it doesn’t seem to matter what I do, I always have at least twenty minutes too much material. So, for me, every talk’s a race against the clock!

4. Well, some people, older people especially, have told me that I move around too much when I speak in public – you know, that I pace up and down and wave my arms around. They say it’s distracting. They can’t concentrate on what I’m saying. But for me, as an Italian, you know, it’s quite normal for us to jump around, be rather dramatic. So, now I worry about trying to stand still. And that just makes me feel tense and uncomfortable.

5. What was it Franklin D. Roosevelt said? The only thing to fear is fear itself? That’s the thing I’m afraid of, still, after all these years in business – fear. Ridiculous, isn’t it? But fear’s an absolute killer in a presentation. Your mouth goes dry. Your heart speeds up. Your legs turn to jelly. In my experience, the first two minutes are usually the worst. Survive those and you’re in with a chance.

Tapescript 3.2

1. Welcome back to CBN Business. To be or not to be? That is the question for an increasing number of companies putting their staff through drama courses, no less, in an attempt to turn them into better public speakers. Jon Heller meets a group of British managers making their theatrical debut.

2. 'Next time you are about to make a presentation, take a deep breath and imagine yourself walking on stage ­about to give the performance of your life.' That's the advice of William Freeman of Cambridge Associates, one of a new breed of management trainers who believe that presenting is less about PowerPoint and more about acting the part.

At Prospero, a company with similar aims, Tina Packer and Michael Lame have taken the idea one step further and put Shakespeare on the program. Who better to teach managers how to speak effectively and relate to an audience, they ask, than classically trained actors? Whether you're a platform speaker at the annual conference, a salesperson pitching a client or just chairing your weekly staff meeting, actors have powerful communication techniques you can learn from. Prospero is certainly in demand, regularly running courses at Columbia Business School, Harvard and MIT.

So what is it that makes someone a brilliant speaker? Richard Olivier, Royal Shakespeare Company director, creative management consultant and son of acting legend Sir Laurence Olivier, thinks it's 'self-belief'. According to Olivier, 'Much of leadership is acting. Not faking it, but taking on a role. Paradoxically, the acting makes it real.' But what do the trainees think? We questioned a few who'd taken a course in acting like leaders:

3. I thought my boss had gone quite mad at first. I mean, Shakespeare? No way, I thought! But, in fact, it's been really inspiring. And a lot of fun!

4. Frankly, I was terrified. Me, acting on stage? I don't think so. But I've learned a lot of stuff I never got on those boring presentation courses.

5. Well the actors have been fun to work with. We’ve had a lot of laughs. I’m not sure how useful it all is, though – you know, in a business context. But, hey, it got us out of the office for a couple of days, so I’m not complaining.

6. Well, this really isn’t my thing at all. I mean, public speaking just frightens the light out of me as it is, without getting up and acting in front of an audience. Frankly it was hell. Never again!

7. Best course I’ve ever done – by far. Just totally brilliant. I never realized the true power of the voice and the confidence it gives you when you can make it work for you. I’d definitely recommend this kind of training.

8. So, there we have it. Time to shut down your laptop, brush up your Shakespeare and learn how to wow an audience with the professionals.

Unit IV

Tapescript 4.1

1. Most presentations would be so much better if they were prepared more thoroughly. You know, about 95% of how well your presentation goes is determined before you even start.

2. I think it’s extremely important to adapt the style of your presentation to your audience. You need to know not only why they’re there, but why they’re coming, what knowledge they have, what they expect, how old they are, even what race they are. For example, in some countries, it’s not so much the presentation in itself that counts, but what impression you make as a person.

3. It’s not a bad idea to have some kind of route map which shows how you’re going to progress through the presentation, and you can keep referring to that to show them where you’re up to. This will also help you to clarify your ideas while you are actually preparing the presentation. And don’t be afraid to keep on summarizing what you’ve said. People tend to remember things better if they’ve been repeated a few times; though of course try to do this from different angles.

4. A common fault is to see a presentation merely as a means of disseminating information. What you’ve really got to do is to gear people into acting on what you’ve said, on the message you’ve given them.

5. I get to hear a lot of presentations. And frankly the majority of them I’d like to walk out of. The thing is it’s not the content that’s necessarily bad. If people spent as much time learning how to use their voice, their intonation, how to stress certain words, as they do in preparing their visuals, they’d give a whole lot better presentations.

6. A fundamental rule is to tell the audience what they need to know, not everything that you know.

Tapescript 4.2

• Alan, I know that you've done many presentations in your job as a sales manager. Can you tell me why do business people have to make presentations?

• Well, really there'll be three reasons, three main reasons why people make presentations, and they can be divided quite separately, although they're all linked together. The first one will be a new product, when you're trying to launch a new product to the sales force, into the UK, maybe to a group of sales managers from different companies. That would be a totally different approach to say, when you're launching a sales campaign, which might be used to promote that new product. And then the third area would be an incentive to actually get the sales campaign underway. So they're all linked but in themselves they'd all be different promotions. Sometimes they'd be made on the same day, but most of the time they'd be made separately.

• I see, are the techniques required for those types of presentations, are they very different?

• They differ slightly. The presentation for a new product, we would actually try and get your product there amongst the delegates, and you'd probably try to limit it to a small number of delegates. With a sales campaign it's not so important that you have the product there. The main message to get across is the benefits that the new product will bring and, if you like, the incentives that go with it.

• So you have to be pretty enthusiastic, for that type of thing.

• Yes. The key to all of them is to be enthusiastic because what you've got to leave your delegates going away with is as much enthusiasm for the product as you've got. And if they've got that enthusiasm, they'll go out into the market, they'll promote your new product, they'll get involved in the sales campaign, and indeed they'll want to take part in an incentive, which is the third reason I was going to give you. They'll want to get involved in the incentive that will actually ensure that the sales campaign is a success, and that incentive might be a trip abroad, it might be to win a television or something like that. But, if you can infuse them with that enthusiasm they'll take that out and they'll do your job for you which is what you want them to do. That's, that’s I suppose the ultimate aim of a sales presentation is for them to go out and do your job.

• I see. You've done a lot of presentations. Do you get nervous before them?

• You do. I think the larger the presentation, or the presentation to more people, the more nervous you get. Also, the more you know about a product the least nervous you'll get. So, I think the idea is to have good preparation for any presentation; it does take the nerves out of it.

• What ways do you use of getting your information across, Alan, in the presentation?

• Well, there are various ways to use, and again it would depend on the type of presentation you're doing. If you're doing a small, rather intimate presentation, you might limit yourself to handouts, having equipment available for people to look at and use personally. If it's the larger presentation, or slightly larger presentation, you'll use an overhead projector. And then for the very big presentation when you're hiring a hotel, and you've got a lot of delegates coming from a long way away then often you'll use a professional media company, and you'll have a very slick presentation with music; with lights, with slides and indeed often with video to get your message across. So those are the, if you like, the main tools of the job. I always find it useful to have handouts because when people come they might not write down the relevant points that you want them to write down, a lot of them won't make notes. Whatever presentation you're doing, whatever it is, you've always got to give something to go away with on what you've been presenting, or else it's forgotten.

• Well that's useful information. What would you say are the elements of a good presentation? What are the secrets of success?

• I think the main secret is enthusiasm. If you've got enthusiasm for your product then the people who are listening to you will have enthusiasm. Keep it pertinent, always keep it pertinent. You can wander off, so it's important that you do your research, as I mentioned earlier, that you know what you're talking about, and keep it, keep to the objective you've set yourself.

Tapescript 4.3

• Now let’s think about the preparation of a presentation. What has to be…what do you have to do to prepare it?

• The most important thing is to know about the audience, find out about…

• Yes, but you need to make sure about your objectives first, so decide on the objectives – what you want the talk to achieve.

• Yes, but to do that you need to know about the audience – their knowledge, what they want to know, everything like that.

• Yes, all that is important…

• Yes, true.

• So, audience and objectives.

• Yes/right/OK etc.

• Then the third thing is you have to sort out the content, collect information, organize it, decide on a structure.

• Yes, get a good structure, I agree… Then once the structure is OK, you need visuals, any graphs and that sort of thing…

• Yes, the visual supports.

• Then, well, you could write it all out. At least the introduction – just to practice it. Some people write out everything, some don’t. It depends.

• Yes, I think that’s a good point. But practice is really very important. A key part of the preparation is actually to practice it, to give the presentation – practice…until you could do it just from notes. Then…what else?

• Check all the language, keep it simple, make sure there are no mistakes on the visuals. Spelling and all that.

• And I think you should check that the room is OK and the equipment.

• Yeah…imagine, no slide projector, or…

• Or the OHP’s got no bulb in it!

Tapescript 4.4

Good afternoon everyone. My name’s Arnold Layton. I’m a geophysicist for Elf Aquitaine, with special responsibility for analysing new fields in the North Sea. I’m going to talk about some recent research into new methods of detecting oil in shallow waters. I’ve divided my talk into three parts. First, research that we have done. Then I’ll report on some published research from other companies, and finally, I’ll talk about what this may mean for our exploration activities. Please, interrupt if at any time you have any questions or something is not clear. My talk will last about half an hour. Later my colleague Jacques Flambert will be showing a video on (fade)

Unit V

Tapescript 5.1

Woman: Sometimes the participants aren’t sure what the purpose of the meeting is.

Man: People always start to argue and then they get angry with each other.

2

Woman: What often happens is that the chairperson dominates the group.

Man: Yes, and the chairperson rushes through the agenda so that the meeting finishes on time.

3

Woman: Lots of meetings I go to have no written agenda.

Man: Well, for a start there are too many items on the agenda. We can’t possibly cover everything.

4

Woman: Well, often some members are late and then the meeting doesn’t start until everyone has arrived. So we just have to sit there waiting until they come.

5

Man: Look, the meeting finishes late because too much time is allowed for discussion.

Woman: Yes, but not all the items on the agenda are dealt with.

6

Man: Well, you see, the chairperson encourages everyone to speak when they want to and proposals aren’t made ‘through the chair’.

Woman: The chairperson doesn’t control the discussion and everyone talks at once.

Man: Because the chairperson asks the more senior people to speak first, the more junior ones are afraid to give their ideas.

7

Woman: No one is asked to take notes and keep the minutes of the meeting.

Tapescript 5.2

• What do you see as the most important characteristics of a successful meeting?

• I think it’s important that everyone is well prepared. Certainly everyone should prepare for the meeting – which is possible in all cases except emergency meetings where there’s no time for much preparation. A second point is that in every case, people should understand the objectives of the meeting. Also, the role of the chair is important. The chair should do a good job, keep control and keep the meeting focused on the objectives. That means the meeting reaches its aims.

• And what about the timing of the meeting?

• Yes, I agree, the meeting should keep to the timing – start and finish on time. That’s also important.

Tapescript 5.3

1

• So the idea is that you aren’t afraid to express your opinions, is that it?

• Exactly, and because nobody knows who you are means that you are not influenced by your position in the hierarchy and not conditioned by the group think either.

2

• What are your views on this, Pete?

• Well, I agree with Suzy, I think it’s a great technique. I’ve heard they actually award prizes for all the good ideas that come up in a meeting, Then there are big cash bonuses for the idea of the month.

3

• Sorry, I didn’t quite get all that.

• Well, what often happens during such sessions is that instead of judging the ideas later, people tend to criticize them immediately. This technique encourages participants to suspend all judgement and simply to let the ideas flow. It’s either that or get wet!

Tapescript 5.4

In this extract you will hear a group of new employees at a training session discussing how meetings should be organized.

Martin: Well, on the one hand, everyone agrees that meetings are necessary; on the other, most management personnel here would say that we spend too much time on them and in them. So, running meetings efficiently is a priority for all of us. The first question we need to ask is: what are the essential elements of meetings? And that’s what I’d like to spend some time on now. Paul, would you like to act as secretary?

Paul: Yes, of course.

Martin: If you could write the points down on the whiteboard over there.

Paul: Right.

Martin: And Angela, could you be the chairperson?

Angela: Yes, fine.

Marti: OK, Angela. Over to you.

Angela: Right, the purpose of this morning’s meeting is to define the essential elements of a meeting. As there is only one point for discussion, I don’t think we need an agenda. Beatrice, would you like to start?

Beatrice: Well, I think we’ve already identified two key features. Firstly, a meeting needs a chairperson to control the meeting and secondly a secretary to keep a record in writing of the proceedings and decisions.

Angela: So, have you got that, Paul?

Paul: Yes, a chairperson to control the meeting and a secretary to keep a record. As we’ve started talking about all the people attending the meeting, we may as well put down the third category – the other participants.

Angela: Good, so a meeting includes three categories of people – a chairman, a secretary and the other participants.

Beatrice: Angela, do you object to be called chairman? Or would you rather be the chairperson?

Angela: To be honest, I don’t really mind either way. OK, let’s move on. What other characteristics are there? Yes, Paul?

Paul: A purpose, a reason for holding the meeting.

Angela: Right, so let’s just think about the purposes of meetings. I mean, I suppose we would call this an ideas-gathering meeting.

Marti: Yes, that’s a good way of expressing it.

Angela: Other types?

Martin: Well, the other types we usually mention are problem-solving meetings and training meetings.

Angela: Thanks, Martin. OK. Have you got all that, Paul? A meeting must have a purpose – ether ideas-gathering, problem-solving or training.

Paul: At the beginning we skipped over the fact that we haven’t got an agenda for this meeting, but where there are a number of points to consider, a meeting does need an agenda.

Angela: Right, an agenda showing the list of items to be considered. Would anyone like to say anything else about the agenda?

(Pause)

No? Right. Other features?

Beatrice: Well, to be effective, the meeting needs some outcome, a result of some sort. I don’t know whether that’s the best way to express it. You know what I mean?

Martin: But isn’t the result linked to the purpose?

Beatrice: Yes, but you can’t start off with a clearly defined purpose and still fail to achieve it.

Angela: Yes, true. I see what you are getting at.

Martin: There are different types of results, aren’t there?

Beatrice: Yes, there are those related to the objectives of the meeting – i.e. the ideas gathered or the problems solved or the training delivered. But there are also the decisions of business meetings, of actions to take and steps to carry out.

Paul: Well, that’s what I’m doing, isn’t it, acting as note-taker. Writing the minutes as a record of what was decided in this meeting.

Beatrice: Yes, exactly. That’s the other type of outcome of a meeting – the minutes.

Tapescript 5.5

Bernard: OK, I think we should start now, it’s ten o’clock

Voices: OK/ right/ yeah.

Bernard: Well, we are here today to look at some of the reasons for the decline in profits which has affected this subsidiary. You’ve all seen the agenda. I’d like to ask if anyone has any comments on it before we start?

Voices: No/ it’s fine/ no.

Bernard: Right, well, can I ask Sam Canning, Chief Sales Executive, to open up with his remarks.

Sam: Thank you, Bernard. Well I think we have to face up to several realities and what I have to say is in three parts and will take about twenty minutes.

Bernard: Er, Sam…we don’t have much time – it’s really your main points we’re most interested in.

Jane: Yes, can I ask one thing, Mr. Chairman? Isn’t this a global problem in our market?

Bernard: Sorry, Jane, I can’t allow us to consider that question just yet. We’ll look at the global question later. Sam, sorry, please carry on.

Sam: Well, the three points I want to make can be made in three sentences. First, sales are down, but only by 5% more than for the group as a whole. Secondly, your budget for sales has been kept static – it hasn’t increased – not even with inflation – so we’re trying to do better than last year on less money. Thirdly –

Jane: That’s not exactly true…

Bernard: Jane, please. Let Sam finish.

Sam: Thirdly, the products are getting old – we need a new generation.

Bernard: So let me summarize that. You say that sales are down but not by so much, that you’ve had less money to promote sales and that the products are old? Is that right?

Sam: In a nutshell.

Bernard: Does anyone have anything to add to that?

Jane: Well, on the question I have to disagree.

Tapescript 5.7

1

Well, we seem to have covered everything. We’ve discussed the budget and decided where we can cut down. We’ve looked into some new methods of accounting. And finally, we’ve decided to carry out a feasibility study on reorganizing the work force, which I think you are going to do Ms Hancock. Does anybody have anything to add? OK. Then I think we can draw this meeting to a close.

2

So John, you are going to write up the minutes and get them to me tomorrow. And Sarah, you said you’d do a bit of number-crunching. And I’ll contact their managing director and play it from there. Is everyone else clear about what we’ve agreed to do? OK. I think we can call it a day then. Who’s for a drink?

3

Well, I’m afraid we’ve really run out of time and we’ve actually only managed to cover the first two points. I was wondering if it might not be a bad idea for us to come over to you next week, and perhaps meet at your Rome office. I’ll get my secretary to draw up the minutes and have them sent over to you.

Unit VI

Tapescript 6.1

1

The Dutch word for negotiation is onderhandelen which is actually composed of two words, onder and handelen, which means ‘under’ and ‘to treat’. So the meaning of the word is actually to get something below its price.

2

Well, in Urdu we may use the word batcheet which really means ‘to talk things over’. It comes from the verb ‘to talk’. So, whereas in England you may be thinking that negotiations have an end result, some thought of agreement, in our use of the world, ‘to talk things over’, it doesn’t mean there may be some resolution at the end of that.

3

In Senegal the word ‘negotiation’ it means waxaale. It is very important because, for business, for in the market and for everything you have to negotiate. In the offices I think it is a tradition in Senegal because you want to, to know what about the family first, what about this person, and after maybe you don’t reach an agreement but you have to waxaale, ‘to negotiate for everything’.

4

The word kosho which means ‘negotiation’ consists of two characters, the first one means ‘mix’ and the second one means ‘a relationship’ as well. So I think it carries the notion of mutual discussion, rather than one-sided, and for the best of, um, best result for the both parties.

Tapescript 6.3

• What is your actual title?

• My actual title is Manager, Bulk Sales, Texaco Fuel and Marine Marketing Department, Europe. So you're probably sorry you asked that!

• Well let's get into negotiation. I mean are negotiators born or made would you say?

• I would say a very rare few are born, most of us are actually made, and I'd say just about anybody can learn to be a negotiator, because negotiation is really taking skills that exist within yourself, and honing them to the appropriate situation, so although some people, you could say that the market trader or somebody selling bagels in the East End is a born trader or negotiator, I would say most negotiators are made, whether from necessity or desire.

• What are some of those skills then that you need to be good at negotiating a contract?

• You don't want a business deal where you have left the other person so crushed that they are not ever going to come back to do business with you again. You actually want to reach that middle ground where you've achieved something, they've achieved something, and if you can reach that middle ground then the chances are you shouldn't be looking at a deal at that particular time anyway.

• So it's important to go for a win-win situation?

• Yes it is, yeah.

• Do you trade, or do you negotiate with a lot of people whose first language isn't English then?

• Yes, I would say I do. Probably 50 - 60% of the businesses we do are with non-native English speakers.

• Right. And does that affect your strategy during a negotiation or not?

• I wouldn't say whether or not English was their native language necessarily affects the strategy, because most of the people that we deal with do speak English rather fluently. What would affect your strategy is a knowledge of, possibly their cultural bias; which you could say also exists within native English speakers. You might approach an American slightly different from you would approach an English or a Scots person you were negotiating with - so it's, it's an awareness of a little more than the language that you're dealing with that would influence how you would approach the negotiation.

• So do you, do you usually try to familiarize yourself with the background of the people you're dealing with?

• Oh absolutely, that's your. . . biggest asset in a negotiation. There is no one winning formula for a negotiation, it is very much a case of not only knowing your own business, but it's an understanding of the personality of the other party involved; and in the course of a day you might take three or four different approaches to negotiations depending on the personality of the other party.

• What sort of approaches would these be though, I mean would you play it very tough with an American or . . . ?

• In terms of the people I deal with, and I'm just running through my mind right now, some of the utility buyers that we work with, ...

• Can you give us a profile of some of these people in broad terms?

• Right, OK. There’s one person I deal with who’s Irish, well educated, he actually has a background from a major oil company himself, very gregarious, talkative, knowledgeable about the industry but also quite erratic in the way he deals with things. If you catch him in a certain mood on a certain day he will make up his mind just instantly, and say ‘right, I feel good about this – that’s that.’ On another day, or another week even, it could take you, take you hours and hours of chatting through and you’d get ‘Mmm, I don’t know, I’m not sure about this, I don’t feel good about this.’ He’s a very intuitive buyer. Whereas somebody else we deal with is very much plays by the book, by the numbers, so it’s no use going to buyer number 1 saying, ‘this is what historical figures will tell you and this is definitely the time to buy, and this is a fair price’, you have to say, ‘Ooh, you can feel the market’s moving this way, you know now’s a good time to buy because if you wait a week it’s going to be $10 higher’. Whereas the second buyer you would very much approach with a straightforward – ‘the PLAS’, which is an oil-related index, ‘PLAS is telling you that you have a price of X and this is a fair price that we are giving you and therefore you should buy’ – and he would buy it on that, whereas trying to put an intuitive approach into this person’s mind wouldn’t get you anywhere. So it knows the person you’re dealing with.

• What areas of a negotiation cause most trouble, would you say?

• The areas of a negotiation that would cause most trouble really are when you have somebody on the opposing side that doesn’t recognize that they're in a position of negotiating, i.e. you get no feedback whatsoever, so you are speaking and negotiauon … it’s a bit of a dance really: two steps forward, the other pany two steps forward and just edging around maybe even like a boxer is edging around each other until you actually make contact. But when you have somebody that refuses to give anything back, well then there's not too much you can do about that. Because you ... you have one of two options - you either give up before you start or you lay all your cards on the table instantly and say this is my position, there's no room in this, I can't budge, and either take it or leave it. That’s the only way you can deal with a person in those circumstances. But most business, there should be enough factors at hand that there should be a give and take in the terms of how you negotiate.

• What advice would you give to someone who wanted to be a sales negotiator?

• The advice I would give is, erm . . . know your own business as much as you possibly can; know their business as much you possibly can, and know them. If you know where you're starting from, if you understand your business then you're not going to make a mistake on your side. The more you know their business the better chance you have of actually pitching your own sales strategy appropriately. And the more you know of the person you're dealing with, the better chance you have of success.

• To be successful in negotiating you actually need to listen to the other party and hear . . . it’s not always said in the words they're saying, but hear the hesitations, hear ... if you're face to face you can actually read the body language. Since most of our business is not face-to-face you don't have the body language, so it’s even more important that you can pick up over the telephone the clues as to what is actually going through that person's head, whether you are way off mark with the approach you are taking or whether you're actually just two cents apart from each other, so I would say listening is a very important skill.

Tapescript 6.4

I think first of all… I would have to say that one needs to be very …prepared… I mean to know what you want from a negotiation, what’s your purpose, your aims and objectives. Without clear aims, you can’t have clear thinking, so aims are vital, to have a clear purpose. What do you want? A contract? You want a firm agreement – or just to find out a few things?

Then, you…you have to know what’s the minimum deal. Decide what is the least – the lowest offer you can accept for a deal – an agreement.

Then you have to know where you can give way – or make concessions. So fixing concessions – and targets – is important. Without that you end up agreeing to something and later you think ‘Oh no that’s a bad deal!’ – or you miss out on what seemed a bad deal at the time but was in fact…okay – not bad anyway.

Another area – perhaps obvious – is to know your strengths and your weaknesses. If we take the classic marketing SWOT analysis – you have to understand your own strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats – or dangers – that exist outside, from competitors for example. So, know the market, know your strengths, know about prices and other possibilities. If you do this, you can see the negotiation in its proper context.

Then you need to prepare all support information. Figures, numbers, pictures, whatever. It could be anything – but the most important thing is that you can support what you say. It helps you to be clear.

Next, the team has to be well prepared, well managed. If…if it is a team you have, everyone needs a clear role, clear responsibilities – to have roles.

Finally, your opening remarks. Prepare what to say. Begin in general terms what you hope to achieve – the general intention, what you’re looking for. The opening statements sets up the right atmosphere, the right expectations, it helps things to be clear between the two sides.

Listening 6.5

Speaker 1

Make your priorities clear before you begin, that’s my advice. I always say remember to check your tie. Not the one you wear round your neck, your T-I-E. ‘T’ stands for ‘tradeables’. There are the things you’ll take if you can get them, but they are not that important to you and you’ll concede them if it helps you to push the negotiation forward. ‘I’ stands for ‘ideas’. These are the things you’d really like to get and will fight to get, but not if it costs you the deal. Finally, and most importantly, ‘E’ stands for ‘essentials’. It’s not that these are absolutely non-negotiable. Everything’s negotiable. But if it looks like you’re not going to get your essentials, then that’s the time to start thinking about walking away from the negotiating table.

Speaker 2

Well, frankly. I get a bit tired of hearing people to go on about win-win negotiating. I mean, let’s face it, a lot of negotiations are basically win-lose, and your opponent’s interests are the last thing you should be worrying about. Buying a house, a car, double-glazing – all win-lose situations. And you’d be surprised how many business negotiations are basically one-off deals as well. In my opinion, in a win-lose situation the tougher you are – without actually being aggressive – the further you’ll get. That’s because your opponent takes your attitude as an indication of what’ possible and what’s not. And the friendlier you seem, the higher their expectations will be. It’s like the old saying: give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.

Speaker 3

‘You always know who is going to win a negotiation – it’s he who pauses the longest.’ I forget who it was who said that but it’s pretty good advice – basically, shut up! And remember that silence is very often your best weapon. It’s a very difficult argument to counter. Faced with prolonged and uncomfortable silences, you opponent is liable to make another concession or give away their strategy or weaken their own position by becoming defensive. So play your cards close to your chest. Talk less, learn more. There’s an old Swedish proverb: ‘Talking is silver. But listening is gold’.

Speaker 4

I think the biggest trap less experienced negotiators fall into is to turn the whole negotiation into a debate, which it isn’t. This is sometimes called ‘positional negotiating’. Both sides end up arguing the whys and wherefores, rationalizing their position, trying to justify themselves. It’s a complete waste of time. You’re not there to convince your opponent that you’re right. He doesn’t care if you’re right or not. And neither should you. You’re there to explore both sides’ interests, generate options and trade concessions – preferably giving away things that mean little to you but a lot to him and receiving the opposite in return. This is ‘interest-based negotiation’ – discovering the needs, desires and fears behind your opponent’s position and working on those. The two phrases you need most of all are: ‘If…, then…?’: If I give you that, then what do I get? And ‘What if…?’: What if we looked at this another way? What if we did this instead?

Speaker 5

The key skill in negotiating is the ability to ask the right questions – and ask lots of them. In fact, there’s an organization called the Huthwaite Research Group, who recorded hundreds of negotiations and guess what they found? ‘Skilled negotiators ask more than twice as many questions as average negotiators.’ So, my advice is: phrase as many of your comments as possible as questions. You don’t understand something? Don’t say you don’t understand – you’ll look stupid. Ask a question – you’ll look intelligent. You strongly disagree? Don’t say you strongly disagree – they’ll think you’re being difficult. Ask a question – they’ll think you’re trying to be helpful. You have a good idea? Don’t say you have a good idea – they’ll wish it was their idea. Ask a question. They’ll think it was their idea. Keep those questions coming and don’t take no for an answer!

Tapescript 6.7

Extract 1

• OK, so, do I take it we are in agreement on volume?

• Er, well, just a minute, wouldn’t it be a good idea to talk prices before we go any further?

• Yes, of course. But in principle you’re happy about taking forty cases, right?

• Er, well, in principle, yes, if the product’s as good as you say it is …

• Splendid, that settled then.

• …But, look, getting back to price for a moment. This would be just a trial order, you understand? Sale or return. Until we see how it sells. So, can you give us some idea of what kind of figure you were thinking off?

• €50.

• €50 per case.

• Er, no. Per pack.

• Per pack? There seems to to have been a slight misunderstanding. A pack is just 12 bottles, right?

• Yes, that’s right.

• Is this meant to be some kind of joke or something?

• €50 per pack? That’s over €4 a bottle. By the time we’ve added a decent margin, you realize we’re looking at a retail price of €7 minimum. How am I supposed to sell a one litre bottle of water for €7, Mr. Koivisto?

• Mr. Barrett, O-Zone is an innovative, premium product. A pure oxygen enriched drink. We’re not talking about a bottle of Perrier here.

• Well, that’s as may be, but €7!

• O-Zone is an exciting opportunity to get in at the start of a new trend in luxury health drinks.

• Well, there’s no way on earth I’m paying you €4 for a bottle of oxygenated water, Mr. Koivisto. With respect your prices are simply not competitive.

• Mr. Barrett, there are no competitors in this market. O-Zone is a unique product and at €4 – well, I’m afraid that really is our absolute bottom line.

• So you are saying it’s take it or leave it?

• I’m afraid so.

• Well, then, I think I’ll have to leave it…

• Wha…? Now, just a minute. You said on the phone you might want 100 cases.

• That was before I knew your water was more expensive than Chardonnay, Mr. Koivisto. OK, look, let’s set the price issue to one side for the moment, shall we? Tell me a bit more about the product…

Extract 2

A: B: A: B: A: C: B: C: B: A: B: A: B: A: C:

OK, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If you order 250 units today, I can offer you not our usual five but a six percent discount, free delivery and I’ll throw in 12 months’ free parts and service s well. Now, I can’t say fairer than that, now can I? Of course, that’s only if you can give me the order today. Can’t hold the offer, I’m afraid. Well, erm, Robert, isn’t it? Rob, call me Rob. Well, now, Rob, we appreciate the free service and delivery, but to be honest with you, what we’d really like to see is a bit more movement on price. I’m afraid a six percent discount is not quite what we had in mind. We were hoping for something a bit closer to ten. Ten percent? I don’t think I could stretch as far as that. Not unless this was a substantially bigger order. Oh, come on! You’ll have to do a lot better than that, Mr. Hayes. You’re not the only precision tool manufacturer, you know. Hold on, Gavin. Let’s hear Rob out. Well, frankly, I think we are wasting each other’s time here. We’ve already been offered a much better deal by Magnusson’s. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute. Surely we can sort something out here. Rob, would you be willing to meet us halfway? How do you mean? If you were to offer us an eight percent discount, we might be in a position to increase our order, say, by fifty units. But we’d need to see a bit more flexibility on terms of payment. Maybe on installation terms too. Erm, well, I suppose there may be some room for manoeuvre there. I’d need to check. Can you give me a moment to have another look at the figures. Sure. In fact, let’s take a short time-out, shall we? And meet back here in, say, half an hour? OK, fine. I still say we’d better off going with Magnusson’s

Tapescript 6.8

Situation 1

It’s been a long meeting, but finally I’m very glad we’re able to reach agreement. I think it would be good if we could go on to a restaurant now, we’d be pleased if you can join us.

Situation 2

I’m sorry our efforts to reach agreement have not been successful. I suggest we stop here, but I hope that in the future we might work together on something.

Situation 3

Unfortunately I feel it would be better if I don’t join you on this project, but no doubt there’ll be plenty of other things we’ll work on.

Situation 4

I’d like to repeat our order, but not on those terms. I’m sorry, we can’t agree to this. I think we’ll go elsewhere, but thanks anyway.

Situation 5

I’m very sorry, but it really is physically impossible. We cannot supply goods in so short a time. It’s just impossible. Sorry we can’t help you.

Unit VII

Tapescript 7.1

1

‘Well, I use the back of an envilope or a beer mat.’

2

‘Um well, I usually sit back for a few moments and …think about what I am going to do. And… well, then I just start writing.’

3

‘I write on a word processor and I don’t make notes before starting.’

4

I write an outline of the letter and then do a final draft.’

5

‘er…I make notes on a large sheet of scrap paper.’

6

‘Well, I just dictate it to my secretary and, well, let her sort out the details.’

7

‘I do it all on my computer. Er…it’s easy; I start by putting down the main headings, and then, well, start writing. I edit the document as I go along.’

8

‘I sit for a few moments and then think about the person I’m writing to. Then I make notes before I actually start writing.’

Tapescript 7.2

I want you all to KISS ... From the NVC on your faces I think I'd better explain:

K for keep, I for it, S for short, and S for simple. Keep it short and simple. Or, if you prefer it, keep it short and sweet. Do you know what 'it’ I have in mind? 'It' means writing, of course, especially any piece of writing concerned with management. Actually, it might not be a bad thing if it were applied to other forms of communication, too, such as talking — or, at least public speaking. This might not be a very popular idea among say, politicians, but they might get listened to more if they spoke! Now, before anyone asks "What about lecturers, then? We shall more rapidly on to see just what this KISS rule means in practice.

It means using short sentences, with only one statement per sentence. It means using no unnecessary words (though you'll need a definition of necessary to agree on that). It means using short, simple words wherever possible. It means keeping paragraphs short too, restricting them to one main thought each. It means writing short letters and short reports.

As a rough guide to a sentence, try to keep down to an average of about 15 words. In case you wondered how many words were in my last sentence, there were 18, so it was quite a long. You will not always be able lo keep the number down to 15, but 25 should be the absolute limit. There were 25 words in my last sentence. When, you are about to use a long word, stop and think. You will almost certainly be able to find a shorter one. You may have to use more than one word, but the result will be greater clarity.

It is usually possible to keep paragraphs down to about 60 to 80 words on the average. Some people recommend an absolute limit of 160 words, and this should be possible. However, if all your sentences and paragraphs are the same in length, this can be very dull for your reader. So vary them according to the circumstances. Short sentences give the impression of urgency. Longer sentences require greater concentration. And a short paragraph inserted amongst longer ones will break the pattern and make the whole easier to read.

Punctuation, too, should be kept as simple as possible. This is one way to make your writing easier to understand. In shorter sentences it is usually not necessary to use more than simple commas or full-stops (periods, if you prefer). You should use only as much punctuation as you need to make the meaning clear. A comma indicates a pause, and a period marks the end of a statement. If punctuation does not make the meaning clearer, don’t use it.

Dashes, colons and semi-colons are rather more difficult to use than simple commas and full-stops. So be careful. Questions marks, hyphens and inverted commas all have specialized uses, and are therefore not so common. And in particular try not to use — or at least not to overuse — the exclamation mark. Printers sometimes call it a 'screech mark', and it tends to indicate an amateurish and undisciplined writer. Developing a good clear style can be quite difficult, and you will find that it will take quite a long time.

So KISS - and be friends. If you feel tempted to write for too long, remember the story of the good writer who wrote his publisher a very long letter. He apologized, and his excuse was that he hadn’t written a shorter letter because he didn’t have the time!

Tapescript 7.3

Situation 1

Jane, I was just reading through the mail I received this morning and it seems that J.C. Jones hasn’t received their lamp order yet. I called shipping and Jimmie told me he sent it three days ago. There was a backlog problem. Could you look after this?

Situation 2

Manager: I can’t recall whether I told you. I decided to go to the lamp dealers

convention after all.

June: No, you didn’t tell me. It’s in Houston, isn’t it?

Manager: Yes. I don’t know a thing about Houston except for what I’ve seen in the

westerns. Do you think you can find out about accommodations there?

Situation 3

Could you put a rush job on this? A resort complex is being built in Sutton. They want us to bid on the lighting contract. While you prepare the letter and the brochures on our lighting styles, I’ll work on the figures and get them to you before the end of the morning.

Situation 4

I don’t believe this. I decided to buy top of the line just to avoid this kind of problem and here we are stuck with a filing cabinet that jams. The worst is that I already talked to the sales rep about it over two weeks ago and I still haven’t heard from him. Could you take care of this, June?

Situation 5

It’s almost a year now since we’ve been in business. I think we should do something special. Why don’t we send a birthday-card type of a letter to all our clients thanking them for their patronage? Maybe we can send out discount coupons with it as a symbol of our appreciation. Do you think you can write out the letter by this afternoon?

Situation 6

June, something happened to Smith’s back and he won’t be able to be at work for at least another week. Here’s a list of the clients he was to look after this week. Could you send them a letter telling them about Smith and that there’s going to be a short delay in their orders? I’ll get Maria to look after Smith’s orders while he’s away, but with her own work to do it might take a little longer.

Situation 7

Manager: Where’d you put those baronial envelopes, June?

June: We’re all out.

Manager: Hmm. What about the string and button envelopes?

June: All out as well.

Manager: And the coated paper as well?

June: That as well.

Manager: I guess there’s nothing else for me to do so I might as well make some

coffee.

June: Sorry. All out as well. I sent out a letter a week ago. We should be getting

the stock in this afternoon.

Tapescript 7.5

Part one

I would like to start by talking about the advantages of e-mail. I know many of you who receive hundreds of not always relevant e-mails a week sometimes wish it had never been invented! But let’s not forget that, in comparison with other means of communication, e-mail really is a wonderful way to keep in contact with customers and colleagues.

Firstly, e-mail is cheaper than a traditional letter – which is now known as snail mail. E-mail is less intrusive than a phone call, especially as people are now constantly interrupted on their cell phones. It’s much less trouble than using a fax machine which is very often not in your office. Furthermore, differences in location and time zone are less an obstacle to information with e-mail.

And finally, there is conclusive evidence that e-mail leads to a more democratic structure, allowing all computer users easy access to company information and documents.

Part two

In today’s world of information overload, getting your e-mail read has to be your first objective. The flood of unwanted e-mail petitions, jokes and spam means that your message could get deleted before it is even opened if you don’t get your subject line right.

Subject lines should be brief, they don’t need to be a full sentence. More importantly, they should contain clues to the content of the message.

Lastly, you should put ‘urgent’ in the subject line if time is limited and if you know the person receives a lot of e-mail.

Unit VIII

Tapescript 8.1

These leaders have nothing at all in common in terms of background, beliefs, achievements, management style or personal characteristics. So, ultimately, all attempts to define the qualities of leadership are a complete waste of time. The one thing the leaders do have in common is this: followers. Every one of them has, or had, people prepared to follow them in one way or another. A leader is not what you are, but what other people make you. And whether or not you yourself are a leader is not for you to decide.

Tapescript 8.2

• Marjorie Scardino, you are leading one of the top companies in the UK, and you’ve been voted businesswoman of the year. What qualities do you need to run a large company effectively?

• Well, I think different companies probably require different qualities, but for me there are only a few simple qualities that cut across all requirements, and those are courage and imagination and empathy. And by empathy I mean, having the ability to put yourself in other people’s positions and understand how they feel about situations and ideas.

• Which business leaders do you admire and why?

• I think the best business leaders are probably ones we don’t know about, not the stars we read about in the newspapers. I think they are probably the ones who have had a great business idea and have seen it through to fruition. So the business leaders I most admire right now are those managers in Pearson who are achieving our goals of double-digit earnings growth.

• What do business leaders actually do?

• My staff would probably say this was a really excellent question they ask themselves every day! I think what they do is just what I’ve said the business leaders I admire do. They create a business idea, and they see it through.

• As a leader, how do you motivate your employees?

• I’d like to think we motivate each other. I think my job is to make sure the company has a purpose, because I think people like to work for a company that has a reason for being, that they can identify with and feel good about. I think that I have to communicate well with them everything that’s going on – and everything I’m trying to do – in a clear way. And then in return I think they inspire me to think more adventurously and to think more carefully about how to stimulate them and how to build a better business. So, it’s a sort of a circular operation.

• Do you think leaders are born or made?

• I think, it’s probably a bit of both. All human beings obviously are born with certain qualities, and certain genetic traits. But I’ve seen so many people in my life who have, using those basic qualities, re-invented themselves several times as they’ve gone into new situations. You know, you are a certain kind of person when you are in school, and your friends know who you are, and you get slotted in. And then as you grow up you go into new situations and become somebody else. So people who were never leaders in school become the great business leaders of our time. So I would have to say, mostly it’s made, but you have to use what you’re born with.

Tapescript 8.3

In my department we set clear goals and targets for a fixed period of time. We try to make it worth people’s time to reach those targets through our performance-related bonus scheme. We have regular meetings to see if everyone is on track during that period of time and at the end we have an appraisal meeting to evaluate the work that has been done. Naturally, if we find that the deadlines were too tight or things didn’t get done because of factors beyond our control, we sometimes adjust schedules to more realistic time frameworks.

I like to get in early before the rest of my staff and design the daily work schedule of each team member. That way I feel very much in control and that I have a hand in every task. My staff know that I like to be involved in every decision and they always consult me when they run into problems. We’ve been working successfully like this for years in the company and I find that it reassures people to have a strong leader heading operations. They have their own responsibilities, naturally, naturally, but when it comes to the importance decisions it’s me who makes them.

In my view, one of the most important things to learn as a manager is how to delegate. That way you get people to feel that they are a part of a team and it gives them a real sense of belonging and that, in turn, generates responsibility towards the organization. So you’ve got to give employees the space they need so they can take initiatives and really move things forward. If you’ve recruited the right people for the job then you should let them get on with it!

Tapescript 8.4

1

Many judgements have to be made on the basis of inaccurate information. Leaders often have to deal swiftly with conflicting demands without being sure of their facts. People who can’t bear to cause pain or risk making enemies, or who need to be 100% sure before making up their minds, don’t make good leaders.

2

Leading a large company, and dealing quickly with complicated and many-sided issues is a real challenge. Understanding the crucial point in complex situations is essential for devising an effective strategy. In order to survive demands on time and attention, a leader must be able to focus on what really matters.

3

A leader who can talk to all kinds of people – shareholders, the media, company employees, and so on, is essential. Motivating a large workforce requires an ability to present clear ideas and a clear vision persuasively. A leader who can’t inspire trust will find the task difficult.

4

Well, Lord Stivenson, the chairman of the bank HBOS (and also of Pierson, which part owns The Economist), says that he spends perhaps three-quarters of his time getting to know the top 150 people where he works. This shows that knowing who’ll work best in which post is one of the key tasks of leadership.

5

People learn far more about leading from a good leader than from a great book. So, effective leaders need not only to see where the abilities of a particular individual would be best used; they also have to be teachers to those around them. That’s the way to create leaders at many levels in an organization.

6

As a leader you need an ability to work with people who may be better at their job than you are at some aspects of yours, but you still need to be able to guide and motivate them. Leaders who are jelous of their followers don’t enspire loyalty. Successful leaders need to be able to say, ‘I don’t know what to do next,’ without losing the respect of their colleagues.

Selected keys

Unit I

Listening 1

1 information 2 communications 3 attention 4 memo 5 headlines 6 instructions 7 back page 8 examples

9 receive 10 market 11 competing 12 listeners 13 messages 14 received 15 certain 16 continuously

17 theory 18 communicating 19 interpret 20 seen 21 silent 22 absence 23 misunderstood 24 exactly

Things to consider

E

4

Good communicators: articulate, coherent, eloquent, fluent, focused, lucid, persuasive, responsive, sensitive, succinct.

Bad communicators: hesitant, inhibited, rambling, tongue-tied.

5

1. focused, succinct

2. hesitant, inhibited, tongue-tied

3. rambling

4. fluent, eloquent, sensitive,

5. articulate, coherent, lucid

6. persuasive, responsive

Listening 2

1

1. New technology and the idea that communications, education and training is important.

2. E-mail means companies can talk to clients more easily. This will go on improving as people become more sophisticated at sending e-mail attachments. (By ‘structures’, Penny is referring to attachments like text documents, spreadsheets and so on).

3. An intranet is a confidential computer network where information is only accessible to people in specific organizations (unlike the internet, where information is accessible to anyone). VW employees can gain access to any work that her consultancy is doing for them in order to suggest changes, etc.

4. She mentions a number of instances where her consultancy has nearly lost clients because of communication breakdown.

2

1. understand 2. strategy 3. development

4. aims 5. Verbal 6. one-to-one

7. confidence 8. rapport 9. relationship

Text 1

Reading comprehension

Exercise 2

1h

2e

3c

4b

5f

6a

7g

8d

Exercise 3

1. …the spoken word, the written word, non-verbal communica­tion, numbers, drawings and graphics, using a wide range of media including the telephone, face-to-face meetings, video­conferencing, e-mail, letters and memos.

2. …critically their own skills and work on improving them.

3. …a range of verbal and non-verbal signs and signals to show that we are participating in the communication process.

4. …either face to face or over the telephone.

5. …that when you talk to someone on the telephone, you cannot see their response or facial expressions.

6. …memos, reports, bulletins, job descriptions, employee manuals, and electronic mail for internal communication and electronic mail, Internet Web sites, letters, proposals, telegrams, faxes, postcards, contracts, advertisements, brochures, and news releases for external use.

7. …accurate, clear, simple, complete.

8. …commit to breaking down the barriers that exist in each of these stages of the communication process.

Exercise 4

1b

2a

3c

4e

5d

6g

7f

8i

9h

Exercise 5

Internal colleagues managers subordinates other employees

External suppliers customers government bodies other organizations

Writing

Business communication is one of the main managerial activities along with planning, organizing, motivating, controlling and decision-making. It takes about 50-90% of manager’s working time. None of the activities mentioned can be run without business communication. Business communication comprises three main elements: information access, transmission and comprehension. The level of understanding depends on each of these elements.

Language in use 1

Exercise 1

1. fax machine 2. mobile telephone 3. personal computers 4. network 5. information

6. modem 7. Internet 8. telephone line 9. tool 10. communications

Exercise 2

Technological inventions	Advantages	Disadvantages
the Internet	c, e, g	b, d, h
e-mail	g, i	b,
radio/television	a, g,	d, h
mobile phone	g	b, f, j
fax machine	i	b, j
telephone	a, g,	f, j

Listening 3

1

1b

2b

3c

4a

5c

6c