This is the business English podcast episode 598.
What's the state of your business?
How to explain the current situation?
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Hey lindsey how are you good michelle how's it going good good lindsey do you typically watch the state of the union address um i have in the past but not usually not in the last few years uh
Yeah.
I just can't bring myself to sit.
Usually it's kind of long and I figure I can read the news the next day and get the highlights.
What about you?
Sometimes I'll start it.
I didn't watch it at all this year, but sometimes I might start it.
And then get a little bored.
But because, yeah, you're right.
It can be very long.
And it's tiring to watch.
But yeah.
But I do like to, you know, maybe follow up on the clips or things like that, hear what people have to say.
So, but Lindsay, what is the State of the Union?
They talk about the condition of the country, the major achievements so far in their presidency or that year, challenges, setbacks.
But depending on the president, sometimes it can feel like a little bit self-promotional.
So that's why I am not so interested.
I want like a balanced report.
You know what I mean?
I don't want just promotion of
This is how great we are.
I don't know that they're...
I agree with you, but I don't know that they're ever like, oh, but I've done this wrong.
Like, I don't know that it's like... Oh, they would not say that.
No.
It's not really like a self-reflection.
I think that they're all...
I mean, some more than others, certainly.
But, like, I think generally they are more self-promotional.
The crazy thing is that what happens in the State of the Union is nobody stands up for anything and claps for the other side.
Oh, OK.
Right.
It's always know that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I mean, I don't know if it's all the time, but usually there's some sort of conflict and is what will happen is someone, you know, they'll protest.
Yeah.
Yeah kind of protesting or yelling or like it's
It's so sad
Um it's a sad situation how divided we are but anyway that's not what we're really talking about today
Um we're talking about how we can use the state of yes talk about many different things in the business
Yep.
It's not just state of the union.
There can be a state of many, many things that we need to pull out this phrase so we can use it strategically at work.
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All right.
That's right.
Good.
All right.
So today we are going to explain how you can use this at work.
And so let's go for it.
So the state of something, that means how something is currently doing, the state of it.
Yes.
You're looking at it as a whole and figuring out what's going well, what's not, and ways the situation can be improved, right?
Yes.
Yeah, I mean, exactly.
It's supposed to be an objective assessment of something, right?
So that's what we look for.
And, you know, how can we say this phrase in a sentence, Michelle?
Let's give some examples.
All right.
So one would be the state of our dot, dot, dot.
So the state of our sales right now isn't looking promising.
So it's kind of like the condition.
Condition, the status, right?
Status, yeah.
What's happening now?
State versus status.
That could be another episode.
Guys, hit follow if you like that idea.
Maybe we'll come back to you.
Maybe over on All Ears English, we'll talk about state versus status.
Right.
Or given the state of blank.
So given the state of the economy, we should probably reduce our spending.
Yeah.
Or you can use it to ask a question, right?
What's the state of?
So what's the state of the budget right now?
Yes.
And then we can talk about the state of many things that are work related.
So let's go into the business English world.
There are some words you commonly see after the state of the state of the market, right?
Right.
Right now the market is really in flux.
We're recording this a few months in advance, so keep in mind we don't know what's going to happen by the time this comes out.
But right now we're dealing with the war in Iran, and there's a real uncertainty in the prices of gas, oil at the moment.
Right.
Is happening, which is starting to get a little crazy for consumers.
Yeah, really fast.
Did you read the sentence?
I can't remember.
The state of the market.
So given the state of the market, this might not be the best time to invest.
A lot of people are thinking this now, but it's been kind of a roller coaster of a year, Michelle, right?
There's something new every month.
So, yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
And this one you'll hear a lot, the state of the economy, right?
So, many companies are worried about the state of the economy.
So, yeah, like...
I mean for example I have to buy a new car and I have you know speaking
You know a lot of times they try and speed you up because they'll say things like even if I'm not ready to buy oh we don't know what's going on with the tariffs and the state of the economy you know and they use it to pressure you which is somewhat true.
You know, of course, but when it's used as a tactic to get you to make a decision, it's like, all right, come on, I know.
Yeah, that's not good.
Yeah, maybe it'll get better and you won't be paying more.
You'll be paying less in a few months.
Yeah, we don't know.
The state of the project.
Can you give us an update on the state of the project?
I mean, this is where you have your daily stand-ups, where you report out the state of your work, the state of your week, what you're working on that week, right?
Yeah.
What else?
This also just makes me think, I'm sorry, from an outside perspective, like I feel like a parent goes into the room like, will you look at the state of this room?
Yeah, for sure.
It's like your room is a mess.
Look at the state of this.
Sure.
But in business, there's also the state of our finances.
So we need to review the state of our finances before approving this budget.
Or the state of the department.
Management is asking about the state of our department after the restructuring.
So maybe a bunch of people were cut from a department or fired or something and management wants to know how's it going?
Are we picking up all the work?
Right?
Yeah, exactly.
Yep.
Yep.
So other things you might say in this scenario where things stand, like where the current situation is right now.
I need to know where things stand with the upcoming deal, right?
Or where do things stand with a client?
Or the big picture, the overall situation.
Let's step back and consider the big picture before making any decisions.
This is always a wise thing to do, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or when you look at the big picture, the company is doing quite well.
So, yeah, it's easy to criticize yourself or be like, oh, but this isn't working and this isn't working.
But sometimes you have to zoom out.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, like instead of looking every week at sales, you look at sales on a quarterly basis or a yearly basis.
The overall trajectory of the company, right?
Yeah.
The current landscape, I like this.
It's an interesting use of the word landscape because normally, Michelle, what do we use landscape for?
Like trees and flowers.
Gardening, yep.
Lawns.
We're clearly not landscape experts, but there are landscape experts out there that you can hire if you want to.
But here we apply it to business, either economics, the stock market, or your business.
Given the current landscape, tech companies need to adapt quickly.
Yeah, the AI landscape, you could say, right?
The political landscape.
The hiring landscape.
The current hiring landscape is very competitive.
Yeah, I mean, I've been hearing from a lot of people that are looking for jobs right now.
It's very confusing and sort of hard, the hiring market right now because of the AI filters.
Yeah, that's what, yeah.
Yeah yep you have to learn probably like the buzzwords to write in i mean otherwise you could be the perfect candidate but if you don't have those words like you're just going to be like
Yeah.
And I think a lot of companies are just not hiring right now because they're not sure what's going to happen with tariffs.
They're like frozen.
And then you add AI on top of that.
So it's tricky.
The landscape, the hiring landscape is confusing for people right now.
Yeah.
Okay.
Let's do a role play, Michelle.
So here we work at a publishing company and we're discussing a book that's going to be released soon.
Okay.
Okay.
Before the meeting, can you update me on the state of the manuscript?
Sure.
So the editor finished the edits, but the author still needs to review a few chapters.
Got it.
Got it.
And I know we're supposed to publish the book in September.
So where do things stand on that timeline?
Well, if the author sends the revisions this week, we should still be on track.
Okay, great.
But what's the current landscape for book releases?
I mean, I want to make sure we publish at the right time.
Yeah, good point.
Well, fall is prime time for reading and book sales naturally increase.
But regardless, when you look at the big picture, this book is destined for success.
The author already has a huge following.
That's true.
We just need to create a buzz so people know what's coming.
Yeah, publishing.
It reminds me of that show I got into last summer, Younger is what it was called.
It was so entertaining, the setting at a publishing company in New York.
And she pretends to be like 22, but she's actually 42.
It's a good show.
It's fun.
But this idea of a publishing company, I wonder what's going to happen with publishing companies in the future, you know?
Sometimes i think about that yeah yeah book uh book launches and things like that we don't know
Yeah yeah really interesting yep so it depends on the state of ai so um all right let's go through this
So you said before the meeting can you update me on the state of the manuscript
So how is it going?
How's it going?
And then we talk about, we're talking about a September launch.
And I ask, where do things stand on that timeline?
What am I asking here, Michelle?
When I ask, where do things stand?
Like, are we going to be able to reach the timeline that we've set?
Yeah.
Are we meeting our goals?
Yeah.
Is it actually going to launch in September?
Because we're supposed to launch in September.
Is that going to happen?
Right.
Right.
And then you said, great, but what's the current landscape for book releases?
So it's kind of changing the outlook a little bit.
Like, are we releasing it at a good time?
Certain times of the year might be better than others.
Exactly.
And then you said, good point.
Well, fall is prime time for reading.
But regardless, when you look at the big picture, this book is destined for success.
So the big picture, when you look at everything, right?
Yeah, it's already a popular author.
These things might not matter as much as for a new author.
Exactly.
Guys, go on over and check out business English 537 perfect this word stress for perfect English pronunciation.
Did you see what I did there, Michelle, with the intonation?
Yes, I did.
Perfect and perfect.
Yes, exactly.
All right.
Yeah, takeaway for today.
This is very common, very useful.
I mean, you're constantly having to check for status updates and things like that at work and to adjust.
And readjust and all of these things to be flexible.
So asking about the state of something very helpful and useful.
I totally agree.
Michelle, you have a good rest of your day.
We'll talk soon.
All right.
All right.
Bye, Lindsay.
Bye, guys.
Okay, bye.
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