Welcome to Business English Pod, a great way to improve your English skills on the go.
When presenting an argument and or trying to sound convincing.
There are several common phrases that we use to organize the things we want to say.
These phrases are used to begin to present what you're going to say.
Change to a new point, add another point to your argument, give an example, stress an example or a point, contrast one point with another, make a generalization, state a preference and finish what you want to say.
In this scenario, Jack presents the option to move production to Costa Rica.
Dan is against the idea. and they argue over the pros and cons.
However, Jack is given the approval to proceed with investigation efforts.
Okay, let's go to our next subject, which is establishing a new factory in Costa Rica.
Jack, I believe you would like to speak on this subject?
Thanks, Jim.
As you all know, my department has been researching this project and we would like to recommend that we go ahead with it.
Here are the reasons why.
First, to put it simply, we cannot afford not to build this new factory.
We are losing money right now because of our high production costs in the US, and US labor rates are probably going to go higher in the future.
In addition to that, the cost of shipping the raw materials from our Latin American suppliers is going up as well.
Therefore, we have to move production overseas.
Excuse me, Jack, if I may, but actually, labor isn't all that important to our production cost.
Well, Dan, I beg to differ.
Raw materials are expensive.
However, labor is even more so.
Let me give you an example.
Our guitars cost 80 a piece to produce and at least 40 of that cost is from labor, when you add in office staff.
In short, 50% of our production costs is from labor.
Now, if I may return to my other reasons, shipping costs are also going higher, and that is a big part of our distribution costs.
For instance, US port security inspections are now required for all shipping containers entering the US.
Because of this, each container now costs $1,600 more to bring in raw materials from Latin America.
Not only that, we also have to pay for shipping a large amount of guitars to Latin America to supply that particular market.
This, in a word, is ridiculous.
Why ship everything to the US when many of our guitars can be produced and sold in Latin America?
So, are you saying we should close down all our US factories and shift all production to Costa Rica?
That would be even more expensive.
We would have to build new plants.
And, as a matter of fact, our US plants have much lower costs than our competitors.
I realize that, but in general all US guitar manufacturers have much higher costs than those in Latin America.
Our US plants may be more efficient than those of our competitors, but all the same we are losing market share to foreign manufacturers.
In short, we need to start shifting production overseas.
So, in spite of all the progress we've made in lowering our production costs in the US, you still want to move production overseas?
Dan, I know you've made some big cuts in production costs, but even so we're still losing money and market share.
And besides, we'll have to move production overseas at some point anyway, so why wait?
Well, that went fairly okay.
Jack had an opportunity to explain his arguments for the move, and Dan was polite, even though it's clear he doesn't agree with Jack.
Jack was careful to use language that supported his argument.
Let's take a look at the phrases he used.
As you all know, my department has been researching this project and we would like to recommend that we go ahead with it.
Here are the reasons why.
When beginning an organized argument, we let other people know that we are starting an argument which has several points by using phrases such as Here are the reasons that we should.
I would like to begin by I would like to make a few remarks concerning I would like to comment on the problem of.
I would like to mention briefly that There are three points I'd like to make.
The most important points seem to me to be After Jack begins his argument, he then uses what we call sequence language to organize his points like first.
To put it simply
You can use ordinal numbers such as first second third, or other words and phrases such as next, then after that, to guide your listeners in understanding the flow of your thoughts.
You can also use sequence language to show causes and effects.
Here are some examples of some common sequence phrases.
First, there is the matter of... To begin with, there is no question that...
Next, let's look at sales figures.
Then we have to make sure that Finally, it's obvious that, Because of this Therefore, When discussion on a certain major point or subject has been finished, a speaker will then use a phrase to introduce a new point or topic.
In our example dialogue, Jim introduces the topic of the Costa Rica project with the phrase Let's go on to our next subject.
These phrases are used not only to inform meeting participants about what is being talked about, but also to lead a discussion.
Practice some of these other phrases.
I would now like to turn briefly to the problem of.
The next issue I would like to focus on is Turning to Sometimes, when you're in the middle of a discussion or an argument.
We think of another point we would like to add to support what has been said before.
Jack adds another point to his argument with the phrase In addition to that.
The easiest way to add another point is by saying Also
But there are other, more polished ways to add a point, such as I might add that, As well as There is also Not only, but also Furthermore.
Moreover, Giving examples of our points is extremely important when making an argument.
Examples show that our point is true in the real world, not just in our minds.
Jack introduces one example with the phrase, for instance.
However, there are several other phrases to introduce examples, such as Let me give an example.
To illustrate this point, let's consider A case in point.
Is, For example, For added effect, we often use emphasizing phrases when introducing a really good example or when stressing an important point.
Dan wants to make a big impact with his point that his production costs are lower than those of other US companies.
So, he starts with, as a matter of fact...
Practice these other phrases to add emphasis to your points and examples.
In fact, I would have you know.
I'd like to point out You're probably not aware that, The truth be told, Sometimes we have to balance a point with a contrasting point.
Jack talks about material costs and labor costs.
One point is that material costs are expensive, but he balances that thought with his next point, which is that labor is even more expensive, using the key word however,
Here are some other words and phrases we use to signal listeners that a contrasting point is on the way.
But.
On the one hand but, on the other hand, although we mustn't forget, whereas we have to remember, in spite of I still think, despite the fact that I
Often when discussions become lost in details or when a speaker wants to state what is true.
Most of the time, we use what we call generalizing language, which lumps all the facts together into a statement, which is true more often than not.
Jack makes the point that US guitar manufacturers have higher costs than foreign ones, but he doesn't bore everybody with stating the cost comparisons for every last individual company.
Instead, he states that in general, their costs are higher.
We also use generalizing language to sum up a general idea coming from a discussion or a lengthy series of facts, usually with a simple word.
So
But there are more fancy ways of saying so, such as.
On the whole.
In general.
When there are many ideas being discussed, we often want to tell other people what we think of them, or We want to say how good one idea is compared to another or many other ideas.
Jack starts his argument with preference language when he states what he believes is the best overall plan.
We would like to recommend.
But here are some phrases we often use when actively discussing competing ideas.
I would rather... I'd rather... than...
I would prefer to.
I would like to recommend.
I tend to favour as opposed to.
Has an advantage over in that.
The main advantage of is that.
The conclusion is perhaps the most important part of an argument.
This is hopefully where all the points and examples you fought to make are summarized into a logical conclusion or a recommendation.
Here are some formal ways to conclude an argument.
Let me conclude by saying I'd like to conclude by stating that.
Allow me to conclude by highlighting the fact that, In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that I would now like to conclude my comments by reassuring you that we are fully aware of the fact that These are rather formal statements that come out at the end of a monologue argument.
In our back and forth dialogue.
However, Dan attempts to conclude Jack's argument for him with a less formal and less than positive summary.
So, in spite of all the progress we've made, Some other, less formal ways to conclude an argument involving back and forth discussions are.
Therefore, I think we can conclude that
I believe I've shown that.
I think it's pretty obvious that, And with these concluding phrases we'd like to thank you for tuning in, and we'll now conclude our podcast for today.
