Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1132, Defending Your Ideas at Work.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1132.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, Coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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In this episode, we're going to talk about defending your ideas, or giving reasons for your ideas when you're at work.
Let's get started.
That's why I don't think it's doable.
We should consider other ideas.
That was Monica.
She's my coworker and my nemesis.
She criticizes all of my ideas, but I've learned that the best defense is not to get defensive.
I appreciate your feedback.
I understand your reservations, but let me show you these figures I've worked up, which I believe will address your concerns.
I knew Monica would attack my ideas so I had come prepared.
That's all very impressive, but I still think we need to consider other options.
Unfortunately, when Monica digs in her heels, I know that the only thing to do is to placate her.
That plus a delaying tactic usually works.
Your comments have given me a lot to think about.
We're running short on time and we want to get to the other topics for discussion, so let's come back to it next week.
Luckily, I know something else about Monica.
She has a short attention span.
By next week, she'll be on to her next victim.
We hear in this episode the voices of two different people at work.
In addition, we hear comments from one of those people, Kazuya.
The story begins with Monica saying, that's why I don't think it's doable.
We should consider other ideas.
Now Monica is talking to Kazuya and Kazuya is going to talk to us, if you will, directly about the way that Monica is talking to him.
Monica says that something that she and Kazi are talking about is not doable.
Doable, D-O-A-B-L-E, comes from combining two words, able and do.
Something that is doable is something that you can or are able to do.
Another word we might use here is feasible, F-E-A-S-I-B-L-E.
Something that is doable is something that can be done, something that is not too difficult.
Monica is telling Kazuya that whatever idea he has is not doable.
Then we hear Kazuya giving his commentary, his view of what Monica is saying.
He says, that was Monica.
She's my co-worker and my nemesis.
A nemesis, N-E-M-E-S-I-S, is an enemy.
It's someone who whom you cannot beat or win against, someone who creates problems for you.
Kazuya is probably using this word somewhat jokingly.
Normally, we don't describe people at work as our enemies, but that's how Kazuya is describing Monika.
He says, she criticizes all of my ideas.
But I've learned that the best defense is not to get defensive.
To criticize someone is to say that his idea has problems or the things that he is doing are wrong, or perhaps simply not good enough, not of a high enough quality.
Kazuya says that Monika always criticizes his ideas.
She says his ideas aren't good enough.
Kazuya says that he's learned that the best defense is not to get defensive.
Defense D-E-F-E-N-S-E are things you do to protect yourself or to stop someone who is competing against you from winning.
If you think of say, a football game, an American football game, one side has the ball and They're the offense.
The other side is trying to stop them from moving down the field.
They're the defense.
Most sports that have teams have offense and defense, or at least the teams are playing offense or defense during different parts of the game.
Kazuya says the best defense is not to get defensive.
To get defensive D-E-F-E-N-S-I-V-E is to be worried about someone else criticizing you and to try to explain why something isn't your fault.
Someone who's defensive often thinks that other people are criticizing him, and so he says things to make sure that people don't think something is his fault.
Kazuya says to Monika...
I appreciate your feedback.
Feedback F E E D B A C, K is information that someone or something gives you to tell you how well you are doing something or whether other people like it.
If you write an essay at school, a long paper, and you give it to the professor, the professor may give you feedback on your paper.
Notice we use the preposition on.
You get feedback on something.
The professor may say, oh, that was a great paper.
Or he might say that was a terrible paper.
That's usually what happened to me.
Kasia continues.
The word reservation is used when you have an appointment at a certain restaurant or when you are going to stay in a certain hotel.
But we also use the word reservation to mean hesitation, reasons for not wanting to do something.
If someone says, I have reservations about going on this trip, she means, I have doubts about it.
There are reasons why I don't think it's a good idea.
Kauzia says he understands Monica's reservations.
But he says let me show you these figures, I've worked up.
The word figures, F-I-G-U-R-E-S, here means numbers, calculations.
You've added or subtracted or multiplied something, and it gives you some information that's important.
To work up something or to work something up is a phrasal verb meaning to create or develop something.
It could also mean to calculate some figures as is the case in our story here.
To work something up usually means to present what we call a first draft, D-R-A-F-T, of something.
If you are working on the design of a website, you may work up some examples to show your client, your customer, so that that person can look at it and give you feedback on it.
You see, it all works together.
Kazuya says that the figures that he's worked up will address Monica's concerns.
To address A-D-D-R-E-S-S.
Someone's concerns means to discuss or handle something to take care of the particular problem.
So in this case, Kazuya will show Monica something that Monica can look at and see that Kazuya's idea is a good one.
Kasia then says to us, not to Monica, I knew Monica would attack my ideas, so I had come prepared.
Monica says, that's all very impressive, but I still think we need to consider other options.
Manaka is saying that what Kazuya did is very interesting, even something that is very good, but she still thinks that the company or the group needs to think about other possibilities other than what Kazuya said.
That's why Kazuya says to us Unfortunately, when Monica digs in her heels, I know the only thing to do is to placate her.
The expression to dig in your heels, H-E-E-L-S, means to become very stubborn or To refuse to change your opinion or decision even though other people want you to.
The heel is the bottom back part of a shoe.
And to dig means to create a little hole in the ground.
You can imagine someone who digs in his heels outside, say, in the ground...
He would be trying to prevent someone from moving him from his position.
That's where we get this expression, to dig in your heels.
Once again, it means to become very stubborn and refuse to change your opinion or decision.
That's how Kazuya describes Monika.
He says, when this happens, when she digs in her heels...
The only thing to do is to placate her.
To placate P-L-A-C-A-T-E means to make another person feel less angry or less mad by addressing his needs or addressing his concerns, even though you think it really shouldn't be necessary.
Kazuyo says that, Placating Monica is a good idea.
Plus, he says a delaying tactic usually works.
To delay D-E-L-A-Y something is to not do it when you planned on doing it, to do it at a later time, to postpone it.
We might also say
A tactic, T-A-C-T-I-C, is a strategy, an approach, the way you do something.
So a delaying tactic is something you do to make something happen later than when you had planned on doing it or than when it should have been done.
Kazuya is going to use a delaying tactic, which we learn about in the next sentence.
He says to Monika, Your comments have given me a lot to think about.
To run short on time means that you don't have very much time left in a meeting, for example.
He says Kazuya is suggesting that they stop talking about this topic right now Kazuya's ideas and go on to something else, so they can talk about it again the following week.
That's a delaying tactic.
He's making things last longer than they would have otherwise because he thinks that will help in getting his ideas approved by Monika.
Then Kasia says at the end, luckily, fortunately, I know something about Monica.
She has a short attention span.
Your attention span S-P-A-N is how long you can concentrate on one topic, how long you can focus on something without thinking about anything else.
If you have a short attention span, you can't focus on something for very long.
We could say you have a long attention span, though usually the phrase you will hear most often is short attention span.
Kasia concludes, by next week, she'll be on to her next victim.
A victim, V-I-C-T-I-M, is a person who suffers from some problem or action.
It's a person who's been hurt by something or someone.
We can talk about victims of crime, people who have been hurt or injured in some way by another person.
Someone may have stolen something from him or even killed him.
We would call someone who has been killed a murder victim.
Well, we're not talking about murder here.
What Kazuya is saying is that by waiting till next week to talk about his ideas with Manaka, Monica will have forgotten about this idea and will have gone on to, or put her focus or attention on, someone else in the office she doesn't like or doesn't agree with.
That's what Kazuya means by her next victim, someone else in the office that she can attack or criticize.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, or the story, at a native rate of speech.
That's why I don't think it's doable.
We should consider other ideas.
That was Monica.
She's my co-worker and my nemesis.
She criticizes all of my ideas, but I've learned that the best defense is not to get defensive.
I appreciate your feedback.
I understand your reservations, but let me show you these figures I've worked up, which I believe will address your concerns.
I knew Monica would attack my ideas, so I had come prepared.
That's all very impressive, but I still think we need to consider other options.
Unfortunately, when Monica digs in her heels, I know that the only thing to do is to placate her.
That plus a delaying tactic usually works.
Your comments have given me a lot to think about.
We're running short on time and we want to get to the other topics for discussion, so let's come back to it next week.
Luckily, I know something else about Monica.
She has a short attention span.
By next week, she'll be on to her next victim.
The scripts from our wonderful script writer always address your needs in improving your English.
At least, we hope they do.
Thank you, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
