This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 448.
Don't miss your window of opportunity to get better at English.
Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.
Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.
For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you? Fantastic. Michelle, how are you today?
I'm good. Thanks. Lindsay, do you have a lot of windows in your house?
A lot of windows in my house? What a random question.
Yes, I do actually. Yeah, we have a lot of windows downstairs.
Almost the whole front wall is windowed up.
Oh, I love that. Oh, that's really nice.
Well, does it ever get does it get hot though?
Like, It actually doesn't. It sort of feels like a basement or something.
It's not a basement, but it feels like it.
It stays cool somehow. I don't know why.
I actually don't know why. Yeah, it's weird.
Yeah, that's good. Yeah, I have a lot of windows.
I wish I had kind of what you were describing.
Some people have kind of that whole wall of windows.
I definitely have windows, but yeah, I want one of those full walls.
More windows. More windows to go around.
So today we are talking about windows, but in a different way.
We're going to talk about a really useful idiom that relates to windows that can be really helpful at work.
And it's really good for kind of expressing urgency or saying that you have your chance for something.
Yeah, I think windows are used as symbolism in English in a lot of ways, right?
And so they tend to mean opportunity, something new, looking out in like unbridled opportunity, kind of, right?
So we're going to get into it in just a minute.
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So this expression, so it's window of opportunity.
Yes. So what is that? yeah so this is really interesting so this is the amount of time in which something could happen it is kind of like a time uh block right it's a period of time usually thought of as time that this chance could come to an end so a small window of opportunity It's a time period where you could do something.
You have a chance, but that window will close.
Right. Windows can open and windows can close.
Right. Exactly. Exactly. So let's do some examples here.
So our window of opportunity for winning this client over may be closing, but I really believe we can still make this a done deal.
Or we have a small window of opportunity here.
We have to express all the benefits to our product in about 20 minutes.
Yeah, and the more like the deeper I go into my working life the more I think about not just business But life in general is timing like if you think about you make a new friend Like if you exchange numbers with someone, yeah, right There's definitely a window of opportunity in which one of you has to reach out.
Otherwise it gets weird Yeah, if it's three months later like hey, remember you give me your number three months ago No, like you've missed your window of opportunity.
Don't you think Michelle? Right? Yeah, definitely.
There's a There's all these like unsaid windows of opportunity that are in our lives all the time.
Like what's a, what's a natural, um, period of time for something to happen.
Um, so you just have to kind of feel it out that, you know, this expression, I don't know, this makes me think of shark tank, right?
That's your window of opportunity, right?
You love shark tank, right? Of course. Of course.
It's always on TV. It's always interesting.
Yeah. Yeah. I was, I just happened to be watching it the other night.
Um, And yeah, this is the, for the contestants, this is a huge window of opportunity, but it's, it's not a, it's not going to be open forever.
Right. As you can see, as soon as the, what are they called?
Judges, I guess. Say that there, you know, you can see when the window of opportunity starts to close.
I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. Yeah. God. And you can tell that there's this moment of desperation.
Okay. Maybe somebody will take, give me an offer, but. the windows close that's a fascinating show in the way that i mean i think they all think for themselves but there definitely is like a social aspect to it if one shark is gone for it i think the other sharks are more like the competition maybe i will make an offer you know maybe it is they are seeing something that i didn't see here yeah right so it's it's fascinating actually yeah i mean lindsay have you ever felt like you had a special small window of opportunity for something that maybe was closing or like a big chance that it wasn't going to last forever yeah i think as life changes different phases of life right like as you start about having a family you know i think about my travel visions the places i still haven't gone so yeah that's definitely been on my mind lately for sure michelle moving to different cities and I'm in flyover country now, so it's hard to travel to Asia from Denver or to Europe from Denver.
I don't know, just travel opportunities, I guess.
What about you, Michelle? Anything coming to mind?
Yeah, I guess I would say travel too, right?
Because then you're looking at the calendar and, oh, with my kids and is this the... the right time to go and now our window of opportunity is smaller because my son is in public school.
It used to be when he was just in daycare or home with me and then I had my daughter.
It doesn't matter when and where we go and for how long.
Um, but now, you know, we have more commitments.
So the windows of opportunity start to close a little bit on that.
We just signed my daughter up for a dance class.
We just signed my, my son is going to have a class on Sunday mornings.
And so you start to feel, Oh God, a little, Oh, there are a lot of the commitments.
Yep. Yep. I've seen a lot of my friends go through that lately.
My friend Guy has two kids and they, they were living in Vietnam and then they traveled through Europe.
They got a van and just did like the van life all through Europe.
But now they've moved to New York, which is a great place to be.
We'll be celebrating his 50th birthday next weekend.
But like he he knew that he had that window of opportunity to travel with his kids during those five years until the oldest was going to go into school.
And now the window's closing. So I've seen so many friends go through exactly what you're going through.
Yeah, it's like, wait a second. Yeah, it's a little weird feeling when you realize.
Okay, I can't just do anything at any time.
Yeah, it's so true. Oh my gosh, yes. But new operating, I mean, it's good.
It's good to be rooted with your family.
Other things will come up. You'll see them grow.
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Rules and restrictions apply. All right, Michelle, what's next?
What else do we need to know about window of opportunity when it comes to business English, right?
Exactly. So, yeah, I mean, this is great because this is an expression that could inspire people.
It could get someone to work harder if they feel their chances are slipping away.
Or maybe your friend is considering a career move and, you know, they've been kind of holding back or nervous.
These are kind of these are this is a good expression that you can use to inspire someone. um or also to be realistic right to give them a reality check a reality check i like that or maybe someone doesn't realize there is an opportunity here and you need to have certain words i mean sometimes Opportunity will hit you in the face and you don't even know it.
And so maybe if you're mentoring someone who's younger at work and you see something in them that they should be exploiting, they should be using that asset out in the marketplace, but they're not, how do we communicate that to that person?
Exactly. Yeah. But there are other expressions that you might use that are kind of similar.
The first one is golden opportunity. I mean, this isn't necessarily...
It still is a sense of urgency. It's not necessarily that it's closing.
Right. But it's still it's just an amazing opportunity.
So, for example, please don't back out on this.
Come on. This is our golden opportunity to get tons of people on our email list.
Yeah, this isn't really about time. It's just about it's a great opportunity.
It's a great moment. Always come around.
Yeah, right, right. And chance of a lifetime.
I mean, I love this expression. This Yeah, it sounds sweet.
It sounds earnest. I agree. It might be a little old fashioned.
It might be something like I remember when I was in college right after 911.
My friends and I decided we wanted to take a road trip around the US.
Because everyone was kind of being very reflective at that time.
I was a sophomore in college. And so we needed a car.
And I went to my dad and he had done a similar road trip when he was in his 20s.
And he said, this is a chance of a lifetime.
You should use my car. You should definitely do it.
It's totally something you might say to someone when you want them to go after something.
Yes, exactly. I love that. Yeah. So getting lunch with the head of business overseas is seriously the chance of a lifetime.
So yes, that's good, too. So communicating that something is that someone should go after something, right?
Yes, exactly. And what's the last one? now or never i love this i love this you should just you should do something now or you'll miss your chance right it won't happen and this is so true for so many things i spoke to the boss about extending our deadline but he said it's now or never okay yeah okay Yeah.
Also, if you're building your own business online, certain media channels have their moments.
Podcasting, I think right now is kind of in a bit of a boom.
It's early days, but we don't know. In 10 years, maybe it'll be passe.
Hopefully not, but we have to be fully in the medium when it's hot.
Yes. I love that. All right, let's do a role play here.
So here we are colleagues writing a grant proposal.
OK, cool. So we work for a nonprofit probably, right?
Yeah. Yes. OK, so we still have a few hours left of work.
I just hope this goes well. This is our golden opportunity.
Oh, yeah, it's definitely the chance of a lifetime.
I mean, let's work a bit faster. The deadline is tomorrow, which means our window of opportunity is closing.
You're right. It's now or never. Yeah, this is literally you have a deadline.
So, yeah, but sometimes usually in life, it's not that clear cut.
Like no one's going to say you have to start your podcast now because in five years, who knows what's happening?
Right. Right. It's usually a more just implied or like you have to read the signs.
Yeah. So anyways, what did we say here, Michelle?
All right. So I said this. I hope this goes well.
This is our golden opportunity. So it's our special chance.
Yes. And then we said I said, yeah, it's definitely the chance of a lifetime.
So this is a big deal. And again, I wouldn't use this for small things, right?
The chance of a lifetime, big things that you're going to do.
So just that's a heavy word. That's a heavy phrase, right?
Yeah, exactly. And then you said the deadline is tomorrow, which means our window of opportunity is closing.
Dun, dun, dun. And then you said, you're right.
It's now or never. You know, let's do it.
Let's go for it. Right. Yeah. Guys, check out episode 444 of the Business English podcast was how did you find this episode?
Another really good one. Lindsay, what do we want to leave our listeners with? oh my gosh identify i mean on a deeper level on a life level identify the windows of opportunity that are maybe open now and maybe closing soon right try to think about that like be just be aware of this because you don't want to get further on in your career and realize there was a window of opportunity that you didn't take right i know that's kind of a scary thought but yeah go for it just have your mind open to opportunity is what i would say right yeah i love that couldn't have said it better myself so all right thanks for chatting about this with me today and guys thank you for listening and we hope you have lots of golden opportunities to achieve your dreams love it yes and don't forget as you're thinking about your dreams hit the follow button that would be a practical action to take to get better at business english good stuff all right talk to you soon michelle have a good day all right bye lindsay bye Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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