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[Elevating Your Professional Vocabulary: Beyond Academic English]-[BE: Should You Use Academic Vocabulary at Work?]

Business English from All Ears English · B1 · 2023-11-07

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📋 Summary

Elevating Professional Communication

In this episode of the Business English podcast, hosts Lindsay and Jessica discuss the importance of integrating "high-level, impressive vocabulary" into professional settings. While often labeled as "academic," this sophisticated lexicon is essential for presentations, formal meetings, and interactions with senior management. The hosts emphasize that mastering these terms allows professionals to move beyond basic English and demonstrate greater confidence and authority.

Vocabulary for Describing Trends

Drawing from their Three Keys IELTS curriculum, the hosts introduce precise vocabulary for describing data and trends—a skill crucial for both exam success and corporate reporting. To avoid the repetition of common terms like "increase" or "decrease," they suggest the following:

  • For Significant Decreases: Phrases like "a hefty plunge" or "a sizable decline" provide more impact than simple verbs. The term "plunge" is highlighted as a "band nine word" that suggests a significant fall, similar to diving deep.
  • For Significant Increases: The hosts recommend "swell significantly" and "surge noticeably." They note that "surge" is particularly effective for describing rapid growth, whether in business performance or societal issues, such as saying, "problems with student behavior have surged in recent years."

Strategic Thesis Statements

For written professional communication, the hosts advocate using templates to organize complex ideas. A key example provided for an argument-based essay is: "I will explore the rationale for both beliefs as well as proffer justification for my own viewpoint."

  • Rationale: Refers to the reasons behind an opinion.
  • Proffer: A formal way to say "to give" or "to offer."
  • Justification: Represents the proof or evidence provided to support a stance. Using such structured, high-level language allows professionals to present their arguments clearly and efficiently without struggling to find the right words under pressure.

Expanding Your Lexical Resources

To further enrich professional and formal writing, the hosts suggest incorporating versatile nouns and verbs:

  • Abundance: Used in the phrase "there is an abundance of [something]," this is a sophisticated way to describe a large quantity of items, whether positive or negative.
  • Recede: Used as a verb meaning to decrease or become smaller. For example, hoping that "health policies cause obesity rates to recede" demonstrates how to use formal vocabulary to discuss complex issues.

Conclusion

The hosts conclude by reinforcing that the goal of learning this vocabulary is not perfection, but rather the ability to communicate impressively in any professional environment. By moving away from basic, repetitive language and adopting these "less common" but highly effective terms, professionals can significantly enhance their influence and clarity in the global business landscape.

🎯Key Sentences

1
I am so happy to be here.
2
That's all it is, right?
3
Yes, exactly.
4
What exactly do I need to do?
5
And this is something very concrete.
Expand All

📝Key Phrases

1
hefty plunge
2
sizable decline
3
swell significantly
4
surge noticeably
5
explore the rationale
Expand All

📖 Transcript

This is the Business English Podcast. Should you use academic vocabulary at work?
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.
Today you'll learn some very high-level impressive vocabulary.
It's not just academic English. It's also great for formal professional situations.

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