Welcome to Business English Pod, a great way to improve your English skills on the go.
In this episode we're going to listen to a teleconference between the head office of a US guitar manufacturer and the manager of their new Latin American plant, in which they try to clarify a problem with environmental issues at the new plant.
The main language we are going to practice today is what we call diplomatic language.
Diplomatic language comes from the world of diplomats, which are people who represent their governments in foreign countries.
Diplomats are famous for using very polite, careful language.
So we call this diplomatic language.
Here are a couple of examples of what we mean by diplomatic language.
Peter will make some direct statements.
Then I'll give you the diplomatic version.
Here's direct.
We have a problem.
Diplomatic.
It seems we have a slight problem.
And direct.
The project will be delayed.
Diplomatic.
We might have a slight delay on the project.
Now try this one.
Direct.
That is expensive.
Diplomatic.
Won't that be a bit expensive?
In each of these statements, we used a variety of techniques and language to make each direct statement more diplomatic.
We'll take a closer look at these techniques during our debrief, but see if you can find the diplomatic phrases as you listen to the dialogue.
This episode also features the use of probing questions to clarify problems.
Hello.
This is Jack.
Is this Jim?
Yes, indeed.
And with me are Dan and Angie.
How about at your end?
It's just me here at the San Jose plant.
I didn't get the agenda for this teleconference, just the schedule.
So what can I help you with?
Well Jack, we've heard that there's been some trouble at the plant, and we thought that perhaps you could tell us what seems to be the problem.
Oh?
Problems?
Nothing serious.
Things are going well.
We've had some environmental issues but that has not hurt our production, which has gone up from.
Could I just interrupt for a moment?
Jack, this is Angie.
I've received reports of workers getting sick at the plant.
Could you please give us some details on this?
Sure, Angie.
It seems that a few workers had problems breathing when painting the guitar parts.
They were quickly treated and sent home.
These things do happen at any plant anywhere in the world and I would like to say production is increasing.
After all, what are we after?
No plant is perfect, and we're meeting our goals.
Jack, this is Dan.
I understand what you're saying, but I'd like to point out that we heard these workers complain to the local government.
This could give us a bad reputation and we don't need the government looking for reasons to close the plant.
While I agree with a lot of what you say...
I think you may be exaggerating the problem.
Worker complaints to the government are very routine.
We've had many similar worker complaints at our plant in the U.S. as well.
Wouldn't you agree?
Jack, the point we're trying to make is that we'd like you to be more specific about what will or might happen because of this.
I can understand that you'd like to focus on production, but at the moment I'm afraid we have to give this our full attention.
Understood.
Well, tomorrow, government inspectors will come to the plant.
This is normal, of course, and they will talk to our workers and then decide on a penalty.
After that, they'll let us appeal to their local court system.
Sorry to interrupt.
Can we go back to the penalties for a moment?
What are we looking at here?
It could be a fine or a temporary shutdown while we change our processes.
And, of course, they could close down the plant.
But I don't expect that.
We've faced things like this before.
Angie, you might remember our problem with wood dust a couple of years ago.
Well, before I answer that, just let me check that I understand what you're saying.
We could be facing a complete shutdown of the plant because of these worker complaints.
Is that correct?
There's a very slight chance of that, but yes, it is possible.
Things look pretty bad for a guitar manufacturer, but let's take a look at how they handled the discussion.
When the managers in the US call Jack in San Jose, they're worried by reports they receive from his plant and also by not hearing any explanations from Jack.
So they call to give Jack a chance to explain the problem.
Jim starts the teleconference by listing all the people that are with him and then ask Jack, how about at your end to find out who was with him on the other side of the teleconference?
This is necessary to let everybody know who they will be talking to.
Notice how Angie also says, Jack, this is Angie, when speaking for the first time.
This is a quick way to let the other side know who is speaking.
Here are some phrases for introducing people at the beginning of a teleconference.
Let's start by taking a roll call.
Attending today's teleconference are our colleagues in the Rome office.
Andrew Foulkes is also joining us today.
He's our chief engineer.
Who do we have with us today?
Leslie Murphy will be with us shortly.
Our teleconference members then use probing questions to get more information from each side.
To probe is to search or explore.
However, they all ask probing questions using diplomatic language, since they have to be very careful when discussing this sensitive issue.
Diplomatic language often uses polite phrases like Could you please or would you.
When asking questions and when stating an opinion or fact.
We usually make it less direct with such phrases as it seems or perhaps, and there might be.
We also use certain phrases to minimize problems and difficulties when discussing them.
To minimize is to make smaller, so we use phrases like a little bit of a problem or a slight delay.
And finally, We give our opinions or requests by asking leading questions in order to seek agreement.
Here are some examples of these diplomatic phrases.
See if you can hear all the different techniques.
Could I just go back to the point about timing?
There might be a small delay.
That might be quite expensive.
Won't that be a bit expensive?
Perhaps we could meet again next week?
Jack starts with an opening question.
So what can I help you with?
To find out why the U.S. managers called him and to start the discussion.
And Jim answers with a probing question using diplomatic language.
We thought that perhaps you could tell us what seems to be the problem, in order to find out everything you can about what has happened in the San Jose plant and what is going to happen.
Listen to these other examples of probing questions using diplomatic language.
I wonder if you could explain how you I'm afraid I'm not quite clear about.
I'm interested in knowing more about.
Could you fill me in on, Could you put me in the picture about Sometimes it's necessary to interrupt another speaker when they're talking about less important things or things that you strongly disagree with.
Angie interrupts Jack when he answers Jim's question by speaking about production, since they want him to talk about the environmental issues.
An issue is a polite word for problems.
Here are some common ways to interrupt, but don't use them to interrupt too much, just when you think it's necessary to do so.
Could I just interrupt for a moment?
Pardon me for interrupting, but... May I say something about that?
Can I jump in here?
Could I speak to that?
At other times you may need to ask for more information or to make sure you understood what has been said.
Jack says that a few workers became sick but were treated, which means that a doctor gave them some medicine.
Angie asks Jack, Could you please give us some details on this?
Since she thought that Jack did not fully explain the environmental issues.
And Dan interrupts to ask Jack to go back to talking about penalties.
This means he wants him to talk about this again and give more details.
Here are two diplomatic phrases to ask a speaker to clarify what they said and two phrases that ask for this more directly.
I'm afraid I'm not quite clear what you mean by... I'm sorry, could you explain what you mean by...
What exactly are you getting at?
And when answering questions like these or when you want to make yourself very clear, you might listen to how Jim says.
Jim means that the important thing he wants from Jack are details on what happened at the plant.
Jack answers with understood, which means I understand.
Here are some phrases to guide listeners to the most important point or to make yourself very clear.
Well, the point I'm trying to make is that Well, what I'm trying to say is that.
What I mean is that All I'm trying to say is that Well, what I'm getting at is that, After discussing the problem for a while, they begin to argue using diplomatic language.
Jack uses the polite phrase, While I agree with a lot of what you say.
At the beginning, he then adds, I think you may be exaggerating the problem.
Since he believes worker complaints are routine, which means that they happen all the time.
He then finishes by saying, Wouldn't you agree?
In these statements, he uses many of the parts common to diplomatic language agreeing with some of what the other person says, using the less direct phrase, I think, minimizing the problem and then trying to get agreement with the question.
See if you can hear the different parts of diplomatic language in these sentences which are used when disagreeing.
How about looking at this a different way?
I'm not against your whole idea, just the part about pricing.
While I agree with a lot of what you say, I think you may be exaggerating the problem.
I'm not so sure I'm going to agree with this.
I'd like to hear more about it, though.
I can understand exactly how you feel, but at the moment it's just not an option.
Notice how in many of these statements we use the yes but structure.
This is a very useful diplomatic way of saying no.
It works like this.
Begin your reply by making a positive comment or expressing partial agreement, and then use but to add a qualifying statement or to introduce an objection, as in Yes, I see your point, but I'm not quite sure we can afford to do that.
I think it's a good idea, but it might be a bit difficult to implement.
In each of these examples, we also used minimizing words such as quite and a bit, to soften the impact of our objection.
As the teleconference gets to the end, all the members want to understand what are the most important things they discussed or what they must do.
So they use what we call summary phrases, which are used in statements and questions, to point to the most important ideas in a particular conversation.
Dan asks Jack, What are we looking at here?
And after Jack explains that the plant could be temporarily shut down or completely closed, Angie gives a summary statement.
Just let me check that I understand what you're saying.
Here are some other ways to conclude the discussion by asking for a summary statement.
What's the bottom line?
What are we after?
What's the main issue here?
I think the most important point is that And we now come to our summary and we hope that we have clarified how to ask questions use diplomatic language.
And might I add, ways to interrupt.
Thank you, Peter.
And to make yourself perfectly clear.
Thank you for listening to Business English Pod.
We'll be back next week with a new podcast.
