You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin and I'll be your host for the first in a three-part series on pitching ideas to your colleagues persuasively and convincingly.
Business people often come up with ideas about how to do things better or how something can be changed to provide greater cost benefits to the company.
Being able to present an idea to your peers and persuade them to support your proposal is a crucial skill for all business managers.
So in today's lesson, we'll introduce phrases for organizing and structuring your ideas, supporting your points and using other people's comments to lead to the next part of your presentation.
We will show you how to make coherent, persuasive arguments and use language effectively to support those arguments.
It is your colleague's task to find the weak points in your argument and you will have to predict their objections and deal with them before or when they come up.
We'll be listening to Jill, a manager at an industrial supply company, who's meeting with other managers and department heads following an announcement of 20 staff cuts across the board.
Jill is concerned about the impact these layoffs will have on the sales department, especially because sales have been poor for the last two quarters.
Jill has had an idea about how the company can make use of the Internet to increase sales and allow sales staff to focus more on value-added product sales.
She has already pitched the idea to her boss, and he has agreed to allow her to present it to her colleagues.
As the dialogue starts, Jill's boss introduces her and her proposal to the participants at the meeting.
While you listen, try to answer the following questions.
1.
What is the problem that Pylon was having even before the staff cuts?
2.
What are the value-added functions that Jill would like sales staff to be able to carry out?
3.
What does Jill say can be done with $5,000?
All right, everyone.
Can I have your attention?
Yep.
I know we're all concerned about recent events at Pylon, and that's why I've asked Jill to share with you a great idea.
She pitched me last week.
Thanks, Jacob, and thank you to everyone for your time.
I'll try to keep it short and get straight to what's been on my mind lately.
To start with, I'm sure you've all seen the latest sales reports and can see that these figures are a serious red flag for Pylon.
To make matters worse, we've also been hit with this 20% reduction in sales staff.
Indeed, that was painful.
Take it from me, this is a serious blow.
The sales team has been stretched for some time and now, with 20 fewer people, I think they're ready to tear their hair out.
Well, we're all in the same boat, aren't we?
Point taken.
But what I want to say is that, despite this setback, I see an opportunity here.
What would you say to increase sales, more satisfied customers and more time available for the sales team to focus on high value-add sales from custom orders.
Wow, can you throw in an end to world poverty or more?
Easy does it, Roland.
Let me explain.
I see us increasing sales and creating happy customers through a new site that can handle our nuts and bolts customers, leaving time for our sales team to dedicate themselves to working on special orders.
Still sounds too good to be true.
Yeah, I know, but what I think we can do is allow customers to order our basic off-the-shelf items on the web.
Then sales staff can focus on customers with particular needs.
Whoa there, we can't afford to spend money on another website.
Hear me out.
In fact, I can show you that it will cost about $5,000 to do a basic revamp of the existing site.
And our staff will do most of the work.
5,000?
You've got to be kidding.
I kid you not.
I've done my research and I've found a range of open source software that can easily.
It sounds like Jill has a tough job of convincing her colleagues that her idea has value, doesn't it?
Some of her peers are pretty skeptical and not afraid to show it.
However, Jill has clearly prepared herself for the challenge and is using a step-by-step approach to persuading her peers of the validity of her proposal.
Let's look at how she's managed this.
First of all, she started by getting the support of her boss by explaining her idea to him in a one-to-one discussion.
Listen to the way her boss Jacob introduces Jill and her idea and sets the scene for the meeting.
I know we're all concerned about recent events at Pylon, and that's why I've asked Jill to share with you a great idea.
She pitched me last week.
Jacob introduces the context first and then makes the introduction indicating that he is familiar with the idea and supports its presentation to the group.
In this example, he states that Jill pitched it to him the previous week, meaning that Jill explained her idea briefly and tried to convince him of its importance.
What else can you say to set the scene when you introduce another person who is going to present an idea?
Here are a few more examples.
I've brought Serge here today to tell you about his idea.
I asked Carter to take the time to explain to you how this can be done.
I felt it was important to have Teresa tell you about her idea in person.
I'm sure you'll be interested in hearing how Tyler has approached this.
Now, it's Jill's turn.
She comes straight to the point and opens directly with the context for her idea.
She wants them to stop thinking about anything else and put themselves in the situation she's addressing.
Listen to how she gives a general introduction to the topic she's dealing with.
To start with, I'm sure you've all seen the latest sales reports and can see that these figures are a serious red flag for Pylon.
To make matters worse, we've also been hit with this 20% reduction in sales staff.
Notice how Jill signposts her introduction with, to start with.
Signposting during presentations is important because it gives structure to your talk.
We'll see more signposting from Jill in the next episode, and you can also refer to BEP 102 for more examples of signposting language.
Back in the dialogue, Jill states something that is common knowledge, that sales are poor.
But she does it in a subtle way.
Instead of saying sales are poor, she mentions the latest sales reports and the fact that they serve as a warning to Pylon or a red flag.
Then she goes on to mention another factor that will impact sales.
Let's practice a few more ways to introduce your topic by referring to recent events.
First of all, think back to our situation one year ago.
To open, I'd like to turn your attention to the reaction of our suppliers when we changed the payment system.
Alright, let me remind you of the threats that have appeared in our sector in the last six months.
To begin, I'd like to say a few words about the difficult situation we find ourselves in right now.
After introducing the current situation, Jill immediately mentions the payoff or benefit she has in mind.
She doesn't yet tell them how she plans to achieve this payoff, but her upbeat statement should certainly make her colleagues curious.
What would you say to increase sales, more satisfied customers and more time available for the sales team to focus on high value-add sales from custom orders.
Jill is doing a great job of getting the attention of her peers and establishing a need.
Her colleagues are probably thinking that Jill's list of payoffs is amazing but difficult to achieve.
She has made them curious about her idea.
Notice that she has done this by asking a question.
These kinds of questions are really useful for introducing a payoff and establishing a need.
So let's listen to a few more examples.
How would you feel if we were able to reduce the amount of time it takes to get our products to customers?
Why can't we remove the threat by making the process simpler and more effective?
Can you visualize what it would be like if we could eliminate the stress that all of this causes?
What if you could push a few buttons instead of filling out all those forms?
Now we get to Jill's idea.
Hopefully her audience now really wants to know how they can achieve the payoffs she's mentioned earlier and are paying close attention to her words.
But what I think we can do is allow customers to order our basic off-the-shelf items on the web.
Then sales staff can focus on customers with particular needs.
Notice that Jill could have said.
I think we can allow customers to order our basic off-the-shelf items on the web.
However, this sounds weak.
Instead, she emphasizes her idea by starting her statement with what I think, which makes it stronger and highlights the importance of her idea.
Listen to these examples of highlighting ideas by starting with what.
What I can see is a more transparent and user-friendly system for customer feedback.
What I'm suggesting is eliminating all the middlemen in the process.
What would make all the difference is a single point of reference for all stakeholders in the operation.
What I'm saying is that a small change in the way we do this can make a huge difference to the bottom line.
After you state your amazing idea nine times out of ten, somebody is going to have an objection to it.
Your peers may be skeptical of the feasibility or practicality of your idea.
In Jill's case, Roland immediately speaks up, after hearing her idea, with a valid and straightforward objection.
Whoa there, we can't afford to spend money on another website.
Hear me out.
In fact, I can show you that it will cost about $5,000 to do a basic revamp of the existing site.
And our staff will do most of the work.
This is where you can see Jill's preparation in action.
When Jill presents her idea to her peers, she must take their objections seriously.
So when Roland brings up cost, she says, hear me out, indicating that she is able to address the issue immediately.
It's clear that Jill previously made a list of possible objections.
So when Roland mentions cost as an issue, she's ready to respond with concrete figures.
This is a very important step when you're preparing to pitch an idea.
By understanding the likely objections, you'll be able to turn them around and use them to bolster your own argument.
Your language indicates that you can respond to the objection and provide evidence to support your proposal.
Here are some examples of other expressions to use when dealing with objections you expect to hear.
If you just give me a moment, I can show that this course of action is the best choice.
Hang on a second and I'll show you that we can achieve much more than that.
Hang in there, and I'll explain why that's not a serious drawback.
Jill has pitched her idea and shown that she's done her research.
She's engaged her peers and got them thinking about a pressing need they may not have recognized, and got them focused on an idea that she believes will satisfy that need.
She's used language skillfully in order to be proactive and persuasive.
Now it's your turn to practice some of the techniques we've looked at today.
First, let's review the language of stating how a need can be satisfied.
Imagine you are pitching a great idea you have to your peers during a meeting.
You will hear information on satisfying a particular need.
You should start your sentence with what and use the verb and information given.
For example, if you hear Verb, we're saying.
Topic, move the R&D department.
You can say.
What we're saying is we should move the R&D department.
Are you ready?
Let's give it a try.
Verb, we can do.
Topic, eliminate that position.
Verb, I'd like to see.
Topic, new transportation hub.
Verb, I'm suggesting.
Topic, incentive scheme.
Verb We can do.
Topic Outsource the project to keep costs down.
How did you do?
Compare your answers to these examples.
Verb We can do.
Topic Eliminate that position.
Example answer What we can do is eliminate that position.
Verb, I'd like to see.
Topic, new transportation hub.
Example answer, what I'd like to see is a new transportation hub.
Verb, I'm suggesting.
Topic, incentive scheme.
Example answer, what I'm suggesting is an incentive scheme.
Verb, we can do.
Topic, outsource the project to keep costs down.
Example answer, what we can do is outsource the project to keep costs down.
Next, we'll review some of the vocabulary and idioms that we've studied in this episode.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, saying the missing word.
For example, if you hear, You can say, After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
The issue has been on my... for quite some time and we need to deal with it now.
Answer.
This issue has been on my mind for quite some time and we need to deal with it now.
We've been tearing our ever since we heard about them launching the new product one month before us answer.
We've been tearing our hair out ever since we heard about them launching their new product one month before us.
Seeing as we're all in the same, why don't we work on this together?
Answer.
Seeing as we're all in the same boat, why don't we work on this together?
I think he realizes it's not a simple nuts and issue.
It's far more complicated.
Answer.
I think he realizes it's not a simple nuts and bolts issue.
It's far more complicated.
These goods are basically off the... Answer.
These goods are basically off the shelf.
That's all for this first episode on pitching an idea at a meeting.
We've studied language and expressions for setting the scene, introducing the topic, establishing a need, showing how a need can be satisfied and dealing with an expected objection.
The next episode deals with further aspects of pitching an idea during a meeting, as Jill continues to persuade her colleagues of the value of her idea.
See you next time, and thanks for listening.
