You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin, and I'll be your host for today's lesson on collocations used to emphasize a point.
If you want to make an impact when you speak, you need to learn the importance of emphasis.
I mean, if sales increased, that's great, but what if they increased a lot?
Or you might be concerned about something, but what if you're very concerned?
A lot and very are used for emphasis, but you don't want to only use a lot and very.
If you use any word or expression too much, it will lose its impact.
In this lesson we'll listen to the end of a presentation about the financial performance of an airline.
The speaker is talking about what the company can expect to see in the coming year.
And during the presentation, as well as during the question and answer session, the speakers give emphasis to their ideas using collocations.
A collocation is just a pair or group of words that go together naturally.
For example, instead of saying something increase a lot, you can say it increase sharply.
The words increase and sharply often go together.
And if you want to say you are very concerned, you can say deeply concerned.
That's a natural way of emphasizing the idea of being concerned.
Native speakers use these word combinations naturally.
And if you want to sound natural, it's a good idea to learn these collocations.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to pick out some of these collocations and we'll talk about them later in the debrief.
In the dialogue we'll hear Leo, the presenter, talking about some of the key financial indicators the airline uses to track its performance.
We'll also hear two managers, Rita and Mike, ask questions at the end of the presentation.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One, what does Leo say the company has achieved in terms of costs?
Two, how does Rita feel about the positive attitude concerning profits?
Three, what does LEO say about non-fuel cost growth in their company compared to other companies?
Alright, so let's take a break from the numbers for a sec and recap some of the main developments we're looking at for the coming year.
For starters, we don't expect overall load factor to change dramatically.
However, we seriously doubt the competition will be able to catch up with us there.
But the real payoff is going to come in terms of better margins, especially with the drastic decrease in costs we've managed to achieve.
And, last but not least, everything looks on track with our regional strategies.
In particular, our coverage in Asia will continue to expand steadily from our Seattle hub.
So overall, I hope everyone is as pumped as I am about what we've been able to achieve, especially in a time of such profound change.
Now, I know there are some questions, so let me just open things up here.
Okay, Rita?
Yeah, thanks, Leo.
So this is all very exciting, but I must say I'm still deeply concerned about the rosy attitude around profitability.
I know we've trimmed fuel costs by 3, I think you said but there's still so much volatility in the fuel market and we remain heavily dependent on foreign fuel suppliers.
So I guess my question is, how confident can we be that profits will increase sharply?
Well, Rita, I understand there are always question marks around fuel costs.
But we've found some pretty diverse ways of cutting costs.
I mean, our non-fuel unit cost growth was just 0.4% last year.
That contrasts sharply with other carriers who are struggling to keep that under 3%.
Fair point, Leo.
And just to back that up, I understand that the story behind better margins is only partly about operating efficiencies.
A lot of it is actually coming through increased yield.
Isn't that right?
Spot on, Mike.
Passenger mile yield has gone up about 6 each of the past two years and it's highly unlikely that growth will dip below 5 next year.
So, overall, I think we are justified in being quite optimistic in this regard.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and collocations used during the presentation.
Remember, Leo is talking about the future performance of the airline.
Alright, so let's take a break from the numbers for a sec and recap some of the main developments we're looking at for the coming year.
For starters, we don't expect overall load factor to change dramatically.
Leo is finishing up his presentation with a summary of his main ideas.
The first idea is about load factor, which is basically the percentage of available seats that an airline sells.
Leo wants to say that load factor won't change a lot in the next year.
The natural word of emphasis for the verb change is dramatically.
As Leo says, they don't expect load factor to change dramatically.
If you want to use the noun change, then you can use the adjective dramatic as in a dramatic change.
Let's practice some more ways of using this collocation to change dramatically.
The banking industry has had to change dramatically since the economic crisis.
So load factor won't change dramatically.
But is that a cause for concern?
Let's listen.
However, we seriously doubt the competition will be able to catch up with us there.
Some people might be concerned that if load factor doesn't increase, the competition might catch up with the company.
In other words, they might improve and become as good as or better than the company.
But as Leo says, he seriously doubts that will happen.
Seriously is a natural way of emphasizing the verb doubt.
If you seriously doubt something will happen, you really don't think it's very possible.
Let's try some more examples of this collocation.
With such bad weather, I seriously doubt that sales will pick up anytime soon.
Jack has hardly any experience, so I seriously doubt he'll get the position.
Next, Leo wants to summarize some of the good news from his presentation.
But the real payoff is going to come in terms of better margins, especially with the drastic decrease in costs we've managed to achieve.
Leo is describing the payoff or benefits of better margins.
Margins are the difference between what a company earns on a product or service and what it must spend to provide that product or service.
Better margins mean more money for the company.
So how will they get better margins?
Well, they've achieved a drastic decrease in costs.
Decreases and increases can be large or small, or, as we say, drastic or slight.
In this case, Leo wants to emphasize that the cost decrease is a big one, so he calls it drastic.
Let's run through some more ways of using this collocation, drastic decrease.
We've seen a drastic decrease in workplace accidents since we brought in new safety measures.
The drastic decrease in copper prices has really hurt a lot of mining companies.
Leo has one more main point to summarize before he wraps up his presentation.
And, last but not least, everything looks on track with our regional strategies.
In particular, our coverage in Asia will continue to expand steadily from our Seattle hub.
To support his point that the company is making progress with its regional strategies.
Leo discusses coverage in Asia.
In this case, coverage refers to how big of an area the airline covers or flies to, then Leo's company has been able to expand steadily in Asia.
Expand means to grow larger.
And if you want to emphasize how constant or stable expansion is, you can use the adverb steadily.
If something expands steadily, it grows continuously.
Let's practice some more examples of this collocation.
The Chinese economy has expanded steadily for the past 15 years.
I've expanded my business network steadily since graduating from college.
Leo has some final words before opening up for questions.
So overall I hope everyone is as pumped as I am about what we've been able to achieve, especially in a time of such profound change.
Leo is pumped, or excited.
Why?
Because the company has done well in a time of profound change.
We've already seen how the words drastic and drastically can describe large changes.
Well, a profound change is one that is large and meaningful.
If the industry has undergone profound change, then it is very different than it was before.
Let's run through some more ways of emphasizing the noun change with the adjective profound.
Bringing in a young CEO has led to a profound change in our corporate culture.
Brexit is going to bring a profound change to the way British companies do business in Europe.
Now let's listen as Leo invites questions and one of the participants speaks up.
Now, I know there are some questions, so let me just open things up here.
Okay, Rita?
Yeah, thanks, Leo.
So this is all very exciting, but I must say I'm still deeply concerned about the rosy attitude around profitability.
Rita believes that Leo's attitude is too rosy or positive, and she wants to make sure everyone understands just how concerned she is.
For this reason, she says she is deeply concerned.
That means she's not just a little worried, but very worried.
How else can we use this collocation, deeply concerned?
Let's try a couple more examples.
I'm deeply concerned that these poor sales figures are a sign of worse days to come.
The guys in marketing are deeply concerned that we won't be able to launch the new ads before Christmas.
Why is Reeder so concerned?
Let's hear her explain.
I know we've trimmed fuel costs by 3, I think you said but there's still so much volatility in the fuel market and we remain heavily dependent on foreign fuel suppliers.
Remember that Leo emphasized that improved margins would come through a drastic decrease in costs.
But Rita is pointing out how difficult it is to predict one particular cost, fuel.
This is what she means by volatility.
Not only are prices volatile, but they are heavily dependent on foreign fuel suppliers.
Rita could just say dependent, but adding emphasis with heavily gives her concerns more impact.
Let's try some more examples of this collocation.
Many small auto parts companies are heavily dependent on the success of the big car companies.
Saudi Arabia is heavily dependent on oil revenues, which make up 42% of the country's GDP.
Reader's been emphasizing some important ideas about fuel costs.
But what is her actual question?
Let's listen.
So I guess my question is, how confident can we be that profits will increase sharply?
That drastic decrease in costs that Leo mentioned should mean that profits increase sharply.
But Rita wonders if they can be sure that will happen, and she's responding to Leo's very positive attitude by emphasizing her own doubts.
We've seen that drastic can be used to describe increases and decreases.
Now we've seen that the word sharply can be used with the verbs increase and decrease to add emphasis.
Let's run through some more ways of using increase sharply.
With an aging population, the demand for medical services is expected to increase sharply.
With so many people moving into the city, real estate prices have increased sharply.
Let's hear how Leo responds to Rita's concerns about fuel costs.
Well, Rita, I understand there are always question marks around fuel costs.
But we found some pretty diverse ways of cutting costs.
I mean, our non-fuel unit cost growth was just 0.4% last year.
That contrasts sharply with other carriers who are struggling to keep that under 3%.
Leo's response focuses on the fact that the company's cost cutting is not just about fuel.
He points out that the growth in non-fuel costs was about 0.4%, Is that impressive?
Well, Leo emphasizes its importance by saying that it contrasts sharply with other carriers or airlines.
By showing that their company's cost-cutting contrasts sharply with other companies, Leo is adding support to his position.
Let's try some more examples of this collocation.
Business etiquette in Asia contrasts sharply with etiquette in North America.
My new manager is really casual, which contrasts sharply with my old manager's formal style.
Next, Mike helps to back up or support Leo's ideas.
Fair point, Leo.
And just to back that up, I understand that the story behind better margins is only partly about operating efficiencies.
A lot of it is actually coming through increased yield.
Isn't that right?
Margins are the difference between costs and revenue, or yield.
And, as Mike points out, the better margins that Leo has described don't come from just a drastic decrease in costs.
They also come from increased yield.
At least, this is what Mike asks Leo to confirm.
Spot on, Mike.
Passenger mile yield has gone up about 6 each of the past two years and it's highly unlikely that growth will dip below 5 next year.
So, overall, I think we are justified in being quite optimistic in this regard.
6% for each of the past two years is a very healthy increase in yield.
And Leo wants to emphasize the likelihood that this kind of increase will continue.
To do that, he says it's highly unlikely that growth will dip or decrease below 5%.
If something is unlikely, it probably won't happen.
And if you want to emphasize just how unlikely something is, you can say it's highly unlikely.
Let's try some more ways of using this collocation.
I'm sorry, but with all the cutbacks, it's highly unlikely we'll increase your budget.
Most economists agree that a quick economic recovery is highly unlikely.
All in all, Leo has done a good job of emphasizing his main ideas and showing his colleagues why they should feel positive about the coming year.
Although Rita has responded with some concerns, Leo has, with Mike's help, justified his optimism.
Now it's your turn to practice some of the collocations we've looked at in this lesson.
In a moment, you'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, including the missing word.
Remember a collocation is two or more words that we commonly use together, so pay close attention to the words before the beep.
For example, if you hear, Our stock price has increased since we announced our new product line.
You can say, Our stock price has increased sharply since we announced our new product line.
After each response, we'll provide the correct answer.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
I was very disappointed to see the drastic in sales last quarter.
Answer.
I was very disappointed to see the drastic decrease in sales last quarter.
With so many delays, it seems highly that the project will finish on time.
Answer with so many delays, it seems highly unlikely that the project will finish on time.
Demand for our software has expanded since we released the update Answer.
Demand for our software has expanded steadily since we released the update.
I seriously... We can get your order there by this afternoon, but we'll try.
Answer.
I seriously doubt we can get your order there by this afternoon, but we'll try.
Our senior engineer is deeply about safety at the construction site.
Our senior engineer is deeply concerned about safety at the construction site.
That's all for this lesson on collocations we use for emphasizing.
We've covered lots of expressions for adding impact to your ideas and statements.
And if you use these collocations, you'll sound more natural.
Tune in next time for more of these collocations for emphasizing.
Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
