You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Welcome back to Business English Pod.
Today's episode is the second in our two-part series on question and answer, or Q&A.
The listening starts where we left off last time.
Nick, the new European Sales Director at Harper Toll & Steele, is answering questions after his presentation.
As you listen, pay attention to how Nick and Nick's boss Max, deal with questions and manage the QA session.
But how do we measure success?
You mean, how can we tell if it's working?
Yes, that's right.
That's a good question.
I would expect to see a 5 increase in order volume three months after the rollout, 10 within six months.
That's the main criterion.
Does that answer your question?
Yes, thanks.
But I guess another general point I'd like to raise is about staffing.
Uh-huh.
With so much new blood coming into the company, a lot of sales staff feel that the writing's on the wall.
And I think it's creating a bad atmosphere.
Let me check I understand.
Are you asking about potential redundancies and how they might affect morale?
In a word, yes.
Well, everyone's job is on the line here.
The most important thing is that we are fully committed to getting sales back on track.
I think that raises a different issue.
We can address staff changes and morale in another meeting.
Time's running short.
Let's stay focused.
Okay.
Well, I think we only have a few minutes left.
Is there one last question?
Yes, if I can just come in for a second.
Yes, John.
Well, from what we're seeing on the UK side, the salespeople just don't feel our promotional materials are getting through to our most important customers.
I'm talking about the decision makers, project managers, architects, etc.
How do you think we can adjust?
That's a very interesting issue, but I'm not fully up to speed on the marketing situation in the UK.
Brian, would you like to comment on that?
We can go into more detail about that in this afternoon's marketing meeting.
But I would just like to point out that what you're saying just flat out contradicts the results from our market survey.
So, right, I'm afraid that's just about all we have time for.
Yes, thank you, Nick.
We really are running on a tight schedule today, as I think everyone can appreciate.
Now, Nick's proposal is definitely a go and needs our full support.
Brian, I want your team to work with Nick's on the value proposition for the new training material and get back to me next Tuesday with a time frame for rollout.
I'd like to have country managers retrain during next month's sales meeting and we need to work fast.
Okay, folks?
Brian isn't going to be very happy about this, is he?
Max is the boss and he's made a decision.
Nick's proposal is a go.
That means he's going to adopt the proposal.
You can also say, let's go with the proposal.
Well, now let's go back through the dialogue to examine how Nick and Max deal with questions from Cindy, Brian and John.
We'll start with the exchange between Cindy, Nick, and Brian at the beginning of today's listening.
But how do we measure success?
You mean, how can we tell if it's working?
Yes, that's right.
That's a good question.
I would expect to see a 5 increase in order volume three months after the rollout, 10 within six months.
That's the main criterion.
Does that answer your question?
First, Nick uses you mean to clarify Cindy's question about how to measure success.
We covered this kind of clarifying in the first episode in this series, BEP 36.
In response to Cindy's question, Nick says he expects a 5 increase in sales volume within three months after rollout or implementation of the new training.
Nick checks to make sure his answer is sufficient.
Does that answer your question?
This is a good way to make sure your audience is following you and to encourage discussion.
There are other ways to check whether your answer is sufficient.
Here are some of them.
Is that okay?
Does that make sense?
Do you see what I mean?
Do you know what I mean?
Are you with me?
Does that cover what you want to know?
Have I answered your question?
In today's listening, what comes next is another good example of clarifying.
Cindy's talking about staff changes.
Let's listen.
With so much new blood coming into the company, a lot of sales staff feel that the writing's on the wall.
And I think it's creating a bad atmosphere.
Let me check I understand.
Are you asking about potential redundancies and how they might affect morale?
In a word, yes.
As we learned in BEP 36, let me check I understand.
Are you asking... is another way to clarify someone's question.
The reason Cindy's statement is vague and needs clarification is because she uses two idioms here, probably to give her tough question a casual tone in order to maintain a relaxed mood.
New blood refers to new staff coming into the company.
For example, we can inject new blood into a company.
That is, bring in new people with fresh ideas.
To see the writing on the wall suggests future doom or misfortune.
You can refer to the study notes for a complete explanation of these idioms.
So with so much new blood coming into the company, a lot of sales staff feel that the writing's on the wall.
This means that, with so many new people coming into the company, a lot of staff are worried about their jobs.
Now, let's go back to the dialogue.
Remember, Cindy is asking about how staff changes are affecting morale.
What does Nick say?
Well, everyone's job is on the line here.
The most important thing is that we are fully committed to getting sales back on track.
Nick doesn't really answer Cindy's question, does he?
This is a great example of tactfully or skillfully avoiding an answer by making a general statement.
Nick says, everyone's job is on the line.
This means everyone's job is in danger.
Max, their boss, then jumps into the discussion.
Remember?
I think that raises a different issue.
We can address staff changes and morale in another meeting.
Time's running short.
Let's stay focused.
Max is giving us examples of two useful skills here.
The first is how to deal with an irrelevant question.
The second is managing the time.
Let's take them one by one.
First, dealing with an irrelevant question.
I think that raises a different issue is another way to avoid answering a question.
It's particularly suitable for irrelevant questions when your goal is to keep the discussion on track, that is, to keep the conversation focused.
Listen to some other ways to deal with an irrelevant question.
I'm afraid I don't see the connection.
To be honest, I think that brings up another point, and I'd rather not cover that for now.
I'm afraid that's outside the scope of my discussion.
If the point is relevant but you simply can't or don't wish to answer, you might also consider saying something like I'm afraid I'm not in the position to comment on that.
I don't know that off the top of my head.
Can I get back to you on that?
If the question is something you think you already covered earlier, you can then say I think I answered that earlier.
Well, as I said.
Well, as I mentioned earlier.
I think I addressed that point earlier on, but I'd be happy to discuss this with you after the meeting.
But what do you do if the question is relevant, but you want to answer it later?
Listen to what Brian says later on in the dialogue when Nick asks him about the marketing situation in the UK.
Brian, would you like to comment on that?
You could also say, I'll be happy to answer that later when we talk about product awareness.
Can we come back to that issue in a bit when we go through the targets for 2007?
Let's put off that topic for now.
I'd like to deal with that in more detail during the sales meeting tomorrow, when the whole team is present.
So, we've covered how to avoid answering unwanted questions.
Now, let's review how Max controls the timing.
He says, time's running short.
Let's stay focused.
When time is running short, that means time is running out, just like when your car is running out of fuel.
The fuel in the tank gets lower and lower.
There are several more great examples of controlling the timing in today's listening.
Nick says, OK, well, I think we only have a few minutes left.
Is there one last question?
And near the end of the session.
Nick and Max both use useful expressions for controlling the timing.
Nick says, I'm afraid that's just about all we have time for.
Is there one last question?
Max says, we really are running on a tight schedule today. as I think everyone can appreciate.
These are both great expressions.
There are also other phrases you can use to control the timing.
Let's try to keep the discussion on track.
Can we get back to the main point?
As we're short of time, I'll have to come to that later, perhaps during the break.
I'm afraid that's all we have time for.
Thank you very much for your attention.
So, now we have just one more skill to cover today, redirecting a question.
This means giving a question to someone else to answer.
Nick does this with John's question about whether Harper Toland's promotional materials are getting through to the key customers in their UK market.
He says That's a very interesting issue, but I'm not fully up to speed on the marketing situation in the UK.
Brian, would you like to comment on that?
To be not fully up to speed on something means not to be fully informed about it.
Marketing is Brian's area of expertise and because Nick is not fully informed about it or perhaps wants to put some pressure on Brian, He redirects the question to Brian by saying Brian, would you like to comment on that?
This is redirecting the question to another person.
Let's listen to some more examples.
That's a good question, but I'm afraid it's not really my field.
Miss Smith, can you help to answer that?
George, I think you know more about this.
What do you think?
In addition to redirecting to another person, there are also other ways to redirect a question.
You can redirect to the whole group.
This is a great way to encourage discussion.
Here are some examples.
Would anyone like to comment on that?
Has anyone else had a similar problem?
Great question.
What do others think?
That's a good question.
Let's go around the table and get some other views on this.
Finally, there's one last way to redirect a question.
You can turn back the question to the questioner and let him answer it.
This is called redirecting to the questioner.
It's particularly useful when it's obvious that someone doesn't really want to ask a question, but rather wants to express an opinion.
To redirect to the questioner, you can say, I think that's a very interesting question.
I'd be really interested to hear what you have to say on that issue.
You must have thought quite a lot about this.
What do you think?
That's a very interesting question.
Could I ask you what your own view is?
You might try that one next time in a job interview, when someone asks you a tough question.
Just kidding.
Actually, that would probably not be a good idea.
Let's look at a situation where redirecting to the questioner is useful.
I've been thinking a lot about this market survey.
Don't you think we have a great chance to boost our sales in Vietnam?
That's an interesting question.
You must have thought quite a lot about this.
What's your view?
Well, there is a quickly growing middle class segment with elderly parents that have strong purchasing power.
That means...
Now let's practice.
You'll hear a series of questions.
After each beep, respond to the question appropriately by redirecting either to the questioner, the group or someone else on your team.
Brian is in charge of marketing, so he can answer questions about that.
Are you ready?
Let's give it a try.
Well, I've been thinking a lot about your proposal.
Don't you think this is a good opportunity for us to move into new markets?
Don't you think there is some way we can get the training done faster?
Surely someone must have some ideas.
What I'd really like to know more about is the marketing situation in Central Europe.
Well, how did it go?
Let's listen to some example answers for you to compare.
Well, I've been thinking a lot about your proposal.
Don't you think this is a good opportunity for us to move into new markets?
That's an interesting question.
You must have thought quite a lot about this.
What's your own view on that?
Don't you think there is some way we can get the training done faster?
Surely someone must have some ideas.
That's a good question.
Let's go around the table and get some other views on this.
What I'd really like to know more about is the marketing situation in Central Europe.
That's a good question, but I'm afraid it's not really my field.
Brian, can you help to answer that?
For further practice, it's always a good idea to go back and try again.
Substitute different expressions to build fluency.
Great.
That just about brings us to the end of today's episode.
This was the second in a two-part series on dealing with questions.
Today we covered several important skills for QA avoiding answering, dealing with irrelevant questions and redirecting.
We've also learned several useful idioms.
This unit also concludes our discussion of the skills and language of presentations.
We've covered a lot of material over these nine units.
Let's briefly review what we've learned.
One, how to introduce your presentation and get your audience's attention.
Two, important signposting language that will make the structure of your talk very clear.
Three, dealing with visuals.
Four, describing charts and graphs and emphasizing key points.
Five, analyzing data and making predictions.
Six, how to use your voice effectively in a presentation.
And seven, great strategies for how to deal with questions.
Let's end with some general practice tips.
A great way to review is by using the skills we've studied in your own presentations.
You may wish to videotape or record your practice sessions and get feedback from a friend.
Finally, on a personal note from me, Clayton Lee, let me wish you all good luck in your studies and your careers.
Keep reviewing and practicing.
Armed with the strategies and language we've covered in these lessons, we'll all be presenting for success.
Thanks for listening and take care.
