Well, what if we try to open a new store in Germany?

Study Strategy

8) Well, what if we try to open a new store in Germany?

B. Jumbled Sentences

1) Perhaps we should launch the new product in Q1 next year? 2) It’s just an idea, but what if we open a branch in Slovenia. 3) Well, what if we try to give employees larger bonuses? 4) Well, one possibility would be to hold English trainings. 5) Let’s schedule weekly meetings to check on progress.

Online Practice

Unit 206 - Rejecting and Accepting Suggestions

Today’s show is the second part of a two-part series on making, rejecting and accepting suggestions. In the first episode, you practiced making suggestions. In this episode, we’ll look at appropriate ways to reject and accept suggestions. As you’ll remember, the listening takes place at a sports shoe company called Stratos. You’ll be listening to Karen, a marketing manager, meet with three members of her team, Charles, Sven and Miguel. They are choosing a celebrity spokesperson for a new product. Celebrity means a famous person. Here, spokesperson is someone who gets paid to be in an advertisement for a product. Okay, as you listen, pay attention to how the speakers accept or reject each other’s suggestions.

Vocabulary

Spokesperson: Someone hired to represent a company. A famous spokesperson

– usually an athlete or movie star – is someone who advertises a product. “Nike usually gets famous spokespersons to sponsor their products.”

To go around the table: To hear everybody’s opinion one at a time. “Let’s go

around the table to see if we all agree.”

Overweight: Adjective. A polite way to say someone is not slim. “Overweight can

have a range of meanings from slightly fat to very fat.”

Fit: Adjective. 1) To be slim and healthy. “I really want to get fit in the new year, so I went on a diet and I’m exercising every day.” 2) To be suitable for something. “He’s not fit to manage the company.”

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it: Idiom. Also, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (American

slang). It criticizes the approach of always trying to improve things that are okay. “Look, let’s stop looking for things to change and just release the product on time – If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”

Target market: The market one is trying to sell something to. “The target

market for this new kind of sports car is urban professionals with an income over 80,000 euros per year.”

Target customer: Similar to target market, but target customer refers to a

specific group of customers you are trying to sell something to. “Our target customers are women in their early 30s with children.”

Agile: Adjective. Able to move flexibly and quickly. “What makes her such a

great sports star is her amazing agility.” “In this business environment, only agile companies with the ability to make quick decisions will succeed.”

To kill two birds with one stone: Idiom. To get two things done at once. “We can

kill two birds with one stone by improving our training system - the number of staff who leave the company will decrease and our sales will improve.”

businessenglishpod

Dialog

Karen: Okay. Now, let’s talk about who we want to use as a spokesperson for this product. Let’s go around the table. Shall we use a sports star? Or someone else? Sven—what do you think?

Sven: Well, one possibility would be to use a famous overweight business executive or CEO—someone who is really successful.

Miguel: Sorry, can I come in here? Karen: Yes, go ahead, Miguel.

Miguel: That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure it would work.

Karen: Why not?

Miguel: Well, for one thing, our customers want to be fit, not fat.

Karen: Well, then what do you suggest?

Miguel: Perhaps we should just use a famous sports star like we usually do. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, you know what I mean? We could try getting Rooney, or Nadal.

Karen: Good suggestion. But I can see one or two problems with that, to be honest.

Miguel: Oh?

Karen: First off, our target markets are the UK and the U.S. We need someone who both Americans and Britons really like. Secondly, our target customer is kind of special...

Charles: I’ve got a suggestion. Karen: Go ahead, Charles.

Charles: It’s just an idea, but how about choosing someone from a sport where it’s normal to be heavy. American football, for example. Heavy, but agile; overweight, but strong and fast. You know what I mean?

Karen: Right, I can see what you mean. What do others think? Miguel: Yes, that might be worth trying.

Sven: Okay, but what about the UK? Who are we going to use on this side of the Atlantic?

Karen: Hmmm... let me think about this. Shall we try to find someone in golf? That’s popular in the U.S. and in the UK. That way, we can kill two birds with one stone.

Everybody (chorus): That’s not a bad idea! Good idea! Yes, I think that’s worth trying.

Debrief

Here’s another good idea: Let’s study the dialog to learn about accepting and rejecting suggestions. First, we’ll talk about rejecting suggestions.

When rejecting suggestions, it’s important to avoid hurting people’s feelings. Let’s think back to Karen and her team in the dialog. During their discussion, what language do they use to reject suggestions they don’t like? First listen to Miguel reject Sven’s suggestion.

Miguel: Sorry, can I come in here? Karen: Yes, go ahead, Miguel.

Miguel: That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure it would work.

Miguel interrupts politely: Can I come in here? Then he says, “That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure it would work....” This is a good careful way of rejecting a suggestion.

Later, Karen rejects Miguel’s suggestion.

Miguel: ...If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, you know what I mean? We could try getting Rooney, or Nadal.

Karen: Good suggestion. But I can see one or two problems with that, to be

honest.

Karen’s way of rejecting Miguel’s suggestion follows the same form: First she praises the idea: Good suggestion. Then she politely rejects it: But I can see one

or two problems with that, to be honest. Here, adding “to be honest” to the

sentence makes it even more polite. You can add “to be honest” to almost any rejection. You can also use “frankly speaking” or to “to be frank” the same way. Let’s practice that together.

 Good suggestion. But frankly speaking I can see one or two problems with that.

 That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure it would work, to be frank. To reject suggestions, you can also say...

 I’m not really sure about that...  Do you think so?

So now you’ve learned ways to make suggestions and ways to reject suggestions. Next, we’ll look at ways to accept suggestions.

Karen and Miguel like Charles’ suggestion, don’t they? Charles wants to use a sports star that is heavy but agile. Agile means quick and skillful. Let’s listen again.

businessenglishpod

43 Charles: It’s just an idea, but how about choosing someone from a sport where it’s normal to be heavy. American football, for example. Heavy, but agile; overweight, but strong and fast. You know what I mean?

Karen: Right, I can see what you mean. What do others think? Miguel: Yes, that might be worth trying.

“Right, I can see what you mean...” and “Yes, that might be worth trying...” are two ways to accept suggestions. What else can you say?

 Okay, let’s do that.  That’s not a bad idea.

 Yes, I think that would work really well.  Good idea!

 Great idea!

Okay. So today, you’ve learned many ways to reject and accept suggestions. Now, before we finish today’s show, let’s look at an idiom Karen uses at the end of the listening.

Karen: Hmmm... Let me think about this. Shall we try to find someone in golf? That’s popular in the U.S. and in the UK. That way, we can kill two birds with one stone.

“To kill two birds with one stone” is an idiom that means to do or accomplish two things at one time. You can say, “That way, we kill two birds with one stone” or “That will let us kill two birds with one stone.”

Now, let’s practice what we’ve learned. First let’s go over rejecting suggestions politely. You’ll hear a series of suggestions, each followed by a beep. After each beep, use a polite phrase to reject the suggestion. For example, if you hear, “What if we cut the sales training budget,” you can say, “Well, I can see one or two problems with that idea” or “Well, I don’t know….” Are you ready? Let’s give it a try.

In document Meeting Essentials (Page 39-43)