PHASE 7

Business English Teacher Training (BETT)

Introduction

It’s important to develop the trainee’s speaking skills because it’s the key
skill. This phase has all the appealing activities that would make the
participants overcome their hesitation to speak and to take part in the
communicative activities. It’s designed considering the need of the
participants. While conducting the training session it’s important to keep
in mind that the activities should not be overwhelming for the trainees.
The Business oriented communication has a different protocol. It should
cater to the curtsy level that is the requirement in the professional arena.
The Business English Training Program calls for a different approach and
the participants should be aware of the vital aspect. It comprises of
examples which would help the participants to understand how to present
their point of views in a professional manner. As a trainer it’s important to
have the language skills in place because that helps to bridge the gap. The
body language of the trainer is important because it helps to establish trust
and credibility. Overall the presentation skills of the trainer play a vital
role in the training session. It’s important to design innovative activities
like role plays to sustain the interest level of the participants.

Developing trainees’ skills in the Business English classroom is most

effective if very specific areas of weakness are identified, e.g. dealing with
the question and answer session after giving a presentation. If specific
areas of weakness are identified in terms of performance skills (i.e. in
terms of specific language use in work contexts), trainees’ on-the-job
performance is likely to show a marked improvement.

From a communicative, pragmatic view of the language classroom, listening

and speaking skills are closely intertwined. More often than not, ESL
curricula that treat oral communication skills will simply be labeled as
“Listening/Speaking” courses. The interaction between these two modes
performance applies especially strongly to conversation, the most popular
discourse category in the profession. And, in the classroom, even relatively
unidirectional types of spoken language input (speeches, lectures, etc.) are

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often followed or preceded by various forms of oral production on the part
of the trainees.

Generalized notions of ‘speaking skills’, ‘listening skills’, etc. are usually too
general in the Business English context, unless of course managers
specifically request that work be done on these areas. When developing
trainees’ specific skills for performance areas, as you will need to do most
of the time in the Business English classroom, the considerations should
ideally be:

 Trainees’ ability to achieve a task (e.g. give a presentation) is

ultimately more important than more generalized notions of
accuracy or fluency, although these are vital too in certain
situations. Appropriateness is a more useful concept than
accuracy for the Business English classroom because it can
relate to both grammatical accuracy and lexis, which also needs
to be appropriate for a given business situation.
 Decontextualised practice, although sometimes necessary, must
always be linked to more contextualized practice if it is to be
perceived as useful. If, for practical reason (e.g. lack of
materials) you sometimes have to decontextualize language
practice, tell trainees how it relates to performance areas and
follow up with contextualized practice immediately afterwards.
In this way, trainees will constantly be aware of the reason for
language work in class.
 Using authentic materials or real-life situations will help you to
make practice in class relevant to real life, especially if materials
are sourced from the trainees
 Ongoing assessment is as important as the end-of-term tests
because of the difficulty of writing useful and helpful formal
tests and because of the need for ongoing reporting.

Socializing

Certain specific skill sets are often needed to be developed by the

business English learners to accomplish their job properly, no matter
what language is being used. In terms of specialized focus like
performance or general attention to speaking, listening- trainees’
ability to achieve a task shows much improvement with simultaneous
development of skills.

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Socializing is a skill relevant to business-interactions which often take
place in restaurants, airport, before or after meetings, or standing and
chatting at trade fair stands. The social environment is often the best
setting for the initial impression creating a lasting impact. Good
rapport with the business partner is the most remarkable outcome of
socializing, a factor essential for successful business.

The units to be learnt are:

o Meeting and greeting people- necessary language and social

conventions.
o Language of dining out, visiting people at home.
o Language to roll on a conversation and encouraging other
participants in the group to converse as well.

Learners use social interaction both for business and pleasure and it is
necessary to identify their conversation partners in an unobtrusive
method, fishing out information from them as well. Related to this is
the method of ‘storytelling’- the ability to tell a good anecdote, where
conversing skills are utilized to fullest – independently.
Use of language should efficiently couple with the awareness of
cultural factors. The business woman who misjudges when and where
it is acceptable to make a joke and the businessman who does not
understand that alcohol plays a very different part in business
socializing in Saudi Arabia France and Japan will not get very far.

Using role-plays and simulation

Simple participative activities help learners to practice skills used for

socializing in congenial environment. For example at a lower level of
language competence, using real restaurant menus will allow learners

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to practice useful items and also to role play typical conversations
about food and drink.

At a higher level it gets crucial for the learner to apply the supporting
phrases in storytelling and recounting experiences. Discussions
should also teach the trainees to be discreet about selection of words,
topics in a social situation and hone techniques for managing
conversations. For example, recognizing the right context for
discussing one’s earning or may be politics. At what point can an
overtly social conversation move on to discussing a business contract
(if at all)? How does the learner get out of answering difficult
questions?
There are no model answers for most of these questions; but it
evolves out of classroom discussion of the trainer’s and learner’s
experience and some careful research work.

In simulation, the trainer’s role is to circulate and make note of weak

language, with suggestions for possible improvements. Good examples
should also be recorded and referred to in the follow up discussion.

Storytelling

Effective socializing can also be in form of storytelling – narrating

anecdotes in amusing and engaging ways. The learners can be
encouraged to practice the method, using their own personal
experiences, pictures or prompts to guide them through a story.
A significant approach is using the trainer as a resource in providing
natural language – presenting personal anecdote, recording it for the
learners and then listening to it again, focusing on the useful language.
A text can be approached and exploited in some possible ways:

 Learners listen to the original recording and then repeat the

story.
 Learners read the text and then repeat the story.
 The trainer turns the text into a gap-fill exercise by removing
some words.
 The trainer divides the story up into three or four parts, and
asks learners to put the parts in the right order (a scrambled
text task).
 Learners identify phrases or expressions in the text which they
might find useful when they tell a story themselves.
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  Learners mark on the text where they think pauses be and
underline words which they feel need to be emphasized. They
read the story aloud to the class.

Meet the guest speaker

After training some of the skills and language of small talk and social
chit chat, a good English speaker can be invited to come and give a
speech on a company-product or a topic relevant to the learners. The
following conversation should ideally simulate the socializing
expected from the learners in their real job, in absence of the trainers.
The trainer here gets a chance of monitoring the conversation and
enriches the training experience with valuable experience gained from
the program.

Small Talk

Small talk is non-work talk at work atmosphere. As per linguist

Deborah Tannin's observation, ‘talk at work is not confined to talk
about work’. Making small talk is a skill that might come handy at any
part of the day both during business activity and socializing. The
trainees’ relationship with superiors, foreign colleagues and
immediate colleagues might have a great effect on their career as well
as this being an important area of language to practice.
Some probable occasions are:

o While waiting at the photocopier

o Just before a meeting is to start
o During a meeting when the coffee and biscuits are brought in
o While waiting to say goodbye
o When meeting someone unexpectedly in a corridor
o While waiting in someone’s office for someone else to arrive
o During a guided tour of a company’s offices or factory or retail
outlets
o Socializing with a client

The components of small talk for learners are -

o To engage in polite conversation with someone.

o Often with no prior warning.
o Expect to hear phrases like, ‘OK, everyone, let’s get down to
business,’

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 o Usually involves talking about (often banal) subjects least
related to business.
o Seems to have different functions including relationship
building, time-filling, filling a silence, easing the transition from
one business topic to the other and easing tension in a complex
or difficult negotiation.
o Sometimes also emphasizes an already existing relationship
between people for example when a senior person meets a more
junior member of staff in the lift it might be the senior person
who decides whether or not to engage in small talk and what the
topic should be.
o Small talk evolves during an interaction and its movement
depends on the reaction of the other person.
o In any conversation small talk requires contributions from and
is shaped by, more than one person.

The components of small talk for trainers are –

o Small talk probably happens naturally in the classroom at least

between the trainer and one or more learners for example the
trainer might ask someone if they had a good weekend while the
class is waiting for all the participants to arrive.
o Two learners might be chatting away in their own language
about a particular football match and the trainer could interrupt
with a comment like Good game was it ?, which has the effect of
initiating a brief conversation in English about a football match
before the class moves on to the business of learning English.

Trainers are expected to be conversant with the initiating cues for

small talk and be prepared to interject with prompts or comments
during the lesson in order to encourage learners to practice this key
skill.

o The request for help might as well come from the learners
where the trainer should be equipped to organize activities
which generate such talk.

METHOD - Small talk in small groups

Each learner gets a topic card and starts a conversation about the topic.
Other learners join in as appropriate. The trainer asks the class to keep
the conversation going for at least one minute.

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The view out of the window A film you have seen recently
The layout of the room A recent business trip
The weather A sports event
Recent news The coffee you are drinking
The food in the company canteen Your last holiday

Speaking on the telephone

Non-native English speakers need to be able to use the telephone

effectively if they are to survive in an international office environment.
However, attending to telephone calls can be terrifying to language
learners as many trainees suffer from nerves when using the
telephone, as it strikes unaware at the middle of some other job, with
no preparation and secondly the learner is unable to follow the body
language and therefore the requirement of the caller on the other side.

Components of a good phone-call

 Should have a clear aim

 Keeps the customer happy
 Succeeds in persuading the customer
 Allows information to be passed on accurately

In companies the telephone is usually answered in one of the

following ways:

 Good morning / afternoon! Mitsubishi Electric (= company

name).
 Hello, Sales Department (= name of the department).
 Moore (= name of manager in own office).

There are many ways of finishing telephone conversations, for

example:

 Bye.
 Goodbye.
 OK, bye!
 I’ll get back to you later on.
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  See you on Thursday, then....
 OK, thank you for calling. I’ll make sure you get a new price list
immediately. ‘Bye.

Though the success of a phone call needs contribution from both the
interlocutors, in business a phone call should not fail owing to poor
level of the other person’s telephone skills. Thus a phone call must be
managed in order to achieve the business aim.

 The first aim of skills practice must be to simply help trainees to

overcome their feat.
 A second focus is helping trainees to understand how
telephones are typically used in British or American
corporations because telephone etiquette can be very different
in different parts of the world. It may, for example, be normal for
anybody to pick up the phone or for very direct, or indirect,
forms of speech to be used in the trainees’ home country.
Trainees may also find it difficult to have a casual chat over the
phone before getting down to business.
 Thirdly and equally importantly, we need to help trainees to
improve their pronunciation and audible non-verbal language.

These aspects of communication obviously become so much more

important on the telephone because of the absence of the visual image
which is present in any face-to-face conversation.

Some easy calls are those which get routed to the boss via the
secretary. Or Customers often call to leave general information.
Phrases useful for such conversation are relatively easily learnt.

Lower-level telephone trainings can be subdivided into 2 parts:

Standard lexical phrases – To be acquired and are useful in many

contexts. (E.g. I’ll just put you through, Can I take a message?, I am
calling about…)

Survival strategies – Allows the learner to control the conversation

and deal with the situation (I didn’t quite catch that could you say that
again please? could you spell that? Could you confirm that in writing?)

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These two modes can be presented in quite different ways depending
upon the trainer’s style, the learner’s needs and the context.

o Some trainers prefer to follow a set list of typical functions, such

as getting through, talking and leaving messages, or clarifying
information.
o Other might choose to follow a more task based approach using
role plays to find out where weaknesses lie and then addressing
those weaknesses.
o Some might choose to discuss telephone skills in the learners
own language first because like all the skills in this chapter it is
difficult to separate the language from the overall
communication skill.

Some training techniques for improving telephone skills are:

 Role-play phone calls; ensure there is no eye contact (e.g.

sitting back to back), and give the learners something to hold.
Record the role-plays.
 Phone the learners at their place of work and record the
conversation for later review and discussion.
 Give learners lots of practice of listening to speech without
visual cues.

Trainees get an opportunity to show what they can do in fun,

impromptu phone calls. This is a good way of finding out how proficient
and confident trainees already are with telephone language.

Language any, entirely determined by the trainees

Level elementary and above

Time 5-10 minutes

1. While another activity is drawing close, suddenly – without

warning – start making the noise of a telephone ringing. The
more realistic your telephone sounds, the better! While you are
making these ringing sounds, look surprised that nobody has
answered yet. If trainees still fail to respond, say, Could someone
answer the phone? While still keeping the ringing sounds going!
As soon as a trainees replies, ask the class Who’s calling?, so as to

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 get a second volunteer. Leave these two trainees to improvise a
telephone conversation, only looking at them enquiringly if they
hesitate. The only intervention or correction necessary might be
to say, OK, now imagine you’re at work if trainees have
improvised a call which is too general.
2. Continue with three or four calls performed in open pairs (pair
work in which two trainees in the class work together, e.g.
practicing a dialogue across the room so that the trainer can
check that individuals are using language correctly and so as to
demonstrate an exercise to the rest of the class before beginning
closed pair work.). Note that trainees will self-select – there’s no
need to decide who is going to speak in advance (For the first call,
you can be the caller yourself, if you prefer, but leaving it up to
the trainees is much more fun for the whole class, and trainees
usually rise to the challenger!)
3. Debrief trainees and lead into the further role-played telephone
practice (using plenty of closed-pair practice to allow trainees to
get used to any language you introduce), grading the practice in
accordance with what trainees already seems to be capable of.

 Answering Machines – Trainees practice recording messages

for answering machines or voice mail.
 Phone Formulae – Trainees practice phrases which are
commonly used on the telephone.
 Taking messages – Trainees practice noting down and passing
messages to other members of the class.
 Bonding Chats – Trainees practice chatting with regular callers
before getting down to business.
 Empowering Pivots – The procedure provides essential follow-
on-practice to BONDING CHATS since trainees may find that
they are caught in long, time-wasting chats which they are
unable to draw to a close!
 Noisy Listening – Trainees make noises while listening to
lengthy monologues within a conversation so that the caller
knows that they are still there! This is a fun but useful
procedure which gives trainees an opportunity to practice
appropriate English sounds

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METHOD – Time Dictations

Time Dictations – Trainees listen and note down times which are all
embedded in longer comments. This activity is good for helping
trainees to practice listening for key information, or it can be useful as a
warmer for higher level trainees.

Language times and naturally pronounced comments

Level elementary and above

Time 10 minutes

Preparation

Make a list of ten times and ten spoken contexts for these times, or use
those listed on the opposite page.

Procedure

Dictate the ten times to trainees, each one in a natural spoken context.
Make sure that you speak fast and as naturally as possible, making no
effort to slow down as you say the times. Trainees only write down the
times they heat. Repeat the sentences as often as necessary, never
slowing down for trainees.

A. I’ll see you at five, then .

11.30a.m. How about half past eleven in the morning?
12.00 Noon would be fine.
3.25 Can we make it before half past? How about
twenty-five past three?
9.00 OK, so that’s nine on the dot.
Well, I usually get back at about quarter past
6.15
six.
OK, so I’ll call at about ten to four in the
3.50
morning…….
12.15 I usually finish lunch at about twelve fifteen.

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 5.30 Is half past five too late?
5.45 Let’s make it quarter to six instead.

When going over the answers, write out the full sentence. Then say
each sentence again so that trainees can understand the correct
answers.

Variation

Embed other numbers (e.g. percentage, decimals, fractions or large

numbers) in sentences which could crop up in a telephone
conversation. Days of the week, place name or names of people could
also be embedded if trainees find any of these a little difficult. You can
also ask trainees to differentiate between similar-sounding names (of
places or people). In order to do this put a list of possibilities on the
board or on an OHT, arranged in two columns (A and B) before reading
out the snippets.

 Elicited Telephone Dialogues – The trainer help trainees to

build up a telephone dialogue which trainees then practice until
they know it by heart. The dialogue provides a useful model and
acts as a springboard for the practice of adapted dialogues
which are useful to individual trainees’ own work situations.
This procedure is especially useful when only two or three
trainees turn up to class or when trainees want to practice
language for a specific situation.

Whatever activities are chosen, trainer should make sure that the
learners experience repeated success – confidence is the key to
telephone-speaking skill. The trainer can make use of role plays. At
lower level, through the role-pay activities, the learners get the chance
to repeat key lexis till it gets ingrained allowing them to concentrate
on the callers’ concern, in real life situations. Most of these activities
require use of tape recorder or digital voice recorder. Some of the
contexts can be:

o Leaving a message
o Simple phone conversations
o Delay at the border

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METHOD – Clarifying the contract

In this example, the role-play has been set up using an extract from
authentic documents provided by the company (railway equipment
manufacturers). Each learners gets one card, and a copy of the contract.
Once they have had a chance to familiarize themselves with the
materials, Learner A calls learner B. The trainer records the
conversation, and the activity is followed by feedback.

Learner A

Your boss has just received a draft instillation contract from XYZ
Suppliers Co., and is not sure about the word ‘adequate’ in the clause
below. For example, does this mean that your company is responsible
for controlling city traffic flow around the entrance to the site? Call XYZ
and ask for clarification (examples from previous projects would be
ideal).

4.8 ACCESS The Buyer shall provide adequate and safe access to its site
to enable the Seller to fulfill its obligation under this Contract.

Learner B

You are sitting at your desk looking through a contract, when the phone
rings. Answer it.

Presentations are communication situations where one person speaks

while the others listen.

A small, informal meeting over a cup of coffee can include small,

informal presentations (one person standing at the flipchart, speaking,
while the others listen); Addressing audience strength of 300 can also
be a presentation.

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Presentations can take many forms. They can be in one’s own
company, at a client’s, at a conference, at home or abroad; they can be
for one person or many people. They are often part of a meeting or
constitute the beginning of a meeting. Since trainees at all level may
find them frightening – perhaps because they can have such an impact
on a person’s career – there is an important area of language to
practice.

Before focusing on language for this area, the trainer needs to help
trainees to understand what makes a presentation good. For this
purpose, one can invite trainees’ comments, and then get the class to
consider the notes for a successful presentation:

BUSINESS ENGLISH THINK SPOT

 Consider your audience carefully. How much do they already

know and how much do you need to tell them?
 Consider your aim in giving the presentation. Discard any
material which doesn’t directly help you to achieve this aim. If
something is not directly relevant, it is likely to distract your
audience and dilute your message.
 Make your message easy to understand by organizing your
material carefully and using visual aids at appropriate moments.
 Check your know how to use any equipment which you plan to
use.
 Be confident! Don’t make excuses for your English or your
ignorance. Say what you can and be honest. Encourage
constructive discussion.

He needs to help trainees to refine their non-linguistic skills, as well as

their linguistic skills; body language, planning and the effective use of
visual aids are all as important as language. The trainer should also
help trainees to avoid being a ‘bad audience’ through inattention or
poor, or offensive, body language because attending presentations
might provide excellent opportunities for making contacts or building
rapport.

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Presentation basic:

 Verbal skills might be essential, in some.

 In some, the focus is almost entirely on usage of the visual aids (e.g.
technical presentation), rather than language spoken.

A presentation primarily focuses at engrossing the audiences and

consequently presentation skills smudge the distinction between
language and other skills. It requires the best of all the expertise
including delivery, content, use of visual aids, and even body language,
to be perfect and devoid of monotony, gripping the audience’s
attention. On the other hand, good speakers with the right personal
style, who can entertain and inform their audience, can get away with
a lot in terms of linguistic (in) competence. However the preference of
content or form depends upon the audience, rather than the presenter
and language problems are often overlooked with the presence of a
clear and valuable content or message. Therefore all the other aspect
should be equally signified along with language.

Context

The context of presentation is the basis which needs to be clear to

learners. The checklist of possible questions are:

 Who is the audience? What might be their expectations?

 What experience does the learner have?
 What is the theme of the presentation?
 What the presenter want the audience to get from the
presentation?
 What facilities are available?
 What aids is the presenter planning to use?

Structure

Audiences, mostly the non-native speakers prefer to follow a well

planned and easy structure. Therefore the organization of the
presentation and the relation between its components requires
special attention. Many successful basic presentations are composed
of three divisions: an introduction, a middle section (usually
containing the main substance), and a conclusion. Others might be
more complicated. A sales presentation, for example, might be divided
into the following stages:

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 1. Arousal of interest.
2. A description of the problem that needs solving.
3. A solution.
4. Advantages of this particular solution.
5. A statement about what the audience has to do next in order to
be able to enjoy the solution.

The opening of a presentation is particularly important as it sets the

tone. This stage may be comprised of these units:

o Welcome
o Introduction of speakers
o Topic
o Aim
o Outline
o Duration of the talk
o Benefit to the audience
o Dealing with questions
o Joke (acceptable or even expected in certain cultures, but only
recommended if the learner is a good joke teller!)

A suggested framework –

Topic:
Aim:
Main points:
1
2
3
Main message (conclusion):
Benefit to audience:

Language for presentations

The language called signposting, which is used in each of the sections

of a structure, guides a listener thorough the presentation. Typical
signposts are:

So,
Right then,
Let’s start,

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To conclude,
I’d just like to go back to….
The applications of these signposts can be made clear to the learners if
they listen to professional presenters. Many commercial materials
available in the market include recording prepared for practice of
such language.

Rhetorical languages, such as -

Tripling (Our computers are fast, reliable and inexpensive)
Emphasizing (e.g. use of lexis like really, absolutely, extremely)
Rhetorical questions (What does this mean?, Let me tell you...) and so
on.
Metaphors and anecdotes also make a presentation easier to
understand or a particular point more memorable. And it is always
useful to practice language and techniques for dealing with questions.

Using the voice

Voice is the key factor in a winning presentation. The success of a

presentation is majorly determined by the manner of presenting and
not the content being offered. How rules over what. Therefore, many
trainers spend a significant amount of time working on delivery
techniques such as intonation, stress and chunking.

Intonation

Voice modulation, i.e. rise and fall in pitch during speech which is
related to culture. Therefore the speech of a German speaker might
sound monotonous to an English listener, but quite lively to a
Japanese listener. One way to explore this aspect is to ask learners to
read short texts in strange experimental ways – too fast, too slow, and
too loud. The idea is to make them more aware of their own voices.

Stress

The speaker emphasizes on particular words, or on specific syllables

within the words. Learners need to understand how altering the stress
pattern changes the meanings of the sentences.

Chunking

Words are characteristically grouped together in spoken utterances.

The grouping is done with pause, or a change in pitch, or a lengthening

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of a syllable to signal the end of the chunk. Combined with stress,
intonation and rhythm, chunking can alter the way the listener
understands the message. Training in chunking involves training
learners how to identify such ‘chunks’ and insert pauses at the
appropriate places. An excellent mode citing the method to the
learners is through playing the speech of a well-known politician or
business leader (providing a transcript would be even better).
Learners could be asked to predict where the pauses (and stress, and
rises and falls in intonation) will be, and then to compare their
predictions to the real version.

Preparing for presentations

These tools can be covered in the training:

o Using Power Point

o Using the OHP (overhead projector)
o Referring to prompt cards
o Preparing a presentation
o Body language
o Vocal techniques

Learners should have access to the same tools in real life and be
provided with the same during practice sessions. They should be
given enough time to prepare a presentation in class. Rehearsals are
worthwhile and should be encouraged though it is not always relevant
to business context and might demand a more impromptu
performance.
Arranging actual presentations for learners is the most effective and
practical method of training presentation. Installing a video camera
can be considered as one of the best tools. It is easy to make silly
mistakes like forgetting to switch on the microphone, or pointing the
camera at a learner who is standing in front of a window, resulting in a
black picture. This can be frustrating and embarrassing.

Another technique is to get the other learners go through a checklist of

points as they listen to the presentation. Here is an example:

o Aids (materials, OHP, laptop, pointer, flipchart)

o Rapport (eye contact, body language, mannerisms, humor)

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 o Delivery (clarity, pronunciation, stress, pauses, volume,
intonation)
o Language (accuracy, vocabulary, appropriateness, simplicity)

A valuable strategy for business English trainers to enhance their

professionalism and credibility in this key business skill is to give
some formal presentations themselves (this will feel quite different
from training a class or running a workshop). Presentation can be
given to peers at a conference, for example. Technology should be an
integral part of such presentations, for the learners to use. For
example, if the learners use Power Point, the trainer should become
familiar with its utility. Such a strategy infuses more knowledge on
presentation than any book can impart, and they can use this
experience to inform the way they work with trainees who are
preparing for presentations of their own.

Skill Practice variants

o Introduction Presentation – Trainees give an initial short

presentation to a few other trainees so as to get a feel for giving
presentations and also to give you the opportunity to see their
strengths and weaknesses.
o Disappearing introductions – Using a model, which is
gradually reduced to a mere matrix. Trainees practice an
introduction to a presentation, focusing on a pronunciation
features (e.g. sentence stress).
o Project projection – Trainees practice projecting their voice by
speaking to a partner across the room.

METHOD – Fruity Introductions

Trainees practice language for introductions to presentations, using

types of fruits as a lead-in.

Language phrases for introduction, such as I’ll start by, Then I’ll look
at Level lower – upper-intermediate
Time 30 minutes

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Procedure

1. After a warmer activity to focus trainees’ attention, ask trainees

to think of types of fruit. Trainees can work in one big circle if
you have a small class or alternatively in groups. First each
trainee should say one fruit (e.g. banana), then he or she should
say the names of three fruits (e.g. banana, mango and
pineapple). After each turn another trainees (picked at random)
should repeat the same list so as to check that he or she has
heard and understood all the fruits in the list.
2. Next, ask trainees to imagine that they are giving a presentation
about fruit. Instead of simply listing three fruits, they should
insert their list into a mini-introduction, which you could elicit.
One possible introduction is as follows:

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming.

This afternoon I’m going to take a look at fruit in Sri Lanka.
I’ll start by talking about bananas.
Then I’ll look at mangoes.
I’ll finish by considering pineapples.

Get trainees to practice their fruity lead-ins in pairs.

3. Next ask them to take a pen and paper. First they should write
down a possible topic for a presentation – anything will do –
then, they should write a list of three things which could be
discussed in the presentation. For example, if the subject is
transport the three things could be buses, trains and airplanes.
Trainees should then incorporate these three things into an
introduction as before, with the fruits, and another trainee
should repeat each trainee’s main points (i.e. the list of three
items) after each mini introduction. (Note that getting trainees
to list other trainees’ items is tantamount to asking them to
listen out for main points, which is a useful listening exercise to
supplement the speaking practice.)
4. Next, ask trainees to use long phrase (e.g. The Kobe Dentetsu
Line – a railway line) instead of single words in their list of three
things, so that the exercise is more of a challenge and more
similar to what might be said in a real-life introduction to a
presentation. Help trainees to compose phrases which would be

20
 appropriate in a business setting. While trainees are practicing
their introductions, focus individuals’ attention on
pronunciation and on the impression they might make in real-
life business setting.
5. Finally, ask trainees to spend a few minutes talking about the
subjects they have mentioned in their introductions. Ask them
to imagine that they are continuing their presentation beyond
the introduction. It is, after all, better that they do this in English
in class rather than in their L1 over coffee later on.

 Change Charting – Trainees review practice key vocabulary for

describing change in business situations.
 Presenting Problems – Trainees write a quick plan for an
imaginary presentation on problems at work and then
improvise a short version of the actual presentation. Since the
focus is on trainees’ own problems this activity could be a
springboard to some interesting discussion. The feedback
trainees receive from each other could also be useful when
planning a real presentation on the same subject.
 Phonemic Presentations – This is another fun activity which
helps in focusing trainees’ attention on pronunciation so that
their presentations are clearer and easier to understand. Using
phonemics has the bonus that trainees will later eventually also
be able to decode phonemics in the dictionary in order to check
the pronunciation of specific words.
 Free Impromptus – This activity gives trainees an opportunity
to practice key expressions which have been previously
introduced or to develop fluency and confidence. It’s usually fun
because trainees can be unexpectedly good.
 Conclusion-Building – Trainees practice language which might
be useful when concluding a presentation after an informal,
interactive lead-in. Balls are used so as to encourage free-
flowing ideas when preparing the often difficult final section of a
presentation.

METHOD – Manager Questioning

This is a good activity for in-company trainees who work in

companies where there are foreign middle managers. Trainees
practice asking questions which they are likely to really want to have
answered. It is a truly communicative activity which can be the
springboard for much else.

21
Language questions
Level upper-intermediate and above
Time 40 minutes

Preparation

 Chat to a key foreign manager, then ask if he or she would be

willing to come into class. Explain that you want to give the
trainees practice in asking questions and that the visitor will, of
course, be free to refuse to answer certain questions if they like.
 Explain what you have arranged to the class and get trainees to
prepare questions to ask this manager. Get them to categorize
the questions under headings, then put the categories in a
logical order. They can then write out a mini-agenda for the
visiting manager.

Procedure

 Having copied and distributed the agenda beforehand bring the

manager into the lesson at the prearranged time. Ask one
trainees to ‘chair’ the meeting. Round up at the end with some
diplomatic comments and thanks to the manager is being
intimated by the trainees or if you feel that the manager is being
intimated by the trainees or if you feel too much time is being
spent on one area. After the meeting, trainees could write up
minutes of the meeting or a report for their manager on the
issues discussed. Alternatively, select one or two issues and lead
into memo-writing to take action or arrange follow-up meetings.

Meetings

Successful participation in meetings in English is often necessary for

advancement within a company, especially if it’s a multinational, so
practice of this language area is essential, even if difficult for many
trainees.
Trainees may, naturally, find participation much more difficult than
comprehension of conversations, especially if some participants are
native-speakers of English; very little silence is left for hesitant
contributors. Turn taking patterns and rules for etiquette may be
quite different in the trainees’ home culture so these will naturally

22
need to be the focus of attention when practicing relevant language. In
addition, people in real-life meetings do not often use language in
ways that trainees might expect. They make suggestions in surprising
ways (e.g. using conditionals instead of let’s) ad use many subtle ways
of influencing others. They also use indirect ways of agreeing and
disagreeing, which are very dissimilar to the phrases presented to
trainees in many course books (e.g. You’re absolutely right but….when
disagreeing). Trainees will therefore need language so as to be able to
exert influence themselves, and strategies for coping when they
encounter difficulties.

Modes of preparation for meeting:

o Attend meetings, observing both native and non-native

speakers’ use of language and study dialogues from scripted
meetings as much as possible.
o Find out about the type of international meetings trainees need
to attend and about the problems they experience.
o Glean a lot of useful information about trainees’ work, in-
company politics and attitudes, simply by asking trainees about
issues that they have brought up previously.

The guiding questions can be:

o What do you think your managers complain about?

o Do they hold meetings to discuss these problem situations?
o Do your managers ever ask you to discuss solutions to problems
in meetings?
o Are meetings in your department formal or informal? Are they
large or small?
o What kind of meetings have you had to attend recently? What
was discussed?
o What kind of meetings do you expect to be attending soon?
o How easy is it for you to participate?

Meetings can be of many different types:

o Large formal meetings – with chairpersons and someone

responsible for taking the minutes
o Informal meetings over a cup of tea.
o Meetings with customers, meeting with partners or internal
departmental meetings would differ.

23
The notion of meeting varies from culture to culture.

o In some countries, a meeting is used to lay down the basis for

consultation and discussion.
o In others, meetings are used primarily to present the boss’s
opinion or transmit corporate directives.
o In some cultures meetings will follow a carefully organized plan.
o In others, the way they develop will depend on the issues raised
or the people involved.
o Some people will focus entirely on the business of the meeting.
o Elsewhere, the meeting may be one of several things happening
at that time (e.g. phone calls, private conversations,
interruptions).

The language of meeting can be equally varied:

In formal meetings, certain lexical items are quite commonly used,

such as Has everyone got a copy of the minutes? / Moving on to item
three on the agenda…Unfortunately, many business English course
books have presented language that can seem stilted or unnatural.
Course book language for interrupting may include rather labored
phrases like Excuse me, can I interrupt please?, instead of but…,while
it suggested that people should give opinions by saying In my opinion,
instead of I think…. . Of course, such phrases are possible, but they are
not necessarily the most common, particularly among native speakers.
Research has shown that key language items in such cases are words
like OK? (Meaning, Do you agree?), OK (for I agree), or about…. (when
we want to talk about a particular topic). It is probably not worth
spending too much time on convoluted phrases which might appear,
and far more useful to practice the language and skills that actually
occur in meetings. Normally people in meetings are doing things like:
Passing on information,
Persuading,
Justifying,
Defending their position
Arguing
So the language trainer’s focus should reflect this. Other common
functions include-
Clarifying (So what you are saying is …, That isn’t exactly what I
meant, Do you mean…?)
Summarizing (Can we just recap? Let me just go over that again).

24
Role-plays and simulations by the virtue of their proximity to real life
are quite effective modes of learning; therefore the trainer needs to
decide upon the approach in the classroom and select the meeting-
type to focus on. For example, with a large group pre-experience
learners it might be worth spending some time explaining different
types of meetings before going on to form small groups who role-play
scenarios set by the trainers. Ways to set up such an exercise:

 Meeting role-play – the trainer gives each learner a copy of an

agenda and some background information, together with a role-
card which gives specific information which the learner will
need during the meetings; include opinions about the issues
being discussed. This information is not available to other
learners in the group, which makes the whole role-play more
realistic.

In order to make role-played meetings in class more realistic:

 Prepare trainees thoroughly in advance, possibly eliciting or

giving them information about why meetings are held in English
and what they are like. You can use the notes for trainees given
in the box on the opposite page as part of an information sheet
or questionnaire.
 Get trainees to prepare an agenda for every meeting role-played
in class.
 Insist on the normal preliminaries (i.e. brief socializing before
meetings and opening comments by the chair person) and
include other related activities (such as telephone calls, e-mails,
faxes, minutes, memos or reports) around class role-plays as
often as possible so as to set meetings in a seemingly realistic
context and give valuable extra practice of key areas. Some of
these related activities can, of course, be suggested as
homework tasks.
25
  Get trainees to bring in real product samples and real statistical
data (on OHTs, if possible) to back up their contributions in
meetings.
 Get trainees to refer to managers or colleagues before or after
class to get information.
 Invite an international manager to join the class when role-
playing meetings.

Meeting simulation – another option is to present the learners with

background information, and then allow them to play themselves, thus
creating a simulation rather than a role-play. For example, they could
be asked to organize a conference in a hotel, and then be given access
to the hotel websites in order to gather relevant information before
coming together to find the best solution.

With a small group of experienced managers, on the other hand, it

might make more sense to design the meeting-simulation around the
types of meetings the managers actually participate in.
Meeting simulation would include:

 Who is to chair the meeting, if it is to be chaired at all?

 What is the chair’s role?
 What contributions are to be made by participants in the
meeting?
 What is the function of the meeting (e.g. to discuss issues,
brainstorm, find solutions to problems, give out tasks, make
decision, pass on information, and so on)?
 How formal will it be (e.g. strict rules of procedure)?
 Will there be a tight structure (e.g. agenda, timings)?
 Will minutes be produced? If so, who is responsible?

People working in companies are used to receiving emails which set

up meetings. It gives a realistic reason for the simulation, and
effectively set up the agenda for the meeting. The topic is advisably
the one which is very relevant to the participants in the group. The set
up material designed for experienced learners does not carry enough
information as it is meant to draw out the learner’s own experience
and knowledge from the real life.

Learners can also be asked to take minutes of meetings held in the

class. This mirrors what happens in real life, and the discussions about

26
whose minutes are the most accurate will inevitably generate
additional useful language because the learners are no longer playing
a role, but having to defend their own work. Alternatively, learners
can be asked to bring authentic minutes into class, and then use these
to explain what happened in the meeting to the other learners.

Some notes for trainees about meetings held in English:

BUSINESS ENGLISH THINK SPOT

Why are the meetings held…

…….and how should one behave?

 Meetings are mostly held to discuss things, but can also be held
so as to make announcements, share information or confirm
decisions
 Punctuality is considered important in many cultures (especially
Britain and America) but different nationalities have very
different ideas on what ‘late’ is!
 Leaving a meeting for a while halfway through or before the end
is considered rude in Britain & America, unless it’s an absolute
emergency.
 Meetings will vary from being very formal to very informal –
depending on the corporate culture, the size and purpose of the
meeting and the participants.
 There is usually an agenda. In English-speaking meetings you are
expected to discuss only things which are directly relevant to this
agenda.
 You will probably get an opportunity to discuss other things in
AOB (Any Other Business) at the end of the meeting but you may
not get much time.
 Basically, anyone can talk at almost any point in the meeting –
but the chairperson is the boss. However, you may be invited to
talk or sense that there is a ‘right time’ to come in with your own
views.
 It’s OK to disagree or mention any supporting information which
you feel is relevant. You don’t need to worry too much about
pleasing people. Managers will usually want to hear your ideas or
comments.
 You may feel you need to interrupt or ‘fight’ to speak. This is

27
 perfectly normal! You may also feel you get more out of meetings
if you find the courage to ask for clarification whenever you don’t
understand

Skill practice variants:

 The Question Game: Trainees formulate and then practice

question which they might need when attending meetings with
people they don’t know (e.g. at a conference or at head office).
As well as helping trainees to get to know each other, this
procedure should also help you to gauge your trainees’ and
should make you aware of any problems your trainees are
having relating to grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation.
 Deep-end recorded meetings: Having identified a realistic for
a meeting for a particular group of trainees, trainees role-play
and record the meeting. Since there is no preliminary
preparation or practice of key language, trainees should truly
feel like they have been thrown into the deep end of a swimming
pool! The recording of the meeting provides a starting point for
detailed language work and will clearly focus complacent
trainees’ attention on problem areas.
 Strategy Development: Trainees practice useful phrases which
help them to cope in meetings. They are encouraged to use the
phrases in a game-like situation so they are not in danger of
losing face.

METHOD – Management Conundrums

Trainees are asked to solve problems of greater or lesser importance

which a manager might have to tackle. This is a good procedure for
helping trainees to develop fluency & confidence.

Language any – the focus is on fluency development, not accuracy

Level intermediate and above
Time 20 minutes

Preparation
Find some management problems. Useful sources are management

28
books, management magazines, course books or real life. Consider
using cartoons which convey the problem situations, as well as short
texts. Alternatively, elicit problems from trainees by getting them to
think of problems and write them out in small groups. Problems from
one group are then passed onto other groups for ‘solutions’. Some
example problems:

While some people in the office want and need to smoke, others
complain it’s unhealthy. How can you keep everyone happy?

Everyone seems to go to the cafeteria for lunch at around the same time
so that the queues and the crowding are terrible. What kind of system
or solutions might improve the situation?

A few people in your department seems to spend too much time

chatting. You yourself, as manager, are working under terrible pressure
and know that everybody in your team is needed if deadlines are to be
kept. What can you do?

One of your staff is persistently late. Every day he has a good excuse.
What do you do?

Procedure

 Pass some management problems to trainees on slips of paper,

or explain or elicit them, as suggested above. Tell trainees that
they have ten minutes to decide on solution with a partner.
 Ask trainees to change partners and discuss the solutions they
have come up with.
 Next, get trainees to write memos or role-play telephone
conversations in preparation for a meeting.
 Finally, get trainees to role-play a meeting to decide on the best
solution for one or more of the problems.

 Conditional Probabilities: By completing a statement about a

possible strategy, trainees practice first or second conditionals
(which might be useful in meeting discussions). They then move
on to discuss the details o each strategy proposed.
 Product Development: After pair work to consider ideas for
new products, trainees role-play meetings in which their ideas

29
 are discussed. This motivating procedure gets trainees
practicing being persuasive.
 Strip Discussion: Trainees discuss a controversial subject,
using exponents for agreeing, disagreeing, interrupting etc. They
prepare their opinions in advance (writing these on strips of
paper) so that they can focus fully on language during the
discussion itself. This is a good procedure for classes where
trainees participation is uneven.

Negotiating

Negotiation is a daily affair that human beings would involve

themselves into both in personal & professional life – be it a family
discussing TV program, or a couple deciding where to eat for dinner
etc. For the business people the negotiable contents are prices &
delivery dates. Politicians negotiate over spending public funds.
Diplomats negotiate borders and international trade treaties.
Negotiation involves bargaining within two parties to establish a
single point. This can be based upon compromise or power-play.
Sometimes there can be conflict, and sometimes clear mutual
interests. Negotiations are, in effect, nothing more than a special form
of meeting, and so much of the language used is similar to that
applicable for meetings.
Even if they are not involved in major negotiations for contracts, most
trainees will need to conduct small-scale negotiations (to arrange or
change meetings, to get room reserved, to persuade foreign colleagues
to change procedures or systems, etc.). Find out about the type of
negotiating your trainees are – or will be – expected to do before
embarking on practice activities.

Most successful negotiations involve:

 Sharing of problems and a final agreement which is satisfactory

and beneficial to both parties.
 Trainees will also have to be much aware of cultural differences
if they are to be successful negotiators.
 When dealing with certain nationalities, trainees may find they
have to do a lot of ‘chatting’ before or during serious negotiating
sessions because personal relationships between people who do
business are considered especially important in some cultures
(e.g. Japan).

30
  In any cross-cultural situation, the ability of trainees to build
rapport with their negotiating partners will be of paramount
importance; this means that initial chatting, effective listening
and the ability to stress areas of common ground (i.e. points of
agreement) are especially important.
 Trainees will also need to understand that negotiators in many
cultures may not be able to make decisions, as their
counterparts often do in the UK and the US, because power and
decision-making structures may be completely different in the
trainees’ home or corporate culture. If sent to a negotiation as a
junior negotiator on the other hand, trainees may find
themselves facing senior staff on ‘the other side’.

To help trainees to survive in their early negotiations the trainer will

need to:

 Provide trainees’ with language which gives them control (e.g.

Perhaps we should look at a few alternative approaches) and
puts individuals back in control when things become unclear
(e.g. Can we go over that again?).
 Encourage trainees to consider other ways of exerting influence
than those they have learnt so far. (This should provide endless
‘food for thought’ for you, as well as for your trainees.)
 Encourage trainees to check what has been agreed at every
stage of a negotiation and to recap what action is to be taken as
often as they feel is necessary. After all, the consequences of
misunderstanding could be enormous! In other words, give
trainees the language they need to do this effectively, and
practice it in the ways suggested in this section.

Specific language has been provided for each procedure so that you
can help your trainees to build the relationship they need in order to
conduct business amicably and effectively at an international level.

Negotiations can be categorized into types.

Types of negotiation

Distributive / competitive / win-lose

The type involves a situation where the negotiation parties have

directly opposing goals or at least some sort of conflict, often
regarding price or how limited resources should be shared. The long-
31
term relationship with the other party may not be important; if there
is only one deal, the objective is to get the best possible deal. For
instance, buying a car or a house. Each side is bent upon defending
their position and the gain of one party is a loss of the other.

Integrative / win-win

This type seeks goals which are not mutually exclusive. These
negotiations are characterized by discussion and exploration where
parties focus on what they have in common, and actively seek out
alternative solutions. The aim is to concentrate on needs and interests,
not positions, and strike a balance where both the parties would gain.
Successful, integrative negotiators explore the needs and interests
that are creating a stand and find a way forward. Most negotiators are
a mix of distributive and integrative negotiators.

Stages in negotiation

Negotiation reaches out to its objective through a series of stages

useful for evolving potentially useful language. The stages to be
involved are:

 Preparation: deciding what is important, defending goals,

thinking ahead how to work together with the other party.
 Relationship building: Getting to know the other party,
understanding how you and the other are similar and different,
and building commitment toward achieving a mutually
beneficial set of outcomes.
 Information gathering: Learning what you need to know about
the issues, about the other party and their needs, about the
feasibility of possible settlements, and about what might happen
if you fail to reach agreement with the other side.
 Information using: At this stage, negotiators assemble the case
they want to make for their preferred outcomes and settlement,
one that will maximize the negotiator’s own needs. This
presentation is often used to ‘sell’ the negotiators’ preferred
outcome to the other.
 Bidding: The process of making moves from one’s initial, ideal
position to the actual outcome. Bidding is the process by which
each party states their opening offer, and then makes moves in
that offer, towards a middle ground.
32
  Closing the deal: The objective here is to build commitment to
the agreement achieved in the previous phase. Both the
negotiator and the other party have to assure themselves that
they reached a deal they can be happy with or at least live with.
 Implementing the agreement: Determining who needs to do
what once the hands are shaken and the documents signed. Not
uncommonly, parties discover that the agreement is flawed, key
points were missed, or the situation has changed and new
questions exist. Flaws in moving through the earlier phases
arise here, and the deal may have to be reopened, or issues
settled by arbitrators or the courts.

Language and other skills of negotiating

Deciding on the key language, best applicable for negotiation, is often

a difficult task. The actual areas of difficulty often go unappreciated as
the course books tend to concentrate on functional areas like
clarifying, summarizing, asking questions, proposing, agreeing and
disagreeing, instead.

The learners are mostly pressurized by their target-oriented job, or

the prospect of promotion which might depend upon the negotiation,
or may be vagueness about what is really wanted. And no negotiator
ever has enough information about the other side’s real motivation
and desires.

Negotiations are also about people and personalities, therefore

relationship building skills are vital. The negotiator by the virtue of
being a ‘nice guy’ can make an offer and successfully close a deal.
Negotiations can be best practiced through task based approaches like
simulations and role-plays in the class. These create space for
development of non-linguistic negotiating skills and also provide
opportunities to practice relevant language. Both cameras and
observers are very useful tool for reviewing negotiating activities and
getting valuable feedback.

A typical course book role-play would have specific goals on each side
with some flexibility regarding which goals have the highest priority.
Both sides will have to negotiate to find compromises giving
something to each side. These role-plays are:

o Very easy to setup

33
 o Most learners have no problem in understanding the situation
o Are able to explore the issues and find the solution
o Also relatively easy to adapt the role-plays to suit individual
class.

However a range of factors make these negotiation role-plays

unrealistic. The information also lack substance barring the
participants from exploring alternatives in depth or detail and they
often have to invent information which can be frustrating.

BUSINESS ENGLISH THINK SPOT

Q1: What makes a good negotiator?

A good negotiator…..
…loves negotiating.
…has a view of the big picture.
…thinks about the other side’s perspective and problems.
…remembers what has been negotiated and agreed before.
…has integrity, i.e. can be relied upon.
…doesn’t need to be liked.
…can tolerate ambiguity and conflict.
…is prepared to ask questions about anything.
…knows what he or she wants and expresses this clearly.
…keeps quiet about what he or she is not prepared to do.
…keeps quiet about his or her minimum terms.
…understands the possibilities of a deal in great detail.
…pays attention to even the smallest problem.
…finds out the reasons for special requests.
…negotiates on more than price.
…is good at working out the fine details of cost.
…uses information about creditworthiness to good effect.
…works to gain goodwill as well as profit.
…is prepared to discuss hypothetical situations.
…has the courage to discuss what seems impossible.
…is patient and persistent.
…accepts and is constructive about conditions made.
…is not afraid to ask for a firm commitment.
…follows up on all promises made.

34
Q2: Do cultural differences affect negotiating style?

Yes! But why?....and how?...

Negotiation procedures

METHOD – Pre-negotiation ponder

Trainees consider what makes a good negotiator before embarking on

practice of language relevant to negotiating.

Language any

Level intermediate and above

Time 15-20 minutes

Preparation
Collect several photographs of business people involved in
negotiations and either mount them on card or photocopy them onto
OHTs. (Note that photographs gleaned from adverts or business
magazines may often be appropriate since negotiations might take
place in all kinds of settings, for all kinds of reasons.) Also compile &
photocopy a list of your own suggestion similar to that mentioned
above (What makes a good negotiator?), which relate more closely to
your trainees’ situation.

Procedure

1. After telling trainees you are going to be considering what

makes a good negotiator, flash up the photographs you have
prepared on your OHP or lay photographs on the tables in front
of trainees. Elicit as many comments about the negotiation as
you can, asking Imagine being in this situation. Who are the
people? What do you think they are talking about? Who’s going
to get the better deal?, for example.

35
 2. As trainees to draw up a short list of ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ for
negotiating, either working in pairs or small groups.
3. Discuss everyone’s ideas, writing these on the board or on an
OHT.
4. Next, distribute the photocopies of additional ideas. Ask trainees
to decide with a partner whether they agree or disagree with
each piece of advice. After getting comments from the whole
class, ask trainees what their answer is to Question 2: Do
cultural differences affect negotiating style?
5. Ask trainees to imagine they have been asked to write a memo,
e-mail or report to inform or prepare some colleagues who have
less experience than they have of the international negotiating
world. Get them to plan the text together in class (again, in pairs
or groups) and write it up for homework.

 Establishing ground rules: Trainees work in groups and

decide on an appropriate procedure for a task. Since
establishing ground rules is so important at the beginning of
negotiations this procedure prepares trainees for real-life
situations.
 Trio reflections: This procedure helps trainees to develop their
reflective listening skills. By reflecting back to each other what
they think they have heard, trainees find out just how effectively
they have been listening! Trainees who have been speaking also
find out how clearly they have expressed themselves.
 Clarifying Questions: This procedure is an extension of TRIO
REFLECTIONS. Trainees get an opportunity to practice
questions which help them to clarify precise meaning.

METHOD – Tricky Treatment

Trainees practice dealing with difficult challenges from imaginary

negotiating counterparts.

Language any

Level lower-intermediate and above

Time 30 minutes

36
Procedure

1. Get trainees to think up a list of five possible statements which

they might have to make in a negotiation and which might
provoke a negative reaction from ‘the other side’. Some
examples:

The price will increase at the end of this year.

WE can only offer discount on orders over 5,000.
We only offer those terms to our regular customers.
Our high prices are justified by the high level of service we offer,
compared to our competitors.
This really is the best product you can buy at this price.
This new product will do everything you need it to do.
We need more information on your stock level if we are to agree to do
business with you.

2. Elicit and /or teach trainees how to challenge negotiating

partners politely. Some phrases trainees could use are as
follows

Does that mean that….?

When you say…do you mean…?
Do you ever make exceptions?
Would you consider…?
Would it be acceptable to you if we….?
Have you considered……?
Could we perhaps make an arrangement whereby you…and we…?
Why is that exactly?

3. Ask for a volunteer. These trainees must sit at the front of the
class, make his or her statement and then deal with the barrage
of unpleasant questions from you or other trainees. Insist that
all questions in the ‘barrage’ are phrased politely.
4. When one or two trainees have sat in the ‘hot seat’, get the class
to continue in small groups. (Groups of four, five or six are most
effective.) Within each group at least two trainees can deal with
questions; other trainees will practice asking questions. Make
sure trainees change roles periodically.

37
 5. In your feedback stage, discuss with trainees any alternative
strategies or language they might use so as to achieve better
outcomes.

 Persuasion focus: In a group task in which joint discussions

need to be made, trainees have the opportunity to practice their
skills of persuasion.
 Simulated negotiation: Trainees role-play a negotiation,
scoring points according to the advantages they negotiate.
 Rolled summaries: In this activity, trainees get the opportunity
to develop their summarizing skills. After listening to an
extended conversation on tape or video, trainees decide what
the main points are, then summarize them to other groups as if
they were one of the speakers in the conversation.
 Reassuring promises: Trainees practice making promises
about follow-up action which has already been suggested in a
previous discussion. This is similar to what trainees will have to
do in real life at the end of a negotiation.

An ideal negotiation role-play:

 Give the maximum background information

 Scenario might reflect a real business situation or be checked for
verisimilitude for job-experienced learners
 Trainer should allow enough time for preparation
 Learners should be clear about their situations and own roles
 Motivation can be initiated by using phrases and information
about the other side that might arouse competitive spirit.

Practicing negotiation with experienced learner:

1. Trainer asks learner to explain background to negotiations that

he/she does.
2. Trainer role-plays one side, learner role-plays the other
(preferably own).
3. Discussion and comment on tactics and language used.
4. Trainer and learner exchange roles and role-play again.
5. Discussion and comment on tactic and language used.
6. Step 2 repeated.

Such reverse role simulations enable learner and trainer to maximally

contribute their knowledge and expertise to the task.

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Cited below is a negotiation role-play. Although the issues may not be
related to the learners’ everyday business requirements, this role-play
is in may ways more realistic than the buyer-seller scenarios above.
The learners here have the necessary background knowledge, and
have to explain their ideas clearly and come up with a solution that is
agreeable to both sides.

You are going to participate in a negotiation to agree on the

appropriate level tobacco advertising in your country. Work in two
groups – A & B. Follow the instructions below and prepare for the
negotiation

Group A (anti-smoking lobby) Group B (pro-smoking lobby)

Task 1: Prepare a short Task 1: Prepare a short

presentation on the dangers of presentation on why you support
smoking. the right to smoke.

Task 2: Prepare to negotiate with Task 2: Prepare to negotiate with

the pro-smoking lobby. Decide the anti-smoking lobby. Decide
where you are happy to where you are happy to
compromise. Try to agree on an compromise. Try to agree on an
acceptable level of advertising in : acceptable level of advertising in:
T.V. (definitely no) T.V. (late at night)
Cinema (only to accompany Cinema (all adult films)
restricted films) Newspapers (all)
Newspapers (no – read by all Magazines (all except children’s)
public) Billboards (not within 1km of
Magazines (only certain ones) schools)
Billboards (not within 3km of
schools)

Hold the negotiation, following the agenda below.

Agenda
1) Welcome / Aim

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 2) Short presentation: pro-
smoking lobby
3) Short presentation: anti-
smoking lobby
4) Negotiation (TV / cinema /
newspapers / magazines /
billboards)
5) Summary and action plan

From In-company Intermediate by Powell

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