Business English Pod BEP 45c Socializing: Keeping a Conversation Going
Business English Pod BEP 45c Socializing: Keeping a Conversation Going is a podcast lesson on holding a conversation at a work event. Business English Pod, a podcast for professionals learning English, follows two colleagues, Penny and George, at a company conference, and works on changing the topic, showing interest, asking follow-up questions and responding with empathy.
Limits of the Free Tier Plan: Listening to the lesson costs nothing and needs no account: the audio plays on the page, the introduction and the three listening questions are open to everyone, and the lesson can be downloaded as an audio file. The written transcript, the quizzes, the PhraseCast and the lesson module are kept for members who pay for a premium plan.
How It Helps Your Business English
The lesson opens by treating conversation as a skill that can be practiced rather than a personality trait, then sets three listening questions and plays a dialogue between two colleagues at a company conference. The language covered is directing a conversation, changing the topic, showing interest in what the other person says, asking follow-up questions and responding with empathy.
You listen to the dialogue with the three questions in front of you, which tells you what to listen for: the word that turns the topic, the experience the other speaker picks up on, and the way she answers when the story turns difficult. The audio plays on the page and can be downloaded, so you can come back to the same exchange until the phrases for showing interest are easy to hear and to use.
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