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Europe's number one current affairs magazine for learners of business English Primary Format : Language Lessons Language : German Also Listed as: City : Unknown State/Province : Unknown Country : Germany Region : EU User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of The Business Spotlight Podcast Podcasts Methings.com listings of The Business Spotlight Podcast Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

Say It in Style: First names Some names are not pronounced the way they are spelled. And you want to be able to say the names of your international business partners correctly. For help, let’s turn to communication skills expert Ken Taylor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: The new gold rush Today we’ll take you to Australia, where prospecting for gold is currently attracting lots of people. “Prospecting” is the search for minerals by using equipment such as gold pans and digging tools, but also metal detectors. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Scientific fields Do you enjoy birdwatching or counting the stars? Then you can put your leisure time to work in a very useful way. You can become a “citizen scientist”. Let's go through some science vocabulary together.Freizeitetwa: Laienwissenschaftler(in) Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky Translations: Kasse How do you say the German word Kasse in English? It has several meanings in German and is translated into English using different words. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Confusing verb pairs I imagine you want to start the new year by improving your business English. So today, we’ll take a look at easily confused verb pairs. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Winter sports It’s winter! I can’t wait to go to the mountains — to ski, snowboard or just play in the snow! So today, let’s go over the vocabulary for some cold-weather fun. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: Working with Israelis Today we take a look at working with Israelis. Germany has a special relationship with Israel — and a special responsibility. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Presentations When giving presentations, good preparation is the key. And good non-verbal communication is important for getting your message across. So let’s practise this today.seine persönliche Botschaft rüberbringen Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Skill Up! — Your health When you are feeling ill, you probably just go to your family doctor. But what happens if you are in an English-speaking country, and you have to see a medical specialist? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Meeting point During meetings, it is important to ask the right question at the right time. Here’s communication skills expert, Ken Taylor, with advice, and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Say It in Style: Place names When at an international event you might need the place name in English, as the common language of business.  So let’s practice translating the place names of various cities and countries from German into English. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky translations: False friends  Let’s do an exercise now on false friends. These are pairs of words that look or sound similar in German and English — but they mean different things. So using the wrong word will usually cause confusion. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: They shoot horses, don't they? Canada is now a major exporter of horsemeat. But is this a good thing? Critics are concerned about the conditions under which the horses are being transported for slaughter. And there may be other problems, too. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: The pub When I went to a pub in England, I sat at the table waiting for service for what seemed like forever. Then someone explained that I had to order and pay for drinks at the bar. What else should we know about going to a pub? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Uses of the word "all" There’s a famous song by The Beatles: “All you need is love”. It offers a perfect example for our grammar topic: the many different uses of the little word “all”. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: Culture shock It’s exciting to live in a foreign country and to experience a culture different to our own. But in truth, many people abroad suffer varying degrees of “culture shock”, and it can cause a range of psychological problems. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Good communication You know, talking and listening are two things that most of us do every day. But some people do far too much of one and not enough of the other! So let’s learn more about what to do if we want to communicate effectively. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Skill Up! — Describing trends For German speakers of English there is sometimes confusion about different words that are related to the word “economy”. Ken Taylor is here to test your knowledge in this area. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky translations: bedienen How would you translate bedienen into English? Well, it depends on the sentence and context. In this exercise, we’re going to give you some German sentences that include the word bedienen, and we’d like you to translate them into English. Ready? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Recycling There are lots of good reasons for recycling, but do you know which materials can be recycled? And do you know the vocabulary of recycling in English? Test your knowledge in our exercise on our free podcast. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Street life You know, there is a form of work that fits everyone. Some people work freelance, and do project work for several companies. Some have a steady job with one company. What is your ideal work situation? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Matrix organizations Is it just me, or does everything seem to be getting more complex? I’m told I’m now part of a “matrix organization". Luckily, communications skills expert, Ken Taylor is here, with advice on how to work well in a matrix organization. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: “so” and “neither” You probably know that you can respond with “so” and “neither” to say that you have something in common with someone else. Here’s your chance to practise this type of response. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: The Czech Republic The Czech Republic is Germany’s most important trading partner in central and eastern Europe. To do business effectively, it’s essential to know about the culture, and the history, of this near neighbour. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Working conditions Today, we’ll talk about working conditions. Have you ever worked shifts? In the following dialogue, you can meet Ed and Greg, two colleagues who work for the same company, but in different jobs and under different conditions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Head-to-Head food special If you have to live on a strict budget, even small increases in the price of essentials such as food can be a cause for concern. Reports have shown that food prices have risen significantly in the past year, in particular in the UK. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Stitching up new markets Today we take you to India, where nearly 30 per cent of the country’s exports come from textiles and leather goods. But if the demand from existing buyers is weak, where does one find new customers in the global marketplace? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky translations: versichern How would you translate versichern into English? Well, it depends on the sentence and context. In this exercise, we’re going to give you some German sentences that include the word versichern, and we’d like you to translate them into English. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Sales calls To be honest, few people say that they like getting sales calls. But such calls can introduce us to a useful service or product, if the seller can keep us interested and knows how to deal with our objections. How do you make such calls? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: French winemaker Today, we’ll turn our attention to food and drink — in particular, to a very popular drink: wine. Knowing how to turn grapes into wine is one thing. But running a vineyard that has existed for centuries is a very particular kind of business. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Gossip at work Do you like to gossip at work? Most of us do. But if you find out there are rumours going around about you, you probably want to know how to stop it. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: To “have something done” Yay, it’s grammar time! Today we look at a structure commonly used to talk about services we ask others do for us: to “have something done”.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: Human resources In an international company, the work of people in human resources, or HR, plays a key role. There are many complex matters. For more on this topic, here's intercultural communications specialist, Robert Gibson. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Office vocabulary In this podcast, we’d like to test how well you know your office vocabulary. We’ll give you a short definition and a choice of two words. Choose the right word for the office equipment described. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky translations: Gesellschaft Some German words have several meanings, so we usually have to use different English words in each case. For example, how would you translate Gesellschaft into English? Well, it depends on the sentence and context. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: The word “dive” A professional diver is someone who swims underwater and a “sky diver” is someone who jumps out of a plane with a parachute. The word “dive” has other, more idiomatic meanings, too. Let’s take a look at some of them now. Taucher(in)Fallschirm Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Management special Today we’ll turn our attention to the areas of management and leadership, and listen to two respected management thinkers. What makes managers good leaders, and how do British and German managers compare to each other? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Conference hotels One important way to learn about business trends and to meet people in your field is to attend international conferences. Let’s look at some words for talking about the facilities in a conference hotel. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Skill Up! — All about cars Did you drive to work today? Cars, and driving, are a big part of life for most people. In the latest Skill Up!, our vocabulary guide, you can learn all about cars. If you or your business partners drive, traffic is a great topic for small talk. Let’s practise this now. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Skill Up! — All about cars Did you drive to work today? Cars, and driving, are a big part of life for most people. In the latest Skill Up!, our vocabulary guide, you can learn all about cars. If you or your business partners drive, traffic is a great topic for small talk. Let’s practise this now. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: Canada Despite its size, Canada often stands in the shadow of its powerful neighbour. Not on our podcast! Today we’ll focus on doing business with Canadians. We talk to our intercultural communication expert, Robert Gibson, and his guest. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Reporting verbs Today, we’ll talk about the reporting verbs “say” and “tell”. When we are talking about other people’s words, we often use the reporting verb “say”. And when we use reported speech, we often “backshift” the tense of the verb in the reported clause. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Selling your ideas Many employees have good ideas that they believe can help the company. But how can you “sell” ideas to your colleagues and managers? Let’s look at a way you can do this effectively. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Animal idioms In Business Spotlight 3/2011, you can test your knowledge of animal idioms commonly used in business English. On this week's free podcast, we look at idioms expressions that compare people to animals and their behaviour. Be careful about using too much idiomatic language — particularly if your business partners are not native speakers of English. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Skill up! — Business travel Going on a business trip can be exciting — or it can be awful. There are different words that you can use in English to describe the length of your travels and your means of transport. Here's Ken Taylor, with an exercise on travel vocabulary. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky translations: vertreten Sometimes, translating from German to English is really tricky. If a word has different meanings in German, we normally have to use a different English word for each meaning. For example, how would you translate vertreten into English? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Eamonn Fitzgerald The population of many countries is getting older, and this means changes to the way we work — and to the way we spend our lives at the ages of 60, 80 or even 100. Here's Eamonn Fitzgerald, blogger and Business Spotlight columnist, to give us his views on this topic.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Meetings: useful phrases For many of us, meetings are a waste of time. They are often badly run and take us away from our daily work. But when the meeting leader, or chair, helps participants to see decisions from other perspectives, it can help them to understand why the meeting needs to take place. Here are some phrases you could use to do this. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Authentic English: Asking for information If you’re trying to find your way around an unfamiliar place you might go to the information desk. There you can get help to find what you’re looking for. So, how do you start the conversation in this type of service encounter? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: Social media Many of us, as well as our companies, belong to social networking groups on the internet, such as Facebook, Xing, or LinkedIn. But what are the advantages of using social media? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Verbs with two objects Today, we’ll look at verbs with two objects, a direct object and an indirect object. In some cases, the word order of the objects is different in German and in English.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Celebrations We are celebrating the first issue of Business Spotlight, which came out 10 years ago! So, today let’s focus on the vocabulary you’ll need for talking about events and celebrations. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Making appointments Very often in business we need to talk to someone quickly. Maybe the matter is urgent, or maybe we spontaneously agree to meet. So now, let’s practice what to say when you want to quickly arrange a meeting. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Making appointments Very often in business we need to talk to someone quickly. Maybe the matter is urgent, or maybe we spontaneously agree to meet. So now, let’s practice what to say when you want to quickly arrange a meeting. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Skill Up! — Your company Have you noticed that people generally say "law firm". We don't say “law company” or “law business”. Do you know why? In Skill Up!, our vocabulary guide, you can learn why. On this free podcast, Ken Taylor has an exercise on this vocabulary, too. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Anne Koark One thing that many of us fear is losing everything we own. And that’s exactly what happened to Anne Koark from England. Let’s hear more. She’s talking to Ken Taylor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky translation: besuchen On this week's podcast, we’ll do some translation work, from German into English. This can be tricky when a word has several different meanings. One such German word is besuchen.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Should plastic water bottles be banned? Bottled water is convenient, but it’s not without controversy. We sent our correspondent Jack Luceno on to the streets of New York to ask: “Should plastic water bottles be banned?” Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: “Have to” To start the New Year right, we’re going to work on our grammar! Today, let’s concentrate on using “have to“.  Listen to some German sentences and then translate them into English, using a form of “have to”. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Management language test Sometimes, business people, in particular managers, have a language of their own. Here, we’d like to know how well you can understand it.  In this podcast, we’ll test you on general English words used in a new way. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Building trust In the workplace, we’re most successful when we trust the other people in our company. Our communication skills expert, Ken Taylor, explains how to build trust with your colleagues and business partners. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: The Netherlands One of Germany’s good neighbours is the Netherlands. But how well do German-speakers know the Dutch? Let’s learn more, with our intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Authentic English: Storytelling We all love stories, it seems, and learning how to tell stories can be a valuable business skill. Communications skills expert Ken Taylor is here to guide us through an exercise on storytelling.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Fighting Aids As many of you know, the first of December is World AIDS Day. You’ll now hear a story from South Africa, in which one company has developed a programme for its employees with the HIV-virus. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Managing change People are often sceptical of change, even afraid of it. Communications skill expert Ken Taylor is here to help with advice, and an exercise on change management. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tricky translation: Anlage Today, we’ll do some translation work, from German into English. This is especially difficult when a word can have several different meanings, depending on the context. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Do women need quotas to get to the top? Welcome to our weekly podcast. This time we’ll talk about quotas; more specifically, whether quotas are needed to make sure that enough female employees are in leadership positions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: If only It’s grammar time! In this podcast, we look at ways to talk about wishes and regrets. To talk about things in the present that you’d like to be different, you can begin your sentence with  “If only”, followed by a verb in the past simple. Let's try it out. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Meeting Point: Dealing with disagreement Can you remember the last time you disagreed with your colleagues? Let’s find out how to deal with these situations from communication expert Ken Taylor, who has advice and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: Customer Service Today, we’ll focus on international customer service. If you travel abroad for business or pleasure, you may have noticed differences in the way people of different countries deal with customers. Here’s Robert Gibson, with more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Test: Trade Language In a globalized world, many firms are involved in international trade. But still a lot of people struggle with the use of the right terms. We’ll test you on some common terms on this week's podcast. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Say It in Style: likes and dislikes There are lots of words we use to say whether we like or dislike something. Listen to these sentences. Does the speaker express like or dislike? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The write way: Instructions When you take time off work there are probably a number of things that have to be done in the office while you’re away. You’ll need to tell someone at work how to handle your duties and tasks. Here’s Ken Taylor, with advice and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Humour: The Maine Event It’s time now for The Maine Event, our regular dialogue from an event management company in London. As we join them, the staff members are anxiously trying to deal with computer-server problems. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: In a shop Do you know the difference between “mannequin” and ”merchandise”? How well do you know other words that you need in a shop? We'll test your knowledge in this exercise.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Linda Duxbury In many companies, it’s common for people from several generations to work together. But the world of work has changed rapidly in past decades. How has this had an effect on workers of various ages? For the answer to this question, we spoke to Canadian university professor, Linda Duxbury. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Social networking Networking is important, and includes having lots of good conversations with lots of people. We’ll now offer some networking tips, and provide you with the language you need to do this effectively in English. For more, let’s welcome communication skills expert, Ken Taylor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Mexico This week, our topic is intercultural communication and our focus is on Mexico. The country’s rapidly developing economy, as well as its location, makes it a valuable partner for international trade and commerce. For insight into the Mexican culture, intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson interviews a studio guest. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Abbreviations Most of you have probably watched a movie on a DVD; listened to a song in mp3 format and you telephone using ISDN. For many technological developments we use the abbreviation, or short form, instead of the entire name. Let’s now see how well you know the abbreviations for some common technologies. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Qualities and qualifications Many of us find it difficult to talk positively about who we are and what we do at work. Let’s practise talking about your professional qualities. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Quantifiers This week we talk about how to use the words “a few” and “a little”. These are called quantifiers. Both “a few” and “a little” mean “some”. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Professional cultures Is our behavior at work influenced by our job choice? Robert Gibson, our specialist on intercultural communication, takes a closer look at professional cultures. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Active listening It’s important to listen actively on the phone. One way to show you are listening is to use empathetic words or phrases. This way you encourage the other person and you share emotions with your speaking partners. Here's communication skills expert Ken Taylor with more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Mathematics This week, instead of talking about grammar and vocabulary, we’ll talk about numbers and equations. Mathematics is essential for technical and financial fields of work. And even if your skills are great on paper, you may need some help in understanding numbers when they’re spoken. So we’ll test how good your skills are in English with a small dictation. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interviews: Sports psychologists During a big sporting event such as the World Cup, emotional aspects are as much a part of the tournament as athletic skills — who has the determination to win, and who is perhaps not giving 100 per cent? To learn more about the mental game involved in sports, we spoke to two clinical sports psychologists in London and Bochum. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: International Leadership Today we’re going to talk about some of the skills you need to be a good international leader. If you are managing a multicultural team, you'll probably use English to communicate, even if no one speaks it as his or her first language. For an exercise on preparing your vocabulary for the task, here’s communication skills expert Ken Taylor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Business idioms We all know that professional sport is big business. And the language of sports is commonly used in business English, in the form of idioms. So, let’s see if you’re “on the ball” with an exercise on sports idioms. Ready? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: The View from Here The 2010 FIFA World Cup is expected to bring nearly 400,000 fans to South Africa and big investments have been made to build stadiums and to improve neighbourhoods for the visitors. But will there be lasting economic benefits? We sent correspondent Bulelani Philip on to the streets of Johannesburg to ask: Is the World Cup good for South Africa? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Multi-word verbs This week we’ll do an exercise on multi-word verbs, such as “look for” or “put off”. These multi-word verbs are very common in spoken English, and they can replace simple verbs with the same meaning. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Saying goodbye We all know how important it is to make a good first impression. But have you thought about the lasting impression you make when you end a conversation or first meeting? Exchanging business cards is one way to make sure the other person remembers you. Here’s communication skills expert Ken Taylor with more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Humour: The Maine Event This week, we listen to an excerpt from The Maine Event, our regular dialogue from an event management company in London. As we join them, the office manager, Elaine, wants to talk to Jeff about a rather delicate subject. Does he understand what she’s trying to say? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Meetings: Responding to ideas In a meeting you might want to show that you agree or that you disagree with the ideas of your fellow participants. To do that you need some key vocabulary. Here’s communication skills expert Ken Taylor, who can help you practise this. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interviews: Zailiang Tang This week, we travel to China, where, a few years ago, bicycles dominated the roads. Not any more. The country offers a huge, fast-growing market for automobile makers. So, what do people in China expect of their cars? Let’s welcome intercultural expert Robert Gibson, and his interview partner, for more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Talking about the weather Rain or shine, the weather is a common small talk subject — and you’re likely to hear expressions with “rain”, “snow” or other weather words in other business conversations, too. Let’s do an exercise on this now. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: The verb "say" The verb “say” is often used to report someone else’s words. But it can be used in many other ways as well, for example, to make our position or opinion clear to others. Communication skills expert Ken Taylor has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interviews: Craigie Zildjian One of America’s oldest family-held firms is the Avedis Zildjian Company, which has been making cymbals since 1623. We spoke to the company’s current head, Craigie Zildjian, and asked her how she manages to keep business and family matters separate. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Learning styles Because you’re listening to our podcasts, it’s likely that you enjoy learning language through hearing and speaking. So let’s do an auditory exercise to practise some terms from the world of banking and money. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Adverbs Today, we’re going to work on our grammar! The subject is adverbs. Some adverbs come in two forms, with and without –ly, and have two different meanings. In this exercise, you’ll hear some sentences without the adverb. Can you choose between the adverbial forms with and without the “-ly”? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interviews: Is it OK to lie at job interviews? We all know that looking for a job is very hard work. If you make it to the interview, you want to look and sound your best. But is your best good enough? What happens if you stretch the truth a little? Some people say companies expect you to lie about some things. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Everyday problems Just about every day, something goes wrong — the coffee machine is broken, or a light bulb is burnt out. We all have to deal with problems, but if we need assistance, we also have to be able to describe the problems to someone else. Luckily, communication skills expert Ken Taylor can give us some help! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Virtual teams Staying in contact with colleagues or business partners around the world is easier than it used to be, thanks to modern technology. But if you don’t deal with people face-to-face, misunderstandings can sometimes happen. Let’s welcome intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson, with more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Skill Up! Business Spotlight magazine offers a new vocabulary guide called Skill Up! In the guide, we also present a number of idioms that use the words “work” and “job”. Let’s see how well you know them. You’ll hear some sentences and we’ll ask you to complete them. Ready?Redewendungen Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Conference calls Telephone conference calls are becoming increasingly important in global business. But, as we found out in a recent survey, there are often language problems in the discussions. For help on overcoming some of the difficulties, let’s turn to communication skills expert Ken Taylor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interviews: Corporate astrologer Some people check their horoscope before making any important decisions, going on trips or getting involved in a relationship. But did you know that some businesses do this, too? We spoke to Faye Cossar, a corporate astrologer, about how the stars influence businesses and business cycles for March and April. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Customer service Research shows that each unhappy customer tells 10 – 16 other people about the bad service they received. That’s why good customer service is so important. Communication skills expert, Ken Taylor, tells us how we can better serve our customers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Salt of the earth The country of Bolivia has huge salt flats that may one day be very valuable, indeed. Why? Because the water under these salt flats contains lithium, a light metal that is used to make certain kinds of batteries. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interviews: Matchmaker When looking for love, some people go to an online dating service, while others turn to a matchmaker. We went to the streets in Norwich, England to ask: “Would you use a matchmaker to find a partner?” Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Dealing with angry callers When you pick up the phone at work, you usually expect it to be a friendly customer or colleague. It might be, but sometimes the person on the other end of the line is angry. Really angry. What do you do? Luckily, communication skills expert Ken Taylor is here with some advice and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: The post room Lots of business communication is sent by e-mail. But we still send products and certain types of correspondence by mail, or post. So this week, we’ll take you to a company post room. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Internal consulting Let’s say you start the new year with a big, company-wide project. You have to coordinate co-workers from several departments or offices. Where do you start? It might help to use an internal consultant. Communication skills expert Ken Taylor, has some advice and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: US and UK differences Today we’ll take a look at working with people from two key English-speaking countries: the US and the UK. What are the differences between the business cultures in these two countries? Intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson and his studio guest explain. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Place prepositions The most common prepositions in English are “at”, “in” and “on”. In this week's podcast, we have an exercise for you: Translate the following German sentences into English, using these prepositions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Office territories How have you decorated your office? Do you have pictures of your family on your desk? Or do you have funny cartoons taped to your computer monitor? Most of us decorate our workplace – but why? Adrian Furnham, professor of psychology at University College London, explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Trade fairs If you've ever visited or exhibited at a trade fair, you would probably know that it involves a lot of work. But if you're lucky, you’ll come home with some orders and the names of potential customers. Ken Taylor is here with an exercise on trade-fair follow-up. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Conference calls So you have been asked to organize a conference call but don't know where to start? Ken Taylor is here to tell us how to prepare for the call and how to introduce yourself to participants. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Congratulating Your colleague Martin is being honoured for the good work he’s done. Once the formal speech is over, what can you say to Martin? Here are some words and phrases you can use to congratulate him. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Maximilian Büsser Do you know what horology is? It’s the study of time and the science of timekeeping. In this week's podcast, we speak to Swiss watchmaker, Maximilian Büsser. He directs a team of horological professionals to create radically different timekeeping pieces.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Meetings: International meetings In international meetings, native speakers usually have a linguistic advantage. This means they can easily dominate proceedings and have an unfair influence on the outcomes of the meeting. So what can you do about it? Communication skills expert Ken Taylor is here to help! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Test your skills In this week's podcast we look at a situation where a misunderstanding might be based on intercultural differences. Can you see where the problem lies? Intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson also has some suggestions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Participles Do you know what a participle clause is? No? Well then, this exercise is for you! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Head to head This week, we ask people on the street in Los Angeles the question "Is technology making us stupid?" Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Successful small talk Do you find it hard to start conversations with people you don’t know? Then you‘ll be happy to hear that Ken Taylor is here to help us with some strategies for successful small talk. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Insight business news This week we listen to the business news. We'll play two short news segments for you, one on the effect of the recession on filmmaking in Bollywood, and the other on a UK company called Ounces2Pounds. As you listen, see if you can answer the following questions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Using humour at work When something goes wrong at work, we can use humour to lighten the situation. One form of humour is self-deprecation. This is when you jokingly say something negative about yourself. Here's Ken Taylor with some examples and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Moving down under In this week's podcast we talk to Nerida Frost, a Canadian who moved to New Zealand four years ago with her husband and children. We ask her why people want to live in New Zealand and how difficult it is to move there. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Making an appointment When you call someone to make an appointment you have to introduce yourself in such a way as to make your business partner want to talk to you. Let’s look closely at the area of awakening interest in your listener. Ken Taylor has a simple, three-stage method you can use to make it easier. einen Termin vereinbaren Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Romania Romania has been a member of the EU since 2007. But how much do you know about doing business in this country? Intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson talks to a studio guest about German–Romanian relations. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Legal English This week we concentrate on legal English — more specifically on the subject of torts and tort law. A tort is when one person’s non-criminal behaviour causes harm to another person. in this exercise, we’ll first give you a brief definition of four general areas of tort, then we’ll test how well you can use this vocabulary. Ready? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Negotiating: The role of emotions This week we look at how emotions can affect us during negotiations, and what we need to do to produce a positive emotional climate. One important aspect of this is to communicate a respect for other people. Here is communications skills expert, Ken Taylor, with more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: John Hutchins Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a machine that could automatically translate everything for us? Well, that’s the aim of machine translation. Programmers and linguists have been trying to make automatic translations a reality for more than 50 years. To find out more about the subject, we spoke to John Hutchins, a retired librarian from the University of East Anglia. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: At the cafeteria Are you hungry for some vocabulary practice? This week, we do an exercise on the vocabulary you’ll need in a cafeteria. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Dim outlook for diamonds This week we take you to Africa, more specifically, to Botswana, where the diamond trade is losing its shine. Listen to the news story carefully, because we will ask you some questions at the end! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Answering the phone in English When you answer your phone at work, you want to sound confident and professional. Our communication skills expert, Ken Taylor, is here to tell you how to answer an international call in a professional way. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Archbishop Desmond Tutu In this week's podcast we speak to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of South Africa’s best-known critics of apartheid. He told us what qualities makes a good leader. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Talking about probability This week we look at expressions of probability. We use these to explain how "likely" we think something is. Listen to the following dialogue to hear some examples. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Socializing When we do business with people from other cultures, we share a common purpose — getting the work done — so we usually know what to talk about. But what happens when you spend time with foreign colleagues or business partners outside of the office? Intercultural communications expert Robert Gibson is here to talk about socializing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Authentic English Are you "bright-eyed" and "on the ball" today? Then you're ready to do our exercise! In this week's podcast, we test your knowledge of idiomatic expressions that are used to talk about other people. read more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Postive thinking There seems to be more bad news than ever this year but getting unhappy doesn’t do much good. So let’s turn those negative emotions into positive ones! In this week's podcast, Ken Taylor talks about the power of positive thinking and how we can apply it to both our personal and professional lives. He also has some exercises to help you practise thinking positively. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interviews: Green Views In the US, many people drive huge cars, and use far more energy than the people of most other countries. So we asked people on the streets of Nashua, New Hampshire: “What are you doing, or not doing, to “go green”? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Green Vocabulary Like the 4/2009 issue of Business Spotlight, this week's podcast is also “going green”. Listen to the following dialogue and see how well you know environmentally friendly vocabulary. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Terence Pritchard One way to become more successful in business is by copying — or "modelling"— the behaviour of successful people. This is the theory behind Neurolinguistic Programming, or NLP. Terence Pritchard, from England, offers NLP therapy to help people improve their presentations. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: This and that Do you know when to say "this" and when to say "that"? It can be quite confusing and hard to learn using rules, so it’s best to learn the most common ones. We’ll test you now.read more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Jason Brown Jason Brown uses mathematics to analyze songs written by The Beatles. We asked him to tell us about his current project, which is to find out which of The Beatles wrote the song “In My Life”. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Going deeper Getting to work in Beijing has become easier than ever, thanks to improvements in underground transportation. Over the next seven years, the Beijing subway is set to grow by 370 kilometres. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Job interviews In today's uncertain business climate, it's more important than ever to keep your job skills - and your job-seeking skills - up to date. That's why we're offering a special booklet on job interviews with the Business Spotlight 3/2009 magazine. Our communications skills expert Ken Taylor gives us a sneak preview. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Australia How much do you know about living and working in Australia? Intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson, and a special guest, is here to tell you more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Kick off the project Working on big international projects requires huge amounts of coordination and cooperation. That’s why it’s important to pay special attention to the very first stages, so that everything goes well later. In this podcast, we look at kick-off meetings. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: Are you talking to me? Has this ever happened to you? Your boss rushes in to a roomful of employees and starts shouting instructions. Everyone immediately drops whatever they were doing to carry out the commands, right? Wrong! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Air travel Is it fair to make very obese travellers pay for two seats on an airplane? We sent a correspondent onto the streets of Los Angeles to ask people's opinion. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Adjectives Today we take a look at adjectives, those words that describe an attribute of something. In some cases, when modifying adjectives, you generally only use specific word combinations. We'll practise this now with an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Gender issues When the book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was first published in 1992 it caused a sensation. But now a new book by Deborah Cameron says the communication styles of men and women are not so far apart. Communication expert Robert Gibson has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Good news With so many negative reports about the global financial crisis, it's refreshing to hear some good news from Australia, where some business sectors are actually profiting from the economic downturn. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Holiday messages In business, we often have to take calls for colleagues who are not available to answer the phone. The way you take the call depends on how much information you think the caller needs. Ken Taylor talks you through some example calls in this week's podcast. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: General English If you would like to improve your business English, it helps to have a good command of general English first. Communication skills expert Ken Taylor is here with an exercise on discussing problems at work. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Robert Garvey Today we'll talk about the business practice of mentoring. Mentoring relationships are based on trust. People may tell their mentor things that they might not tell others. But how are people are able to trust someone they don’t really even know? Professor Robert Garvey tells us more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Setting goals How do leaders set realistic goals and objectives? And how do they motivate employees to work towards these aims? Communication skills expert Ken Taylor is here with some advice and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Humour: Office Blues When you sit down at your computer to do some work, you probably don't realize how dangerous this can be. One activity in particular can be very risky: sending e-mails. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Getting to the airport You can travel to an airport in several ways. You can take a taxi, a train or some other form of transport. Whichever way you choose, you need some specific vocabulary to deal with the situation. Let’s practise some of these words now. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Michael Lindsay As managers face career struggles, some of them are turning to Christian values for guidance on leading their business. Michael Lindsay of Rice University has interviewed a hundred executives for his study on religion in business, many of whom said they were evangelicals. We asked him to define “evangelical” for us. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Using "would" One of the many uses of the verb "would" is to refer to repeated or habitual actions in the past. For example: When I lived in London, I would always take the underground to work. Here is an exercise so you can practise using this verb. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: South Africa In may ways, South Africa is the ideal high-growth market for foreign companies, with its strong infrastructure and young workforce. But many Europeans do not know much about the country, except perhaps that it is going to host the soccer World Cup in 2010. Our intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: The great divide Dubai is a leading tourist destination and business centre in the Middle East. But the growing number of foreigners in the Muslim city-state is becoming a worry for its native citizens, who fear that their culture is threatened. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Expressions with "get" Do you get along with your colleagues? Does your boss get on your nerves? Is your work getting you down? There are many expressions with “get” that you can use to talk about your job. Practise them with us here! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Ted H. Hustead This week, we travel to the US state of South Dakota, where we visit Wall Drug, an usual roadside attraction and an important source of income for the region. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Better presentations Do you want to know how you can make better presentations? Here’s communication skills expert Ken Taylor, with advice and an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Humour: Office Blues Despite all the technology, those little yellow Post-It notes are still a favourite form of reminder. But does anyone actually read them? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: using should It�s time for some grammar. Today, we�ll look at various uses of the verb �should�. Here, we�d like to test your knowledge of that useful verb. We�ll give you a German sentence, and after the tone, you translate it into English using the word �should�. Ready? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: The American Way Some of the world�s largest companies are American. For decades, managers from many countries, including Germany, have looked to the US for inspiration on how to run their businesses. But US management styles often mean big changes for employees in other countries. Intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson is here to tell us more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Reporting a stolen credit card Being in a foreign country on a business trip usually means that you have to deal with transport, hotels or other situations, and often in English. But what would you do if your wallet or handbag were stolen? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Motherhood issue Maternity leave was intended to make it easier for women to have successful careers. In fact, it is having the opposite effect, according to the head of Britain�s Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Giving compliments If you think that one of your co-workers has done a good job, you might want to give him or her a compliment. But if the compliment is too personal, it can be a little bit embarrassing. That�s why it�s important to focus on what the person has done. And it helps to have the correct vocabulary. We�ll practise this now. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Rick Bacon When you�re applying for a job, these days there are more ways than ever to get your information to potential employers. Whether you send your CV in the mail, post your details online or even make a video, it�s important to remember the basics. British businessman Rick Bacon tells us more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Making decisions Every business day is filled with decisions. But how do we make "good" decisions? Is it better to consider all the facts � or be spontaneous? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: Can I help you? Kathrin Enke says �service with a smile� is great, but it's not all she needs when shopping. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: "There" and "It" This week's podcast looks at how to use �there� and �it� at the start of sentences and in certain expressions. You use them all the time, but do you use them correctly? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Personal Branding Branding is a marketing tool used to get customers to recognize products and services, and to associate positive characteristics with them. And branding works for individuals, too. Ken Taylor tells us why. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Personal branding - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 30 September 2008 How to promote yourself and your abilities at work Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: John Perkins You may know that a 'hit man' is someone who murders people for money... and, today, we'll hear from John Perkins, who says he has worked as an "economic hit man".read more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: John Perkins - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 23 September 2008 We hear from John Perkins, who says he has worked as an ?economic hit man?. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Save our pub! What could be more English than the local pub? But with more than 50 pubs closing every month, these are difficult times for this British institution. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Jolly Farmer pub - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 16 September 2008 Save our pub Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Summarize the points Ken Taylor is here to explain how to summarize your phone calls! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Summarize the points - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 9 September 2008 Ken Taylor explains how to summarize at the end of a call Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Say It in Style Erica Gingerich explains how to make your explanations more polite. Don't just use the imperative form! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Say It in Style - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 2 September 2008 Explaining how things work Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Austria Austrians and Germans may be neighbours across the Alps, but each country has its own business culture. Intercultural communication expert Robert Gibson is here with a guest, to tell us more� about working with Austrians. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Austria - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 26 August 2008 We discuss some important differences between the Austrian and German business cultures Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Negotiating Some negotiations are� formal, others are more informal, such as deciding who has to make the coffee! How well do you know the language of negotiating? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Negotiating - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 19 August 2008 Different ways to express "yes" or "no" Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Humour: Office Blues - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 12 August 2008 Kathrin Enke on the silly side of office life Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview: Leslie McKinney - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 5 August 2008 A magician reveals his career tricks Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Tag questions - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 29 July 2008 You like listening to our podcasts, don't you? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: Loyalty points - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 10 June 2008 Kathrin Enke on the silly side of office life Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Careers: Becoming a chef - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 3 June 2008 Brooke Brantley, a top corporate chef, has tips on how to get the best culinary training Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Health - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 27 May 2008 Taking about illnesses at work Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Expatriate life - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 20 May 2008 Hard times for expatriates in Europe Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Food and dining - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 13 May 2008 Have a go at translating regional specialties Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Management: Larry Keeley - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 6 May 2008 Why are people scared of innovation? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Meeting point - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 29 April 2008 Acting as the chair Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: South Korea - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 22 April 2008 Relationships at work Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 15 April 2008 Careful how you spell that! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Directions - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 8 April 2008 Finding your way inside a building Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Careers: Humour at work - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 1 April 2008 On April Fool's Day we look how humour works - at work! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Describing people - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 25 March 2008 A short test on describing character Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: A green paradise - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 18 March 2008 Going "green" has become a way of life Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Writing - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 11 March 2008 A dictation exercise to improve your writing skills Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website My working life: Liz Weir - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 4 March 2008 A professional storyteller in Ireland Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Asking questions - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 26 February 2008 Here are the answers - now, make the right questions! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Change management - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 19 February 2008 Robert Gibson explains how a takeover was a success for both companies Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: No deal - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 12 February 2008 Kathrin Enke on the silly side of work Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: People at work - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 5 February 2008 Talking about the people you work with Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Giving up on metric - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 29 January 2008 Could the UK really live without pounds, pints and miles? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Hotel problems - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 22 January 2008 Who to call when things go wrong. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Language: Business novels - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 15 January 2008 Improve your business English with the right novels Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Mobile manners - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 8 January 2008 Be polite to people around you when your phone rings Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Uncountable nouns - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 1 January 2008 Your New Year's resolution ? improve your English! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Facilitation - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 25 December 2007 Motivating people with positive feedback Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: The Arab world - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 18 December 2007 Robert Gibson looks at working with people from one particular Arab country ? Egypt. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: To do or not to do? - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 11 December 2007 Kathrin Enke on the silly side of work Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Christmas dialogue - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 4 December 2007 Get in the spirit for a Christmas party! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Say It in Style - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 27 November 2007 Using idioms to say whether you like someone or not Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Careers: My Way - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 20 November 2007 Meet Sarah Thompson, an energetic woman with an interesting career path Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Audio conferences - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 13 November 2007 Creating a personal brand for yourself Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: "make" and "do" - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 6 November 2007 Let's make an effort! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: A British millionaire - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 30 October 2007 How did Deirdre Bounds make her millions? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: Moving abroad - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 23 October 2007 Robert Gibson talks to two global nomads Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: Message madness - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 16 October 2007 Voice mail is a dangerous weapon of self-destruction Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vocabulary: Keeping fit - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 9 October 2007 Exercise and practise your English Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Head-to-Head: Protect the environment - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 2 October 2007 Would you give up your big car? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: quantifiers - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 25 September 2007 Making people feel better with "tons" and "heaps"! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Business Skills: Difficult people - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 18 September 2007 How difficult are your colleagues really? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Homes for Aborigines - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 11 September 2007 A listening comprehension exercise Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Adjectives - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 4 September 2007 Put them in the right order Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural Communication: South-East Asia - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 28 August 2007 How to behave halfway across the world Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Holiday messages - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 21 August 2007 Learn how to deal with calls for colleagues Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: While you were out - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 14 August 2007 After a vacation, nothing is the same in the office as you left it Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Rules and regulations - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 7 August 2007 Talking about rules without being unfriendly Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Language: The Maine Event - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 31 July 2007 Meet the characters in our regular office dialogue, The Maine Event Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Technology: Computer Games - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 24 July 2007 Making complex technology simple and fun to use Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Making conversation - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 17 July 2007 Listening is an essential part of having conversations with other people Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Silicon Forest - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 10 July 2007 Siberia's centre for IT and software services Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: continuous forms - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 3 July 2007 Show you're angry with the continuous form Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Non-verbal communication - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 26 June 2007 A smile doesn't mean the same thing in every country Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Saying goodbye - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 19 June 2007 Ending your calls professionally Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: Strategic incompetence - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 12 June 2007 When it's wiser not to offer to help Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: On board a plane - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 5 June 2007 Asking for help on a flight Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Language: Business English Exams - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 29 May 2007 Choosing the right examination Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Happy or not? - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 22 May 2007 Different expressions for different feelings Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Technology: Innovations - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 15 May 2007 New ways to store information Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: Verb forms - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 8 May 2007 When to use "-ing" or "to + the infinitive" after certain verbs Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Summarizing phone calls - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 24 April 2007 End your calls with a clear summary Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues: Hundred-Decibel man - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 17 April 2007 The problems with certain types of callers never change Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Workers return - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 10 April 2007 Going back to a former employer has its advantages Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Texting - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 3 April 2007 Keeping it short and sweet! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Language: Global English - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 27 March 2007 Advice for meetings with native English speakers Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Talking about prices - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 20 March 2007 Discussing prices openly in business situations Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: A short cut - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 13 March 2007 From a haircut to some "hair-raising" idioms! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grammar: "Some" and "any" - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 6 March 2007 Decide when to use "any" and "anyone" Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Intercultural: Crossing cultures - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 27 February 2007 An interview with American management coach Karim Akbar Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Telephoning: Language traps - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 20 February 2007 Ken Taylor corrects typical mistakes Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Office Blues - The Business Spotlight podcast for Tuesday 13 February 2007 Kathrin Hauger on strange nicknames Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Skills: Success and failure We use lots of idiomatic expressions to talk about success and failure. Here's communication skills expert Ken Taylor, with an exercise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News: Innovations Today we’d like to talk about innovations, inventions and discoveriesfrom the world of technology. So, what do you think Englishwoman AngelaMorris has made from sheep’s wool? Something warm, such as a sweater?Socks?  …  No, you’re not even close. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website