Business English |

Business English Olympics!

Warm-Up | Taboo

  1. Entrepreneur,
  2. Corporate Social Responsibility,
  3. Consumer Behavior,
  4. Differentiation,
  5. Shareholder,
  6. Stakeholder,
  7. Market Segmentation,
  8. Profit,
  9. Supply Chain,
  10. Offshoring,
  11. R&D,
  12. Patent,
  13. Risk Management,
  14. Key Performance Indicators,
  15. Feasibility Study,
  16. Conversion Rate,
  17. Corporate Culture,
  18. Omnichannel,
  19. Pivot,
  20. Intellectual Capital

Warm-Up | Taboo

  1. Feasibility Study
  2. Conversion Rate
  3. Stakeholder
  4. Corporate Social Responsibility
  5. Offshoring
  6. Intellectual Capital
  7. R&D
  8. Market Segmentation
  9. Differentiation
  10. Consumer Behavior
  11. Patent
  12. Entrepreneur
  13. Profit
  14. Corporate Culture
  15. Omnichannel
  16. Risk Management
  17. Supply Chain
  18. Pivot
  19. Key Performance Indicators
  20. Shareholder

Warm-Up | Acronym Race

  1. AI
  2. ROI
  3. SaaS
  4. GDP
  5. CRM
  6. B2B/B2C
     
  7. KPI
  8. CFO
  9. M&A
  10. SMB
  11. R&D
  12. SWOT
     
  13. PM
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Return on Investment
  • Software as a service
  • Gross Domestic Product
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • Business-to-Business / Business-to-Customer
  • Key Performance Indicator
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Small and Medium-Size Businesses
  • Research and Development
  • Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
  • Project Manager

Warm-Up | Acronym Race

  1. B2B/B2C
  2. SWOT
  3. R&D
  4. CFO
  5. KPI
  6. AI
  7. SaaS
  8. SMB
  9. PM
  10. CRM
  11. ROI
  12. M&A
  13. GDP

List A

  • Bed tester

  • Bikini model

  • Funeral service manager

  • Acupuncturist

  • Fortune teller

  • Elevator mechanic

  • Bike courier

  • Train driver

  • Body painter

  • Librarian

  • Bounty hunter

  • FBI agent

  • President

  • Toilet cleaner

List B

  • Software Engineer
  • Architect
  • Construction Manager
  • Urban Planner
  • Drafter (CAD technicians)
  • Quality Control Inspector
  • Health and Safety
  • Professional
  • Human Resources Manager
  • Sales Representative
  • Contract Lawyers
  1. Discuss what skills workers need / information you might want to know about the workers for these jobs.
     
  2. Interviewer chooses a job (interviewee does not know the job chosen)
     
  3. Run the interview. Interviewee must complete the interview and a) not look stupid, b) figure out the job title.

Activity One | Blind Job Interview

  1. Tell me about yourself.
  2. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Give three.
  3. Have you ever worked outside of France, before? What did you learn from your experience?
  4. Can you give an example of a time where you have managed to resolve a conflict within a team?
  5. Are you familiar with [specialised software]?
  6. Why should we hire you over other candidates? Why do you think you’re the best candidate for this job?
  7. Do you have any questions?

Activity One | Generic Questions

Activity Two | Argumental

Debate unprepared on the given topic.

  • Rules:
    1. This is not an argument / Dispute.
    2. Each student should take an opposing side of the debate (try "Rock, Paper, Scissors")
    3. A valid argument or counter argument = 1 point
    4. Development of each point using an example and explanation = +1 point
    5. Use of debating expression  and conjunctions = +0.5 points

 

  • Count scores after each debate.

Debate | Expressions

Debate | Argumental

Debate unprepared on the given topic.

 

  • Smoking and consumption of animal food should be banned entirely from the workplace.
  • The future of work is remote work.
  • Offshore working should be legal in our globalised world. It benefits workers.
  • Students are lazy.
  • Companies will get more bang for their buck with AI than with hiring useless interns.
  • If workers work remotely, employers should have the right to track the employees' computer activity and internet history during work hours.
  • The four day or three work week is the future.
  • A Universal Basic Income (UBI) should be instated.
  • If artificial intelligence and automation can replace workers, that is the workers' fault / the sector shouls be regulated.
  • It's OK to share customer data.

Activity Three | Polite Language

Students should have civil dialogues at work when discussing problems and needs.

 

  • Start with 5 points. Any rude language used = -1 point.

 

  • Work on polite language first.

Polite Language | Less Accusational

Polite Language | I'm afraid / Actually

(Ask teacher for demo!)

Practice with a basic telephone conversation.

Polite Language | Less Direct Speech

(Ask teacher for demo!)

Practice with a new conversation relating to your work.

Basic Telephoning Skills | Active Listening Skills

  1. Remember: the person who picks up the phone speaks first. "Good afternoon. You're through to [company / department name]. [Name] speaking."
  2. Make sounds to show you are paying attention (uh huh, right, got you)
  3. Echoing. (A: It’s sixty euro. B: Sixty. Right)
  4. Ask for clarification
  5. Read important information back, or ask the other to do so.
  • Invent a scenario from your work. You could imagine your worst/ incompetent:
    • boss
    • employee
    • colleague

Activity Four | Elevator Pitch

  • 2 sts work together to structure 1 minure elevator pitch to present idea / product, but present individually.
  • Scoring:
    • Beat ChatGPT = 1 point
    • Best delivery = +1point

 

  • Fun but true quote!
    • If ChatGPT can do your job better than you, quit your job! 

 

  • Catalogue: https://issuu.com/retromash/docs/argossuperstore-1999-springsummer

Activity Five | Quick Response

  • Race to complete the questions.
    • 2 points for fastest AND correct
    • 0 points for fastest but NOT correct
    • 1 point for correct but not the fastest.
  • 8 rounds!

1 word power A

2 word power A

2 Text and Grammar B

3 Word Power A

4 Word Power A

4 Word Power E

4 Skills and Pronunciation F

5 Skills and Pronunciation F

6 Word Power C