081_Presenting Your Plan

081_Presenting Your Plan

Business success always starts with a strong plan. After that we have to communicate our plan to our team. In this episode we will look at ways to introduce our plans to others.

Kevin:

Hello and welcome to Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin Podcasting episode 81. A great place to review English words and phrases. My name is Kevin Jones. In this podcast we are going to look at a challenging business English situation. In this situation we hear a business meeting in which a development team is preparing to open a new retail store in Beihai, China. Notice how a variety of phrases are used to ask about and to report about an upcoming project. Let’s listen in on the meeting.

MC:

Ok is everybody here?. Good. Let’s get started. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Michael Chang and I’m the Director of New Store Development. The purpose of this meeting is to review our plans for our new store in Beihai China. Why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves. Jack, why don’t you begin.

JB:

Ok. I’m Jack Bosworth the director of South East Asian retail operations.

TG:

I’m Tom Grazer with South China Consulting.

MD:

And I’m Melissa Davis and I’m the director of logistics.

MC:

Thank you. As you know, the city of Beihai is predicted to be the fastest growing city in the world through the year 2020, with an annual growth of ten point five percent. This will be the first store of it’s kind in the region so we’re quite excited to get in on the ground floor in Beihai. Some of you may remember Tom Grazer who helped us with the opening of our Shanghai store. First Tom is going to fill us in on the regulatory work he’s been doing in Beihai over the past few weeks. Tom?

TG:

Thank you. I’d just like to begin by saying we are very pleased to be working with you again. We’re looking forward to making the Beihai store a great success.

So, I’m pleased to report that our negotiations on your behalf, with the local authorities in Beihai are nearing their conclusions. We have the blessings of the local party officials and we expect to have all the necessary permits by the end of the month.

MC:

That’s good news. Next, Jack, you’re responsible for the real estate purchase. What are your plans there?

JB:

Well as soon as we have those permits in hand we can proceed with the purchase negotiations. We intend to secure a retail space in the Beihai Fake Hills project.

MC:

What’s the timescale on this?

JB:

We’ve scheduled eight weeks for this, but It is likely that it will take half that. Do you agree Mr. Grazer?

TG:

Yes, we have financing already approved by the Bank of Beihai so the chances are the papers should be ready to sign quickly.

Kevin:

The participants in this meeting used several phrases for asking about and introducing a future plan. Did you catch any of them? Let’s go back and listen to some of them.
First is the consultant from South China Consulting, Tom Grazer.

TG:

and we expect to have all the necessary permits by the end of the month.
and we expect to have all the necessary permits by the end of the month.

Kevin:

Here the consultant uses the phrase “we expect to” . This phrase expresses a clear plan to do something. Next the consultant uses a time expression ” by the end of the month” to estimate the date of completion of the project. Just to be clear, in the expression, “the end of the month” , “the month” means this month or the current month. Other variations of this would be…

By the end of next month.
By the end of August.
By the end of the day.

Next. We hear Jack Bosworth say…

JB:

We intend to secure a retail space in the Beihai Fake Hills project.
We intend to secure a retail space in the Beihai Fake Hills project.

Kevin:

This sounds like a strong plan but it is clear that the plan is not finalized.He could also say.

JB:

We expect to secure a retail space.

Kevin:

The word expect sounds stronger. Or he could say…

JB:

We hope to secure a retail space.

Kevin:

The word “hope” does not sound as strong as “intend to” or “expect to”. Next, Michael Chang asks about the schedule of the plan. To do this he uses a common phrase. Listen.

MC:

What’s the timescale on this?
What’s the timescale on this?

Kevin:

In this phrase, the word “timescale” means length of time. So. “what’s the timescale on this’ has the same meaning as …

MC:

How long will it take. How long will it take.

Kevin:

FInally, we heard two more phrases for expressing expectations. Listen.

JB:

We’ve scheduled eight weeks for this, but it is likely that it will take half that.
It is likely that it will take half that.

TG:

Yes, we have financing already approved by the Bank of Beihai so the chances are the papers should be ready to sign quickly.
the chances are the papers should be ready to sign quickly.

Kevin:

Both of these phrases, “It is likely that” and… “the chances are that…”, both express that you believe that something will happen but you are not 100 percent sure. Both are good phrases to avoid saying that your are positive something will happen.
That’s all the time we have for this podcast. In the next podcast, this same scenario will continue and we will study strategies for making suggestions during a meeting. Until then, keep studying and remember that you can find a transcript for this podcast and listen to past episodes at www.nichibei.ac.jp . And be sure to come by Nichibei near Yotsuya station and observe a class. We have classes in business, conversation, TOEIC test preparation, and advanced studies. Find out why Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin is a great place to build you future.
This podcast is a production of Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin.