Real Talking at Wotk- ABE Volume 1 . Program 7

There are 14 Case Studies in this course. We’ve already completed Case Study 1 and Case Study 2, and we’re about to begin Case Study 3. in our earlier programs, we concentrated on some basic language functions: greeting and introductions, listening and questioning, making requests, confirming the details, and other important functions. In Case Study 3, we’re going to concentrate on technical business communication. The setting for our lessons is a high-tech company, Hewlett Packard. Well, let’s get started with today’s lesson.

Today's topics:

HOST: Let’s take a few minutes and talk directly with Chris Smith, and find out what it’s like to work for a high-tech company. We’ll take turns. I’ll talk to him first, and then you can interview him yourself.

HOST: How did you do? I hope you didn’t have too much trouble speaking at the right time. Well, that’s all the time we have for today. But we’ll continue our visit to Hewlett-Packard in the next program. Remember - we’re concentrating on technical business communication in Case Study 3. I hope you enjoyed today’s lesson, and I hope you’ll be with us next time for Program 8 in the series. Bye for now.

- Personnel decisions
- High-Tech leader

Introduction

Personnel Decisions

High-Tech Leader

Now talk to Chris. Use the following dialogue.

YOU: Hi, Chris.
YOU: Tell me a little bit about your job.
YOU: Chris, from your perspective, how do you see the future of the computer industry? It seems to be in a state of transition right now.
YOU: One more question: how is Hewlett-Packard handling these changes?

HOST: Now it’s your turn. You do the interviewing. Unfortunately Chris is pre-recorded, not live in person, so he can’t wait for you to speak. You can’t hesitate. You have to speak right away. Are you ready? Remember - you have to start the conversation.

YOU: Hi, Chris.
YOU: Is this a good time for that meeting we scheduled?
YOU: I’ll bet you can. I got some good news and I got some bad news.
YOU: Good news and bad news both – that Bob and Martha got the offers for the marketing jobs and they’re going to accept them.
YOU: Both of them.
YOU: Well, I had a feeling they’d both take the job.
YOU: Yeah, that leaves us pretty thin. What do you think we can do about that?
YOU: Well, it’s kind of hard this time of year. You know, we’re… we’re not in the middle of a recruiting cycle – plus there’s the problem with approval.

Now pretend you are Mike. Speak to Chris. Use the following dialogue.

Click here to listen and read the conversation