M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name isMarco. E: And I’m Erica. M: Today we’re bringing you a lesson about the office, so, something related to business, right? E: That’s right, and in this lesson we’re learning, um, language you can use to tell someone they did a good job. M: Okay, so, a job well done. E: Uhu. M: You want to praise somebody. E: That’s right, so, we’re gonna listen in as a manager praises his employee on a presentation. M: Okay, so, before we listen to the dialogue, let’s take a look very quickly at “vocabulary preview”. Voice: Vocabulary preview. E: Well, we’re gonna hear both of these words in the dialogue and the first one is a wiz. M: Wiz. E: To be a wiz. M: Okay, so, it’s an adjective – somebody is a wiz. [NOTE: might be an adjective, but here, actually, it’s a noun] E: That’s right and wiz comes from the word wizard. M: Okay, so, kind of like a… like a witch, but a guy-witch. E: Yeah, man-witch, um, but, so, a wiz is someone who is really good at something. M: Okay, so, I can say “David is a computer wiz”. E: Or “Anthony is a math wiz”. M: Okay, so, he is really good at computers or he is really good at math or he knows a lot about math. E: Exactly. M: Okay, and, uh, our second word. E: Well, we’re gonna hear about slides. M: Slides. E: PowerPoint slides. M: PowerPoint slides, okay, so, everyone knows PowerPoint, right? E: Uhu, a computer program. M: A computer program that you use to make presentations. E: And a slide is one page in that presentation. M: Okay, so, if you have ten pages in your PowerPoint presentation, you basically have ten slides. E: Exactly. M: Very good, so, now let’s listen to the dialogue for the first time and we’re gonna see what’s happening in this business meeting. A: And so, that concludes my outline for our market- ing strategy next year. Thank you very much for your time. B: Hey, that was quite the presentation! Honestly, I was completely blown away by your strategy out- line. I’ve gotta say, Alex, you really wowed me today. A: Aw, come on; it was nothing. I’m just doing my job. B: No, I think you deserve some recognition here; I mean, if I look back on your previous presenta- tions, this is a huge improvement. A: Well, Kristin did give me a hand with the slides. She’s a real wiz on PowerPoint. B: And I saw that you took on board my feedback about pricing strategies. I really appreciate you taking the time to think though my suggestions. A: Yeah, well, that was some good advice. You made some really good points. B: Well, I just wanted to say well done. Really you did a great job. E: Alright, well, it sounds like the employee is a little bit, mm, shy or… or embarrassed by receiving all of these compliments. M: Yeah, I guess he is kind of, uh, being humble about it. E: Uhu, exactly! So, why don’t we move on to the language now? There’re so many really useful phrases in this dialogue, um, that I think we’re just gonna focus on those today, so, let’s get started with “fluency builder”. Voice: Fluency builder. M: Okay, so, today on fluency builder let’s start with our first phrase. The boss was so impressed with the presentation that he said “I wascompletely blown away” [NOTE: actually, the boss was a woman, so… she said] E: To be completely blown away. M: Okay, so, to be completely blown away. E: Or to be blown away. M: Alright, so, what does that mean to be blown away? E: To be surprised, um, and amazed, but in a very positive way. M: Okay, so, I can say “I’m surprised”, “I’m amazed”, uh, but I’m still not very clear on this. Why don’t we listen to a couple of examples of how we could use this phrase? Voice: Example one. A: Karl blew me away with his knowledge of political science. Voice: Example two. B: I was blown away when I heard that Jennie and Rick had gotten married. They have known each other for less than a month. Voice: Example three. C: My parents were blown away when they found out I had a tattoo. E: Okay, so, I think that’s a little bit clearer now and this is a wonderful way to give your praise to someone when they do something really amazing. M: Okay, so, completely blown away. You… E: Uhu. M: Blew me away. E: That’s right. M: Now, what about our second word? E: Well, it’s quite similar. Um, the boss said that you really wowed me. M: You wowed me. E: To wow someone. M: Okay, so, it’s spelled W-O-W, wow. E: So, when you wow someone, you make that person go wow. M: Okay, so, you impress somebody. E: Yep. M: To wow someone. I can use it as a verb. E: Yeah. M: You wowed me; I wanna wow you. E: Well, I want you wow me. M: Okay, so, uh, wow! Now, let’s take a look at our third phrase. The guy, he’s a little bit shy, he’s trying to be a little bit humble about, you know, receiving so many compliments, so, he says “Oh, it was nothing”. E: It was nothing. M: Really, it was nothing. E: It was nothing. M: So, that’s a way of saying “It wasn’t hard” or “It’s not a big deal”. E: It’s not that important. M: Exactly, so, if somebody’s saying “Wow! Thank you so much for lending me your car”, don’t worry about it. E: It was nothing. M: It was nothing. E: Yeah, uhu. M: Alright. E: It’s k… it’s a polite way, actually, to respond to a nice compliment. M: Very good, so, before we move on to our next phrase, let’s listen to a couple of examples with it was nothing. Voice: Example one. A: Thanks for lending me your car this week. I really appreciate it. B: It’s okay really, it was nothing. Voice: Example two. C: I can’t believe you organized the surprised birthday party. Thank you so much. D: Don’t worry about it, it was nothing. E: Okay, so, I think that’s petty clear. Now, our final phrase here for fluency builder. Um, the… the employee said that Kirsten gave him a hand. M: Okay, so, to give someone a hand. E: Give me a hand. M: Give me a hand. E: Basically, to help someone. M: Help me or… E: Yeah. M: Assist me. E: Uhu. M: Okay, so, to help someone… “give me a hand” or “let me give you a hand”. E: That’s right. M: Alright, very good, so, great phrases in fluency builder today. I think it’s time for us to listen to the dialogue for the second time. Uh, we’re gonna slow it down a little bit, so, we can catch all these phrases and then we’ll come back. A: And so, that concludes my outline for our market- ing strategy next year. Thank you very much for your time. B: Hey, that was quite the presentation! Honestly, I was completely blown away by your strategy out- line. I’ve gotta say, Alex, you really wowed me today. A: Aw, come on; it was nothing. I’m just doing my job. B: No, I think you deserve some recognition here; I mean, if I look back on your previous presenta- tions, this is a huge improvement. A: Well, Kristin did give me a hand with the slides. She’s a real wiz on PowerPoint. B: And I saw that you took on board my feedback about pricing strategies. I really appreciate you taking the time to think though my suggestions. A: Yeah, well, that was some good advice. You made some really good points. B: Well, I just wanted to say well done. Really you did a great job. E: Okay, so, like we said before there’s a… a lot of really helpful phrases in here, um, and we’re gonna look at a few more of these in “putting it together”. Voice: Putting it together. M: Okay, so, let’s start with the first phrase. Uh, the boss was quite impressed with him and he said “That was quite the presentation”. E: That was quite the presentation! M: Alright, quite the presentation. E: So, this phrase quite the presentation, it means “it was good”, right? M: Uhu. E: It was… it was special. M: It was… it was very good. E: Yep, now, we can shake the noun presentation out and replace it with any other noun. [NOTE: shake out = throw away; put aside] M: Alright, so, I can say “Bob is quite the basketball player”. E: Uhu. Why don’t we listen now for a few more examples? Voice: Example one. A: I heard you’re quite the dancer. Can you teach me some moves? Voice: Example two. B: Karl is quite the ladies man. He is very good when it comes to talking to girls. Voice: Example three. C: Nancy is quite gifted at math. She can solve any math problem you give her. M: So, you’re saying in a… in a very good way that something is very good. E: Or special. M: Very special. E: Yep, uhu. M: Alright, so, the boss was very impressed with the employee and he said “And I saw that you took on board my feedback”. E: To take on board my feedback. M: Okay, so, take on board something. E: Uhu. So, here my feedback is, uh, my suggestions, right? M: Uhu. E: And when you take on board my feedback, you accept my feedback and you use it. M: Okay, so, I can say, for example, uh, “I want you to take on board my ideas”. E: Uhu, or “Jenny took on board a few of my suggestions, I was really happy”. M: Okay, very good, so, to take on board – to accept and use. E: Alright, so, take on board feedback, take on board suggestion[s], take on board ideas. M: Okay, very good. And we have one more phrase on putting it together today – to think something through. E: To think it through. M: Okay, so, think it through. E: So, here the boss said that he took the time to think through my suggestions. M: Uhu, so, think through. What does that mean? E: Um, to think carefully about all of the details of something. M: Okay, so, to take into consideration all the aspects. E: Right, so, why don’t we give an example? M: Uhu. E: Um, if you’re thinking through a plan, right, you don’t just think about the end. M: Uhu. E: The outcome. M: Okay. E: You wanna think about all of the small details, the steps in that plan. M: Okay, so, maybe I wanna buy a new car, but… E: Yeah. M: It’s a lot of money, so… E: Yeah. M: I really have to think it though. E: So, you have to think carefully about everything that is involved in buying the new car. M: Right. E: All the money you’re gonna have to, you know, not spend on parties and… M: Exactly, you have to think it through, you have to analyze it very carefully. E: That’s right, so, let’s give a few examples of how we can use this phrase. “Hey, Marco, have you thought through my suggestions?” M: I can say “You guys are very young, I think you should think it through before you get married”. E: Hm, good advise. M: Okay, so, to think it through. E: Okay, so, um, three great phrases and why don’t we hear them one more time in our dialogue? A: And so, that concludes my outline for our market- ing strategy next year. Thank you very much for your time. B: Hey, that was quite the presentation! Honestly, I was completely blown away by your strategy out- line. I’ve gotta say, Alex, you really wowed me today. A: Aw, come on; it was nothing. I’m just doing my job. B: No, I think you deserve some recognition here; I mean, if I look back on your previous presenta- tions, this is a huge improvement. A: Well, Kristin did give me a hand with the slides. She’s a real wiz on PowerPoint. B: And I saw that you took on board my feedback about pricing strategies. I really appreciate you taking the time to think though my suggestions. A: Yeah, well, that was some good advice. You made some really good points. B: Well, I just wanted to say well done. Really you did a great job. M: Okay, great dialogue and, uh, some interesting phrases for giving praise, right? That’s I think very important in the workplace. E: Yeah, and, you know what, I read recently that something like 6 out of every 10 employees don’t get regular praise from their boss. M: Hm, yeah, it’s very important and in some cultures, well, it’s not very common to praise or to give positive feedback to their employees. E: Yeah, but I think, um, for… for western employees, actually, it’s really important and it helps them work harder, the more… M: Uhu. E: The more, um, times they hear “Job well done!” M: Yeah, very good. So, now you have the tools that maybe you can use with your employees or… E: With your friends. M: With your friends. E: Yep. M: Okay, so, if you have any questions, comments or doubts, please come to our website englishpod.com. E: Yep, Marco and I are always around to help you out, so, um, until next time, thanks for listening and… Good bye! M: Bye!