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September–Oktober | Ausgabe 5/2014 

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Inside 

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My new 

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How to write 

a perfect 

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SKILLS 

Ten tips for 

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EDITORIAL 

Do it well! 

A key aspect of business is 

how we present ourselves to 

others. This includes how 

we use our voices. Bob Dignen discusses this topic in his latest 

Business Skills article, with ten tips for telephoning effectively 

at work (p. 28). And in our Training Plan (p. 33), we encourage 

you to record yourself, and analyse your speaking voice. 

Ian McMaster, editor-in-chief 

Many people have to give 

presentations as part of their 

job — whether to colleagues 

or business partners, or at 

conferences. With our special 

language test (p. 12), you can 

discover how good your skills 

are in this area. We also look 

at the success of the TED 

conferences (p. 22), which 

have set new standards for 

presentations. 

Job applications are another 

important form of work-related 

presentation. In our Careers 

feature (p. 66), we provide 

you with lots of useful tips for 

writing successful covering 

letters and CVs. Good luck! 


Contact: i.mcmaster@spotlight-verlag.de 

5/2014 

Presentations: a key 

part of working life 

LESERBEFRAGUNG: 

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Als Dankeschön verlosen wir unter allen 

Teilnehmern zwei hochwertige elektronische 

Wörterbücher von Casio. Für mehr 

Informationen, siehe Seite 84. 

Vielen Dank für Ihre Mitarbeit! 

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CONTENTS 5/2014 

28 Telephoning skills 

Stockbyte 

36 China’s influence 

Alamy 

The Big Picture 

6 Austria 

Keeping breeding bulls relaxed 

Working World 

8 Names and News 

The latest from the world of business 

Language Test 

12 Presentations 

Ten steps to a perfect talk 

Global Business 

18 It’s Personal advanced 

Elisabeth Ribbans on inventor Elon Musk 

21 Business Press Behind the headlines advanced 

22 TED Conferences 

Ideas worth sharing 

26 Head-to-Head 

Would independence help Scotland? 

Business Skills 

28 Series (4): Telephoning plus 

Ten tips for improving your phone communication 

33 Training Plan 

Improve your telephoning skills 

34 Toolbox 

Ken Taylor on increasing your vocabulary 

Intercultural Communication 

36 China 

Doing business with the Chinese 

Multimedia learning with Business Spotlight 

plus 

Careers 

Business Spotlight plus 

plus Practise the language used in the 

magazine with our exercise booklet. In 

this issue, we focus on the vocabulary you 

need to talk about the media, a listening 

exercise on stress management, and the 

language of CVs and covering letters. See 

page 43 to order a free copy. 

66 Series (2): Finding a Job advanced plus 

Successful CVs and covering letters 

75 Tips and Trends 

Admitting you don’t know; sharing an office 

Management 

78 What Happened Next plus 

The death of Superman 

79 Executive Eye 

Adrian Furnham on people who make life hell 

Technology 

80 Electronics advanced 

The development of electric paint 

82 Trends 

The next generation of video games; organized ants 

83 Language Focus advanced 

Helicopters 

People 

86 My Working Life easy 

Denis Elioni, post-office manager in Croatia 

Regular sections 

3 Editorial 

35 Classified Ads 

76 SprachenShop 

84 Readers’ Survey / Impressum 

85 Preview 

Business Spotlight Alle Urheber- und Leistungsschutzrechte vorbehalten. Kein Verleih! Keine unerlaubte Vervielfältigung, Vermietung, Aufführung, Sendung! 

® & © Spotlight Verlag 2014 Cover: Mauritius Images 


Englisch für den Beruf 

AUDIO 

Language Test 

Ten steps for 

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Short Story and 

Street Life 

Birthday parties 

in the office 

5/14 

CD 


Better 

phone 

calls 

READERS’ SERVICE 

Email: abo@spotlight-verlag.de 

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texts, dialogues, exercises and interviews. On this CD, 

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66 Effective CVs 

55 Useful 

vocabulary 

GUIDE 

In eigener Sache 

Liebe Leserinnen, liebe Leser, 

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Qualität zu liefern. Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis. 

Ihr Spotlight Verlag 

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Language Section 

Language section 

44 Vocabulary Commercial cleaning easy 

45 Grammar at Work Making polite requests plus 

46 Easy English Getting approval easy plus 

48 Wise Words Comic headlines plus 

50 Email Paragraphing 

51 English on the Move Taking the Eurostar easy 

52 Translation False friends and more 

53 Language Cards To pull out and practise 

55 SKILL UP! The news media 

56 Short Story The birthday party easy plus 

58 English for… Stress management plus 

60 Legal English Patent law advanced 

61 Talking Finance Stability and volatility advanced 

62 Teacher Talk Interview with Julie Pratten 

64 Products What’s new? 

65 Key Words Vocabulary from this issue 

Language in Business Spotlight 

Articles in the magazine use the style, spelling, punctuation and 

pronunciation of British English unless otherwise marked. 

US American style, spelling, punctuation and pronunciation 

are used in these articles. 

All articles are marked with their level of language difficulty. 

Articles not marked on the contents pages are at a medium level. 

(CEF stands for the Council of Europe’s “Common European 

Framework of Reference for Languages”.) 

easy Approximately at CEF level A2 

medium Approximately at CEF levels B1–B2 

advanced Approximately at CEF levels C1–C2 

ifml.: informal word or phrase; vulg.: vulgar word or phrase; 

sl.: slang word or phrase; non-stand.: non-standard word or phrase; 

UK: chiefly UK usage; US: chiefly North American usage 

Cover topics 

Cover photograph: Depositphoto 

Business Spotlight in the classroom 

This six-page supplement for teachers and 

trainers provides lesson activities based 

on articles in Business Spotlight. It is free 

to those who subscribe to the magazine. To 

order, please send an email to: 

schulmedien@spotlight-verlag.de 

plus 

Business Spotlight Online 

www Go to our website for 

language-learning activities, 

as well as news and blogs. 

Subscribers have full access 

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www.business-spotlight.de 

www.business-spotlight.de 5

THE BIG PICTURE AUSTRIA 

6 www.business-spotlight.de 5/2014

Keep calm 

medium 

Top breeding bulls are worth a great deal 

of money — the world-record price, 

reached in 2013, is $600,000 — so it’s 

important to keep them happy. This bull is 

standing under infrared lights, which are 

used to relax its muscles. Its “workplace” is 

an artificial insemination centre in Hohenzell, 

Austria. The company exports cattle 

semen to 54 countries worldwide. 

Artificial insemination of cattle has been 

practised since the late 1930s. Freezing 

bovine semen, which began in the 1950s, 

has increased the efficiency of the method. 

Frozen semen can be used for many years 

after the death of a bull. According to Wikipedia, 

calves are still occasionally born from 

the semen of a famous Holstein bull that 

died in the US in 1963. 

BS 

artificial insemination künstliche Besamung 

[A:tI)fIS&l In)semI(neIS&n] 

bovine [(bEUvaIn] 

Rinderbreeding 

bull [(bri:dIN bUl] Zuchtbulle 

calf (pl. calves) [kA:f ((kA:vz)] Kalb 

cattle semen [(kÄt&l )si:mEn] Rindersperma 

Holstein [(hQlstaIn] 

Holstein (Rassebezeichnung) 

L. Foeger/Reuters 

5/2014 www.business-spotlight.de 7

WORKING WORLD NAMES AND NEWS 

Getty Images 

Stylish and successful: 

Sophia Amoruso 

Getty Iamges 

SOPHIA AMORUSO 

Fashion-forward 

medium 

She used to be a shoplifter. Now, Sophia Amoruso profits from other 

women’s shopping. Amoruso, 30, is the chief executive of Nasty Gal, 

the fastest-growing e-commerce site in the US. Started in 2006, it is now 

worth $100 million and employs 350 people. 

Being caught for shoplifting “saved my life”, Amoruso told the BBC. 

“I learned the hard way that taking shortcuts and living for free is not 

really living free,” she says. 

Nasty Gal, which sells new and vintage clothing, got its name from a 

song by Betty Davis, ex-wife of jazz legend Miles Davis. Amoruso, who 

lives in Los Angeles, has just written her memoirs, #GIRLBOSS. 

74 

Percentage of workers 

who do other work during 

meetings 

Sources: Fast Company; Kelton Global, a research institute 

(http://keltonglobal.com) 

chief executive 

Geschäftsführer(in) 

[)tSi:f Ig(zekjUtIv] 

memoirs [(memwA:z] Memoiren 

nasty gal [(nÄsti gÄl*] US ifml. böses Mädel 

research [ri(s§:tS] 

Forschung; hier: Marktforschung 

shoplifter [(SQplIftE] 

Ladendieb(in) 

shoplifting [(SQplIftIN] Ladendiebstahl 

take a shortcut 

es sich leicht machen 

[)teIk E (SO:tkVt] 

vintage [(vIntIdZ] 

klassisch, alt; hier auch: gebraucht 

* This symbol marks standard US pronunciation. 

“Education is the most 

powerful weapon which you can 

use to change the world” 

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013), South African politician 

and activist 


BOLIVIA 

Street life 

Many street people in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, 

earn money by shining shoes. Some of them — 

especially children — also sell a newspaper called 

Hormigón Armado, inspired by Britain’s The Big 

Issue, a publication for the homeless. 

Hormigón Armado was started by Jaime Villalobos, 

who studied in England. “If you grow up in an 

environment that loves and cares for you, you can 

work as a child and grow up to be a positive adult,” 

Villalobos told The Guardian. “But that’s very hard 

for children who work on the street, because they are 

exposed to many dangers. We are trying to counter 

those effects so that they grow up to be positive 

adults and go into the formal workforce.” 

His next project is a vocational centre for young 

parents. “I admire how these kids struggle and 

fight,” Villalobos says. 

Listen to this text on Business Spotlight Audio 

medium 

Alamy 

Struggling to survive: young shoeshiners in Bolivia 

The number of hotel rooms 

in sub-Saharan Africa is projected 

to rise by 28 per cent in 

2014 compared to 2013. 

counter sth. [(kaUntE] 

environment [In(vaI&rEnmEnt] 

exposed: be ~ to sth. [Ik(spEUzd] 

go into the formal workforce 

[gEU )IntE DE )fO:m&l (w§:kfO:s] 

GP (general practitioner) [)dZi: (pi:] UK 

hospitality [)hQspI(tÄlEti] 

issue [(ISu:] 

projected: be ~ to do sth. [prE(dZektId] 

shine shoes [)SaIn (Su:z] 

vocational centre [vEU(keIS&nEl )sentE] 

5/2014 

Sources: The Wall Street Journal; W 

Hospitality Group (http:// 

w-hospitalitygroup.com) 

The number of male family 

doctors in Britain has fallen 

below that of female GPs. 

There are now 19,800 male 

GPs and 20,440 female GPs. 

Sources: The Daily Telegraph; Health and 

Social Care Information Centre 

(www.hscic.gov.uk) 

➡ 

➡ 

etw. entgegenwirken 

Umgebung, Umfeld 

etw. ausgesetzt sein 

einer offiziellen Tätigkeit 

nachgehen, erwerbstätig 

werden 

Allgemeinmediziner(in) 

Hotel- und Gaststättengewerbe 

Angelegenheit, Problem 

voraussichtlich etw. tun 

Schuhe putzen 

Berufsbildungszentrum 

Sprachkurse 

im Ausland 

Für Erwachsene 

und Berufstätige 

Karrierefaktor 

Fremdsprachen 

EF bietet Ihnen die Möglichkeit Ihre 

Sprachkenntnisse im Ausland zu verbessern und 

dabei in eine fremde Kultur einzutauchen. 

Wählen Sie aus 41 Kursorten in 15 Ländern und 

profitieren Sie von: 

• international anerkannten Sprachzertifikaten 

• speziellen Fokusschulen für Erwachsene 

• Kurz- und Langzeitsprachkursen 

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Kursbeginn jeden Montag möglich 

EF Education First 

0211 688 57 230 

www.ef.com/25plus 

Kostenloser 

Sprachtest: 

www.ef.com/test

WORKING WORLD NAMES AND NEWS 

Want to stay 

married? Why not 

have an affair? 

Amana Images 

JAPAN 

An affair to remember 

ife short. Have an affair.” The slogan of 

“LAshleyMadison.com, an online adultery 

site, seems to be especially effective in Japan, 

which has achieved a record one million users 

in under nine months. 

Technology consultant and writer Nobuyuki 

Hayashi told CBC News he was not surprised 

by the global company’s gains in his homeland. 

“Here in Japan, there aren’t that many 

great ways to have fun and so men go and 

splurge at a caba club [hostess bar],” he says. 

advanced 

Japanese views of extramarital sex are more 

liberal than in Western society, according to 

Ashley Madison’s own statistics, with 84 per 

cent of Japanese women saying they believed 

an affair would improve their marriage. “The 

reason people have affairs is that they want 

to stay married,” says Noel Biderman, chief 

executive of Avid Life Media Inc., which operates 

AshleyMadison.com. Since the company’s 

founding in Canada in 2002, it has 

garnered nearly 25 million users worldwide. 

Listen to this text on Business Spotlight Audio 

Getty Images 

“Advice is what we ask 

for when we already 

know the answer but 

wish we didn’t” 

Erica Jong, 72, US author (Fear of Flying) 

adultery [E(dVltEri] 

avid [(ÄvId] 

chief executive 

[)tSi:f Ig(zekjUtIv] 

consultant [kEn(sVltEnt] 

extramarital 

[)ekstrE(mÄrIt&l] 

founding [(faUndIN] 

garner users 

[)gA:nE (ju:zEz] 

Inc. [INk] US 

splurge [spl§:dZ] 

Ehebruch 

begierig, 

leidenschaftlich 


Berater(in) 

außerehelich 

Gründung 

Nutzer gewinnen 

AG 

sich etw. leisten 


Who’s on top? 

GLOBAL 

Measuring progress 

easy 

One measure of a country’s 

wealth is its GDP (gross domestic 

product). But a new index 

calculates quality of life. 

The Social Progress Index looks 

at basic human needs. These include 

access to food and shelter 

as well as to education. 

Personal freedom is measured, 

too. 

This year’s index rated 

132 countries. New 

Zealand is at the top of 

the list, while Chad is 

at the bottom. 

Sources: Social Progress Imperative 

(www.socialprogressimperative.org); 

World Economic Forum 

(www.weforum.org) 

1. New Zealand 

2. Switzerland 

3. Iceland 

4. Netherlands 

5. Norway 

6. Sweden 

7. Canada 

11. Austria 

12. Germany 

13. Britain 

16. United States 

Fuse 

$9.6 million 

Average annual pay of the CEO 

of a public company in the US 

$44,000 

Average annual pay of a 

US worker 

Healthy food: measure 

of social progress 

What they said... 

“Work only half a day. It makes no difference which 

half — the first 12 hours or the last 12 hours” 

Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), founder of the US Holiday Inn hotel chain 

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its 

completion” 

C. Northcote Parkinson (1909–93), British naval historian and author of Parkinson’s Law 

“It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, 

why take the chance?” 

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), former US president 

Sources: BusinessNewsDaily.com; Associated Press (www.ap.org) 

access [(Äkses] 

Zugang 

annual pay [)ÄnjuEl (peI] Jahresgehalt, -lohn 

CEO (chief executive Vorstandsvorofficer) 

[)si: i: (EU] sitzende(r) 

Chad [tSÄd] 

Tschad 

public company 

Aktiengesellschaft 

[)pVblIk (kVmpEni] 

figure: I ~ 

ich denke, wie ich 

[(fIgj&r*] US ifml. 

das sehe 

founder [(faUndE] 

Gründer(in) 

GDP [)dZi: di: (pi:] BIP (Bruttoinlandsprodukt) 

naval historian 

Marinehistoriker(in) 

[)neIv&l hI(stO:riEn] 

shelter [(SeltE] 

Obdach, Unterkunft 


www Find more stories online at 

www.business-spotlight.de/news 


LANGUAGE TEST PRESENTATIONS 

Speaking with style 

Präsentationen sind fester Bestandteil des beruflichen Alltags. Deshalb 

präsentieren Carol Scheunemann und Hildegard Rudolph hier Übungen, mit 

denen Sie Ihre Präsentationskünste sprachlich testen können. all levels 

THE SITUATION: 

Doug Sargent and Melinda Dixon 

are going to present Tada software 

for customer-relationship management 

(CRM) at a conference. Let’s 

join them as they go through ten key 

steps of giving a talk. 

12 www.business-spotlight.de 5/2014 

Fuse

1. 

Be prepared (5 points) 

Doug and Melinda are getting ready for their talk. Fill in the missing vowels to 

complete the words in their conversation. 

easy 

Doug: The presentation’s on my laptop, but we’ll need a a) pr_j_ct_r. 

Melinda: The organizer has promised to provide one. 

Melinda: What about b) w_r_l_ss sp_ _k_rs? 

Doug: Those will be available at the conference as well. 

Doug: Are there enough c) h_nd_ _ts? 

Melinda: I think so. I made 120 copies. 

Melinda: Do we need anything else? 

Doug: Don’t forget the d) l_s_r p_ _nt_r. 

Doug: Let’s look at our e) sl_d_s one more time. 

Melinda: OK. The last thing we need is a mistake! 

medium 

2. Look and sound good 

(5 points) 

Melinda is nervous. She tries to calm down 

by remembering advice on body language. 

Choose words from the box to complete the 

sentences. 

anxiety 

appearance 

gestures 

posture 

volume 

Your a) _________ is the first thing your 

audience will notice. Stand tall and put 

your shoulders back slightly to have good 

b) _________. A sign of c) _________ is 

clearing your throat too often. Regulate the 

d) _________ of your voice — don’t speak 

too softly but don’t shout, either. Maintain 

eye contact with your listeners. Be aware of 

hand e) _________ that may be considered 

impolite in a multicultural setting. 

4 

5/2014 



3. 

Start strong (5 points) 

Doug gets people’s attention by asking a question. He then explains to his listeners 

the benefits of using Tada. Create sentences with the words given. 

a) and Tada / do trees / in common / What / have 

______________________________________________________________________? 

b) “branches” to hold / Tada grows / customer base increases, / As your / their data 

______________________________________________________________________. 

c) customer data / cheaper or faster / Managing / has never been 

______________________________________________________________________. 

d) can help / become 20 per cent / your business / more efficient / Tada software 

______________________________________________________________________. 

e) we’ll discover / can save you / how Tada / Together, / time and effort 

______________________________________________________________________. 

easy 

Tips from TED 

Here is advice from TED (see 

the article on pages 22–25) on 

what makes a great talk. 

l Tell us something new. Or 

look at a subject in a new 

way. 

l Use structure. But don’t talk 

about how you’re going to 

talk about your subject. 

l Start strong. 

l Watch your body language. 

l Be personal. Tell a story. Go 

on a journey. 

l Make complex topics and 

concepts accessible. Don’t 

lose your listeners. 

l Focus in. Present one idea. 

Describe how and why it 

could work. 

l If you use slides, each slide 

should present one point 

only. 

l No selling. 

l Practise. Practise. Practise. 

Get it right. 

Sources: TEDxSpeaker Guide: 

http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/ 

tedx_speaker_guide.pdf; 

“What Makes a Great TED Talk?”, 

June Cohen, TEDx@TEDGlobal 2010, 

Oxford, England: www.youtube.com/ 

watch?v=RVDfWfUSBIM 

4. 

Explain the benefits (5 points) 

medium 

Melinda describes what makes the software easy to use. Choose the words that 

best complete the sentences. 

a) The software offers state-of-the-art / state-of-play graphics. 

b) It features / faces a colour-coded index. 

c) I’d like to exaggerate / emphasize the simple look of our user interface. 

d) We’ve optimized our user identification / user interface by using symbols instead 

of text. 

e) The icons / irons are easy to understand, so no translation is necessary! 

14 www.business-spotlight.de 

5/2014

5. 

Persuade people (5 points) 

medium 

Doug and Melinda use the “four Ps method” (position, problem, possibility, proposal) to structure 

their talk. Put the number of the correct “P” category next to each statement. 

a) ❏ You have several options in such a situation. 

b) ❏ There are a number of measures you can implement. 

c) ❏ The biggest challenge is managing customer needs effectively. 

d) ❏ I recommend a software solution for this process. 

1 = position 

2 = problem 

3 = possibility 

4 = proposal 

e) ❏ Let me explain the situation on the market today. 

6. 

Include your listeners (5 points) 

advanced 

Melinda connects with the audience by asking rhetorical questions. Turn her sentences 

into questions. If possible, use “we” or “our” to show common interest. 

Your thoughts here: 

note key points 

a) It’s important to know something about your customers. 

What ______________________________________________________________? 

b) This information can be useful. 

How ______________________________________________________________? 

c) This hasn’t been done before. 

Why _______________________________________________________________? 

d) Let me tell you where to start. 

Where _____________________________________________________________? 

e) I’ll move on to my next slide. 

Shall ______________________________________________________________? 

iStock 

7. 

Tell a story (5 points) 

medium 

Doug holds his listeners’ attention by talking about a personal experience. Put the sentences of his 

anecdote in the correct order. 

a) Suddenly, the woman in the queue behind me said, “I’ll take it!” 

b) But it showed that I was nearly ten kilos lighter than I actually was. 

c) In other words, my problem was her solution! 

d) Last year, I decided to go on a diet, so I bought an expensive digital scale. 

e) I took it back to the shop and was telling the clerk what the problem was. 

1–❏; 2–❏; 3–❏; 4–❏; 5–❏ 

4 



8. 

Use visuals well (5 points) 

medium 

Melinda and Doug use visuals to support their message. Choose the correct terms 

to complete the sentences. 

a) As you can see in this pie _________, 27 per cent of our users are managers. 

1. chart 2. table 

b) This _________ chart represents our sales by volume. 

1. bar 2. beam 

c) Each of these _________ points represents an activity. 

1. bullet 2. tablet 

d) With this line _________, you can observe the monthly growth in our customer 

numbers. 

1. map 2. graph 

e) This Venn _________ shows the relations between the user groups. 

1. diagram 2. circle 

9. 

Deal with questions (5 points) 

advanced 

Listeners ask questions after Doug’s presentation. He doesn’t know the answer to every question. 

Take sentence parts from each box to form his replies. 

Can I get 

Does anyone have 

I’ll find out 

Let me think 

Perhaps we 

about that 

and contact 

anything to add 

back to you 

could discuss 

for a moment. 

on that one? 

that in the coffee break. 

to that? 

you later. 

a) _______________________________________________________________________ 

b) _______________________________________________________________________ 

c) _______________________________________________________________________ 

d) _______________________________________________________________________ 

e) _______________________________________________________________________ 

For more information 

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT 

Booklet 

Successful presentations in English, The essential series 


“Beyond words”, Bob Dignen, Business Spotlight 1/2012, pp. 38–44 

“Don’t do that!”, Bob Dignen, Business Spotlight 1/2009, pp. 46–52 

5/2014

10. 

Close convincingly (5 points) 

medium 

Melinda ends the presentation positively with a good closing. Use words from the box to complete 

her sentences. 

conclusion l highlight l saying l summarize l takeaway 

a) In __________, I’d like to make a few comments. 

b) Let me __________ what we’ve covered here today. 

c) There is a key __________ message for us all. 

i>Stock 

d) We now can ________ the biggest challenge we face in future. 

e) And finally, I’ll close with a __________: “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” 

Answers 

Take a seat: the next 

talk begins soon 

1. Be prepared 

a) projector = Beamer 

b) wireless speakers = kabellose Lautsprecher 

c) handouts 

d) laser pointer 

e) slides = Dias; hier: (PowerPoint-)Folien 

2. Look and sound good 

a) appearance 

b) posture = (Körper-)Haltung 

c) anxiety = Angst; hier auch: Unsicherheit 

d) volume = Lautstärke 

e) gestures = Gesten, Gestik 

3. Start strong 

a) What do trees and Tada have in common? (have 

sth. in common = etw. gemeinsam haben) 

b) As your customer base increases, Tada grows 

“branches” to hold their data. (hold data = Daten 

aufnehmen ) 

c) Managing customer data has never been cheaper 

or faster. (manage data = Daten verwalten) 

d) Tada software can help your business become 20 

per cent more efficient. 

e) Together, we’ll discover how Tada can save you 

time and effort. 

4. Explain the benefits 

a) state-of-the-art (state of the art = nach dem 

letzten Stand der Technik/Entwicklung) 

b) features (feature sth. = etw. aufweisen) 

c) emphasize (emphasize sth. = etw. betonen, 

hervorheben) 

d) user interface = Benutzeroberfläche 

e) icons = Icons, Symbole 

5. Persuade people 

a–3; b–3; c–2; d–4; e–1 

5/2014 

6. Include your listeners 

a) What do we know about our customers? 

b) How can we use this information? 

c) Why haven’t we done this before? 

d) Where should we start? 

e) Shall we move on to the next slide? 

7. Tell a story 

1–d; 2–b ; 3–e ; 4–a; 5–c 

8. Use visuals well 

a–1 chart (pie chart = Torten-, Kuchen-, Kreisdiagramm) 

b–1 bar (bar chart = Balkendiagramm) 

c–1 bullet (bullet point = Aufzählungspunkt) 

d–2 graph (line graph = Liniendiagramm) 

e–1 diagram (Venn diagram = Venndiagramm) 

9. Deal with questions 

a) Can I get back to you on that one? 

b) Does anyone have anything to add to that? 

c) I’ll find out and contact you later. 

d) Let me think about that for a moment. 

e) Perhaps we could discuss that in the coffee break. 

10. Close convincingly 

a) conclusion (in conclusion = abschließend, zum 

(Ab-)Schluss) 

b) summarize (summarize sth. = etw. zusammenfassen) 

c) takeaway (a key takeaway message for us all = 

etwa: eine Kernaussage, die jeder für sich nach 

Hause mitnehmen kann) 

d) highlight (highlight sth. = etw. hervorheben) 

e) saying (as the saying goes = wie es so schön heißt) 

(etwa: Zeit fliegt wie ein Pfeil; Fruchtfliegen mögen 

Bananen.) 

How did you do? 

40–50 Excellent 

Clearly, you’re an experienced presenter. 

People must love your talks! 

30–39 Good 

With a little more practice, you’ll 

be on stage in no time! 

20–29 Fair 

You’re familiar with some of the 

language and the general ideas of 

presenting. 

15–19 Poor 

Increasing your vocabulary will 

help you to be a better presenter 

in English. 

You’ll find a related exercise on 


www More exercises can be found at 

www.business-spotlight.de/presentations 

Carol Scheunemann is an editor at 

Business Spotlight and coordinates 

Business Spotlight Audio. Contact: 

c.scheunemann@spotlight-verlag.de 

Hildegard Rudolph is a certified 

translator and a freelance editor, 

teacher and book author. Contact: 

bs.lektorat@spotlight-verlag.de 


GLOBAL BUSINESS IT‘S PERSONAL 

The real Iron Man 

Es gibt Menschen, die einen faszinieren und die aufgrund ihrer Errungenschaften immer 

wieder in den Medien auftauchen. Hat man zudem eine persönliche Beziehung zu ihnen, 

ist die Begeisterung noch größer. Genauso ist es Elisabeth Ribbans ergangen. advanced 

I have been fascinated by Elon 

Musk for perhaps a little longer than 

most other ordinary mortals. Four 

years ago, the billionaire inventor 

married a beautiful British actress 

who was a childhood friend of my 

niece. 

When a young woman of even 

distant acquaintance, whom you’re 

already cheering because of her film 

successes, marries the man who 

co-founded PayPal and is now making 

rockets, spacecraft and luxury 

electric cars, it is hard to look 

away. And these days, it’s hard 

— even if you’re not looking — 

to miss all the media coverage 

Musk generates. 

Elon Musk. The name sounds 

like an unsolved anagram and his life 

reads like fiction. But while he was 

reportedly the inspiration for Tony 

anxiety [ÄN(zaIEti] 

Angst 

austerity [O:(sterEti] hier: Sparmaßnahmen 

big thinking 

etwa: visionäre Ideen 

[)bIg (TINkIN] ifml. 

billion [(bIljEn] 

Milliarde(n) 

billionaire [)bIljE(neE] Milliardär(in) 

cheer sb. [tSIE] 

jmdn. bejubeln 

co-found sth. [)kEU (faUnd] etw. mitbegründen 

dock sth. with sth. [(dQk wID] etw. an etw. andocken 

eventually [I(ventSuEli] letztendlich 

media coverage 

Medienbericht- 

[(mi:diE )kVvErIdZ] 

erstattung 

mortal [(mO:t&l] 

Sterbliche(r) 

niece [ni:s] 

Nichte 

restore faith [ri)stO: (feIT] Vertrauen 

wiederherstellen 

rocket [(rQkIt] 

Rakete 

self-sustaining 

autark 

[)self sE(steInIN] 

shortage [(SO:tIdZ] 

Mangel, Knappheit 

space capsule 

Raumkapsel 

[(speIs )kÄpsju:l] 

spacecraft [(speIskrA:ft] Raumschiff(e) 

Man with a vision: billionaire 

inventor Elon Musk 

Stark, Robert Downey Jr’s character 

in the Iron Man movies, Musk, 43, is 

real and the only puzzle is where his 

imagination will take us. 

Born in Pretoria, Musk was a 

comic-reading kid who sold his first 

video-game software at the age of 

12. He left South Africa to study in 

Canada and the US, soon moving to 

California, where he lives with his 

“Even if you’re not looking, it’s hard to miss 

the media coverage Elon Musk generates” 

wife, Talulah Riley. In 2002, the sale 

of PayPal earned Musk $180 million 

(€132 million), but rather than sit 

and count the cash, he has used it 

for diverse projects united by a single 

passion: to fight climate change by 

changing the way the world is powered. 

“For me, it was never about 

money, but solving problems for the 

future of humanity,” he told Smithsonian 

magazine in 2012. 

That year, Musk’s company SpaceX 

even succeeded in docking its own 

space capsule with the International 

Space Station. SpaceX now has a 

$1.6 billion (€1.2 billion) contract 

with NASA to carry cargo and — 

eventually — astronauts into space. 

Musk’s ultimate aim is helping us 

to live on other planets, with a colony 

on Mars by 2020. “At Mars, you can 

start a self-sustaining civilization,” he 

said in a speech in London. “I think 

we’re making some progress in that 

direction — not as fast as I’d like.” 

Meanwhile, he is busy with the electric 

Tesla Model S, currently going on 

sale across Europe. The fast-moving 

car is already the third-bestselling 

luxury auto in California. 

It hasn’t all been easy; but in an 

age of austerity and anxiety, and with 

a shortage of inspirational leaders, 

a person of such vision, talent and 

courage should restore faith in the 

power of big thinking. Who knows, 

we might even reach the stars. BS 

Elisabeth Ribbans is a British journalist and 

editorial consultant. She is also a former 

managing editor of The Guardian newspaper 

in London. Contact: eribbans@yahoo.com 

elonmusk.com 

Credit 


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BUSINESS PRESS GLOBAL BUSINESS 

Behind the headlines 

Headlines in the English-language media are often difficult to understand because they use jargon and 

wordplay, and leave out words. Here, we look at the meaning of recent business headlines. advanced 

The Guardian Financial Times 

China metals: Here, copper and aluminium stored in 

bonded warehouses in Qingdao, China. 

the bezzle: This term comes from “embezzlement”, 

and was created by the Canadian-American economist 

John Kenneth Galbraith. It refers to the 

money or assets that build up before embezzlement 

is discovered. Here, the “bezzle” is of a 

trader who raised several loans against the same 

copper and aluminium. 

shrinks: This word here means to “drop in value”. 

Asset fraud is often stopped when markets fall 

because controls become stricter. In this case, the 

price of copper fell. 

In simple English: Money made illegally involving 

metals in China is falling in value. 

Shardenfreude: This is a play on words. The Shard 

is a new, glass-covered skyscraper in London. Its 

architect, Renzo Piano, once described it as “a 

shard of crystal”. Here, “shardenfreude” can be 

read as “joy in using shards of glass”, “joy in the 

Shard” or as “schadenfreude”, suggesting that the 

“copycat craze” is somehow negative. 

London’s copycat craze: The trend to create buildings 

like the Shard in London. 

is crystal clear: If something is “crystal clear”, it is 

very clear. 

In simple English: There is a (negative) trend in London 

to copy the Shard skyscraper. 

www Are you confused by the language in the press? Keep your 

English up to date at www.business-spotlight.de/news 

The Economist 

The Wall Street Journal 

Maple: Canada’s national symbol is the maple leaf. 

It represents the Canadian government here and 

fits in with the headline’s leaf symbolism. 

resting on laurels: The Canadian government is relaxing 

after it won “laurels” during the financial 

crisis, because no bank needed to be rescued. The 

article says the government should not relax, as 

there are still problems in the banking system. 

In simple English: The Canadian government is relaxing 

due to its success during the financial crisis, 

but various problems still need to be solved. 

Operation Escargot: The French expression for 

“snail” is used here to describe a demonstration 

involving cars that drove slowly, blocking traffic. 

Europe protests: Europe-wide protests by taxi drivers 

against apps like Uber, which connect passengers 

directly with mostly private drivers. 

as Uber rises: The value of Uber Technologies. 

In simple English: Taxi drivers blocked traffic in Europe-wide 

protests (against apps like Uber), while 

the value of Uber Technologies rose. 

asset fraud [(Äset frO:d] 

assets [(Äsets] 

bonded warehouse [)bQndId (weEhaUs] 

copper [(kQpE] 

copycat [(kQpikÄt] ifml. 

craze [kreIz] 

embezzlement [Im(bez&lmEnt] 

laurels: win ~ [(lQrElz] 

maple [(meIp&l] 

raise a loan [)reIz E (lEUn] 

shard [SA:d] 

Anlagebetrug 

Vermögen(swerte) 

Zolllager 

Kupfer 

Nachahmer(in) 

Wahn, Welle 

Unterschlagung 

Lorbeeren ernten 

Ahorn 

einen Kredit aufnehmen 

Scherbe, Splitter 


M. Aufmuth/TED 

Long-distance swimmer Diana 

Nyad is standing on a stage, 

looking tan and strong, telling 

her story of swimming 180 

kilometres from Cuba to Florida 

— at age 64. To carry her through 

hours of physical discomfort and total 

darkness (because light attracts 

sharks), music fills her mind. In particular, 

the song “Imagine”, by John 

Lennon. “I can sing that song a thousand 

times in a row,” she says. She 

then begins singing softly, “Imagine 

there’s no heaven,” leaning forward 

slightly, making swimming motions, 

her large hands reaching forward 

past her shoulders, then back. “It’s 

easy if you try…” 

“And when I get through the end 

of a thousand times,” Nyad continues, 

straightening up, “I’ve swum 

nine hours and 45 minutes, exactly.” 

At an age when many people retire, 

she finished the non-stop swim, on 

her fifth attempt, in just under 53 

hours. The title of her talk is “Never, 

Ever Give Up”. 

Nyad was speaking at a TED conference, 

which stands for “Technology, 

Entertainment, Design”. The TED 

slogan is “ideas worth spreading”, 

and the conference brings together 

thinkers and doers from areas including 

business, nature, science, the arts 

and psychology. 

Now in its 30th year, TED was 

created by American architect and 

graphic designer Richard Saul Wurman. 

Convergence, or the coming 

together, of various disciplines was 

Wurman’s inspiration. Get leaders 

from different fields together, get 

them talking and innovation is sure 

to follow, he believed. But Wurman 

disliked traditional business gatherings, 

“because I’m bored out of my 

head when I go to conferences,” he 

told Smithsonian magazine. 

Instead, his method was to send the 

presenters on stage without a lectern, 

table or pages of notes, making them 

more “vulnerable”. Their speeches 

had to be short — between 10 and 

18 minutes — and speakers were not 

allowed to sell anything; rather, their 

aim was to start a conversation. At 

the first TED conference, in March 

1984, in Monterey, California, attendees 

were introduced to the CD, 

the Macintosh computer and the vision 

of e-books. 

In 2001, Wurman sold TED to the 

non-profit Sapling Foundation, run 

by Chris Anderson, a publisher of 

business and computer magazines. 

Four years later, the organization 

started a sister conference, TEDGlobal, 

which takes place in the autumn 

outside the US. But it was TED.com 

that really helped to spread TED. The 

site went online in 2007 with selected, 

skilfully edited videos from the 

conferences. 

Anderson was sceptical that the 

format would succeed on the internet. 

“Why would you sit through 

attendee [E)ten(di:] 

bored out of one’s head: 

be ~ [)bO:d aUt Ev 

wVnz (hed] 

design [di(zaIn] 

doer [(du:E] 

edited [(edItId] 

foundation [faUn(deIS&n] 

in a row [)In E (rEU] 

lectern [(lektEn] 

non-profit 

[)nQn (prQfIt] 

publisher [(pVblISE] 

sapling [(sÄplIN] 

shark [SA:k] 

sit through sth. 

[)sIt (Tru:] 

talk [tO:k] 

tan [tÄn] 

vulnerable [(vVlnErEb&l] 

Teilnehmer(in) 

zu Tode gelangweilt sein 

Gestaltung; hier: Konzept 

Macher(in) 

bearbeitet 

Stiftung 

hintereinander 

Rednerpult 

gemeinnützig 

Verleger(in) 

Setzling, Schössling 

Hai 

etw. über sich ergehen 

lassen 

Vortrag 

sonnengebräunt 

schutzlos 

4

TED CONFERENCES GLOBAL BUSINESS 

Talking about thinking 

Wie lässt man Menschen in aller Welt an einer Idee oder einer Erfahrung teilhaben? 

Ganz einfach: Man hält einen Vortrag auf einer TED-Konferenz. Carol Scheunemann 

berichtet über die Anfänge und Entwicklungen dieser Veranstaltung. medium 

Going the distance: 

swimmer Diana Nyad 

What is TED? 

TED: A five-day conference on “Technology, 

Entertainment and Design” 

held in North America each spring, 

offering some 70 talks. The next TED 

is 16–20 March 2015 in Vancouver, 

British Columbia, Canada. Price to 

attend: US$ 8,500 (about €6,300). 

TEDActive: A livestream of the TED 

conference. The next TEDActive is 

16–20 March 2015 in Whistler, 

British Columbia, Canada. Price to 


TEDGlobal: A sister conference held 

outside North America. The next 

TEDGlobal is 6–10 October 2014 

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Price to 


TEDx: Independently organized TEDstyle 

conference. More than 10,000 

of these have been held in the past 

five years. See TED.com for coming 

events. Price to attend: usually free. 

TED.com: The website, with 1,700 

videos of selected TED talks from all 

conferences. 

attend (sth.) [E(tend] 

talk [tO:k] 

(an etw.) teilnehmen 

Vortrag

GLOBAL BUSINESS TED CONFERENCES 

Futuristic event: 

talks are intelligent and 

intend to inspire 

“Why would you sit through an 

18-minute lecture when there’s a whole 

world of hilarious cat videos?” 

an 18-minute lecture when there’s a 

whole world of hilarious cat videos 

to be explored?” he wrote in The 

Guardian. But TED videos are now 

viewed two million times per day. 

Videos are divided into categories 

such as “most viewed” or “funny”, 

or by subject area, including “work 

smarter” and “natural wonder”. 

Usually, presenters at TED conferences 

are experts in their field — 

white upper-class Americans seem to 

dominate — but can include former 

criminals, the homeless and victims 

of war or poverty. What they have in 

common is that they are almost all 

excellent public speakers. They can 

tell a visionary story with a professional 

delivery. 

TED presenters practise the art 

of public speaking as introduced 

by Greek orators. Almost without 

exception, the talks are intelligent, 

philosophical and often funny. They 

appeal to our emotions and routinely 

provide an epiphany, that “aha” 

moment. Some talks describe human 

experiences and others discuss global 

problems, but all of them are intended 

to inspire: they don’t always offer 

a solution, but they at least make 

a suggestion. “TED has done more 

to advance the art of lecturing in a 

decade than Oxford University has 

done in a thousand years,” commented 

The Economist. 

The speakers are invited, recommended 

or selected. Many of the 

presenters are already experienced 

public speakers, who then work with 

an editor, writer and director for six 

to nine months to bring out their best 

performance. June Cohen, executive 

producer of TED Media, says she 

tries to identify the speaker’s “true 

voice”. “An artist is not a scientist, a 

scientist is not an activist,” she says. 

So what can make your presentation 

more “TED-like”? “Rehearse 

well ahead of going on stage; and 

then rehearse again,” says Bruno 

Giussani, curator of TEDGlobal. 

“There is no single recipe for a great 

talk. But practising is guaranteed to 

make any talk better.” 

TED calls itself a “media organization” 

and makes its money mainly 

through attendance fees, sponsorships, 

foundation support and licensing 

fees. The two main conferences 

are joined by TEDActive, a 

TED 

live video stream of the main event, 

as well as by special-interest conferences. 

Long-distance swimmer Diana 

Nyad spoke at TEDxWomen in 

2013, for example. Independently 

organized TEDx events help to expand 

the global reach (see interview 

on p. 25). Although most of the talks 

are in English, ideas are being spread 

in multiple languages, thanks to the 

Open Translation Project, in which 

volunteers translate online talks. 

Not everyone loves TED, however. 

In a TEDx talk earlier this year called 

“We Need to Talk about TED”, Benjamin 

Bratton, associate professor of 

visual arts at the University of California, 

San Diego, called TED “a 

recipe for civilizational disaster”. He 

repeated the most common criticisms 

of TED — that it oversimplifies complex 

problems, and that it suggests 

everything is possible if you just follow 

your passion. He called the cultlike 

conferences “middlebrow megachurch 

infotainment”. Talking about 

world-changing ideas will not change 

the world, he says. 

TED critics warn that some talks 

seem to spread bad ideas, such as a 

2005 presentation by Steven Levitt, 

advance sth. [Ed(vA:ns] etw. voranbringen 

appeal to sth. [E(pi:&l tu] etw. ansprechen 

associate professor außerordentliche(r) 

[E)sEUsiEt prE(fesE] Professor(in) 

attendance fee 

Teilnehmergebühr 

[E(tendEns fi:] 

curator [kju&(reItE] Kurator(in) 

delivery [di(lIvEri] hier: Vortragsweise 

editor [(edItE] 

Redakteur(in); Lektor(in) 

epiphany [I(pIfEni] Aha-Erlebnis 

executive [Ig(zekjUtIv] leitend 

hilarious [hI(leEriEs] (ur)komisch, zum Lachen 

homeless: the ~ [(hEUmlEs] Obdachlose 

lecture [(lektSE] 

(Lehr-)Vortrag; einen 

(Lehr-)Vortrag halten 

middlebrow 

nicht besonders 

[(mId&lbraU] 

intellektuell, 

Durchschnittsorator 

[(QrEtE] 

Redner(in) 

recipe [(resEpi] 

Rezept 

rehearse sth. [ri(h§:s] etw. einstudieren 

visual arts [)vIZuEl (A:ts] bildende Kunst 

volunteer [)vQlEn(tIE] Freiwillige(r) 


Interview 

“TED has raised the bar” 

Henrik Ahlen: started 

TEDxStockholm 

HENRIK AHLEN, project manager 

and expert generalist at Alfa Bravo AB 

(http://alfabravo.com), started TEDx- 

Stockholm in 2009. He attended TED- 

Global 2013 and TEDActive 2014. 

What is the story behind your first TEDx 

conference? 

I’d been following TED since the early 

1990s and dreamed about attending it, 

but it was far away and very expensive. 

In 2008, I started organizing informal 

TED-viewing events with my friends, 

watching and discussing the talks over 

a few beers at home. Then I read in a 

blog somewhere that anyone could hold 

a local TED event — and that was exactly 

what I’d already been doing! 

How did you find speakers? 

For our first TEDx, it was easy, because I 

founded it with Teo Härén and he speaks 

about creativity all over the world. So he 

called all his friends in the speaker community 

and asked them if they wanted to 

do a short TEDx talk. 

Did you train them in speaking skills? 

Most TEDx organizers have very limited 

resources and you don’t really have 

access to the speakers to do all those 

rehearsals. But you can always do something. 

TED also gives you very good 

guidelines (see p. 14). They have raised 

access: have ~ to sb. 

[(Äkses] 

attendee [E)ten(di:] 

coaching [(kEUtSIN] 

Edinburgh 

[(edInbErE] 

exceed sth. [Ik(si:d] 

foreign-aid spending 

[)fQrEn (eId spendIN] 

found sth. [faUnd] 

get value for money 

[get )vÄlju: fE (mVni] 

raise the bar 

[)reIz DE (bA:] 

rehearsal [ri(h§:s&l] 

resources [ri(zO:sIz] 

mit jmdm. in Kontakt 

treten können 

Teilnehmer(in) 

Training 

[wg. Aussprache] 

etw. übertreffen 

Entwicklungshilfe 

etw. gründen 

etw. für sein Geld 

bekommen 

die Messlatte höher 

ansetzen 

Probe(durchgang) 

finanzielle Mittel 

the bar with their super professional 

speaker coaching. 

You were an attendee at TEDGlobal 2013 in 

Edinburgh. What was that like? 

It was expensive, but exceeded my expectations. 

There were so many interesting 

people there, the type of people you 

wouldn’t meet anywhere else. TED has 

also raised the bar on conference organizing 

— the quality of the audio and video, 

the food, the snacks and parties — so you 

do get value for that money. 

Which talk from any TED event is your personal 

favourite? 

That’s hard to answer. If I meet people 

who’ve never heard of TED, I say, “Just 

watch Ken Robinson’s talk on how schools 

kill creativity”. My number two is by a 

Swede, Hans Rosling. He was a totally 

unknown professor, even in Sweden, but 

his talk [on statistics] was an instant hit. 

And he said in an interview later that that 

totally changed his life. He now spends 

his time touring the world, influencing 

governments’ foreign-aid spending and 

our view of developing countries. None of 

that would have happened without TED. 

one of the authors of Freakonomics. 

He said statistics show that children’s 

car seats are no more effective than 

seat belts in preventing death. His 

point was that a new design could 

make car seats even better, but he 

may have sent the wrong message. 

Many people believe that the conferences 

are elitist. In addition to paying 

thousands of dollars, candidates 

must write essays, provide references, 

and point to their publications, innovations 

or discoveries — just to sit in 

the audience. Among the 1,000 or so 

audience [(O:diEns] 

elitist [i(li:tIst] 

Publikum 

elitär 

attendees each year are Nobel-Prize 

winners, politicians, business leaders 

and millionaires, in other words, the 

people who have the power and money 

to put ideas into action. 

Probably the only way most of us 

will ever experience a TED-style conference 

live is at an independently 

organized TEDx event. Henrik Ahlen 

held one of the first TEDx events in 

Stockholm in 2009 (see box above). 

Such conferences “are the opposite 

of elitist,” Ahlen says. “These are 

free, you’re not allowed to charge 

any money for it and no one is paid.” 

In the past five years, at least 10,000 

TEDx events have been held worldwide, 

an average of eight per day. 

TED offers ideas and inspiration 

— as well as a new video — every 

day on TED.com. These are a great 

source of material for teachers and 

learners. Become a better presenter. 

Practise your English. Organize a 

conference. Or find out what it’s like 

to swim from Cuba to Florida. It’s 

easy if you try. 

BS 

Find out how good your presentation 

skills are with our special language 

test on pages 12–17. 

Carol Scheunemann is an editor at 

Business Spotlight and coordinates 

Business Spotlight Audio. Contact: 

c.scheunemann@spotlight-verlag.de 


GLOBAL BUSINESS HEAD-TO-HEAD 

Would independence help Scotland? 

Am 18. September 2014 stimmen die Schotten über ihre Unabhängigkeit ab. Aber geht es 

einem unabhängigen Schottland besser? Vicki Sussens hat das Pro und Contra. medium 

Yes! 

“Scotland has 

the resources to 

succeed” 

David Brook 

On 18 September, we will decide 

whether or not we want to become 

an independent nation 

again. Much of the debate is 

focused on the economy and whether 

Scotland would be successful. To understand 

what the future might bring, 

it helps to know a little about Scotland’s 

economy. 

According to the Treasury, Scotland 

has been a net contributor to the UK 

economy for the past 33 years. It pays 

a bigger proportion of tax than the 

UK average — £1,200 (about €1,500) 

per person more in the past five years. 

After London, it is the UK’s wealthiest 

and most productive region, with 

world-leading industries in areas such 

as food, drink, finance, energy, manufacturing 

and tourism. 

If it were independent, it would 

have a GDP per head much higher 

than that of the UK and would become 

the world’s 14th-richest country. 

It has Europe’s largest renewable energy 

potential, and an oil industry with 

an estimated £1 trillion in reserves. In- 

accountable [E(kaUntEb&l] verantwortlich 

cash grant [(kÄS grA:nt] finanzieller Zuschuss 

child poverty 

Kinderarmut 

[)tSaI&ld (pQvEti] 

disproportionally unverhältnismäßig 

[)dIsprE(pO:S&nEli] 

food bank [(fu:d bÄNk] Tafel (Lebensmittelhilfe 

für Bedürftige) 

GDP (gross domestic BIP (Bruttoinlandsproduct) 

[)dZi: di: (pi:] produkt) 

health-care system Gesundheitssystem 

[(helT keE )sIstEm] 

net contributor 

Nettobeitragsleister(in) 

[)net kEn(trIbjUtE] 

resources [ri(zO:sIz] Mittel; Ressourcen 

technicality 

(reine) Formsache 

[)teknI(kÄlEti] 

Treasury [(treZEri] UK Finanzministerium 

trillion [(trIljEn] 

Billion(en) 

welfare [(welfeE] Wohlfahrt; 

hier: Sozialdeed, 

the strength of Scotland’s economy 

is such that those opposed to a 

“yes” vote focus their argument on 

technicalities about the currency, EU 

membership and negative speculation 

about the future. 

So why is a country with such 

wealth considering becoming independent? 

Scotland has one of the 

highest levels of inequality in the developed 

world, and child poverty has 

reached shocking levels. It is estimated 

that at least 20 per cent of Scottish 

children live in poverty. This is growing, 

with 65,000 families depending 

on food banks last year. The UK is 

moving towards a minimal welfare 

and privatized health-care system, 

which is disproportionally damaging 

for Scotland. 

Scotland has poor levels of local and 

national democracy, and parties govern 

from London, even when a majority 

of Scots did not elect them. Although 

there is a Scottish Parliament, it has 

limited powers and relies mostly on a 

cash grant from London. This is a key 

argument in favour of independence — 

the people who live here would make 

better decisions than a distant and unrepresentative 

government in London. 

We should use our wealth to build a 

strong economy and a fairer society. 

A Scottish government would not only 

be democratically accountable, but 

would put Scotland’s economic and 

social needs first. 

All countries in Europe have different 

economic strengths and weaknesses. 

They trade across borders and 

make compromises based on shared 

currencies, resources and opportunities. 

Scotland is ready to be a democratic 

and responsible nation and it 

has the resources and intelligence to 

succeed — just like every other country 

in Europe. 

David Brook owns a marketing company and is 

a member of Business for Scotland, a network 

of firms that support an independent Scotland. 


Oil and industry: 

would Scotland 

be better off 

outside the UK? 

No! 

“A ‘no’ vote is a 

vote to strengthen 

the Scottish 

Parliament” 

Murdo Fraser 

We will soon make the biggest 

decision our country 

has ever made. It is an irreversible 

decision, so it is 

important that we get it right. 

The Nationalists like to paint a 

“no” vote as a vote for the status 

quo. Nothing could be further from 

the truth. All three parties who want 

Scotland to remain in the UK have 

made proposals for more powers for 

the Scottish Parliament after a “no” 

vote in September’s referendum. 

A “no” vote is a vote to strengthen 

devolution and to build on the 

success we’ve had since the Scottish 

Parliament was created, in 1999. It is 

a positive vote to see more decisions 

being made here in Scotland without 

losing the support that comes from 

being part of the UK. 

As a partner of the UK, we are 

part of the third-largest economy in 

Europe and the sixth largest in the 

world. That is undoubtedly very attractive 

to the many major employers 

who invest in Scotland, helping them 

to continue to grow. Our partnership 

with the UK means businesses 

investing in Scotland have access to a 

market of 64 million across the UK, 

and not just the five million in Scotland. 

It also has a knock-on effect on 

the Scottish economy, which means 

creating even more jobs. 

Two reports by the Institute for Fiscal 

Studies (IFS) make clear exactly 

why we are stronger together, as part 

of the UK. The expert and impartial 

economists at the IFS said that a 

separate Scotland’s deficit “would be 

around three per cent of GDP larger 

than that for the UK as a whole”. 

That would mean big tax rises or 

that deep spending cuts would be required 

if we left the UK. Being part 

of the UK means our money is better 

protected and public services across 

Scotland aren’t put at risk. 

A “no” vote that is a vote for more 

powers for the Scottish Parliament 

is a message that is resonating with 

the public. We need more growth, 

more jobs and more opportunities 

for future generations. We don’t need 

uncertainty, instability and barriers. 

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond 

(who is pushing for independence) 

is asking businesses to take 

a significant risk with their future 

on the empty promise of “it’ll be all 

right”. That is unacceptable. BS 

access [(Äkses] 

convenor 

[kEn(vi:nE] 

devolution 

[)di:vE(lu:S&n] 

first minister 

[)f§:st (mInIstE] UK 

impartial [Im(pA:S&l] 

knock-on effect 

[)nQk (Qn E)fekt] UK 

MSP (Member of the 

Scottish Parliament) 

[)em es (pi:] 

push for sth. 

[(pUS fO:] 

resonate with sb. 

[(rezEneIt wID] 

spending cut 

[(spendIN kVt] 

Zugang 

Person, die Versammlungen 

einberuft; 

hier: Vorsitzende(r) 

Übertragung parlamen- 

tarischer Gewalt (auf 

eine niedrigere Ebene) 

Erste(r) Minister(in), 

Ministerpräsident(in) 

unparteiisch 

Folgewirkung, 

Anstoßeffekt 

Mitglied 

des schottischen 

Parlaments 

auf etw. drängen 

bei jmdm. Anklang 

finden 

Ausgabenkürzung 

Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative MSP. 

He is also convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s 

Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee. 

Corbis 


On call for success 

Die geschäftliche Kommunikation 

erfolgt heute meist per E-Mail. Doch 

gelegentlich sollte und muss man 

auch zum Telefon greifen. Bob Dignen 

erklärt im vierten Teil unserer Serie, 

was bei Telefonaten zu beachten ist, 

und gibt nützliche Tipps. medium 

Series Part Four 

On the line: some simple 

tips can help 28 www.business-spotlight.de you 

5/2014

TELEPHONING BUSINESS SKILLS 

This article is the fourth in our special skills series. Each article 

contains ten top tips for a key area of business communication — 

and a training plan to help you to structure your learning (see p. 33). 

In previous issues: 

Part One: Listening (2/2014); Part Two: Speaking (3/2014); 

Part Three: Writing (4/2014) 

Our phones are getting smarter 

and smarter, with more 

and more high-tech functions. 

Yet, we’re not necessarily 

becoming smarter in 

the way we use them. Many people 

now reach for their phones mainly 

to read and reply to emails and text 

messages. The solution to this overuse 

of emails and texts in business life 

is simple: make more phone calls! 

TIP 1 Think before calling 

To use the phone effectively, it is 

important to recognize its disadvantages. 

Even at its best, virtual communication 

can never be a perfect 

substitute for face-to-face meetings. 

Making phone calls in a second language 

can also be very stressful. And 

in detailed discussions, emails give 

people more time to understand the 

position of their business partners 

and to formulate their proposals. 

Work pressure also means that 

phone calls often have to be postponed 

at the last minute, causing 

frustration on all sides and possibly 

the perception of inefficiency, which 

can damage relationships. 

You should make the purpose of 

your phone call clear in advance, for 

example, by sending an email to the 

other person: 

l I think it’d be better to talk this 

through on the phone because… 

l Would it be better for us to discuss 

this over the phone, so that... ? 

You should also specify a clear time 

(with time zone) and duration. Also, 

if you think the call might have to be 

postponed, mention this possibility: 

l Is Tuesday at 10 a.m. CET OK with 

you? I think we’ll need around an 

hour. 

l I may have to cancel at short notice 

because we are under pressure here 

with…. 

If the discussion is potentially complex 

or sensitive, send your business 

partner a pre-call message: 

l As this is a sensitive topic, I’m sending 

you a few ideas in advance. 

On call for success etwa: für den Erfolg 

[Qn )kO:l fE sEk(ses] (jederzeit) auf Abruf 

at short notice 

kurzfristig 

[Ät )SO:t (nEUtIs] 

CET (Central European MEZ (mitteleuropäische 

Time) [)si: i: (ti:] 

Zeit) 

duration [dju&(reIS&n] Dauer 

face-to-face [)feIs tE (feIs] persönlich 

in advance [)In Ed(vA:ns] im Voraus 

perception [pE(sepS&n] Wahrnehmung, 

Empfinden 

postpone sth. [pEUst(pEUn] etw. verschieben 

sensitive [(sensEtIv] heikel 

topic [(tQpIk] 

Thema 

4 

The solution to the overuse of emails and text 

messages is to make more phone calls 

5/2014 www.business-spotlight.de 29 

Photodisc

BUSINESS SKILLS TELEPHONING 

TIP 2 Get connected 

There are four important aspects of 

connectivity that you need to think 

about: technological, informational, 

logistical and emotional: 

a) Technological. Try not to rely 

on mobile-phone connectivity if you 

need to conduct a serious conversation. 

Plan to call from a landline 

rather than risk the frustration (and 

lack of professionalism) of fragmented 

phone signals or poor audio quality. 

If you can’t avoid a mobile call, 

agree at the start who will call whom 

if you lose the signal. Otherwise, 

you might both end up trying to call 

at the same time, reaching each 

other’s voicemail: 

l If we get cut off, I’ll call you back. 

OK? 

b) Informational. Make sure that 

you are able to pronounce (and spell) 

the name of the person you want to 

speak to, and that you can spell your 

own name and that of your organization. 

Also, make sure that you can 

express the purpose of your call in 

a sentence of less than ten words, 

whether explaining it to a personal 

assistant or to the person you want 

to talk to: 

l I’m calling to clarify /discuss/explain/ 

check/ask/confirm… 

Good phrases to get past a personal 

assistant are: 

l He’s expecting my call at… 

l She asked me to call at… 

c) Logistical. People are busy and 

schedules can change at short notice. 

So always check when you begin a 

call that the agreed time and topic 

are still fine: 

l Is this still a good time to talk 

about... ? 

Go into calls with your diary open 

and clear alternative times available, 

if necessary. This avoids the need to 

go back to email to find a new time. 

d) Emotional. Take a few moments to 

(re-)establish an emotional relationship 

with your conversation partner 

by using some simple questions and 

comments: 

l How are you doing? Are you still very 

busy? 

l How is the project going? / How’s 

business? 

l We’re introducing a new system 

here. 

l Congratulations on the new logo 

design. 

TIP 3 Be explicit 

Business calls are usually about the 

transfer and discussion of information. 

And most people find telephone 

conversations more difficult than 

face-to-face communication because 

they can’t see whether the other person 

wants to interrupt, comment, 

agree or disagree. This means that 

both parties need to communicate 

more explicitly to make their intentions 

and feelings clear. It can help to 

discuss and decide on the communication 

process: 

l Shall I start with … and then you 

can explain the… ? 

l Do interrupt me at any time if something 

is unclear. 

l Is that enough about… ? 

l Shall we move on to… ? 

l Sorry, can I say something about 

that? 

Both parties should clarify explicitly 

the level of understanding or agreement: 

l Was that OK? Shall I go over that 

again? 

l Yes, I see. That’s very clear. 

l What do you think about... ? How do 

you see this? 

l I agree with that because… / I’m not 

sure that… 

Get connected, also 

emotionally 

clarify sth. [(klÄrEfaI] etw. (ab)klären, 

klarstellen 

conduct a conversation ein Gespräch führen 

[kEn)dVkt E kQnvE(seIS&n] 

confirm sth. [kEn(f§:m] etw. bestätigen 

connectivity 

Verbindung(sweisen) 

[)kQnek(tIvEti] 

diary [(daIEri] UK 

Terminplaner, -kalender 

explicitly [Ik(splIsItli] klar, eindeutig 

get cut off [get )kVt (Qf] unterbrochen werden 

get past sb. [)get (pA:st] hier: sich nicht von 

jmdm. abwimmeln 

lassen 

go over sth. [)gEU (EUvE] etw. durchgehen 

landline [(lÄndlaIn] Festnetz; hier: 

Festnetzanschluss 

phrase [freIz] 

Ausdruck, Formulierung 

pronounce sth. [prE(naUns] etw. aussprechen 

schedule [(Sedju:l] Terminplan 

spell sth. [spel] 

etw. buchstabieren 

voicemail [(vOIsmeI&l] Mailbox 

Hemera 


Mobile phones: not 

the best solution 

When making business 

phone calls, focus totally on 

the call and the caller 

Digital Vision 

TIP 4 Focus on the call 

Many people multitask during phone 

calls — checking or writing emails as 

they speak, looking for documents 

for the next task or clearing up. We 

think the person on the other end of 

the line doesn’t notice this. But often, 

they will indeed sense your lack 

of presence and commitment to the 

conversation. 

Poor focus produces poor listening, 

which can have a number of negative 

consequences: you may think you understood 

something when you didn’t; 

others can feel disrespected; and by 

not engaging properly, we can end 

up accepting ideas too quickly rather 

than using our creativity to find a 

better solution. 

When making business phone calls, 

focus totally on the call and the caller. 

You can do your other tasks later. 

TIP 5 Manage your voice 

Whether we like it or not, people 

judge us by our voice. Some people 

have a voice that others recognize as 

being warm, friendly and professional. 

Others sound technically expert, 

but may seem distant or even arrogant. 

We need to manage carefully 

the impact of our voice on others. 

The first step is self-analysis. Record 

your voice during a few business calls 

and think about these questions: 

l How loud is my voice? 

l How fast do I speak? 

l How animated is my voice? 

l How clear is my pronunciation? 

l How smooth is my delivery? 

After this self-analysis, ask a colleague 

to give you feedback on the 

same points, as well as in terms of 

how professional, confident, supportive 

and friendly you sound. Simple 

tips such as smiling or standing up 

while you speak can help to make 

you sound more positive. 

TIP 6 Confirm clearly 

One of the greatest dangers of telephone 

calls is that the commitment 

to decisions may not be clear. When 

someone says yes on the phone to 

you, this may mean “Yes, I will try”, 

whereas you understand “Yes, I will 

do it”. People may also genuinely 

commit to something but find that 

other realities and priorities arise later. 

It is therefore essential to confirm 

explicitly any decisions made during 

a phone call: 

l So, we are agreeing to increase the 

budget by ten per cent. Is that right? 

l So, I’ll send you the figures tomorrow, 

and you’ll do the analysis before 

the end of the month. OK? 

l OK. I’ll talk to Pete about this. 

l Are there any other projects that 

could get in the way of this? 

l Please let me know immediately if 

any problems arise. 

Important meetings and decisions 

should be summarized and confirmed 

either by email or by more formal 

minutes that are signed off by both 

parties. 

animated [(ÄnImeItId] 

commitment [kE(mItmEnt] 

commit to sth. [kE(mIt tu] 

confident [(kQnfIdEnt] 

delivery [di(lIvEri] 

engage [In(geIdZ] 

genuinely [(dZenjuInli] 

impact [(ImpÄkt] 

in terms of [In (t§:mz Qv] 

minutes [(mInIts] 

multitask [(mVltitA:sk] 

lebhaft 

Sich-Einlassen; auch: 

Verpflichtung 

sich zu etw. verpflichten 

sicher 

hier: Redeweise 

sich einlassen 

wirklich, ernsthaft 

Wirkung 

im Hinblick auf 

Protokoll 

mehrere Aufgaben 

gleichzeitig erledigen 

Aussprache 

pronunciation 

[prE)nVnsi(eIS&n] 

sign sth. off [)saIn (Qf] etw. absegnen 

summarize sth. [(sVmEraIz] etw. zusammenfassen 

technically [(teknIk&li] fachlich 

4 


BUSINESS SKILLS TELEPHONING 

Last but not least: build 

trust before you finish 

TIP 7 Close well 

To do business successfully on the 

phone, you need to build relationships 

and trust. The end of a call 

provides an ideal opportunity, which 

many people miss. Showing curiosity 

in the other person’s working and 

personal life is a good start: 

l So what have you got planned for the 

rest of the day? 

l How is the rest of the week looking 

for you? 

l Do you have any plans for the weekend? 

l How is your daughter doing at university? 

Show your appreciation of the other 

person and agree on when you will 

next be in contact with each other: 

l Many thanks for your time today. 

l Thanks a lot for your support with 

this project. 

l So, I’ll speak to you next Friday 

about the latest figures. 

l See you at the conference in Barcelona 

next month. 

TIP 8 Don’t think it’s over 

When the call is over, the work begins. 

Information has to be collected 

or delivered, and options must be 

clarified. As this happens, you need 

to keep people informed about the 

progress that has been made: 

l I’m just calling to update you on… 

appreciation 

Wertschätzung 

[E)pri:Si(eIS&n] 

appropriate [E(prEUpriEt] angemessen, geeignet 

as the saying goes wie es so schön heißt 

[)Äz DE )seIIN (gEUz] 

bigger picture: the ~ Gesamtperspektive 

[)bIgE (pIktSE] ifml. 

chase sb. up [)tSeIs (Vp] jmdn. Dampf machen 

enrich sth. [In(rItS] etw. bereichern 

file-sharing [(faI&l )SeErIN] Dateiaustausch 

keep an eye on sth. etw. im Auge behalten 

[)ki:p En (aI Qn] 

push sb. [pUS] 

jmdn. drängen, jmdm. 

Druck machen 

update sb. 

jmdn. auf den neuesten 

[)Vp(deIt] 

Stand bringen 

l I’ve got the information you need 

and will send it tomorrow. 

You may also have to chase up people 

via email or phone calls: 

l Sorry to push you on this, but we 

really need the data because... 

l Are there any problems with the 

project? 

Phone calls are usually just one step 

in a complex communication process 

at work. Keep this process moving, 

keep an eye on the bigger picture and 

do what you said you would. 

TIP 9 Think about video 

There are now technologies for adding 

video and file-sharing to your 

phone calls. Video can enrich communication 

by allowing you to see 

the other person’s reactions. Think 

carefully, however, before using video, 

as it may reduce the quality of 

your connection (see Tip 2 above) 

and lead to frustration. And if you 

do use video, make sure that your appearance 

is professional, even if you 

are calling from home. 

TIP 10 Analyse your usage 

We all have our own preferred ways 

of working and interacting. But we 

need to think about whether these 

ways are appropriate to the needs of 

our colleagues, customers and suppliers. 

Use the following questions to 

reflect on your communication style: 

l How well do I balance my use of 

different media: email, telephone, 

face-to-face meetings? 

l Do I adapt my usage to the needs 

of my business partners? 

l Should I increase/decrease my use 

of the telephone? 

Communication media are simply 

tools that help us to connect with others 

and to make decisions. If things 

seem to be difficult, and decisions go 

wrong, it’s not the media that are to 

blame — it’s the people who are using 

them. As the saying goes, a bad workman 

blames his tools. Make sure you 

use your telephone tools smartly. BS 

In the next issue 

In Part Five of our special series, 

Bob Dignen will provide ten top tips for 

improving your meetings skills. 

Do an exercise on this topic on 


www You’ll find exercises on this topic at 

www.business-spotlight.de/phone 

For more tips on communication skills, 

watch our “Business with Bob” videos 

at www.business-spotlight.de/videos/bob 

Bob Dignen is a director of York Associates 

(www.york-associates.co.uk) 

and author of many books. Contact: 

bob.dignen@york-associates.co.uk 

Plainpicture 


TRAINING PLAN BUSINESS SKILLS 

In this training plan, you will find suggestions on how to structure your learning to improve your telephoning skills. 

We have divided the activities into five weekly blocks, each of which includes an exercise and two tasks based on 

Bob Dignen’s ten top tips. You can adapt the timing of the plan to suit your own schedule. 

Week Exercise Tasks Done 

WEEK 1 

Exercise: Read the article on 

pages 28–32, paying particular 

attention to the first two 

tips. Make a note of any unfamiliar 

words and create a 

database of phrases. n 

Task 1: Rather than writing so many emails, talk things through 

on the phone with business partners. See whether this helps you 

to solve problems more quickly and more collaboratively. 

Task 2: Try to increase the emotional connection with your business 

partners in your next five calls by using some of the phrases 

listed in the article on page 30. See whether this strategy has 

a positive effect on the atmosphere and outcome of your calls. 

n 

n 

Wavebreak Media 

WEEK 2 

Exercise: Reread the third 

and fourth tips on pages 

30–31. www Every day this 

week, complete one of our 

special online exercises at 

www.business-spotlight.de/ 

phone 

n 

Task 3: In your calls, follow your opinions with simple questions, 

such as “What do you think?” or “How do you see this?”. This 

invites the listener to comment explicitly on what you said. 

Task 4: Find a quiet room to make important calls without any 

distractions. Also, give your full attention to the calls. See 

whether this helps you to communicate more effectively. 

n 

n 

WEEK 3 

Exercise: Reread the fifth 

and sixth tips in the article 

on page 31. Record yourself 

while you are making some 

phone calls. Analyse your 

voice for its volume, speed, 

animation, pronunciation and 

smoothness of delivery. n 

Task 5: Try to inject more energy and a positive tone into your 

voice when speaking English on the phone. While the other person 

is speaking, give positive feedback with expressions such as 

“That’s important” or “I agree with that completely because…”. 

Task 6: When making decisions with international business partners, 

check whether there are any local pressures or priorities 

that prevent them from implementing the decisions. Also, be 

open about the pressures that you face in your organization. 

n 

n 

WEEK 4 

Exercise: Reread the seventh 

and eighth tips on page 32. 

Do the telephoning exercises 

on Business Spotlight 

Audio (tracks 7–10). n 

Task 7: Ask the simple question “So what are your plans for the 

rest of the day?” to close telephone calls this week. If appropriate, 

say something about your own plans. 

Task 8: Call business partners and colleagues to update them 

on the progress of the projects that you are involved in. Don’t, 

however, give the impression you are checking up on them. 

n 

n 

iStock 

WEEK 5 

Exercise: Reread the ninth 

and tenth tips on page 32. 

Make a note of the telephoning 

strategies and phrases 

you have used successfully 

in the past few weeks. Write 

down some new things you 

could do to improve your telephoning 

skills. n 

Task 9: If possible, experiment with an increase in your use of 

video-conferencing technology for your one-to-one phone calls. 

Make a note of whether this improves the exchange of information 

and the collaborative spirit of the phone calls. 

Task 10: Choose two key people with whom it might be a good 

idea to speak to on the phone more frequently. See whether 

the increased use of the phone helps to improve your business 

relationships with these people. 

n 

n 


BUSINESS SKILLS TOOLBOX 

Learning vocabulary 

In dieser Rubrik nutzt Ken Taylor seine internationalen 

Erfahrungen. Hier sagt er Ihnen, was Sie tun können, 

wenn Ihnen die Worte fehlen. 

medium 

Learning English: write new words down — and use them! 

1. Increasing business vocabulary the easy way 

Many learners of English say they would like to increase 

their business vocabulary. They also complain that they 

never have the time to do it. But learning new words can be 

easy if you make it part of your daily routine: 

l Keep an eye open for useful words that you would like to 

learn. You can find them in emails you’ve been sent, reports 

you read, or input you receive in meetings or on the phone. 

l Write a word you want to learn on the back of a Post-it 

with the German translation on the front. Stick it somewhere 

where it is easily seen, such as on the corner of your computer 

screen or on the back of your phone. Every time you use 

the computer or pick up the phone, test yourself. You will 

soon fix that word in your memory. 

Five new words learned in this way every week would 

add 260 new words to your business vocabulary every year! 

Foto: Michael Brown 

iStock 

3. Finding the right words 

You may feel embarrassed if you can’t explain 

what you mean. But there are several 

methods you can use to get your meaning 

across. Let’s imagine you don’t know how 

to say nachlässig in English (“negligent”): 

l Think of German words with a similar 

meaning, which might lead you to another 

word that is close in meaning to “negligent”, 

such as “neglectful” or “careless”. 

l Find the opposite, such as “careful” or 

“thorough”. Say what it isn’t! 

l Describe the word you are looking for: 

“It’s when someone fails to do something 

correctly, or when they don’t show the 

right amount of care or attention.” 

l You could also use the German word 

in an English sentence: “We would be 

nachlässig if we failed to process the order 

carefully.” This puts the word in a context 

that is self-explanatory. 

Practise these skills on Business Spotlight Audio 

2. What is “instant English”? 

Your English teacher has probably told you about “false friends” 

(see also p. 52). These are words in English that look the same 

as words in your own language — but mean something totally 

different. These “false friends” cause a lot of intercultural misunderstandings. 

That’s the bad news. 

The good news, however — especially for German speakers 

— is that thousands of German words are the same as or very 

similar to English words. You could call these words “instant 

English”. So the next time you dry up and can’t think of the correct 

English word, say the German word. It might be recognized 

by your liste ners, and even if it is not, someone might know 

enough German to help you out with the correct translation. 


daily routine 

[)deIli ru:(ti:n] 

dry up [)draI (Vp] ifml. 

feel embarrassed 

[)fi:&l Im(bÄrEst] 

get one’s meaning across 

[)get wVnz (mi:nIN E)krQs] 

input [(InpUt] 

memory: fix sth. in 

one’s ~ [(memEri] 

process sth. [(prEUses] 

self-explanatory 

[)self Ik(splÄnEtEri] 

thorough [(TVrE] 

Berater(in) 

hier: Arbeitsalltag 

stecken bleiben 

verlegen sein 

das, was man sagen 

will, rüberbringen 

Beitrag 

sich etw. einprägen 

etw. bearbeiten 

selbsterklärend 

gründlich 

Ken Taylor is a communication consultant 

and author of 50 Ways to Improve 

Your Business English (Summertown). 

Contact: KTaylor868@aol.com 


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10 September 2014 for the 06/14 issue

Lost in translation 

China gilt als Schwellenland, wird aber zunehmend zu einer wirtschaftlichen 

Großmacht und für Investoren immer wichtiger. Vicki Sussens befasst sich mit 

aktuellen Entwicklungen und kulturellen Besonderheiten, die beim Ausbau von 

Geschäftsbeziehungen zu China zu beachten sind. 

medium 

Chinese youth: moving 

towards a bright future?

Corbis 

CHINA INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 

Eric X. Li was born at the 

height of Mao Zedong’s Cultural 

Revolution (1966–76). 

Growing up, he learned that 

all societies progress naturally 

through feudalism, capitalism, socialism 

and, finally, to communism. 

To reach this paradise on earth, 

however, they must fight capitalism. 

“That grand story was a bestseller,” 

Li told a TED-talk audience (see also 

pp. 22–25) in 2013. 

Then came the break up of communism 

in Eastern Europe in the 

1990s. “Disillusioned by the failed 

religion of my youth, I went to America,” 

the venture capitalist and political 

scientist from Shanghai tells 

his audience. There, he was taught 

another “grand story”: that all societies 

progress naturally towards 

democracy and free markets, but to 

get there, they must fight evil. The 

audience starts to laugh. 

Li laughs, too, but then he says: 

“Let us stop telling people there’s 

only one way to govern ourselves. 

It is wrong.” In the past 30 years, 

Western leaders have tirelessly promoted 

their agenda of free markets 

and democracy, he says. But China 

did not “buy the story”. 

Instead, it developed its mixed 

model of communism and a market 

economy — and went from being one 

4 

agenda [E(dZendE] 

audience [(O:diEns] 

grand [grÄnd] 

tirelessly [(taIElEsli] 

venture capitalist 

[(ventSE )kÄpIt&lIst] 

Programm; hier: Konzept 

Publikum, 

Zuhörer(innen) 

großartig, toll 

unermüdlich 

Risikokapitalgeber(in) 


INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION CHINA 

Getty Images/Thinkstock 

“Let us stop telling people there’s only one 

way to govern ourselves. It is wrong” 

Eric X. Li, venture capitalist and political scientist from Shanghai, China 

Old ways, modern city: 

tai chi in Shanghai 

of the poorest agricultural countries 

in the world to its second-largest 

economy. Since 1978, China’s GDP 

has increased tenfold and some 650 

million people have been lifted out of 

poverty. “Eighty per cent of the entire 

world’s poverty alleviation happened 

in China. In other words, all the new 

and old democracies put together 

amounted to a mere fraction of what 

a single, one-party state did without 

voting,” he said. 

Li says his business is growing in 

leaps and bounds. Entrepreneurs are 

starting businesses every day in China, 

and the middle class is expanding 

at a speed unseen before in history. 

“According to the [US] grand story, 

none of this should have been happening,” 

he says. 

China’s progress is indeed impressive. 

In 1978, it began economic reforms 

to introduce market principles. 

Since then, it has developed stock 

markets, modernized its banking 

system, opened up to foreign trade 

and investment, and increased the 

autonomy of state enterprises. It has 

focused on building the manpower 

it needs for its economy’s future development 

by investing heavily in 

education, science and technology, 

health and welfare, and infrastructure. 

A network of highways and 

high-speed trains now connects huge 

areas of China, linking its various 

economic zones. China has the thirdlargest 

railway network worldwide 

and already has more high-speed 

tracks than the rest of the world 

combined. 

At the same time, the state has 

promoted business activity and the 

development of industry clusters in 

regional economies. Beijing, Shanghai 

and Shenzhen, in Guangdong, for 

example, aim to become global centres 

of biotechnology. Together, their 

industry parks now include more 

than 5,000 small enterprises, which 

are supported by tax incentives and 

state-funded academic research. Developments 

like these mean that multinationals 

now see China not only 

as a source of cheap labour and a 

growing consumer market, but also 

academic research 

[ÄkE)demIk ri(s§:tS] 

alleviation [E)li:vi(eIS&n] 

Beijing [)beI(dZIN] 

entrepreneur 

[)QntrEprE(n§:] 

GDP (gross domestic 

product) [)dZi: di: (pi:] 

incentive [In(sentIv] 

industry cluster 

[)IndEstri (klVstE] 

in leaps and bounds 

[In )li:ps En (baUndz] 

manpower [(mÄn)paUE] 

mere fraction: a ~ 

[)mIE (frÄkS&n] 

network [(netw§:k] 

poverty [(pQvEti] 

state-funded 

[)steIt (fVndId] 

stock market 

[(stQk )mA:kIt] 

tenfold [(tenfEUld] 

welfare [(welfeE] 

wissenschaftliche 

Forschung 

Minderung; hier: Abbau 

Peking 

Unternehmer(in) 

BIP (Bruttoinlandsprodukt) 

Anreiz 

Industriezentrum 

rasant, sehr schnell 

Arbeitskräfte 

nur ein Bruchteil 

Netz 

Armut 

staatlich finanziert 

Aktienbörse 

zehnfach 

Sozialwesen 


Money, money, money: the new Chinese middle class 

Corbis 

Alamy 

Alamy 

The air that you breathe: pollution in Beijing 

China: Fast facts 

as a centre of innovation. The country 

faces serious challenges, however, 

including a rapidly ageing population 

— in part, the result of the state’s 

one-child policy — government and 

business corruption, and pollution. 

Also, its GDP growth dropped from 

10.4 per cent in 2010 to 7.7 per 

cent in 2013, although it has defied 

challenge [(tSÄlIndZ] 

consumption 

[kEn(sVmpS&n] 

defy sth. [di(faI] 

pollution [pE(lu:S&n] 

prediction [pri(dIkS&n] 

slowdown [(slEUdaUn] 

urbanization 

[)§:bEnaI(zeIS&n] 

Herausforderung 

Konsum 

etw. trotzen 

(Umwelt-)Verschmutzung 

Prognose 

(Konjunktur-) 

Abschwächung 

Verstädterung 

Moving on up: 

China’s exports are 

growing fast 

predictions of imminent collapse. 

According to David Lee, general 

manager in Hong Kong of the Boston 

Consulting Group (BCG), the 

slowdown comes in part from the 

government’s plan to turn the largely 

investment-driven economy to one 

based on consumption, supported by 

the growing middle class and a more 

developed social safety net. Welldeveloped 

infrastructure, continuing 

urbanization and the rising middle 

class will continue to make China attractive 

to foreign investors, says Lee. 

4 

Official name: 

People’s Republic of China 

Government: 

Communist state 

Capital: 

Beijing 15.6 million (2011) 

Chief of state: 

President Xi Jinping 

Population: 

1.36 billion (July 2014 est.) 

GDP (at purchasing power parity): 

$13.4 trillion (2013 est.) 

GDP growth rate: 

7.7% (2013 est.) 

Unemployment: 

4.1% (2013 est.) 

Main trading partners: 

US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, 

Australia, Germany (2013 est.) 

Main religions: 

No religion: 52.2% (China is officially 

atheist); Buddhist 18.2%, 

Christian 5.1%, Muslim 1.8%, folk 

religion 21.9% (2010 est.) 


Peking 

billion [(bIljEn] 

Milliarde(n) 

est. (estimate) [(estImEt] Schätzung 

folk religion [(fEUk ri)lIdZEn] Volksreligion 

GDP (gross domestic BIP (Bruttoinlandsproduct) 

[)dZi: di: (pi:] produkt) 

purchasing power parity: kaufkraftbereinigt 

at ~ [)p§:tSEsIN )paUE 

(pÄrEti] 

trillion [(trIljEn] 

Billion(en) 

Source: CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/ 

library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html ) 


INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION CHINA 


iStock 

“The value of trust could spread to the West” 

ABE SOROCK, American, owner of Atlas-China, a recruiting 

agency that supplies Chinese firms with bilingual American 

expats in Beijing, China. 

American expats who have worked in China and the US, 

who are bilingual and understand both cultures, are in 

big demand here. They help Chinese firms gain intercultural 

understanding of and close deals with US firms. 

In the past five years, Chinese companies have actively 

started to gain the intercultural skills they need to give 

them an international advantage. The Chinese don’t expect foreigners to learn 

Chinese or their culture, but they see it as a sign of respect if you do. 

I think China will change the way global business is done. For example, decision-makers 

in Chinese firms will do business with you only after a relationship of 

trust has been built. As China becomes more powerful, the ability to build that 

trust will become a business advantage, and so this cultural value could spread 

to the West. 


Peking 

expat (expatriate) [)eks(pÄt] ifml. 

(dauerhaft) im Ausland lebende Person 

recruiting agency [ri(kru:tIN )eIdZEnsi] Personalagentur 

Shanghai. The firm encourages staff 

to move between its regional offices 

and provides intercultural training. 

“Employees working in China are 

from different cultural backgrounds,” 

says a Henkel spokesman. “This can 

inspire more ideas and passion.” 

Indeed, global firms wanting to remain 

competitive have no choice but 

to be active in emerging economies 

like China because the developed 

economies are not providing sufficient 

growth. As Jeff Immelt, head of 

General Electric (GE), told the BBC: 

“I sit in my office every day and say 

I’ve got to have a higher market share 

in China than I have in the United 

States. I’ve got to win Brazil; I’ve got 

to win Africa. There’s no choice.” 

According to a 2014 article by BCG, 

it is “time to reengage with, not retreat 

from, emerging markets”. However, 

domestic Chinese firms with lowcost 

structures and first-hand knowledge 

of local consumers are more 

aggressive and improving their 

operations more quickly than global 

firms. The Chinese consumerelectronics 

firm Haier, for example, 

produced a washing machine that also 

cleans potatoes, after discovering that 

potato farmers were using their machines 

to wash their produce. Haier 

now focuses on finding niche markets 

in both developing and developed 

countries. One success in the US is 

an affordable wine cellar in the form 

of a small refrigerator with humidity 

control. Haier also produces one 

of the world’s top-selling standard 

fridges. 

Firms like Haier are beginning to 

challenge multinationals in their home 

markets, reports BCG. And firms 

such as GE are now developing innovations 

for poorer markets and then 

transferring them back to the US. Recently, 

GE developed a portable ultrasound 

machine for $15,000 (about 

€11,000) in China, which is now being 

used in emergency rooms in US 

hospitals that need to cut costs. 

GE is one multinational giant that 

has the international experience necessary 

to succeed in China. Henkel, 

which has been in China since 1988, 

is another. China is now the firm’s 

third-biggest market, and in September 

of last year, Henkel opened the 

world’s largest adhesives factory in 

Alliance Boots also understands the 

Chinese market. Recently, it bought 

a 50 per cent stake in Guangzhou 

Pharmaceuticals, one of China’s largest 

wholesalers. It took two-and-ahalf 

years of discussions before terms 

were even negotiated, the firm’s head, 

Stefano Pessina, told BBC News. 

adhesive [Ed(hi:sIv] Klebstoff 

challenge sb. [(tSÄlIndZ] auf jmdn. Druck ausüben 

competitive [kEm(petEtIv] wettbewerbsfähig 

developed economy Industriestaat 

[di)velEpt i(kQnEmi] 

emergency room 

Notaufnahme 

[i(m§:dZEnsi ru:m] US 

emerging economy Schwellenland 

[i)m§:dZIN i(kQnEmi] 

humidity control 

Luftfeuchtigkeits- 

[hju(mIdEti kEn)trEUl] regelung 

negotiate sth. [nI(gEUSieIt] etw. aushandeln 

niche market 

Nischenmarkt 

[(ni:S )mA:kIt] 

pharmaceuticals 

Pharmazeutika 

[)fA:mE(su:tIk&lz] 

portable [(pO:tEb&l] tragbar 

produce [(prQdju:s] Erzeugnisse 

reengage with sth. sich erneut auf etw. 

[)ri:(IngeIdZ wID] einlassen 

refrigerator [ri(frIdZEreItE] Kühlschrank 

retreat from sth. 

sich aus etw. 

[ri(tri:t frQm] 

zurückziehen 

spokesman [(spEUksmEn] Sprecher 

stake [steIk] 

Beteiligung 

terms [t§:mz] 

Konditionen 

wholesaler [(hEUlseI&lE] Großhändler(in) 


One-child policy: 

life for this 

youngster is hard 

Privileged: 

growing up in 

comfort 

“Chinese cultural values are deeply entrenched. 

The Chinese are not going to westernize” 

Jason Chan, Chinese intercultural-communication expert in Germany 

“The worse thing is to cause loss of face” 

JASON CHAN, Chinese, owner of Nihao-Nihao, a Chineselanguage 

and intercultural-communication centre in 

Erlangen, Germany 

“When you approach China, you 

have to be even more flexible than 

you have to be when working in the 

Western world.” Pessina says that 

the Chinese think longer term than 

people in the West and that they frequently 

change their minds. 

Firms entering China with a onesize-fits-all 

marketing strategy will 

fail, as online auction site eBay 

learned. When it bought the Chinese 

EachNet e-commerce site in 2004, it 

took its US model to China. However, 

it could not compete with local 

rival Taobao, and closed down two 

years later. It then formed a joint 

venture with the local internet portal 

Tom Online, which helped it to meet 

local consumers’ needs. 

compete with sb. es mit jmdm. aufnehmen 

[kEm(pi:t wID] 

expat (expatriate) (dauerhaft) im Ausland 

[)eks(pÄt] ifml. 

lebende Person 

longer term [)lQNgE (t§:m] längerfristig 

one-size-fits-all 

Einheits-, 

[)wVn saIz )fIts (O:l] ifml. standardisiert 

recruit sb. [ri(kru:t] jmdn. anwerben 

am married to a German, so I know that interest in 

I learning Chinese and learning about Chinese culture 

is growing here. One of the biggest clichés seems to 

be that China is “catching up to the West”. In fact, we 

have been around for 2,000 years, and China is again 

becoming the powerful nation it once was. It is a big mistake, when you are doing 

business in China, to believe that “Western” means “progress” and to expect the 

Chinese to westernize their businesses. Chinese people have a very long memory 

for bad behaviour and the worst thing is to cause someone loss of face. 

“A great deal of commercial opportunities 

in China are being lost in 

translation,” says Abe Sorock, who 

runs an agency in Beijing that recruits 

bilingual expats with international 

China: A civilization, 

not a nation 

China is one of the world’s oldest 

continuous civilizations, going 

back to 221 BC, when seven nation 

states were united under the Qin dynasty. 

The Han dynasty, which came 

to power 15 years later, created the 

Chinese cultural identity, which has 

kept the Chinese people united for 

more than 2,000 years. 

Today, 92 per cent of China’s population 

call themselves Han. The 

country’s cultural roots, which are influenced 

by the humanistic ideals of 

Confucius, exist as written codes for 

social and individual behaviour. They 

run deep, influencing all aspects of 

society, including business life. For 

example, guanxi, which means “relationship”, 

refers to the importance 

of close business relationships built 

on trust. 

BC (before Christ) [)bi: (si:] 

code [kEUd] 

Confucius [kEn(fju:SEs] 

v. Chr. 

Kodex 

Konfuzius 

4 

Corbis 

catch up to sb. [)kÄtS (Vp tu] 

cliché [(kli:SeI] 

jmdn. einholen 

[wg. Aussprache] 



Education: 

key to success 

in China 

Good to know 

l Building a relationship based on trust 

is essential. 

l Saving face is key in all interaction. 

Offer different options so that people 

do not feel forced into a corner. Never 

criticize anyone or give people special 

attention in front of others. 

l The Chinese communicate indirectly. 

Deep knowledge of the culture is needed 

to read between the lines. 

l The Chinese respect hierarchy. Each 

person in an organization has a role. 

This is important for keeping order. 

l Avoid publicly expressing opinions 

about work, as this can be seen as 

criticizing your boss. 

l When negotiating in China, take a 

senior manager with you. Senior people 

enter a room first and only the most 

senior Chinese speaks during discussions. 

Your team should do this, too. 

l The Chinese value humility and the 

collective. Avoid introducing ideas with 

“I think…” or “I want…”. Displays of 

personal competence or talent are seen 

as egocentric. 

l The Chinese value modesty. Present 

your ideas in a way that shows you 

don’t think they are perfect. Give as 

many sides of the argument as possible, 

and use data and examples. 

l Younger Chinese with more international 

experience behave less traditionally, 

but they seldom lose their cultural 

values, such as the need to save face. 

display [dI(spleI] 

humility [hju(mIlEti] 

modesty [(mQdEsti] 

negotiate [nI(gEUSieIt] 

save face [)seIv (feIs] 

senior [(si:niE] 

Zurschaustellung 

Demut 

Bescheidenheit 

verhandeln 

das Gesicht wahren 

leitend, hochrangig 

experience for Chinese firms (see interview 

on p. 40). “More decisions 

are being made about bigger sums 

of money every day by people who 

are sitting around a table speaking 

only Mandarin,” Sorock says. “So if 

you want to be a part of those conversations, 

you have to understand 

the language, how the Chinese shape 

their discussions, what kinds of pressures 

they are under and how to really 

serve their needs. Employing foreign 

staff to act as emissaries is a very 

practical, cheap and effective way of 

solving intercultural problems.” 

Opportunities are there — and not 

only for global players, he says. “The 

“There is an acceptance of change” 

development you are seeing here is 

really just the beginning. People coming 

to China now will be very successful 

because many industries and 

niche markets are in their early stages 

of development. But in the next 20 

years, they will really expand.” 

Yet, Sorock has seen the ability of 

Chinese firms to interact with Western 

firms grow much more quickly 

than the other way round. “Most 

American firms expect the Chinese 

to speak English and to adapt to the 

US way of doing business,” he says. 

emissary [(emIsEri] 

JAMIE BETTLES, British, head of the European office (in 

Manchester) of Qingdao-based InternChina, an agency 

that places European interns with firms in China. 

Our clients include Western firms and 

Chinese state firms with thousands 

of employees, but we are also seeing 

growth in small, dynamic technology 

companies in areas like renewable 

energy, IT or computer games, often 

run by young Chinese who have studied 

or worked abroad. Small businesses in 

China see foreign employees as a way 

to gain intercultural competence. Often, 

Chinese companies are reluctant to 

take on foreign staff for various reasons 

and an intern is a cost-effective way to 

try out foreign staff without too much 

commitment. 

Abgesandte(r) 

The cultural traditions of humility, 

modesty, harmony and saving face run 

deep. There is also an acceptance of 

change because people want social harmony 

and don’t want to lose face by not 

supporting change. 

based: ...- ~ [beIst] mit Sitz in ... 

humility [hju(mIlEti] Demut 

intern [(Int§:n] 

Praktikant(in) 

modesty [(mQdEsti] Bescheidenheit 

save face [)seIv (feIs] das Gesicht wahren 

42 www.business-spotlight.de


CHINA INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION 

BOOKS 

Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and 

Faith in the New China, Evan Osnos (Farrar, 

Straus and Giroux) 

When China Rules the World: The End of the 

Western World and the Birth of a New Global 

Order, Martin Jacques (Penguin) 

WEBSITES 

ATLAS-China: http://atlas-china.com 

InternChina: http://internchina.com 

Nihao-Nihao: www.nihao-nihao.com 

Sorock does not see the meeting 

of East and West in China simply 

as a battle of winners and losers. As 

an entrepreneur, he believes business 

cooperation is one way of creating 

value for everyone: “My little role in 

creating a better future is to be here, 

trying to figure out how my country, 

America, can do better business with 

China.” 

Jason Chan, a Chinese-language 

and intercultural-communication 

trainer in Erlangen, Germany (see 

interview on p. 41), also believes that 

deep insight into the Chinese way of 

doing business is essential. “You won’t 

succeed in China if you do not understand 

the Chinese mindset,” he says. 

“Chinese civilization is 2,000 years 

old, and its cultural values are very 

complex and deeply entrenched. The 

Chinese are not going to westernize.” 

Chan believes that China is “lying 

low” now, learning whatever it can 

from the West because it does not 

deeply entrenched 

[)di:pli In(trentSt] 

figure sth. out 

[)fIgEr (aUt] ifml. 

insight [(InsaIt] 

lie low [)laI (lEU] 

mindset [(maIndset] 

sense of destiny 

[)sens Ev (destEni] 

soft skills [(sQft skIlz] 

tief verwurzelt 

etw. herausfinden 

Einblick 

sich im Verborgenen 

halten; hier: sich 

zurückhalten 

Mentalität, Denkweise 

Schicksalsglaube 

Sachkompetenz übersteigende 

Fähigkeiten 

yet have the soft skills to be a world 

power, but that China has awakened 

to a sense of destiny. 

“We were once a great nation and 

it is as if the Chinese are now realizing 

they can have that again,” says 

Chan. When that happens, he has no 

doubt Chinese firms will expect business 

partners to speak Mandarin and 

to adapt their way of doing business 

to the Chinese. 

BS 

Listen to more on this topic on 


plus Test your knowledge of China in 


www For more on China, go to 

www.business-spotlight.de/china 

Vicki Sussens is a feature writer and 

editor of the Intercultural and Management 

sections of Business Spotlight. 

Contact: v.sussens@spotlight-verlag.de 

Our new Business Spotlight plus workbook: 

your extra dose of language training 

l Boost your success at business English 

l Improve your skills with additional exercises 

l Study anywhere and anytime 

You can now learn 

business English 

more effectively and 

efficiently: 

l New listening comprehension 

exercises 

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key business area 

l Optimal size for flexible 

learning 

G r a m m at i k 

MAKING REQUESTS 

In Grammar at Work (p. 45), we present different structures that are used to make 

polite requests. Here are some exercises to practise these structures. 

1. Which one is it? 

Choose the correct option to complete each of the requests below. 

a) I would hoped / was hoping you could take over the 

late shift next week. 

b) Can you do / make me a favour? Can you put these 

files on the top shelf? 

c) Do you mind if / that I leave a little earlier today? 

d) You will / wouldn’t lend me £10, won’t / would you? 

e) Could / Couldn’t you take these letters to the post 

office, please? 

f) Would you mind to call / calling Dr Brown to cancel 

my appointment? 

2. A soft start 

Complete these sentences with the words from the box. 

afraid l bother l cheeky l excuse l favour l rather l sorry 

easy 

REMEMBER ! 

To make a request more polite, you 

can introduce it with a question, an 

apology or a remark that explains the 

reason for your request: 

l Could you do me a favour? Could you 

answer this email from a customer? 

l Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering 

if you could check this list 

for me. 

l It’s rather cold in here, isn’t it? Do 

you mind if I shut the window? 

medium 

a) Sorry to _______________ you, Mike, but could you give me a hand with these boxes? 

b) I’ve got a big _______________ to ask you, Claudia. Could you drive me to the airport later? 

c) I know this is a bit _______________, Tom, but could you possibly lend me ¤10? 

d) I’m _______________ I haven’t quite finished with this yet. Could you give me another hour? 

e) The radio’s _______________ loud, don’t you think? Would you mind turning it down a bit? 

f) Er, _______________ me! Can you open the door for me, please? 

g) I’m _______________ to keep going on about this, but I really do need those files back. 

12 www.business-spotlight.de 5/2014 5/2014 

www.business-spotlight.de 13 

iStock 

advanced 

3. In your own words 

Write what you might say in each situation. Include an introductory phrase or sentence and 

the word given in brackets. 

What’s the 

best request? 

Example: You’re in an expensive restaurant. You’ve 

already been served your food and wine. Ask the waiter 

to bring you a glass of tap water. (could) 

Excuse me! Could you bring me a glass of 

tap water, please? 

a) A colleague has parked his car so close to 

yours that you can’t get out of the parking 

space. Call him in his office and ask him to 

move his car. (bother) 

b) You’re in the canteen, and you discover that you’ve left your wallet at home. Ask the colleague 

behind you in the queue to lend you ¤10. (couldn’t) 

c) You need more time to finish a report. Ask your boss to give you a few more days. (wondering) 

d) You‘re visiting a client and it’s very hot in the office. Ask to open the window. (mind) 

e) You’re going on holiday for three weeks. Ask a colleague to water your plants. (favour) 

f) A customer calls to enquire about prices. Ask her to hold on while you check the price list. (If) 

Order your free copy 

today! 

+49 (0)89/85681-16 

abo@spotlight-verlag.de

LANGUAGE VOCABULARY 

Commercial cleaning 

In 

dieser Rubrik präsentieren wir nützliche Begriffe aus 

der Arbeitswelt. Von Carol Scheunemann 

easy 

1 

2 

13 

3 

12 

11 

10 

14 

20 

4 

7 

9 

15 16 

17 

19 

21 

1. commercial/industrial cleaning Gebäudereinigung 

[kE)m§:S&l/In)dVstriEl (kli:nIN] 

2. wash windows [)wQS (wIndEUz] Fenster putzen 

3. cleaning staff/crew [(kli:nIN stA:f/kru:] Putzpersonal, -leute 

4. (mobile) bucket [()mEUbaI&l) (bVkIt] (Fahr-)Eimer 

5. stain [steIn] Fleck 

6. rug [rVg] Teppich 

7. hoover (sth.) [(hu:vE] (etw.) staubsaugen 

(US vacuum (sth.) [(vÄkjuEm]) 

8. tile floor [)taI&l (flO:] Fliesenboden 

9. hoover [(hu:vE] (US vacuum cleaner Staubsauger 

[(vÄkjuEm )kli:n&r*]) 

10. doormat [(dO:mÄt] Fußmatte 

11. feather duster [)feDE (dVstE] Staubwedel 

12. broom [bru:m] Besen 

13. mop [mQp] (Boden-)Wischer 

14. cleaning product [(kli:nIN )prQdVkt], Reinigungsmittel 

cleaner [(kli:nE] 

15. cleaning-supplies trolley [(kli:nIN Putzmittelwagen 

sE)plaIz )trQli] (US cart [)kA:rt*]) 

16. trash bag [(trÄS bÄg] (US also Müllbeutel, -sack 

garbage bag [(gA:rbIdZ bÄg*]) 

17. dustpan [(dVstpÄn] Kehrschaufel 

18. wastepaper basket [)weIst(peIpE )bA:skIt] Abfalleimer 

(US wastebasket [(weIst)bÄskEt*]) 

19. wipe sth. [waIp] etw. (ab)wischen 

20. rubber glove [)rVbE (glVv] Gummihandschuh 

21. cloth [(klQT] (Wisch-, Putz-)Lappen 


5 

6 

18 

8 

Exercise: Our offer for offices 

Use words from the list to complete the sentences. 

We do the dirty work for you! On a daily basis, our professional 

cleaning a) __________ will perform the following tasks: 

b) Sweep (kehren) exterior steps with a ____________. 

c) Clean tile floors (moderately wet) with a ___________. 

d) ___________ all rugs and carpets. 

e) Remove ___________ from rugs, carpets and chairs. 

f) ___________ tables, desks and work surfaces to remove 

fingerprints (Fingerabdrücke). 

g) Dust off the tops of bookshelves with a _____________. 

h) Empty all __________. 

i) ________ the inside of windows. 

We also remove dirt in a “green” way. Our j) ____________ 

products do not harm the environment. 

Answers on page 64 

Bernhard Förth 


GRAMMAR AT WORK LANGUAGE 

Making polite requests 

Mit höflichen Bitten erreicht man mehr. Die Formulierung hängt auch 

von der Gesprächssituation ab, wie Anna Hochsieder erläutert. 

medium 

Jessica is a receptionist at Goodman & Partners, a small law firm. Here are 

some of the many requests she has to deal with on a typical day. 

Boss: Can you do me a favour, Jessica? Can you call Dr Wilson and cancel 

my dental appointment? 

Junior partner: Could you put these in an envelope for me and send them 

off to the client? Thanks, Jess! 

Boss’s wife: Hello, Jessica. It’s Monica Goodman. Would you ask my husband 

to call me as soon as he returns from court, please? He seems to 

have switched off his mobile. 

Client: Hello, this is Sally Crane. I’ve got an appointment with Mr Goodman 

at 3 p.m. I was wondering if he could see me at 2.30 instead. 

Colleague: Do you mind if I leave these letters for you to deal with, Jess? 

Thanks a million! 

Boss: Would you mind calling Mr Owen, Jessica? Tell him I need his signature 

on this document here, would you? 

Junior partner: Sorry to bother you, but do you think you could copy these files 

for me? I’ve got a client waiting in my office… 

Postman: Here’s a registered letter for Mr Goodman. If you’d sign here, 

please. 

Colleague: Er, Jess? You couldn’t lend me a tenner, could you? I can’t find 

my wallet. 

l Tell him I need his signature, would 

you? 

6. If + subject followed by will or would 

is sometimes used at the beginning of 

a request. This is typical of requests 

made in service situations: 

l If you’d sign here, please. 

7. Requests with could or would are 

sometimes made in the form of negated 

statements, followed by the corresponding 

question tag: 

l You couldn’t lend me a tenner, could 

you? 

BS 

Exercise 

Turn these orders into polite requests. 

a) Open the window. 

Would you mind __________________? 

k 

registered letter [)redZIstEd (letE] 

Einschreiben 

b) Move your car. 

Do you think _____________________? 

Explanations 

1. The modal verbs can, could and 

would are used to make requests. Could 

and would are more polite than can. 

2. Two-step questions can make requests 

more polite. The first question 

leads in to the actual request: 

l Can you do me a favour? Can you call 

Dr Wilson? 

You can also lead in with an apology, 

followed by but: 

l Sorry to bother you, but do you think 

you could copy these files for me? 

3. A difficult request can be softened 

by introducing it with the past continuous 

form of certain verbs: 

l I was wondering if he could see me at 

2.30 instead. 

Similar examples include: 

l I was hoping you could... 

l I was thinking you might be able to... 

4. Requests in the form of questions 

can be made less direct with certain 

lead-in phrases: 

l Do you mind if I leave these letters for 

you to deal with? 

l Do you think you could copy these 

files for me? 

Would you mind + -ing is also used: 

l Would you mind calling Mr Owen? 

5. Very direct requests sometimes use 

the imperative, followed by would you?: 

c) Bring me a cup of coffee. 

I was wondering if _______________. 

d) Come in on Saturday. 

You couldn’t ____________________? 


You’ll find a related exercise on 


plus Do more exercises on this topic in 


www More exercises can be found at 

www.business-spotlight.de/grammar 

Anna Hochsieder is a Munich-based 

teacher of English who writes regularly 

in Business Spotlight. Contact: 

a.hochsieder@googlemail.com 


LANGUAGE EASY ENGLISH 

Purestock 

Getting agreement: think carefully about 

how you present your requests 

Getting approval 

Was tun, wenn Sie eine Genehmigung für Vorschläge wie den Einsatz 

von zusätzlichem Personal einholen müssen? Mike Hogan hat einfache 

Tipps, wie Sie die Zustimmung Ihrer Vorgesetzten bekommen. easy 

It is often necessary at work to ask 

your boss for his or her approval on 

an idea or a proposal. There are two 

main ways to do this: with a spontaneous 

request or by discussing the idea 

at an official meeting. 

A spontaneous request 

Such requests may happen at the end 

of a meeting, in the corridor at work 

or perhaps in the boss’s office. They 

might be introduced by saying something 

like this (Ruth is Brad’s boss): 

Brad: Hi, Ruth. Do you have a minute 

for me? I’d like to talk to you about 

the design project. 

Ruth: Sure. How can I help you? 

Brad: Well,… 

A request at an official meeting 

The second way of asking for approval 

is by requesting that a proposal be an 

item on the agenda at an official meeting. 

In this case, if Ruth is in charge of 

the meeting, she might introduce the 

item like this: 

Ruth: The last item on the agenda is the 

design project. Brad, you wanted to 

talk about this at today’s meeting. 

What’s the problem? 

Brad: Well, it’s not exactly a problem, 

but… 

Dialogue 

There are a number of things you can 

do to increase the chances of someone 

agreeing to your requests at work. Read 

the following dialogue, which continues 

from the two introductions above, 

and think about the answers to these 

questions: 

l How does Brad introduce his request 

to Ruth? 

l How does Brad focus Ruth’s attention 

when making his request? 

l How does he react to Ruth’s objections? 

Brad: …we’re trying to make sure that 

we meet the deadline at the end of 

the quarter. But we’ve got too much 

to do with our other projects, and 

we’ve had a number of unexpected 

delays. So, we’re running behind on 

our schedule at the moment. 

Ruth: OK. And… ? 


approval [E(pru:v&l] 

design project 

[di(zaIn )prQdZekt] 

item [(aItEm] 

meet a deadline 

[)mi:t E (dedlaIn] 

objection [Eb(dZekS&n] 

quarter [(kwO:tE] 

run behind on a schedule 

[)rVn bi(haInd Qn E (Sedju:l] 

spontaneous [spQn(teIniEs] 

Tagesordnung 

Zustimmung 

hier: Konstruktionsprojekt 

Tagesordnungspunkt 

eine Frist einhalten 

Einwand 

Quartal 

mit etw. zeitlich in 

Verzug sein 

spontan 


Brad: I’d like to ask for some extra 

help over the next six weeks, so we’ll 

be able to finish by the end of the 

quarter. 

Ruth: Well, the thing is that we don’t 

really have the extra budget for this. 

Brad: It’s OK. We’ve got a solution that 

wouldn’t cost us anything. If you 

could take Martin off his other project 

for six weeks and allow him to 

work only on our project, then we’ll 

be able to meet the deadline easily. 

Ruth: I don’t really think that’s a good 

idea. Martin’s other project is also 

important. But I could authorize 

more overtime for you and your team. 

What about that? 

Brad: Well, what about using an intern 

for six weeks? 

Ruth: And who would have the time to 

organize an intern? 

Brad: Well, I’ve been thinking about 

that. What we could do is ask one of 

last year’s apprentices. They already 

know our business and wouldn’t cost 

us as much. 

anticipate sth. [Än(tIsIpeIt] 

apprentice [E(prentIs] 

challenge [(tSÄlIndZ] 

extra budget [)ekstrE (bVdZIt] 


off: take sb. ~ sth. [Qf] 

overtime [(EUvEtaIm] 

Ruth: You’re right. Yes, OK, let’s do 

that then. 

Brad: Thanks, Ruth. 

Here are the answers to the questions: 

l Brad describes the situation clearly 

and explains the challenges that he 

is facing with the design project. In 

this way, he gives Ruth the background 

information she needs to understand 

his problem. 

l Brad focuses Ruth’s attention on 

the benefit that would result from 

his proposal — the project would be 

finished as planned. 

l Brad has anticipated possible objections 

from Ruth. He is therefore able 

to suggest some solutions. 

etw. erwarten, vorwegnehmen 

Auszubildende(r) 

Schwierigkeit 

Sonderbudget 


hier: jmdn. von etw. freistellen 

Überstunden 

Preparation points 

l Say what the challenges are. 

l Ask for what you want/need. 

l Focus on the future benefits. 

l Anticipate any objections. 

Grammar: present continuous and future form “will be able” 

When giving background information for a request, we often use the present 

continuous form (“-ing”) to say what we are currently doing. Look at these 

sentences from the dialogue: 

l …we’re trying to make sure that we meet the deadline at the end of the 

quarter. 

l We’re running behind on our schedule at the moment. 

After explaining the current situation, we can use “will be able” to focus on 

the future benefits of agreeing to the request: 

l I’d like to ask for some extra help over the next six weeks, so we’ll be able 

to finish by the end of the quarter. 

l If you could take Martin off his other project for six weeks and allow him 

to work only on our project, then we’ll be able to meet the deadline easily. 

Useful phrases 

for getting approval 

a) Introducing your request and giving background 

information 

l Do you have a minute for me? 

l I’d like to talk to you about the design 

project. 

l Well, it’s not exactly a problem. 

l We’ve got too much to do with our other 

projects. 

l We’ve had a number of unexpected 

delays. 

l We’re running behind on our schedule 

at the moment. 

b) Saying what you want/need 

l I’d like to ask for some extra help over 

the next six weeks. 

l What about using an intern for six 

weeks? 

l We could ask one of last year’s apprentices. 

c) Focusing on the benefits 

l That way, we’ll be able to finish by the 

end of the quarter. 

l Then we’ll be able to meet the deadline 

easily. 

l They already know our business and 

wouldn’t cost us as much. 

d) Anticipating objections 

l We’ve got a solution that wouldn’t cost 

us anything. If you could take Martin off 

his other project for six weeks and allow 

him to work only on our project… 

l Well, I’ve been thinking about that. 

What we could do is ask one of last 

year’s apprentices. 

BS 

plus Find exercises on this topic in 


www More on the language of requests at 

www.business-spotlight.de/requests 

Mike Hogan is a director of York Associates 

(www.york-associates.co.uk) 

and a coursebook author. Contact: 

mike.hogan@york-associates.co.uk 


LANGUAGE WISE WORDS 

Comic headlines 

Bäng! Krach! Bumm! Lautmalerische Wörter kennen wir aus Comics. Aber auch 

in Schlagzeilen finden wir sie, wie Deborah Capras deutlich macht. 

medium 

iStock 

“The same 

monosyllabic words 

are found in comics 

and in headlines. I kid 

you not” 

Journalists should make the news 

easier to understand, not more difficult. 

But this golden rule doesn’t 

apply when it comes to writing newspaper 

headlines. 

Short and snappy. That’s what headlines 

should be. People who regularly 

use Twitter say that they are experts 

at brevity and pithiness. But Twitter 

allows 140 characters for each message. 

For headline writers, that would 

be pure luxury. They have far fewer 

words to play with, but they know how 

to play. They’ve been keeping it shorter 

for much longer, and are experts at 

creating mini-dramas. 

boom [bu:m] 

brevity [(brevEti] 

character [(kÄrEktE] 

crunch (sth.) [krVntS] 

I kid you not [aI )kId ju (nQt] ifml. 

monosyllabic [)mQnEUsI(lÄbIk] 

onomatopoeia [)QnEUmÄtE(pi:E] 

pithiness [(pITinEs] 

short and snappy [)SO:t En (snÄpi] 

slam (sb./sth.) [slÄm] 

spark (sth.) [spA:k] 

It’s the drama 

A good headline always suggests drama. 

The first words that readers see 

have to make them feel that something 

exciting is happening and that they absolutely 

must continue reading to find 

out what it is. How the headline sounds 

Donnern, Dröhnen; Aufschwung; florieren 

Knappheit 

Zeichen 

Knirschen; Krise (ugs.); etw. zermalmen 

das ist kein Witz 

einsilbig 

Lautmalerei 

Prägnanz 

kurz und prägnant 

Knall; jmdn. kritisieren (ugs.); etw. zuknallen 

Funke; etw. schüren 

Headline writers: finding inspiration in comics? 

will determine its effect. To make a 

powerful sound, headline writers have 

a good trick. 

They find inspiration in comics. The 

same monosyllabic words are found 

in comics and in headlines. I kid you 

not. In comics, these words are used 

to show noise and action — they are 

usually written in big, fat letters and 

followed by an exclamation mark (!). 

You don’t need to know the meaning of 

the following words to feel the effect: 

“boom”, “crash”, “crunch”, “slam”, 

and “spark”. Linguist David Crystal 

refers to these words as “comic onomatopoeia”. 

I think “headline onomatopoeia” 

would also work. 


“Slam” and “blast” 

Of course, these onomatopoeic words 

don’t have exactly the same meaning in 

headlines and in comics. Take, for example, 

“slam”. In comics, it’s the word 

you’ll see that shows a door has been 

closed suddenly (usually on someone’s 

fingers or face). It’s often followed by 

an emotional cry of “ouch!”. In headlines, 

“slam” is used to mean “strongly 

criticize”, so much so that it probably 

hurts. When a writer uses “slam”, the 

reader is meant to feel the pain, too. 

Why not use “criticize” if that’s what 

is meant? But where’s the fun and 

drama in that? 

The funny thing is, outside of headlines, 

“slam” is not a word you would 

automatically choose as a synonym 

for “criticize”. It’s one of many words 

that are seen in newspapers but rarely 

heard in speech. In meetings, people 

criticize others, in headlines, they 

“rap” them. When journalists want 

to suggest even more drama (almost 

physical), they’ll choose “blast”. These 

are all synonyms for “criticize”, but 

they have more charm — and use less 

space. 

Print to web 

Online, journalists have more space. 

This is one reason why headlines are 

not always the same on the internet. In 

a recent edition of the Financial Times, 

the front-page splash was “Cameron 

dealt Junker blow”. It fit perfectly on 

one line, even in great big letters. Reading 

it, you could almost feel the punch 

to Cameron’s face as he learned that 

Angela Merkel supported Jean-Claude 

Juncker, the former Luxembourg prime 

minister, for European Commission 

president. The man whom Cameron 

had been campaigning against. On the 

web, the same story had the headline 

“Cameron faces setback over Juncker”. 

Basically, the two headlines mean the 

same thing. The online version conforms 

to the golden rule. It’s definitely 

easier to understand, but it’s also lost 

its punch. 

Useful verbs and nouns 

Great headlines use short words. 

axe 

When something is stopped, such as a TV 

programme or service, or reduced, such 

as jobs, journalists use the verb “axe” to 

make it sound more dramatic: 

l Anger as buses axed 

crunch 

A “crunch” suggests a severe financial 

crisis. It can also mean that something 

is being pushed down hard and painfully, 

especially in comics: 

l Young families feel the crunch 

mull 

In newspapers, people, governments 

and organizations often “mull” things — 

everywhere else, they “consider” them. 

If we use “mull” in normal speech, we 

“mull over” something. In headlines, 

“over” is usually missing: 

l US mulls steel import bans 

spark 

In the papers, this verb, which means 

“cause”, is often followed by “fears”. In 

comics, it usually refers to fires: 

l Italy–Spain data sparks deflation fears 

In the news 

“Float blow as MySale shares 

plunge and Wizz Air scraps IPO” 

In this headline, The Independent makes good use of short 

words. The nouns are “float”, “blow” and “shares”. The verbs are 

“plunge” and “scraps”. It means that the drop in value of MySale 

shares and the cancellation of Wizz Air’s IPO is a problem. 

splurge 

In newspapers, people who spend lots 

of money on buying things “splurge”. In 

comics, the word is used to suggest that 

someone is eating a lot and very fast: 

l Tourists splurge in London 

urge 

While news stories are full of people and 

organizations “urging” things, we would 

normally say “(strongly) recommend”: 

l EU members urge action 

BS 

blast sb. [blA:st] ifml. 

blow [blEU] 

edition [i(dIS&n] 

float [flEUt] 

front-page splash 

[)frVnt peIdZ (splÄS] ifml. 

IPO (initial public offering) [)aI pi: (oU*] US 

ouch [aUtS] 

plunge [plVndZ] 

punch [pVntS] 

rap sb./sth. [rÄp] ifml. 

scrap sth. [skrÄp] 

setback [(setbÄk] 

share [SeE] 


jmdn. herunterputzen 

(Schicksals-)Schlag 

Ausgabe 

(Aktien-)Emission, (Anleihe-)Auflage 

Aufmacher auf der Titelseite 

Börsengang, Erstemission 

autsch, aua 

(ab)stürzen 

Schlag; auch: Biss, Pep (ugs.) 

jmdn. scharf kritisieren; etw. verreißen 

etw. fallen lassen, verwerfen 

Rückschlag 

Aktie 

For more on the language of headlines, 

see “Behind the headlines” on p. 21. 

plus You can find related exercises in 


Deborah Capras is deputy editor of Business 

Spotlight. You can read her blog, Wise Words, and 

do her interactive online language exercises at 

www.business-spotlight.de/blogs 


LANGUAGE EMAIL 

Fotolia 

Paragraphing 

Eine E-Mail liest sich besser, wenn sie 

sinnvoll und übersichtlich gegliedert 

ist. Anna Hochsieder gibt Ratschläge zur 

Strukturierung. 

medium 

Most business letters have a clear layout, with the 

text divided into several paragraphs. Many people 

do not take the same care when writing an email, 

yet there is no reason why emails should be any less 

reader-friendly than letters. Take a look at this example 

of a well-structured email: 

Hi Martin 

Thank you for sending me the agenda for next 

week’s meeting. I was pleased to see that you’ve 

asked Bob Roberts to present his suggestions for 

the customer survey. 

Just one question, though: don’t you think we 

ought to invite Sheila from IT as well? We’re going 

to need her advice on how to circulate the survey 

to all our customers, and it would save time if she 

and Bob could discuss the technical details faceto-face. 

By the way, I’ve booked the large conference room 

on the third floor. We can have it until 3 p.m., but I 

expect we’ll have finished well before then. 

Speak to you later! 

Kate 

across: get one’s message ~ [E(krQs] 


blank line [)blÄNk (laIn] 

capital letter [)kÄpIt&l (letE] 

circulate sth. [(s§:kjuleIt] 

closing [(klEUzIN] 

customer survey [)kVstEmE (s§:veI] 

face-to-face [)feIs tE (feIs] 

link (sth. to sth.) 

[(lINk (tu)] 


salutation [)sÄlju(teIS&n] 

topic [(tQpIk] 

seine Botschaft rüberbringen 

Tagesordnung 

Leerzeile 

Großbuchstabe 

etw. verbreiten 

Schluss(bemerkung) 

Kundenbefragung 

persönlich 

Verbindung; etw. mit etw. 

verbinden 

Wendung 

Anrede 

Thema 

Take care: logical paragraphs make your emails easier to understand 

l Our sample email has three paragraphs, plus the salutation 

and the closing. To make the structure of the email clearer, 

the paragraphs are separated by a blank line. 

l Note that the sentence following the salutation always starts 

with a capital letter. 

l Each paragraph consists of one main idea. In our sample, the 

second — and longest — paragraph contains the main point 

the writer wants to make. If your email has more than one 

topic, start a new paragraph for each new subject. 

l Paragraphs should be neither too long nor too short. Two to 

five sentences is usually about the right length. 

l The first paragraph normally includes a friendly opening 

sentence and some general remarks introducing the topic of 

the email — in this case, the meeting. 

l A new paragraph often begins with a word or phrase connecting 

it to the paragraph before. This helps the text to flow 

better. In our sample, the link between the first and second 

paragraph is provided by the phrase “Just one question, 

though”. The third paragraph begins with the phrase “By the 

way”, showing that the following information is linked to the 

earlier topic, but that it is not quite as important. 

Always have the reader in mind when writing an email. A clear 

layout with logical paragraphing is essential for getting your 

message across. In our next issue, we will take a closer look 

at words and phrases you can use to link sentences and paragraphs 

to each other. 

BS 

www Improve your writing skills at www.business-spotlight.de/writing 

Anna Hochsieder is a Munich-based teacher of English 

who writes regularly in Business Spotlight. Contact: 

a.hochsieder@googlemail.com 


ENGLISH ON THE MOVE LANGUAGE 

Eurostar 

Taking the Eurostar 

Von London übers Wochenende nach Paris? Das ist mit 

dem Eurostar und Ken Taylors Hilfe kein Problem. 

easy 

Booking online 

Richard: I’m on the Eurostar site. What 

are the dates again? 

Alice: The 15th to the 18th. This will 

be great — a weekend in Paris without 

the kids. 

Richard: It was good of your mum and 

dad to offer to look after them. We 

want a return from Ebbsfleet International 

rather than from St Pancras, 

right? 

Alice: That’s right. We can park the car 

there. You can book that online, too, 

after we know our train times. 

Richard: The 9.35 from Ebbsfleet is 

only £66 for a standard non-flexible 

ticket. 

Alice: When does it arrive? 

Richard: 12.59. That’s a very exact 

time! 

Alice: It would give us the whole afternoon 

in Paris that day. And the return 

from Gare du Nord on Sunday? 

Richard: How about the 16.13? It gets 

in at 17.18. 

Ebbsfleet International 

Alice: That was interesting! I hadn’t 

realized we’d have to go through a 

security check, just like at an airport. 

Richard: And going through French 

passport control here in England felt 

strange, too. But it’s much less hectic 

here than at Heathrow. We’ve 

time for a coffee and a snack. 

Alice: Have you got the guidebook? We 

can plan a couple of things while 

we’re waiting. 

Richard: I really want to go to Notre 

Dame and to take a boat on the 

Seine. 

Alice: We’ll need a bit of culture, too — 

how about the Orsay Museum? 

Richard: Sounds good. For Saturday 

evening, I’ve already booked us a 

table at that restaurant Marcel recommended. 

Alice: Well, it should be excellent if 

Marcel recommended it. He’s such 

a gourmet. 

On board 

Alice: That went smoothly. I liked the 

way the carriage numbers are all 

painted on the platform so we knew 

where to wait. Are these our seats? 

Richard: Yes. Shall I put your coat up 

on the overhead rack for you? 

Alice: Thanks. Where did you put our 

bags? 

Richard: They’re on the luggage rack at 

the end of the carriage. 

Alice: Did you hear that announcement? 

Richard: It said there would be a short 

delay going through the tunnel. 

carriage [(kÄrIdZ] UK 


Continent: the ~ 

[(kQntInEnt] 

district [(dIstrIkt] 

do [)du:] 

gourmet [(gUEmeI] 

guidebook [(gaIdbUk] 

luggage rack 

[(lVgIdZ rÄk] 

non-flexible 

[)nQn (fleksEb&l] 

overhead rack 

[)EUvEhed (rÄk] 

platform [(plÄtfO:m] 

return [ri(t§:n] UK 

signalling problem 

[(sIgn&lIN )prQblEm] 

sit back [)sIt (bÄk] 

stop [stQp] 

Waggon 

Berater(in) 

das europäische 

Festland 

Bezirk, Viertel 

hier: fahren 

Feinschmecker(in) 

Reiseführer 

Gepäckablage (im 

Waggon) 

hier: nicht umbuchbar, 

zuggebunden 

Gepäckablage (über 

dem Sitz) 

Bahnsteig 

hier: Hin- und Rückfahrt 

Signalproblem 

sich zurücklehnen 

Haltestelle 

Eurostar: a short trip in a fast machine 

Alice: Did it say why? 

Richard: A signalling problem, I think. 

Alice: Well, I think I’ll just sit back and 

look at the countryside. 

Richard: We must be doing over 150 

miles an hour! 

Alice: What’s that in kilometres? Remember, 

we’ll be on the Continent 

in a few hours. 

Gare du Nord 

Richard: We’ll be arriving soon. 

Alice: Do you know where to go? 

Richard: We’ll just follow the signs to 

the metro. Our hotel is in the Pigalle 

district. It’s only a couple of stops. 

We can buy a four-day ticket for 

central Paris. 

Alice: We haven’t got much to carry, 

otherwise, I’d have suggested a taxi. 

Richard: The metro is easier. Our hotel 

is close to the station. 

Alice: I think we are arriving. Could you 

get my coat down for me? I’m quite 

excited now. 

Richard: Me, too. It’s going to be a 

great weekend! 

BS 

Ken Taylor is a communication consultant 

and author of 50 Ways to Improve 

Your Business English (Summertown). 

Contact: KTaylor868@aol.com 


LANGUAGE TRANSLATION 

False friends 

medium 

You mean... You should say... Don‘t say... As this means... 

dementiert denied demented an Demenz leidend; 

Zuerst haben sie alles At first, they denied everything. irre, wahnsinnig 

dementiert. 

Lohn wages loan Darlehen 

Die Löhne müssen wieder Wages will have to be cut again. 

gekürzt werden. 

Objektiv lens objective Ziel 

Das Objektiv ist defekt. The lens is defective. 

Don’t confuse… 

take over and overtake 

l When a company takes over 

(übernehmen) another firm, it 

buys more than 50 per cent of the 

shares and assumes control: “The 

owners don’t want to be taken over 

by a US firm.” 

l The noun is takeover (Übernahme). 

We talk about “friendly takeovers” 

and their opposite, “hostile takeovers”. 

l If you take over from someone, you 

do the job or task that person once 

did: “He’ll take over from John 

next year.” You can also take over 

as something: “Sara has taken 

over as the marketing manager.” 

l When you drive past a vehicle that 

is moving in the same direction 

as you, in British English, you say 

that you overtake (überholen) it: 

“He must have been driving 180 

km an hour when he overtook me.” 

l A company or country overtakes 

another when it becomes stronger 

and more successful: “We’ve 

overtaken them in sales this year.” 

Tricky translations 

How do you say “suit” in German? 

A “suit” is a set of clothes made of the same material, for example, a jacket and a 

pair of trousers: “You don’t have to wear a suit.” It is translated as Anzug or, in the 

case of a woman’s suit with a skirt, as Kostüm: Sie müssen keinen Anzug tragen. 

Informally, a “suit” can be an executive of a company: “What will the suits say?” 

It’s best translated as Führungskraft or Führungsetage, depending on the context. 

In legal English, a “(law)suit” is a disagreement between two or more parties that 

is brought before a court of law for a formal decision. It’s translated as Rechtsstreit, 

Strafverfahren or Klage: “When was the suit filed?” — Wann wurde Klage erhoben? 

In a deck of cards, the “suits” are clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. In some 

games, you have to “follow suit”. The idiom “follow suit” means to “copy the actions 

of someone else”: “If we do it, they’ll follow suit.” We translate this as nachziehen / 

es jmdm. gleichtun or jmds. Beispiel folgen: Wenn wir es tun, werden sie nachziehen. 

How do you say Erbe in English? 

An Erbe (Erbin) is someone who inherits money or possessions after someone else 

has died: Der Notar konnte keine Erben ausfindig machen. Here, it is translated as 

heir (heiress) or beneficiary: “The notary was unable to trace any heirs.” 

Das Erbe can mean “the money or other items that the heirs inherit”: Er hat 

schnell sein ganzes Erbe vergeudet. Here, we translate it as inheritance, legacy 

or bequest: “He quickly squandered his entire inheritance.” Family members may 

unkindly describe each other as Erbschleicher (legacy hunters). 

Das Erbe can also mean “the traditional beliefs, values or customs of a country 

or society”: Regionale Akzente und Dialekte gehören zu unserem kulturellen Erbe. 

In this sense, we usually translate it as heritage: “Regional accents and dialects are 

part of our cultural heritage.” The organization UNESCO lists important locations 

it considers to be Welt(kultur/natur)erbestätten (World Heritage Sites). 

Exercise 

Translate the following sentences. 

a) The suit could cost the company millions. 

Do an exercise on false friends on 


Mike Seymour is an author, trainer 

and translator. He also writes 

regularly for Business Spotlight. 

Contact: www.mikeseymour.com 

b) Seine Erben haben sich die ganze Zeit gestritten. 



y Deborah Capras 

CARDS LANGUAGE 

Grammar 

Grammar 

Rewrite this sentence starting with “I needn’t” 

without changing the meaning. 

“I went to the meeting, but it wasn’t 

necessary.” 

Complete this sentence with the correct form 

of the verb in brackets. 

“Is it a risk that’s worth _________ (take)?” 



Translation 

Translation 

Translate this sentence into English. 

Bei Vorauszahlungen gewähren 

wir 3% Skonto. 

Translate this sentence into German. 

“I’ve handed in my notice.” 



Word choice 

Word choice 

Which word is correct? 

“What kind of fringe/side benefits can 

I expect at the company?” 

Which word is correct? 

“Any changes are subject/topic to 

approval by all parties.” 



Business talk 

Business talk 

What does the speaker mean? 

“I’m sure it’s just a shell company.” 

What does the speaker mean? 

“We put a poison pill in place to stop the 

takeover.” 


www.business-spotlight.de

LANGUAGE CARDS 

“Is it a risk that’s worth taking?” 

Verbs that come after worth take the “-ing” form. 

be worth doing = sich lohnen zu tun 

“I needn’t have gone to the meeting.” 

The structure needn’t have + past participle is 

used to say that you did something in the past 

that wasn’t necessary. 

BS 5/2014 

BS 5/2014 

Ich habe gekündigt. 

When you formally declare that you are ending an 

agreement, especially one as an employee, you 

hand in your notice or give notice. 

“We offer a three per cent discount on advance 

payments / payments made in advance.” 

In English, discount is a countable noun and 

therefore requires an article. 

BS 5/2014 

BS 5/2014 

If something is subject to approval, it’s conditional 

on official agreement. In this sentence, it 

means that everyone involved needs to approve 

any changes before they can be made. 

zustimmungspflichtig 

BS 5/2014 

A fringe benefit is an extra payment or other benefit 

that you receive on top of your normal salary. 

It could be a car, health insurance or childcare, 

for example. It’s often used in the plural form: 

fringe benefits. 

Lohnnebenleistungen 

BS 5/2014 

Poison pill describes measures that managers or 

owners take to make a company less attractive 

to buyers. The speaker is saying that action was 

taken to prevent one firm from acquiring another. 

Übernahme einer Firma verhindernde 

Maßnahmen 

BS 5/2014 

A shell company does not produce anything or 

do any work as an independent company — it 

is used merely as a vehicle for financial transactions. 

The speaker is suggesting that the company 

is not a proper company. 

Briefkasten-, Strohfirma 

BS 5/2014

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01_CoverE_514D.indd 1 14.07.14 14:53 

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LANGUAGE SHORT STORY 

How old are you? 

Office workers 

may bring cake for 

their colleagues 

The birthday party 

Stockbyte 

Andere Länder, andere Geburtstagssitten. Manche sind durchaus gewöhnungsbedürftig, wie der 

Erzähler und seine internationalen Kollegen feststellen müssen. Von James Schofield easy 

Dr Horst Hofmann, our department 

manager at the European Patent 

Office in Brussels, blew out 

the candles on his cake, and we all 

clapped. 

“Well, Antonio,” he said. “Venezuelan 

birthday parties seem very nice.” 

Antonio nodded enthusiastically as 

he leaned over Dr Hofmann’s shoulder 

and took the candles out of the cake. 

“Oh, they are. We have many birthday 

traditions in Venezuela. For example, 

when a girl is 15, we give her a big 

party and she must wear a pink dress. 

It’s a very special day for her.” 

“Ah. No pink dress for me though?” 

asked Dr Hofmann, and we laughed 

politely. 

“No,” said Antonio. “But there is 

one other important part of a traditional 

Venezuelan birthday…” 

This story begins exactly a year before, 

after I’d complained about Dr 

Hofmann’s home-made birthday cake 

to my new colleague, Didier, while sitting 

in the crowded canteen one day. 

“You know, Horst is a great boss, but 

every year, he and his wife bake some 

kind of dark cake with bits of fruit in it. 

He then brings this soggy thing to work 

and we have to pretend we like it.” 

“Mais oui, c’est terrible!” said Didier 

shaking his head. “Germans seem to 

believe that home-made birthday cake 

is healthier than one you buy from 

a shop — and that baking the cake 

yourself somehow makes you morally 

superior. But in France, we don’t want 

to feel healthier or morally superior; 

we want to enjoy ourselves! We go to 

a patisserie and buy little cakes made 

by an expert. They’re put in a beautiful 

box and tied with a pretty ribbon. When 

you eat the cake… ah… It’s like a little 

piece of heaven on your tongue.” 

Brussels [(brVs&lz] Brüssel 

department manager Abteilungsleiter(in) 

[di)pA:tmEnt (mÄnIdZE] 

heaven [(hev&n] ifml. Himmel, Paradies 

home-made [)hEUm (meId] selbst gebacken 

morally superior 

moralisch überlegen 

[)mQrEli su(pIEriE] 

ribbon [(rIbEn] 

(Schleifen-)Band 

soggy [(sQgi] 

matschig 

tongue [tVN] 

Zunge 


“Being English meant I had to be 

given ‘the bumps’ on my birthday” 

I replied, “Oh, so that’s why Marie 

Antoinette said, ‘Let them eat cake!’ 

She knew what she was talking about.” 

Didier just smiled. 

Strangely enough, at the very next 

meeting, Dr Hofmann announced that 

we were going to explore our organization’s 

cultural diversity by celebrating 

people’s birthdays according to their 

national customs. With staff members 

in the department representing at least 

16 different nationalities, there was 

sure to be a lot of variety, he said. 

This was actually quite a good idea, 

and we learned a lot. For example, do 

you know what you do on somebody’s 

birthday in Canada? We didn’t either, 

until it was Mitch McGregor’s birthday. 

He told us that on every birthday 

when he was a child, his family had 

tried to put butter on his nose so bad 

luck wouldn’t stick. By the time we’d 

finished with Mitch, it wasn’t just his 

nose that was covered in butter. 

Being English meant I had to be 

given “the bumps” on my birthday. I 

was jumped on as I entered the office, 

pushed over, held by my arms and legs 

and bumped up and down 35 times, 

which was quite painful. However, the 

best birthday celebration was undoubtedly 

the one that was organized by 

Antonio for Dr Hofmann. 

Antonio was an intern from Venezuela 

who really enjoyed all the different 

bumps: give sb. the ~ 

[bVmps] UK ifml. 

custom [(kVstEm] 

delicious [di(lISEs] 

diversity [daI(v§:sEti] 

gasp [gA:sp] 

hangover [(hÄNEUvE] 


powder [(paUdE] 

shot [SQt] 

squelch [skweltS] 

too bad [)tu: (bÄd] ifml. 

jmdn. in die Luft werfen 

und wieder auffangen 

Sitte, Brauch 

köstlich 

Vielfalt 

Luft anhalten 

Kater 


Pulver; hier etwa: 

Alka-Seltzer 

(Gläschen) Schnaps 

glucksender Laut 

wirklich schade 

birthday activities. So he was disappointed 

that, because he would be 

staying for only nine months, we were 

going to miss his celebration. “That’s 

too bad,” he told us at a staff meeting. 

“Birthdays in Venezuela are something 

special.” 

“Well, Antonio,” offered Dr Hofmann. 

“It’s my birthday next month. 

I don’t have to bring my cake. If you 

want to, you can organize a Venezuelan 

birthday for me.” Antonio immediately 

became more cheerful and promised 

he would do his best. 

He took his task very seriously. The 

other interns had to learn a special 

Venezuelan birthday song and often, as 

I was leaving the office in the evening, 

I would hear them practising in the 

conference room. 

“Ay, qué noche tan preciosa!” they 

sang repeatedly — “Ah, what a beautiful 

night!” 

“Well, I’m glad Horst isn’t bringing 

his soggy cake this year,” I said to Didier 

one day at lunch when we were 

talking about the celebration. “I’m 

looking forward to his birthday without 

it!” I even found myself softly whistling 

the song from time to time. 

Finally, the great day arrived. We all 

gathered in the conference room. The 

interns sang their song while Antonio 

played the guitar. Then he left the 

room for a moment, and returned with 

an enormous, beautifully decorated 

cake covered in candles… 

“Ah. No pink dress for me though?” 

asked Dr Hofmann, and we laughed 

politely. 

“No,” said Antonio. “But there is one 

other important part of a traditional 

Venezuelan birthday…” Then, putting 

a hand on the back of Dr Hofmann’s 

head, he pushed the department manager’s 

face straight into the cake. 

There was a collective gasp, followed 

by a shocked silence, and the big smile 

that had been on Antonio’s face gradually 

disappeared. With a squelch, Dr 

Hofmann raised his face, wiped cake 

from his eyes and picked up a knife. 

“It’s a tradition,” said poor Antonio. 

“Just … just a Venezuelan tradition…” 

He looked as if he were about to cry. 

“Delicious!” said Dr Hofmann. 

“Who’d like a piece?” 

It really was delicious. Later, we went 

to a Latin American bar, drank Cuba 

libres, danced salsa and finished up 

with tequila shots early in the morning. 

My hangover the next day was beyond 

anything I’d ever experienced. I 

had to take some papers to Dr Hofmann’s 

office, and I found him holding 

his head with one hand and shakily 

trying to pour water into a glass with 

the other. 

“That was fun last night,” said Dr 

Hofmann, adding some powder to the 

water and the rest to his desk. “But I 

think I’ll bring my own cake next year. 

You remember? The soggy one you were 

complaining about in the canteen.” BS 

Language point 

Let them eat cake! This was the reply 

reportedly given by Marie Antoinette 

(1755–93), queen of France, when 

told that the country’s poor people had 

no bread. Although it’s unlikely that 

she actually said it, the expression has 

become common in English to refer to 

the attitude of someone who neither 

understands nor cares about the situation 

of others. 

You can listen to this short story and 

views on office birthday parties on 


plus You’ll find exercises on this topic in 


James Schofield is co-author of the 

Double Dealing series. You can find 

more of his stories and his blog at 

http://jrtschofield.blogspot.de 


LANGUAGE ENGLISH FOR . . . 

“I just can’t handle this!” 

Too much work can 

push you over the edge 

Stress management 

Die Arbeit nimmt überhand, Sie haben schlaflose Nächte. 

Kurz: Sie sind gestresst. Karen Richardson sagt Ihnen, wie 

Sie mit einer solchen Situation umgehen. 

medium 

Your colleague is getting on your 

nerves, the work is piling up and 

your boss has just informed you 

that he wants you to hold a presentation 

— tomorrow! You’re feeling increasingly 

under pressure and anxious. 

Your sleep is suffering, as all your 

work-related worries keep you awake 

most of the night. You’re tense, the 

muscles in your shoulders are getting 

tight and your head hurts, too. 

Does this sound familiar? Maybe you 

have too much work — or not enough. 

Exercise: Less stress 

Choose the correct word in each sentence. 

a) There are ways to break free from the 

stress cycle / circle. 

b) Breath / Breathe deeply. Take in as 

much air as possible. 

c) Let your thinking / thoughts float away. 

d) Relax and try to notice a feeling of 

pressure / calmness. 


Or perhaps you are being presented 

with demands you feel you can’t handle. 

Whatever the reason, now is the 

time to take control and to break free 

from the stress-and-worry cycle that so 

many of us find ourselves caught in. 

We may not be able to reduce the 

amount of work we have, but we can 

find ways to lower our stress levels. 

A wide variety of yoga, meditation, 

relaxation and mindfulness classes 

have more participants from the business 

world than ever before. And it’s 

not only individuals who realize that 

they need to do something positive to 

reduce their raised stress levels and 

Fuse 

abdomen [(ÄbdEmEn] 

anxious [(ÄNkSEs] 

exhale [eks(heI&l] 

get on sb.’s nerves 

[)get Qn )sVmbQdiz (n§:vz] ifml. 

inhale [In(heI&l] 

mindfulness [(maIndf&lnEs] 

palm [pA:m] 

sole [sEUl] 

tense [tens] 

thigh [TaI] 

tight [taIt] 

timer [(taImE] 

avoid burnout. Stress is one of the 

main reasons for absence from work, 

and in the UK, about 11 million working 

days are lost each year as a result 

of work-related stress. Therefore, many 

companies now offer yoga or relaxation 

classes to their employees. 

But what if your company has nothing 

on offer or you don’t have the time 

or the desire to attend classes before 

or after work? Here’s something you 

can do to distance yourself from the 

feeling of being stressed out and to 

return to a feeling of calmness. It takes 

just ten minutes (you can set a timer), 

and you may even notice an immediate 

improvement. 

Sit up straight, place the soles of 

your feet on the floor and rest your 

palms on your thighs. Close your eyes 

and become aware of your breathing. 

As you breathe in and out, notice how 

your chest and abdomen move with 

each breath. Mentally check your body 

from head to toe. Where do you feel 

particularly tense? Try to breathe into 

this part of your body and relax the 

tense muscles there. 

As you inhale, relax your body; as 

you exhale, relax your mind. Don’t try 

to empty your mind of thoughts. Instead, 

let the thoughts come, notice 

their presence and then let them drift 

away like clouds in the sky. Bring your 

attention back to your breathing; count 

every time you inhale and exhale. When 

you have counted to ten, start counting 

again. Observe the stress and worry 

leaving your body. Let go — and relax. 

Bauchraum 

ängstlich, unruhig 

ausatmen 

jmdm. auf die Nerven gehen 

einatmen 

Achtsamkeit 

Handfläche 

Sohle 

angespannt 

Oberschenkel 

hier: verspannt 

Zeitschaltuhr 


Ten steps to less stress 

1. Make yourself comfortable. 

2. Sit completely still. 

3. Close your eyes. 

4. Focus on the area located between 

your eyebrows. 

5. Relax the muscles of your face. 

6. Bring your shoulders down, away from 

your ears. 

7. Imagine the warmth of the sun on your 

body. 

8. Breathe in and out through your nose. 

9. When you inhale, your abdomen expands. 

When you exhale, it contracts. 

10. As you inhale, relax your body. As you 

exhale, relax your mind. 

Positive states 

calmness [(kA:mnEs] 

emotional well-being 

[i)mEUS&nEl wel (bi:IN] 

mindfulness [(maIndf&lnEs] 

relaxation [)ri:lÄk(seIS&n] 

worry-free [)wVri (fri:] 

Describing negative states 

annoyed [E(nOId] 

anxious [(ÄNkSEs] 

irritated [(IrIteItId] 

sleepless [(sli:plEs] 

stressed out [)strest (aUt] 

tense [tens] 


Gelassenheit, Ruhe 

seelisches Wohlbefinden 

Achtsamkeit 

Entspannung 

sorgenlos 

ärgerlich, gereizt 

ängstlich, unruhig 

gereizt, verärgert 

schlaflos 

stressgeplagt, gestresst 

angespannt, nervös 

WEBSITES 

Breathing techniques: 

www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6751/Mastering-the- 

Full-Yogic-Breath.html 

Mindfulness: https://oxfordmindfulness.org 

Ten-minute audio and video yoga guides: 

www.getsomeheadspace.com 

Involve your body 

abdomen [(ÄbdEmEn] 

abdominal breathing [Äb)dQmIn&l (bri:DIN] 

breath [breT] 

breathe [bri:D] 

eyebrow [(aIbraU] 

mind [maInd] 

muscle [(mVs&l] 

palm [pA:m] 

shoulder [(SEUldE] 

sole [sEUl] 

stretch (sth.) [stretS] 

thigh [TaI] 

Opposites 

bend (sth.) [bend] 

contract (sth.) [kEn(trÄkt] 

exhalation [)ekshE(leIS&n] 

exhale [eks(heI&l] 

expand (sth.) [Ik(spÄnd] 

extend (sth.) [Ik(stend] 

fall [fO:l] 

inhalation [)InhE(leIS&n] 

inhale [In(heI&l] 

lower sth. [(lEUE] 

raise sth. [reIz] 

rise [raIz] 

Stress development 

build up [)bIld (Vp] 

come on [)kVm (Qn] 

pile up [)paI&l (Vp] 

under pressure [)VndE (preSE] 

wound up [)waUnd (Vp] 

Stress release 

break free [)breIk (fri:] 

deal with sth. [(di:&l wID] 

drift away [)drIft E(weI] 

let go [)let (gEU] 

take control [)teIk kEn(trEUl] 

Bauchraum 

Bauchatmung 

Atem 

atmen 

Augenbraue 

Psyche, Kopf 

Muskel 

Handfläche 

Schulter 

(Fuß-)Sohle 

sich dehnen; etw. dehnen 

Oberschenkel 

sich beugen; etw. beugen 

kontrahieren; etw. zusammenziehen 

Ausatmung 

ausatmen 

sich weiten; etw. ausdehnen 

sich dehnen; etw. dehnen 

fallen 

Einatmung 

einatmen 

etw. senken 

etw. heben 

sich (er)heben 

aufbauen 

auftreten 

sich aufstauen 

unter Druck 

erregt, überdreht 

sich befreien, sich lösen 

sich mit etw. auseinandersetzen 

sich treiben lassen 

loslassen 

die Kontrolle gewinnen 

You can practise this vocabulary on 


plus Do more exercises on this topic in 


www More job vocabulary can be found at 

www.business-spotlight.de/vocabulary 

Karen Richardson writes ELT material, including 

lesson plans for www.onestopenglish.com. She 

lectures at the DHBW Stuttgart and, in her free 

time, practises yoga. Contact: www.compass-elt.de 

Mental processes 

acknowledge sth. [Ek(nQlIdZ] 

attention [E(tenS&n] 

awareness [E(weEnEs] 

counteract sth. [)kaUntEr(Äkt] 

distance oneself from sth. 

[(dIstEns wVn)self frQm] 

focus on sth. [(fEUkEs Qn] 

gain perspective [)geIn pE(spektIv] 

observe sth. [Eb(z§:v] 

scan sth. [skÄn] 

etw. akzeptieren, zulassen 

Aufmerksamkeit 

Bewusstsein 

einer Sache entgegenwirken 

sich von etw. distanzieren, auf Abstand von 

etw. gehen 

auf etw. fokussieren, sich auf etw. 

konzentrieren 

etw. unter einem vollständigen Blickwinkel 

sehen 

etw. beobachten 

etw. absuchen 


LANGUAGE LEGAL ENGLISH 

iStock Editorial 

Patent law 

Wer eine Erfindung gemacht hat, kann dafür 

ein Patent anmelden. Damit es erteilt werden 

kann, müssen bestimmte Voraussetzungen 

erfüllt sein, wie Matt Firth erklärt. advanced 

A 

patent gives an inventor the exclusive 

right to make, use, license 

or sell an invention for a 

limited period of time. Only the inventor 

can benefit from the invention once 

a patent has been granted. A patent 

usually remains in force for 20 years. 

Patents and plants 

In a 2013 case, Monsanto, an agricultural 

biotechnology firm, sued a farmer 

who had bought patented seeds, grew 

plants and then used the new seeds 

that were produced. The farmer had 

signed an agreement that he would 

use the seeds in one growing season 

only. He claimed that, under the patent 

exhaustion doctrine, the patent did not 

extend to the seeds he had produced. 

But the court agreed with Monsanto, 

saying that the seeds were basically 

illegal copies of the patented product. 

Exercise: Protecting inventions 

Before a patent can be a) useful / granted / intended, an invention 

must meet several requirements. The first requirement is that the 

invention must be b) unusual / novel / in force. Next, the c) limited / 

utility / non-obvious requirement states that an invention has to be 

useful. Finally, it must involve an d) obvious / inventive / expired 

step. In the US, this last step is referred to as “non-obvious”. In 

Growing rights: agricultural developments can be patented, too 

This allows the inventor to recoup 

costs associated with developing the 

product. Not all inventions can be 

patented, however. In most countries, 

an invention must meet three requirements 

before a patent will be granted. 

In the EU, a patent must be novel, it 

must be useful and it must include an 

inventive step, called “non-obvious” 

in the US. 

To be considered novel, an invention 

must be new. This means that it 

must not already exist, or already be 

the subject of another patent. If the 

invention is an improvement to an existing 

product, the change must make 

the product significantly different. An 

invention is said to be useful if it provides 

a real-world benefit, also known 

as the “utility” requirement. The inventive 

step means that the invention 

must not be obvious to another person 

with training or skills similar to those 

of the inventor. 

Once the patent has expired, the 

invention enters the public domain and 

can be used, sold or copied by anyone. 

The patent exhaustion doctrine, 

also known as the “first-sale doctrine”, 

limits a patent holder’s control of a 

patented product to the product that 

has been sold. It also grants the patent 

holder the right to stop a buyer from 

making a new version of the patented 

invention. 

BS 

enter the public domain (nach Ablauf der 

[)entE DE )pVblIk 

Schutzfrist) der 

dEU(meIn] 

Allgemeinheit zur 

Verfügung stehen 

expire [Ik(spaIE] 

ablaufen, erlöschen 

grant sth. [grA:nt] etw. erteilen 

in force [In (fO:s] gültig, in Kraft 

inventive step 

erfinderischer Schritt 

[In)ventIv (step] 

non-obvious 

nicht naheliegend 

[)nɑ:n (ɑ:bviEs*] US 

novel [(nQv&l] 

neuartig 

patent exhaustion Grundsatz der 

doctrine [)peIt&nt Patenterschöpfung 

Ig(zO:stSEn )dQktrIn] 

recoup sth. [ri(ku:p] etw. wieder hereinholen 

seeds [si:dz] 

Saatgut 

sue sb. [sju:] 

jmdn. verklagen 

utility [ju(tIlEti] 

Nutzen, Nützlichkeit 


short, an invention must be new, e) useful / exhausted / intended 

and inventive. 


Matt Firth teaches legal English and 

helped to establish the European 

Legal English Teachers’ Association. 

Contact: matthew.firth@unisg.ch 


TALKING FINANCE LANGUAGE 

Stability and volatility 

Achtung! Die stabile Lage auf den Finanzmärkten könnte schnell 

eine neue Krise verursachen, wie Ian McMaster erklärt. 

advanced 

“Financial markets are like children, 

with central banks as their parents” 

By the time you read this, there 

may have been a stock-market 

crash and a financial crisis — 

although the three biggest crashes of 

the past 100 years (1929, 1987 and 

2008) didn’t happen until October. On 

the other hand, it is very likely that no 

crash will have happened. 

Not a particularly helpful analysis, 

you might think. But in the world of 

finance, almost anything can happen. 

One way to think about financial 

markets is to see them as children, 

with the central banks as their parents. 

Like all parents, the central banks want 

their offspring to feel secure and to 

prosper. They also want their children’s 

lives to be eventful, but without too 

many dramas. Wishful thinking. 

After the financial crisis of 2007–8, 

the central banks’ priority was to 

restore calm and stability. To do this, 

they dramatically reduced interest 

rates and (in some cases) significantly 

increased the money supply by buying 

up financial assets. 

Central banks also used soothing 

words to calm their children, such as 

the famous promise in 2012 by Mario 

Draghi, president of the European Central 

Bank (ECB), that the ECB would 

do “whatever it takes to preserve the 

euro”. Other soothing words included 

the policy of “forward guidance”, by 

which central banks signalled to the 

markets that interest rates would remain 

low for the foreseeable future. 

This central-bank action was like 

parents bribing their children to behave 

well and then telling them they 

wouldn’t be punished for a long time. 

And it worked. The euro is no longer in 

danger. There has been a dramatic fall 

in “yield spreads” — the difference 

between the interest rates on risky assets 

(such as Greek or Spanish bonds) 

and low-risk assets (German and US 

bonds). And measures of volatility hit 

their lowest level in years. 

bond [bQnd] 

Anleihe 

bribe sb. [braIb] 

jmdn. bestechen 

exuberance [Ig(zju:b&rEns] Überschwang 

financial assets 

finanzielle 

[faI)nÄnS&l (Äsets] Vermögenswerte 

interest rate [(IntrEst reIt] Zinssatz 

late [leIt] 

verstorben 

meltdown [(meltdaUn] Zusammenbruch 

money supply 

Geldmenge 

[(mVni sE)plaI] 

offspring [(QfsprIN] Nachwuchs 

preserve sth. [pri(z§:v] etw. bewahren, retten 

prosper [(prQspE] gedeihen 

restore sth. [ri(stO:] etw. wiederherstellen 

soothing [(su:DIN] 

beruhigend 

stock-market crash Börsenkrach, Einbruch 

[(stQk )mA:kIt krÄS] am Aktienmarkt 

temper tantrum 

Wutanfall 

[(tempE )tÄntrEm] 

tip over [)tIp (EUvE] umkippen 

volatility [)vQlE(tIlEti] Volatilität, Schwankungsanfälligkeit 

whatever it takes 

etwa: egal was es 

[wQt)evEr It (teIks] kostet 

yield spread [(ji:&ld spred] Renditenspanne 

iStock 

Going down: is a crash on the way? 

So all’s well, then? Not quite. Financial 

crashes often follow long periods 

of apparent calm. As any parent knows, 

stability can turn into volatility faster 

than you can say “meltdown”. 

Crashes may be caused by external 

shocks, such as political crises. But, as 

the late US economist Hyman Minsky 

pointed out, long periods of stability 

can themselves be the cause of instability 

and crisis because they often 

lead to excessive risk-taking using 

borrowed money. The point at which 

stability tips over into instability, is 

therefore called a “Minsky moment”. 

The challenge for central banks is 

to reduce their children’s exuberance 

before they reach that moment — for 

example, through gradual rises in interest 

rates — without causing a temper 

tantrum. It’s not an easy task. BS 

Ian McMaster is editor-in-chief of Business 

Spotlight. Read his weekly blog on global 

business at www.business-spotlight.de/blogs 

Contact: i.mcmaster@spotlight-verlag.de 


LANGUAGE TEACHER TALK 

Books, apps and interaction 

Sie ist auf vielen Feldern tätig und hat in vielen Ländern gelebt: Deborah Capras 

sprach mit der Kommunikationstrainerin, Sprachberaterin, Lehrbuchautorin und 

Dozentin Julie Pratten über den Englischunterricht der Zukunft. medium 

Who is Julie Pratten? 

Julie Pratten is a communication-skills trainer, editor and consultant, and has 

created courses for companies and financial institutions in more than 20 countries 

in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. She specializes in English 

for banking and finance and has written several books in this field, including 

Absolute Banking English (Delta Publishing). She is a regular speaker at international 

conferences and a visiting lecturer at the University of Brighton. 

Website: www.academicstudykit.com 

Contact: juliekacmaz@gmail.com 

Current position 

Through my company, International 

Training Solutions, I offer intensive 

courses in English for banking and 

communication skills. I also work as 

a language consultant for the Central 

Bank of the Republic of Turkey. 

Home 

I live in a rural area on the Turkish 

Mediterranean coast, near Antalya, 

with my husband, dog, cat, chickens 

and ducks. 

Other languages spoken 

German, Turkish, Portuguese and 

Spanish — but my Spanish is a little 

rusty. 

How did you start teaching financial 

English? 

I’d been teaching general and business 

English in Germany, Turkey and Brazil, 

when, in 1989, I was sent to former 

Czechoslovakia on a government initi- 

ative to teach managers at the Czech 

National Bank. When I started, I had 

no specialist knowledge of banking, so 

I had to work very closely with financial 

experts. I went on to teach bankers and 

financial experts in other countries and 

advised many banks on how to set up 

English-language training. 

Has any new kind of technology or tool 

made a difference to how you teach or 

how learners learn? 

I also teach academic English, and this 

is an area in which the books can be 

a bit boring. I want to create materials 

that are inspiring and fun, and modern 

technology is making this easier. At 

the moment, I’m developing an app 

and a website to support learners who 

want to study in the UK. My site, 

AcademicStudyKit.com, will offer a 

modular approach to study skills, with 

user-friendly, bite-sized modules that 

allow learners to select the specific 

skills they need and want to focus on. 

What are the biggest challenges for international 

students of English at university 

in the UK? 

Firstly, the study culture and expectations 

may differ greatly from what students 

are used to in their home country. 

Critical thinking is an essential part 

of university study, but this is often 

difficult for students who have prepared 

for their later studies in courses 

designed to help them pass traditional 

English-language exams, such as 

academic English 

[ÄkE(demIk )INglIS] 

bite-sized [(baIt saIzd] 


Czech [tSek] 

Czechoslovakia 

[)tSekEUslEU(vÄkiE] 


Mediterranean 

[)medItE(reIniEn] 

rural [(rUErEl] 

rusty [(rVsti] 

visiting lecturer 

[)vIzItIN (lektSErE] UK 

Englisch als Wissenschaftssprache 

mundgerecht; hier: 

problemlos zu bewältigen 

Berater(in) 

tschechisch 

Tschechoslowakei 

Redakteur(in) 

Mittelmeer 

ländlich 

rostig; hier: eingerostet 

Gastdozent(in) 


iStock 

“In future, business courses 

should focus more on 

ethical business practice” 

Critical thinking: an essential part of university life 

IELTS. They have to learn to develop an 

academic argument and write original 

work without copying from their reading 

material. This copying is a serious 

problem as this is plagiarism, which 

can lead to students failing. 

What are some of the key principles that 

promote effective language learning? 

Just three magic words: inspiration, 

rapport, interaction. 

What do you think of the use of social 

media in teaching? 

Blogging and tweeting have helped 

many teachers and students find new 

materials and share ideas, but we have 

to be careful that it doesn’t change 

the way we communicate face-to-face. 

Sometimes, I see groups of students 

sitting together, but they aren’t talking 

to each other because they are too 

busy looking at their iPhones! There 

is certainly a time and place for social 

argument [(A:gjumEnt] hier: Argumentation 

business practice 

Geschäftsgebaren 

[(bIznIs )prÄktIs] 

come up with sth. sich etw. ausdenken 

[)kVm (Vp wID] 

engaging [In(geIdZIN] fesselnd, mitreißend 

entrepreneur 

Unternehmer(in) 

[)QntrEprE(n§:] 

face-to-face [)feIs tE (feIs] persönlich, direkt 

long term [)lQN (t§:m] langfristig 

plagiarism 

Plagiat, geistiger 

[(pleIdZE)rIzEm] 

Diebstahl 

rapport [rÄ(pO:] 

harmonische 

Beziehung(en) 

sustainability 

Nachhaltigkeit, 

[sEs)teInE(bIlEti] 

Zukunftsfähigkeit 

tweeting [twi:tIN] 

Twittern 

media, but nothing can beat face-toface 

communication. 

How do you think business English should 

be taught in future? 

I believe that a business English course 

should consider the long-term effect 

of business and focus more on ethical 

business practice. I am working on a 

very different type of business English 

book right now, called Good Business. 

It contains material about entrepreneurs 

interested in sustainability as 

well as making a profit. I hope this 

book will stimulate debate and encourage 

people to think about the effect of 

business on the world. 

Who inspires you? 

Sir Kenneth Robinson (see also p. 25). 

He is one of the most engaging speakers 

I have ever heard. His presentations 

are a perfect balance of information, 

persuasion and inspiration. One subject 

he often discusses is the importance 

of having an education system 

that encourages creativity. I like his 

idea: “If you’re not prepared to be 

wrong, you’ll never come up with anything 

original.” 

Must-read: education 

International Management English: 

Working Virtually by Jackie Black and 

Jon Dyson (Delta Publishing). This 

book provides tips on how to work more 

effectively using new technology. It’s 

useful for both teachers and students. 

Must-read: for fun 

I love Latin American literature, so 

it has to be The House of Spirits, by 

Isabel Allende. This book presents the 

triumphs and tragedies of three generations 

of the Trueba family. 

Ambitions and dreams 

To publish a book of short stories. I 

dream of having a farm in the mountains 

for therapeutic plant oils. BS 

Study tip 

What can learners do to improve their reading 

and writing skills? 

Students have to spend a lot of time 

skimming and scanning books and articles. 

Finding relevant material for an 

essay can be difficult. If you use the 

exact words of the original, this is plagiarism. 

Here’s an activity students should 

do regularly to help them to identify and 

summarize the main ideas in a text more 

quickly and to avoid plagiarism: 

l Select an article from an academic 

journal. 

l Read the first three or four paragraphs 

and take notes of the main ideas in 

your own words. 

l Finally, write a summary of your notes 

in three or four sentences. 

plagiarism [(pleIdZE)rIzEm] Plagiat, geistiger Diebstahl 

scan sth. [skÄn] 

etw. überfliegen 

skim sth. [skIm] 

etw. querlesen 

summarize sth. [(sVmEraIz] etw. zusammenfassen 

summary [(sVmEri] Zusammenfassung 

www For more on business English training, 

see www.business-spotlight.de/teachers 


LANGUAGE PRODUCTS 

What‘s new? 

Sie 

wollen noch tiefer ins Englische eintauchen? Wir haben uns 

für Sie nach neuen Produkten umgesehen. 

medium 

Books 

Book with audio CD 

Business Words in Context 

It’s not enough just to learn English words 

— you also need to understand the context 

in which they are used. Here, words, collocations 

and set phrases are presented in dialogues 

and texts with German translations. 

They are organized in a number of business 

situations, including areas that may cause 

problems for German speakers of English. 

Louise Carleton-Gertsch (Klett), €13.99* 

What Great Brands Do 

In almost every aspect of our personal and 

business lives, we find product brands. But 

what makes great brands great? Consultant 

Denise Lee Yohn explains the methods that 

companies use to build brands, as well as 

providing case studies of the successes and 

failures of dominant brands. Denise Lee 

Yohn (Jossey-Bass/Wiley), €24.90 

Using Social Media 

Learners of business English who use 

social media at work need to do so effectively. 

This book examines the advantages 

and risks of presenting information online. 

The book and audio CD can be used 

in the classroom or for self-study. Louise 

Pile (Delta Publishing), €22.95 

Book with downloadable content 

201 Killer Cover Letters 

Most job-hunting today takes place 

on the internet. As a result, employers 

can be flooded with online 

applications. This book aims to help 

jobseekers stand out from their competitors 

and attract employers’ attention. 

All sample covering letters 

and CV templates can be downloaded. Sandra 

Podesta, Andrea Paxton (McGraw-Hill), €16.05* 

Dancing to a Different Tune 

This collection of interviews, essays and 

commentaries focuses on how globalization 

has changed the way we look at ourselves 

and others. The book helps readers to understand 

the diverse, cross-cultural experiences 

of the interviewees. Patrick L. Schmidt (Meridian 

World Press), $20 

*These products are available at 

application [)ÄplI(keIS&n] 

Bewerbung 

brand [brÄnd] 

Marke 

collocation [)kQlE(keIS&n] 

Kollokation (gängige Wortverbindung) 

competitor [kEm(petItE] 

Konkurrent(in), Mitbewerber(in) 

covering letter [(kVvErIN )letE] Bewerbungsschreiben 

(US cover letter [(kVv&r )let&r*]) 

CV (curriculum vitae) [)si: (vi:] Lebenslauf 

interviewee [)IntEvju(i:] 

Befragte(r), Interviewpartner(in) 

sample [(sA:mp&l] 

Muster 

set phrase [)set (freIz] 

feststehender Ausdruck 

stand out from sb. [)stÄnd (aUt frQm] sich von jmdm. abheben 

template [(templeIt] 

(Muster-)Vorlage 

tune [tju:n] 

Melodie 


Solutions 

Vocabulary (p. 44): 

a) staff/crew; b) broom; c) mop; 

d) Hoover/Vacuum; e) stains; 

f) Wipe; g) feather duster; 

h) wastepaper baskets / wastebaskets; 

i) Wash; j) cleaning 

Grammar at Work (p. 45): 

a) Would you mind opening the 

window? 

b) Do you think you could move 

your car? 

c) I was wondering if you could 

bring me a cup of coffee. 

d) You couldn’t come in on 

Saturday, could you? 

(Other answers are possible.) 

Translation (p. 52): 

a) Der Rechtsstreit könnte die 

Firma Millionen kosten. 

b) His heirs argued the whole 

time / spent the whole time 

arguing. 

English for... stress management 

(pp. 58–59): 

a) cycle; b) Breathe; 

c) thoughts; d) calmness 

Legal English (p. 60): 

a) granted; b) novel; c) utility; 

d) inventive; e) useful 

Language Focus (p. 83): 

a) True 

b) False (aeroplanes cannot 

hover) 

c) False (the blades are convex 

only on the top) 


Listen and learn! 

You can download an MP3 file 

of this Key Words list from our 

website. 

KEY WORDS LANGUAGE 

Vocabulary trainer 

Use our Key Words list to learn vocabulary from the current Business Spotlight. The 

definitions will help you understand the words — and build your vocabulary. 

Nouns and noun phrases 

business practice one’s normal way of doing business Geschäftsgebaren 

gimmick something that is meant to impress people and attract attention, Trick 

usually with the intention of getting them to buy it 

hangover a severe headache and feeling of sickness caused by drinking too Kater 

much alcohol the night before 

knock-on effect UK an outcome that is caused by something else Folgewirkung, Anstoßeffekt 

legal action the process of going to a court to have something decided by law rechtliche Schritte 

memoirs a written account of someone’s life or experiences Memoiren 

plagiarism the taking and using of someone else’s work and saying it is your own Plagiat, geistiger Diebstahl 

Verbs 

butter sb. up ifml. to be nice to someone so that they will help you jmdm. Honig ums Maul schmieren 

exhibit sth. to put something in a museum or other public place so that people can etw. ausstellen 

look at it 

pronounce sth. to make the sound of a word (or part of a word) etw. aussprechen 

queue UK to stand in a line and wait Schlange stehen 

recoup sth. to get back what you have invested, spent or lost etw. wieder hereinholen 

sign sth. off to give approval for something etw. absegnen 

Adjectives and adverbs 

avid showing a lot of enthusiasm for something you do regularly begierig, leidenschaftlich 

eventually in the end, often after a long delay that may have been caused letztendlich 

by a problem 

novel new and interesting, original, unusual neuartig 

randomly without a particular method, plan or purpose zufällig, wahllos 

self-explanatory easy to understand, not needing explanation selbsterklärend 

sensitive delicate, having to be dealt with very carefully, and often in secret heikel 

Idioms and expressions 

for a living as a way to make enough money to live als Broterwerb 

get cut off (of a phone connection) to be disconnected unterbrochen werden 

in advance before something else happens im Voraus 

keep the show on the to make sure that something functions correctly den Betrieb am Laufen halten 

road ifml. 

raise the bar to raise the standards that need to be met die Messlatte höher ansetzen 

save face to avoid embarrassment or humiliation das Gesicht wahren 

www Subscribers to Business Spotlight can download the following lists at www.business-spotlight.de/words 

l a PDF of this Key Words list with an MP3 audio file of the words, definitions and example sentences 

l a PDF of the complete vocabulary list (English–German) for each magazine 


Making the cut 

Inzwischen haben Sie ein interessantes 

Stellenangebot gefunden und möchten sich 

nun bewerben. Im zweiten Teil zum Thema 

Stellensuche erklärt Ihnen Margaret Davis, 

auch anhand von Beispielen, was für Ihre 

schriftliche Bewerbung wichtig ist. advanced 

2 

SERIES: Part Two 

Time well spent: ready 

to answer 66 questions 

www.business-spotlight.de 5/2014 

iStock

FINDING A JOB CAREERS 

“A document that looks like a novel scares off 

the reader because it looks like too much work” 

How is your international 

job search going? If you’ve 

followed our advice on 

search techniques and personal 

branding (see “Selling 

yourself”, Business Spotlight 

4/2014, pp. 66–71), by now, you 

have looked online and in print publications 

and perhaps have found a 

job advertisement that matches your 

qualifications. The next step is to 

produce a CV (or “résumé” in North 

American usage) and covering letter 

(“cover letter” in North America) for 

your job application. 

1. The CV 

“It is important to realize that the 

purpose of a CV is not to get a job, 

but to get on the shortlist for an 

interview,” explains the British employment 

website Jobs.ac.uk. “You 

do not need to write your life history: 

don’t tell them everything or you will 

have nothing left to talk about at the 

interview!” 

“A résumé is a visual document,” 

says professional résumé writer Robin 

Reshwan. “This means that using 

a layout that is organized, symmetrical, 

allows resting places for the 

eyes with good use of white space 

and is not overly text-heavy or overly 

styled works best. A document that 

looks like a novel often scares off the 

reader because it looks like too much 

work,” Reshwan writes in US News 

& World Report. 

Think about how the résumé will 

be read, Reshwan advises. “Résumés 

are often opened first on a mobile 

device. Take a look at your document 

and see if the top one third would 

entice the reader to scroll down. The 

most important and tailored information 

should be at the top to get the 

most attention.” 

Ideally, you should tailor your CV 

to the job you are applying for, using 

information and keywords from 

the advertisement. Visit the company’s 

website to see how they describe 

themselves and then use some of the 

key phrases. “For each of the positions 

you’ve held, use action verbs to 

describe how you contributed to your 

employers, such as: cut costs, generated 

revenue, improved service, enhanced 

processes, solved problems or 

saved time,” writes Karen Hofferber 

of the online job site Monster.com. 

“Use numbers, percentages, dollar 

amounts, comparisons or other key 

details to back up your claims. Be 

sure not to reveal facts that disclose 

proprietary or confidential company 

information.” 

Although CVs that include the 

jobseeker’s date of birth and marital 

status are standard in the Germanspeaking 

world, such information 

is not required in English-speaking 

countries. In fact, including it may 

even disqualify you from the beginning: 

British and North American 

employers are worried about being 

charged with age or sex discrimination. 

The same is true of photos. 

Include one only if it is specifically 

requested — which is unlikely, unless 

you are applying for a job as an actor 

or a model. 

When giving job titles, do not use 

abbreviations, as they may be difficult 

for others to understand. And, 

rather than simply listing past job 

titles, focus on your achievements in 

the various roles. For example: “As 

customer service representative for 

Derry Bank, I created a positive atmosphere 

for our telephone clients, 

as well as providing them with opportunities 

to save money.” 

Keep your CV concise. “Long résumés 

can make you come across as 

someone who can’t edit and doesn’t 

know what information is essential 

and what’s less important,” warns US 

careers expert Alison Green. “As a 

general rule, your résumé shouldn’t 

be longer than two pages, maxi- 

abbreviation [E)bri:vi(eIS&n] Abkürzung 

back sth. up [)bÄk (Vp] etw. unterstützen, 

untermauern 

come across as sb. als jmd. wirken, rüber- 

[)kVm E(krQs Äz] 

kommen 

concise [kEn(saIs] kurz und prägnant 

confidential [)kQnfI(denS&l] vertraulich 

covering letter 

Bewerbungsschreiben 

[(kVvErIN )letE] UK 

CV (curriculum vitae) Lebenslauf 

[)si: (vi:] 

disclose sth. [dIs(klEUz] etw. enthüllen 

edit sth. [(edIt] 

etw. redigieren 

enhance sth. [In(hA:ns] etw. verbessern, steigern 

entice sb. to do sth. jmdn. verleiten, etw. zu 

[In(taIs tE du:] 

tun 

get on the shortlist in die engere Wahl 

[)get Qn DE (SO:tlIst] kommen 

hold (a position) 

(eine Position) inne- 

[hEUld] 

haben 

interview [(IntEvju:] Bewerbungsgespräch 

job title [(dZQb )taIt&l] Berufs-, Stellenbezeichnung 

marital status 

Familienstand 

[(mÄrIt&l )steItEs] 

mobile device 

Mobilgerät 

[)mEUbaI&l di(vaIs] 

personal branding Herausbilden eines 

[)p§:s&nEl (brÄndIN] persönlichen Markenzeichens 


Formulierung 

proprietary 

urheberrechtlich 

[prE(praIEtEri] 

geschützt; hier: firmenintern 

résumé [(rezEmeI*] US Lebenslauf 

reveal sth. [ri(vi:&l] etw. offenlegen 

revenue [(revEnju:] Einnahmen 

scare sb. off [)skeEr (Qf] jmdn. abschrecken 

tailor sth. [(teIlE] 

etw. (individuell) 

ausrichten 

tailored [(teIlEd] 

maßgeschneidert; hier: 

auf die Bewerbung 

zugeschnitten 

text-heavy [(tekst )hevi] textlastig 


4 


CAREERS FINDING A JOB 

“For each of the jobs you’ve held, 

use action verbs to say what you 

have given your employer” 

mum. And if you’re a recent grad, it 

should only be one page, because you 

haven’t yet had enough work experience 

to justify a second one,” Green 

writes in US News & World Report. 

Many companies require that CVs 

be submitted online or via email. 

“Take the time to learn the company 

guidelines for submitting résumés, 

and follow them,” says Larry Buhl 

of Monster.ca. “Also, don’t include 

attachments unless they are requested. 

Some companies block all emails 

with attachments to prevent viruses.” 

Have a CV prepared so that you 

can fill in an online job application 

quickly. 

To make a good impression, start 

with your email address. If you currently 

use a jokey address, like hotstuff@gmail.com, 

change it to something 

more professional. It is also a 

good idea to have separate email addresses 

for personal and job-hunting 

purposes, according to James Innes, 

head of The CV Centre in London (see 

“For more information” on p. 73). 

“Make sure that your email address 

doesn’t appear as a ‘hyperlink’ 

in your CV, i.e. in blue, underlined 

text,” Innes adds. “Whilst this could 

arguably be useful in certain circumstances, 

it can also mean that the 

email address doesn’t print properly 

to a black-and-white printer — and 

that is clearly a significant problem.” 

Use a serif typeface such as Times 

New Roman for printed CVs and a 

sans-serif font like Arial for email applications. 

Although serif fonts look 

better on the printed page, they may 

be incompatible with email or online 

Standard form: know 

what to write 

programs, and could result in your 

CV being rejected without being read. 

2. The covering letter 

Your CV will be accompanied by a 

covering letter. Keep it short. Hiring 

managers and recruiters are busy and 

you don’t want to frustrate them by 

sending letters that go on for pages. 

“Due to the volume of applications, 

recruiters want covering letters to 

be succinct,” explains career coach 

Sarah Archer. “So it is really important 

to focus on the quality of information 

you are putting in there — 

rule of thumb would be one page. 

Include some brief examples of your 

suitability, but choose the ones you 

think are the most important for the 

job and that they would find interesting. 

Avoid making statements that 

anyone could say, such as ‘I have 

great communication skills’,” Archer 

told The Guardian. 

“The best information to put into 

your opening line is a name: the name 

of the letter’s recipient or of a mutual 

friend. Name-dropping virtually 

guarantees that your letter will be 

read,” writes Joyce Lain Kennedy in 

Cover Letters for Dummies (see p. 73). 

“Not only does your reader appreciate 

being addressed by name, but also 

this personal bit separates your letter 

from the ones written by people 

who didn’t take the time to do a little 

research into the company.” 

If you are sending a covering letter 

by email, you need to follow most of 

the same rules as with paper covering 

letters. Be polite but concise and pay 

attention to details like correct spelling 

and grammar. But there are other 

things to consider as well, according 

to Monster.com. “Don’t ever leave 

the subject line of your email blank 

and don’t waste it by just inserting 

appreciate sth. [E(pri:SieIt] etw. zu schätzen wissen 

arguably [(A:gjuEbli] wohl 

attachment [E(tÄtSmEnt] Anhang 

blank [blÄNk] 

leer 

brief [bri:f] 

kurz 

font [fQnt] 

Schrift(art) 

grad (graduate) 

(Hochschul-) 

[(grÄd] ifml. 

Absolvent(in) 

hiring manager 

Personalver- 

[(haIrIN )mÄnIdZE] antwortliche(r) 

i.e. (id est) [)aI (i:] d.h. (das heißt) 

insert sth. [In(s§:t] etw. einfügen 

mutual [(mju:tSuEl] beiderseitig, gemeinsam 

name-dropping 

Erwähnen bekannter 

[(neIm )drQpIN] 

Persönlichkeiten 

recipient [ri(sIpiEnt] Empfänger(in) 

recruiter [ri(kru:tE] Personalvermittler(in) 

reject sth. [ri(dZekt] etw. ablehnen; hier: 

aussortieren 

research: do ~ [ri(s§:tS] Recherchen vornehmen 

rule of thumb 

Faustregel 

[)ru:l Ev (TVm] 

sans serif [)sÄn (serIf] serifenlos 

serif typeface 

Serifenschrift 

[(serIf )taIpfeIs] 

spelling [(spelIN] 

Rechtschreibung 

subject line 

Betreffzeile 

[(sVbdZekt laIn] 

submit sth. [sEb(mIt] etw. einsenden 

succinct [sEk(sINkt] knapp, kurz und bündig 

suitability [)su:tE(bIlEti] Eignung 

virtually [(v§:tSuEli] praktisch, nahezu 

iStock 


the job number,” says business etiquette 

expert Lydia Ramsey. “The 

subject line should be clear and specific 

to the job you’re looking for.” 

For example, “Bilingual PA seeks 

executive secretary position”. 

Watch out for possible formatting 

problems when you submit an online 

application, advises Monster.ca’s 

Larry Buhl. “If you write a cover 

letter in a word-processing program, 

strip away all formatting and save 

the file as plain text. The ideal line 

length is 40 characters. Save emoticons, 

abbreviations and wild colours 

and fonts for your nonprofessional 

emails.” Don’t try to be funny, Buhl 

adds. The reader may not understand 

the humour. 

3. Two jobseekers 

Now, let’s look at two fictional jobseekers 

and their applications. One of 

them, Jennifer, has taken a straightforward 

career path. Robert, the 

other candidate, has changed paths 

and therefore has some gaps in his 

employment history. 

a) Jennifer Monroe 

Jennifer Monroe is an experienced 

PA living in Leicester, England. Now 

completing a maternity leave after 4 

career path [kE(rIE pA:T] 

character 

[(kÄrEktE] 

executive secretary 

[Ig)zekjUtIv (sekrEtEri] 

file [faI&l] 

gap [gÄp] 

maternity leave 

[mE(t§:nEti li:v] 

PA (personal assistant) 

[)pi: (eI] 

plain text [)pleIn (tekst] 

straightforward 

[)streIt(fO:wEd] 

strip sth. away 

[)strIp E(weI] 

word-processing program 

[(w§:d )prEUsesIN 

)prEUgrÄm] 

beruflicher Werdegang 

Zeichen 

Chefsekretär(in) 

Datei 

Lücke 

Mutterschaftsurlaub 

persönliche(r) 

Assistent(in) 

Klartext; hier: unformatierter 

Text 

geradlinig 

etw. entfernen 

Textverarbeitungsprogramm 

JENNIFER MONROE 

21 Billings Road, Leicester LE1 7RH 

Telephone: 0116 253 5555 (home); 07700 913 123 (mobile) 

Email: jenniferm@wifi.co.uk 

James Cohen 

Chief Operating Officer 

Acme Sport Equipment 

18 Olympic Lane 

Leicester LE4 6QH 

12 July 2014 

PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE CEO — REF. #727144 

Dear Mr Cohen 

Acme’s chief financial officer, Elizabeth Nichols (my former maths teacher at 

Bosworth Secondary School), told me recently about the job opening at your 

company. As a qualified personal assistant with more than ten years’ experience, 

I would very much like to be interviewed for this position at Acme Sport Equipment. 

An enthusiastic runner and amateur football coach, I am familiar with your 

company’s products and would be delighted to have the opportunity to work with you. 

According to your advertisement in the Leicester Mercury, your ideal candidate is 

“well-organized, flexible and highly motivated” — all qualities that apply to me. 

In addition to my university degree in languages (German and French), I have an 

executive PA diploma from the Gladstone Institute. Throughout my career, I have 

continued to upgrade my skills, attending professional development training 

seminars in marketing and human resources. My former employers can confirm that 

I am trustworthy, reliable and discreet, with the ability to communicate complex 

concepts in clear, simple language. 

Following a one-year maternity leave, I am eager to return to full-time employment 

and look forward to helping your CEO make the best possible use of his time. 

I enclose my CV with more details of my education, work experience and interests. 

Thank you in advance for your interest. I look forward to discussing my application 

with you in a personal interview and will follow up this letter next week with an 

email. Please feel free to contact me in the meantime if you need me to provide you 

with more information. 

Yours sincerely 

Jennifer Monroe 

Jennifer Monroe 

enc.: CV 

chief financial officer (CFO) 

[)tSi:f faI(nÄnS&l )QfIsE] 

chief operating officer (COO) 

[)tSi:f (QpEreItIN )QfIsE] 

degree [di(gri:] 

eager: be ~ to do sth. [(i:gE] 

enc. (enclosed) [In(klEUzd] 

enclose sth. [In(klEUz] 

follow sth. up with sth. 

[)fQlEU (Vp wID] 

human resources (HR) 

[)hju:mEn ri(zO:sIz] 

interview sb. [(IntEvju:] 

job opening [(dZQb )EUpEnIN] 

look forward to doing sth. 

[lUk )fO:wEd tE (du:IN] 

ref. (reference) [ref] 

upgrade sth. [Vp(greId] 

Finanzleiter(in) 

Betriebsleiter(in) 

hier: Abschluss 

gern etw. tun wollen 

hier: Anlage(n) 

etw. beifügen 

etw. auf etw. folgen lassen 

Personalwesen 

jmdn. zum Vorstellungsgespräch einladen 

freie Stelle 

sich darauf freuen, etw. zu tun 

Referenz, Bezug(nahme) 

etw. erweitern 



A common mistake is to 

say you are looking 

for a job that will build 

your skills 

the birth of her first child, Jennifer 

wants to work closer to home than 

in her last job, which was about an 

hour’s drive away, in Nottingham. 

She has applied for several jobs in 

the Leicester area. One of them, at a 

sporting equipment company in the 

city, seems particularly well suited 

to her qualifications. In her covering 

letter, Jennifer mentions a company 

manager whom she knows personally. 

She also refers to her own use of 

the company’s sporting equipment, 

which creates a good impression 

and tells the hiring manager that she 

could be a good choice for the job. 

Jennifer has taken the time to find 

out who will be reading the job applications. 

Because the name was 

not stated in the newspaper advertisement, 

she called the company to 

find out. Note how she expresses her 

interest in the position: not by talking 

about its benefit to her, but by saying 

how she can help her potential employer. 

(A common mistake among 

jobseekers is to state that their objective 

is to find a job that will help 

them build their skills or gain experience 

in a particular field. Employers, 

not surprisingly, are more interested 

in how a candidate’s skills will benefit 

the company.) Jennifer’s covering letter 

can be found on page 69. 

objective [Eb(dZektIv] 

Ziel 

Worth the extra effort: find out who will be reading your job application 

Meanwhile, for her CV (see p. 71), 

Jennifer has chosen the chronological 

model. Chronological CVs are popular 

with employers because they are 

easy to read, letting them see how 

your career has progressed. Start 

with your most recent employment 

and work back in time to your earliest 

job history. This form is ideal 

if, as in Jennifer’s case, the jobs you 

have held reflect your background 

and training and if your recent jobs 

are directly relevant to the one you 

are now applying for. 

4 

iStock 


JENNIFER MONROE 

21 Billings Road, Leicester LE1 7RH 


Email: jenniferm@wifi.co.uk 

CAREER PROFILE 

Resourceful, task-oriented executive PA with more than ten years’ experience of providing administrative support to managers 

at all levels. Strong troubleshooting skills, including organizing demanding schedules and overseeing projects, while giving 

attention to logistical details. Proven ability to focus and set priorities to the benefit of my managers and their companies. 

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY 

Executive PA l Nottingham Health Care l 2008–2013 

Nottingham Health Care is one of the largest private health-care providers in Britain, with an annual turnover of £25 million. 

l Executive assistant to the company CEO, with responsibilities including appointment scheduling, expense-account management, 

report-writing. 

l Responsible for training and assigning departmental secretaries. 

l Acted as liaison between the CEO, the Ministry of Health, the Hospitals Association and pharmaceutical companies. 

Executive secretary l London Insurance l 2004–2008 

London Insurance is an international company with offices in London, Paris and Munich. As executive secretary to a division 

manager, I was able to use my language skills to deal with a variety of clients as well as staff in our branch offices abroad. 

l Managed a demanding schedule for the head of finance. 

l Communicated regularly with French and German support staff. 

l Frequently required to translate French and German memos. 

Bilingual secretary l Whiz-Bang Services l 2002–2004 

At the time I joined the company, Whiz-Bang was an internet start-up providing tech support to a small group of clients. Two 

years later, it had changed direction to become one of the most dynamic developers of hotel booking technology in the UK. 

l Supported manager in the development of new client base. 

l Produced technical material under the guidance of software developers. 

l Created spreadsheets, managed databases and wrote reports. 

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS 

l Executive PA diploma, Gladstone Institute, London 

l Professional development training: various programmes in marketing and human resources, including intensive residential 

training to build executive PA skills, plus three months of self-financed performance coaching sessions 

l BA (Hons) in German and French, Nottingham University 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

l Assistant coach, Abbey Park Stars, girls’ football team 

l Secretary, Stoneygate Residents’ Association 

l President, Guildhall Runners Cooperative 

LANGUAGES 

l Fluent in German and French 

l Working knowledge of Spanish 

annual turnover [)ÄnjuEl (t§:nEUvE] Jahresumsatz 

assign sb. [E(saIn] 

jmdn. zuteilen, zuweisen 

BA (Bachelor of Arts) 

hier: erster akademischer Grad in 

[)bi: (eI] 

Sprachwissenschaften 

branch office [)brA:ntS (QfIs] 

Geschäftsstelle, Niederlassung 

departmental [)di:pA:t(ment&l] Abteilungsdivision 

manager [dI(vIZ&n )mÄnIdZE] Abteilungs-, Bereichsleiter(in) 

expense account [Ik(spens E)kaUnt] Spesenkonto, -abrechnung 

fluent: be ~ in a language [(flu:Ent] eine Sprache fließend sprechen 

Hons (honours) [(QnEz] 

mit Auszeichnung 

insurance [In(SUErEns] 

Versicherung 

liaison [li(eIz&n] 

Kontaktperson, Ansprechpartner(in) 

oversee sth. [)EUvE(si:] 

etw. überwachen 

resourceful [ri(zO:sf&l] 

ideenreich 

schedule [(Sedju:l] 

Termin-, Zeitplan; (Termin) vergeben 

spreadsheet [(spredSi:t] 

Kalkulationstabelle 

troubleshooting [(trVb&lSu:tIN] Fehlerbehebung; hier: Problemlösung 

working knowledge [(w§:kIN )nQlIdZ] ausreichende praktische Kenntnisse 



Interview 

“Employers are looking for potential candidates 

who are worth investing in” 

Corinne Mills: a British 

career coach and author 

Not everyone has a straightforward 

career path. New graduates, older 

workers or those with career gaps 

can all face difficulties when writing 

their CVs. Author and career coach 

Corinne Mills is the managing director 

of Personal Career Management, 

a British consultancy (see “For further 

information” on p. 73). Business 

Spotlight spoke to Mills, whose book 

Career Coach is published in German 

by Aumann under the title Der Karriere 

Coach. 

New graduates don’t have much work experience 

to list on their CVs. How can 

they compensate? 

An employer knows that graduates 

don’t have much work experience, so 

what they are looking for is their potential 

to become a great employee and, 

therefore, worth investing in. Graduates 

should think about what experience 

they have, both paid and unpaid, 

that could be used to demonstrate the 

relevant personal qualities and workplace 

skills required. For instance, a 

temporary job working in a shop shows 

an understanding of customer service, 

an ability to work to targets and comply 

with sales and financial procedures. Experience 

working in a restaurant could 

show that you can work under pressure, 

multitask, follow health and safety pro- 

cedures, etc. Non-work achievements 

can also be relevant — for instance, 

being captain of a sports team shows 

leadership skills, or helping with a 

charity event can show teamwork. 

Older workers often have the opposite 

problem. Should they list every job they 

have ever had? 

It’s not necessary to list every job 

you’ve ever had, especially if your 

career history goes back a while. Instead, 

you can group some of those 

roles together under one heading. For 

example: “Pre-1990: worked in project 

management roles for organizations in 

the technology sector”. However, if one 

of your earlier roles is directly relevant 

to the job you are applying for, then 

definitely include it. 

What’s the best type of CV for people with 

employment gaps? 

If the gaps are just a few months, then 

this can be minimized by putting your 

employment dates as months or years 

rather than exact dates. For example: 

“2003–2005: university librarian”. 

However, if there are quite large gaps, 

then you might be better to use a CV 

accounts [E(kaUnts] 

charity [(tSÄrEti] 

comply with sth. [kEm(plaI wID] 

consultancy [kEn(sVltEnsi] 

CV (curriculum vitae) [)si: (vi:] 

fixed-term contract [)fIkst )t§:m (kQntrÄkt] 

gap [gÄp] 

interim [(IntErIm] 

librarian [laI(breEriEn] 

managing director [)mÄnIdZIN dE(rektE] 

new graduate [)nju: (grÄdZuEt] 

procedure [prEU(si:dZE] 

relegated: be ~ to the ... page [(relIgeItId] 

sales [seI&lz] 

straightforward [)streIt(fO:wEd] 

suspicious [sE(spISEs] 

temporary job [)temp&rEri (dZQb] 

format that puts your employment 

dates on the second page of your CV. 

Use the first page to include your contact 

details, a profile, then a heading 

such as “Relevant experience”, under 

which you can provide information on 

all of your relevant skills, knowledge 

and experience but without mentioning 

dates. The aim is to have impressed the 

employer so much with the first page of 

your CV that they are not too concerned 

about the career gaps, which are relegated 

to the second page. 

How do employers react to candidates 

who switch jobs frequently? 

Employers are suspicious of candidates 

who frequently change jobs, as they 

will be concerned that you will not last 

long in their company either. Grouping 

some jobs together — “Between 2005 

and 2008, I worked in administrative 

roles within the health-care and travel 

sectors” — can be an effective way of 

keeping the number of jobs you list for 

a certain period to a minimum. You 

could also refer to some of the jobs 

as temporary, interim or fixed-term 

contracts. For example: “interim head 

of accounts”. 

Rechnungswesen, Buchhaltung 

karitative Organisation 

etw. erfüllen, einhalten 

Beratungsfirma 

Lebenslauf 

Zeitvertrag 

Lücke 

Interims-, auf Zeit 

Bibliothekar(in) 


Hochschulabgänger(in) 

Ablauf, Verfahren 

erst auf der ... Seite aufgeführt werden 

Verkauf, Vertrieb 

geradlinig 

argwöhnisch 

Aushilfstätigkeit 


iStock 


BOOKS 

Career Coach: Your Personal Workbook for a 

Better Career, Corinne Mills (Trotman) 

The Cover Letter Book: Your Definitive Guide to 

Writing the Perfect Cover Letter, James Innes 

(Pearson) 

Cover Letters for Dummies, Joyce Lain Kennedy 

(Wiley) 

The CV Book: Your Definitive Guide to Writing the 

Perfect CV, James Innes (Pearson) 

You’re Hired! How to Write a Brilliant CV, Corinne 

Mills (Trotman) 

WEBSITES 

Job advice and job searches: www.careerbuilder. 

com; www.monster.com; www.jobs.ac.uk 

Personal Career Management is the name of 

career coach Corinne Mills’s company: 

www.personalcareermanagement.com 

A functional CV focuses on 

areas of expertise rather 

than on chronological order 

The employer’s perspective: clear writing and simple layout preferred 

b) Robert Smith 

Now, let’s look at someone whose career 

has not been as straightforward. 

Robert Smith has several gaps in his 

CV because he has changed careers. 

Robert went to university to study 

biology, originally hoping to become 

a veterinary surgeon. But on completing 

his degree, he discovered that job 

possibilities were limited, so instead 

of studying veterinary medicine, he 

trained as a laboratory technician for 

a pharmaceutical company, a job he 

held for several years. Friendly and 

extroverted, Robert felt isolated as 

a technician and decided to train as 

a medical sales representative, a job 

that enabled him to have more contact 

with other people. He did not 

enjoy the work, however, and, seeing 

little opportunity for advancement, 

he decided to make a major change 

by retraining as a science teacher. 

Now having completed his studies, 

Robert is a newly qualified teacher 

applying for his first permanent 

teaching position. 

Because of his employment history, 

Robert uses a “functional CV” 

that focuses on his different areas of 

expertise, rather than a chronological 

one. “If your last employment(s) 

have not been directly relevant to 

the role you are applying for, then a 

chronological CV will do you no favours,” 

writes career coach Corinne 

Mills (see interview on p. 72). “It 

will instead raise questions about 

why you are applying. Equally, if you 

have had several jobs, gaps between 

jobs or career breaks, then this CV 

advancement 

[Ed(vA:nsmEnt] 

expertise [)eksp§:(ti:z] 

laboratory technician 

[lE)bQrEtEri tek(nIS&n] 

raise a question 

[)reIz E (kwestSEn] 

sales representative 

[(seI&lz repri)zentEtIv] 

veterinary surgeon 

[)vet&rEnEri (s§:dZEn] 

Aufstieg 

Sachkenntnis(se) 

Labortechniker(in) 

eine Frage aufwerfen 

Außendienstmitarbeiter(in) 

Tierarzt/Tierärztin 

4 



ROBERT SMITH 

33 Fauntleroy Road, Haringey, London N8 8E9 


Email: robsmith@wifi.co.uk 

Newly qualified science teacher with excellent classroom and behaviour-management 

skills, in addition to seven years’ experience working in the private sector, in fastpaced 

science and technology positions. Patient, diplomatic approach to dealing with 

pupils and parents from a wide variety of backgrounds and academic ability. Excellent 

people skills, developed in the demanding role of medical sales representative. 

Computer-savvy, with extensive experience as a laboratory technician in a pharmaceutical 

company, where careful attention to detail was essential. 

KEY SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 

l Introduced after-school Teen Science Club for pupils during student placement 

at Oxbow Secondary School, with visits to science and technology museums and 

carefully supervised experiments in the school chemistry lab. 

l Served on a staff–parent advisory committee to study proposed curriculum changes. 

l Demonstrated leadership and creativity through a series of online training programmes 

developed for in-house and external medical sales colleagues. 

l Planned, set up and carried out controlled experiments and drug trials. 

l Constructed, maintained and operated laboratory equipment. 

l Analysed data and produced reports, reviews and summaries. 

l Performed mathematical calculations and created graphs using computer programs. 

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY 

Medical sales representative l CB Pharma l 2009–2012 

Laboratory technician l GenTech Pharmaceuticals l 2005–2009 

EDUCATION AND TRAINING 

l Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), Science with Biology, Bishop Grosseteste 

University, Lincoln 

l Six-month on-the-job training programme as medical sales representative, Islington 

l BTEC National Diploma Pharmaceutical Science, Bournemouth and Poole College 

l BSc (Hons) in Biology, University of Bristol 

format could make what is a very legitimate 

work history look irregular 

and troublesome.” 

Robert’s CV is on the left. 

4. Making a good 

impression 

Producing a professional-looking job 

application is hard work, but it is 

worth the extra effort, according to 

CV expert James Innes. “Most jobseekers 

don’t realize that the way 

their CV is presented can often be 

of more value in getting to the next 

stage of the application process than 

the information itself,” Innes writes. 

“You will make an impression on the 

reader even before they read a single 

word. Presentation can make all 

the difference between success and 

failure.” 

BS 

troublesome [(trVb&lsEm] 

iStock 

schwierig, problematisch 

INTERESTS 

Travel (Ecuador, Galapagos Islands). Volunteering (Battersea Dogs & Cats Home). 

Music (drummer for The Teachers, an amateur rock band) 

BSc (Bachelor of Science) 

hier: erster akademischer Grad in 

[)bi: es (si:] 

Naturwissenschaften 

chemistry lab [(kemIstri lÄb] ifml. Chemielabor 

computer-savvy [kEm(pju:tE )sÄvi] ifml. in Computerthemen bewandert 

curriculum [kE(rIkjUlEm] 

Lehrplan 

drug trial [(drVg )traI&l] 

Arzneimitteltest 

fast-paced [)fA:st (peIst] 

schnelllebig 

graph [grA:f] 

Diagramm 

maintain sth. [meIn(teIn] 

etw. instandhalten 

people skills [(pi:p&l skIlz] 

soziale Kompetenzen 

placement [(pleIsmEnt] UK 

Praktikum 

postgraduate [pEUst(grÄdjuEt] Graduiertenreview 

[ri(vju:] 

Bericht 

summary [(sVmEri] 

Zusammenfassung 

supervised [(su:pEvaIzd] 

beaufsichtigt 

volunteering [)vQlEn(tIErIN] 

ehrenamtliche Tätigkeit 

In the next issue Margaret 

Davis provides tips for what to say 

and do in a job interview. 

plus For exercises on this topic, see 


www You’ll find more examples of CVs and 

covering letters at www.businessspotlight.de/careers 

Margaret Davis is a Canadian journalist 

and editor of the Careers section 

of Business Spotlight. Contact: 

m.davis@spotlight-verlag.de 


TIPS AND TRENDS CAREERS 

All in a day’s work 

Muss man jede Frage beantworten können? Und warum 

müssen sich Arbeitnehmer zunehmend den Schreibtisch 

mit Kollegen teilen? Margaret Davis antwortet. medium 

Communication 

Say you don’t know 

It’s OK to admit that you don’t have all the answers. “Believing 

you should know everything can be very restrictive, as 

it closes your mind to other sources of knowledge and other 

opinions,” says executive coach Sandra Cunningham. “Letting 

go of this idea can be very liberating,” Cunningham told the 

Financial Times. 

There are exceptions, though. “If you’re at a board meeting 

and you were sent a report beforehand to read, it’s reasonable 

to expect you to know the report’s main points,” says organizational 

psychologist Hazel Carter-Showell. 

Image Source 

Hands-on poet: 

Edmund de Waal 

©KHM 

board meeting 

[(bO:d )mi:tIN] 

ceramicist [sE(rÄmIsIst] 

executive coach 

[Ig)zekjUtIv (kEUtS] 

exhibit sth. [Ig(zIbIt] 

liberating [(lIbEreItIN] 

porcelain [(pO:s&lIn] 

pottery [(pQtEri] 

restrictive [ri(strIktIv] 

senior vice president 

[)si:niE )vaIs (prezIdEnt] 

sick day [(sIk deI] 

Away from your desk 

Exhibition 

The New York Times describes Edmund 

de Waal’s work as “poetry 

written in porcelain”. The British ceramicist 

has exhibited his pottery installations 

in many major museums, 

and now, he will do so for the first time 

in Austria, at the Theseus Temple in 

Vienna until 5 October: www.khm.at 

Vorstandssitzung 

Keramiker(in) 

Führungskräftetrainer(in) 

etw. ausstellen 

befreiend 

Porzellan 

Keramik, Töpferware 

einschränkend; hier: 

hinderlich 

Ressortleiter(in) 

Krankentag 

Photodisc 

How’s that again? You don’t 

need to have all the answers 

Trend 

Sharing spaces 

Do you have your own desk in an office? Or do 

you sit wherever there’s a free spot? More and 

more workers have a “non-territorial office”. According 

to Susan Chapman, senior vice president at 

American Express, traditional offices are in use only 

half of the time because of holidays, sick days 

and travel. “These are just not things we want to pay 

for,” Chapman told The Wall Street Journal. Management 

professor Kimberly Elsbach says most workers 

get used to nonterritorial 

offices — 

but some are unhappy 

that they 

cannot personalize 

their workspace. 

Be neat: you probably 

won’t sit here tomorrow 

5/2014

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e

MANAGEMENT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT 

When Superman died 

Superman musste sterben, damit er zu neuem Leben erweckt werden konnte. 

Vicki Sussens berichtet von einem Werbegag, der Geschichte machte. medium 

Superman: a big success after his death 

The background 

The popular comic series Superman, 

introduced by DC Comics in 1938, 

had lost some of its magic by the 

1990s. A revamp in the 1980s hadn’t 

stopped falling sales. In 1992, DC editors 

decided to modernize the character. 

As writer Jerry Ordway said at 

the time: “People thought of Superman 

as their grandfathers’ hero.” To 

make him appear more human, the 

editors decided to give the story a 

dramatic turn: Clark Kent, both journalist 

and Superman, would tell Lois 

Lane, his colleague and love, his real 

identity, and the two would marry. 

The problem 

Warner Brothers, which owns DC 

Comics, had already decided to use 

the wedding idea in a new TV series 

called Lois & Clark: The New Adventures 

of Superman, so the comic 

version was put on hold. This meant 

that the DC team had to create a new 

story arc. In a brainstorming meeting, 

the team sat with arms folded, angry 

and with no ideas, says editor Mike 

Carlin in Superman Doomsday: Requiem 

& Rebirth, a documentary on 

the death of the superhero. Ordway 

then famously said, “Let’s kill him” 

— a joke he made every time the 

team worked on a new story. Carlin 

realized they had found their idea. 

The solution 

“The world was taking Superman 

for granted, so we said, ‘Let’s show 

what the world would be like without 

Superman’,” explains Carlin. The 

superhero had been made to appear 

dead in other issues, so this time, it 

had to seem real. He would come 

back to life — but only after the readers 

had been “tortured” long enough, 

as editor-in-chief Jenette Kahn says 

in the documentary. The team then 

wrote a story that would make both 

Superman characters and readers 

grieve at the hero’s loss. Indeed, the 

writers themselves — including Carlin 

— fight tears in the documentary 

as they describe his death. Writer 

Karl Kesel says that, when Lois holds 

Superman in her arms while he is 

dying, it is like a “punch to the gut”. 

What happened next 

DC Comics announced the death of 

Superman before the first of the multiissue 

story The Death and Return of 

Superman came out in November 

1992. It created a media storm. One 

comic-book dealer wrote to Carlin 

that DC Comics had no more right to 

kill this “national figure” than Walt 

Disney had to kill Mickey Mouse. 

The issue of Superman in which the 

superhero died (vol. 2, no. 75) sold 

out on the first day, with people 

queuing to buy it. A special edition 

included an obituary and a black 

armband. All in all, six million copies 

were sold, and the rest of the series 

enjoyed record-breaking sales. When 

Superman returned, DC Comics was 

accused of using a gimmick to improve 

sales. However, they certainly 

gave the superhero a spectacular rebirth 

— and made comic history. BS 

accuse sb. of sth. 

[E(kju:z Ev] 

black armband 

[)blÄk (A:mbÄnd] 

documentary 

[)dQkju(mentEri] 

doomsday [(du:mzdeI] 


editor-in-chief 

[)edItEr In (tSi:f] 

gimmick [(gImIk] 

granted: take sb./sth. 

for ~ [(grA:ntId] 

grieve at sth. [(gri:v Ät] 

issue [(ISu:] 

obituary [E(bItSuEri] 

on hold: put sth. ~ 

[Qn (hEUld] 

punch to the gut 

[)pVntS tE DE (gVt] 

queue [kju:] UK 

revamp [(ri:vÄmp] 

sales [seI&lz] 

special edition 

[)speS&l i(dIS&n] 

story arc [(stO:ri A:k] 

torture sb. [(tO:tSE] 

jmdn. einer Sache 

beschuldigen 

Trauerbinde 

Dokumentarfilm 

der Jüngste Tag; auch: 

Supermans Kontrahent 

Redakteur(in) 

Chefredakteur(in) 

Trick 

jmdn./etw. als selbstverständlich 

hinnehmen 

etw. betrauern 

Ausgabe 

Nachruf 

etw. aufschieben, erst 

mal auf Eis legen 

Schlag in die 

Magengrube 

Schlange stehen 

Um-, Neugestaltung 

Umsatz 

Sonderausgabe 

Handlungsbogen 

jmdn. foltern 

plus Find reading-comprehension exercises 

on this article in Business Spotlight plus 


EXECUTIVE EYE MANAGEMENT 

People to be nice to 

Für das Wohlbefinden am Arbeitsplatz ist das Verhältnis zu Mitarbeitern und Vorgesetzten 

von entscheidender Bedeutung. Unser Management-Experte Adrian Furnham nennt Ihnen 

Personenkreise, mit denen Sie es sich nicht verderben sollten. 

medium 

As most of us know from experience, 

there are some people at work 

who can make your life hell. You 

don’t have to be a psychologist to understand 

the power of office politics. 

Some people simply have more influence 

than others — including some 

of the “little people”, who aren’t in 

managing positions. Never underestimate 

the effect they can have on your 

working life if they decide they don’t 

like you. Here is a list of those you 

should butter up: 

l Security staff. To many people, 

they are just nameless workers 

who watch you coming and going. 

But wait until you lose your 

office key, or want to go to work 

at the weekend. Think about their 

power to refuse you things. So be polite 

and helpful to these useful people. 

asset [(Äset] 

Vermögenswert; hier: 

Gewinn 

butter sb. up 

jmdm. Honig ums Maul 

[)bVtEr (Vp] ifml. 

schmieren 

cross sb. [krQs] 

jmdn. verärgern 

entrepreneurial 

unternehmerisch 

[)QntrEprE(n§:riEl] 

file (sth.) [faI&l] 

Datei; etw. ablegen 

geek [gi:k] ifml. 

Computerfreak 

human resources (HR) Personal(abteilung) 

[)hju:mEn ri(zO:sIz] 

keep the show on the road den Betrieb am Laufen 

[)ki:p DE )SEU Qn DE halten 

(rEUd] ifml. 

legal action [(li:g&l )ÄkS&n] rechtliche Schritte 

misery [(mIzEri] 

Qual(en) 

pay negotiation 

Gehaltsverhandlung 

[(peI nIgEUSi)eIS&n] 

performance data Leistungsdaten 

[pE(fO:mEns )deItE] 

promotion [prE(mEUS&n] Beförderung 

remains [ri(meInz] Überbleibsel, Überreste 

reveal sth. [ri(vi:&l] etw. offenlegen 

IT staff: you need them, and 

they know what you do 

Invite them to your office parties — 

you need them to like you. 

l IT staff. They have more power than 

you think. First, you need them when 

systems crash, files are lost and new 

user-unfriendly technology is introduced. 

Also, they can see everything 

you do on your computer. Remember 

the case of a boss who threatened to 

“Good relations can make the difference 

between joy and misery at work” 

reduce his IT staff by half. They then 

revealed all the dubious websites he 

had been looking at. These geeks also 

often have entrepreneurial talents. Include 

them in team meetings and ask 

for their suggestions. 

l Secretaries. Yes, we realize they are 

not called that any more and that 

they don’t do typing, filing or photocopying. 

Many “personal assistants” 

keep the show on the road. 

They know who in the organization 

knows what and whom to contact. 

They may also know people’s secrets. 

So don’t cross them — ever! 

l Human resources (HR). They have 

privileged information, such as salaries, 

and also the performance data 

that is important for your promotion 

Fuse 

and pay negotiations — and for potential 

legal actions between you and 

the firm. Avoid jokes that call HR 

people “human remains”. 

l Bosses. This is obvious. Help them 

see you as an asset to the firm and 

someone to be trusted. Remember, 

they have the most influence over 

your career. 

To keep on the good side of all 

these people, you have to be skilled 

at reputation management. But the 

effort is worth it. Good relations can 

make the difference between joy and 

misery at work. 

BS 

Adrian Furnham is a psychology professor at 

University College, London. His latest book 

is The Resilient Manager: Navigating the 

Challenges of Working Life (Palgrave Macmillan). 


TECHNOLOGY ELECTRONICS 

A touch of 

electricity 

A good 

connection: 

Bare paint lets 

you create 

huge electrical 

circuits 

Licht schaltet man per Schalter ein — 

oder einfach durch Berühren einer Wand, 

die mit leitfähiger Farbe gestrichen wurde. 

Shane Hickey erklärt die Funktionsweise 

dieser elektrischen Farbe. advanced 

It is not surprising that there is a 

light switch near the door in the 

meeting room of Bare Conductive’s 

London office. What is surprising 

is that the switch is painted on to 

the wall. More surprising still is that 

people in the company say the switch 

does not need to be there at all. You 

could, in theory, touch the wall anywhere 

and the light would come on. 

The light switch acts as an illustration 

of the young company’s 

main product: an electric paint — or 

“paintable wire” — that can be applied 

to paper, wood, cement and textiles, 

among other materials, and that 

becomes conductive once it dries. 

From its most simple use of lighting 

up a small bulb on a birthday card to 

creating an oversized controller for 

computer games or painting an entire 

“electric wall”, the conductive paint 

has been employed in many ways. 

Its creators were four students who 

developed the liquid while working 

on a final-year project at the Royal 

College of Art. Isabel Lizardi, Matt 

Johnson, Bibi Nelson and Becky 

Pilditch wanted to investigate whether 

they could print an electrical circuit 

on to the human body, and decided 

to try to develop an electric paint. 

After looking at the ingredients of 

existing conductive paints, the group 

examined how they could mix a conductive 

powder into paint. Their first 

attempt was to mix copper powder 

with glue, and they eventually came 

up with a formula using carbon. Further 

development of the concept led 

to the non-toxic paint they now sell. 

They started the company in 2009. 

“We were quite rigorous in our 

analysis of existing materials,” says 

Bibi Nelson. The formula for the 

paint “is based on a lot of similar 

paints in that they were made in a 

similar way — without realizing it at 

the time”. She explains that the four 

were simply interested in creating the 

paint as quickly as possible for their 

project. “It was just to prove the idea 

— we never imagined that afterwards 

we would need to develop it for manufacture.” 

After the body paint was introduced 

to the public at a student de- 

bare [beE] 

bulb [bVlb] 

carbon [(kA:bEn] 

conductive [kEn(dVktIv] 

controller [kEn(trEUlE] 

copper [(kQpE] 

electrical circuit 

[i)lektrIk&l (s§:kIt] 

glue [glu:] 

rigorous [(rIgErEs] 

hier: unisoliert 

Glühbirne 

Kohlenstoff 

leitend, leitfähig 

hier: Spielkonsole 

Kupfer 

Stromkreis 

Klebstoff 

genau, gründlich 

Alamy 


sign conference in Eindhoven, interest 

started to build. Soon, an email 

from Sony Music arrived, saying they 

had an artist who wanted to use the 

paint in a music video. In the film, 

dancers’ feet and hands were painted. 

Then the dancers stood on circles 

of the dried paint, which were 

connected to computers. In this way, 

the dancers became part of a circuit. 

When their hands were touched by 

the DJ Calvin Harris, various drums 

and beats would sound. Harris called 

the system a “humanthesizer”, short 

for “human synthesizer”. 

The film became popular on the 

web, and the four young people received 

a flood of suggestions about 

what the paint could be used for. In 

2010, the inventors dropped the idea 

of making body paint because of the 

complex regulations on cosmetics. 

But they were convinced there was a 

business opportunity in their “paintable 

wire”, and were soon able to 

attract financing. 

Besides paint, the company makes 

pens for drawing lines of circuits. It 

sells kits that allow children to learn 

about electronics by drawing their 

own greeting cards with small lights 

on them, or by building paper houses 

that are illuminated inside. 

5/2014 

Concert posters that play music when you 

touch them are a possibility 

crowdfunding 

[(kraUdfVndIN] 

electrical engineer 

[i)lektrIk&l )endZI(nIE] 

for a living [)fEr E (lIvIN] 

iconic [aI(kQnIk] 

kit [kIt] 

knit [nIt] 

pick sth. up [)pIk (Vp] 

plug sth. in [)plVg (In] 

responsive [ri(spQnsIv] 

trade fair [(treId feE] 

Crowdfunding, 

Schwarmfinanzierung 

Elektroingenieur(in) 

als Broterwerb 

kultig 

Bastelsatz 

stricken 

(zufällig) von etw. 

erfahren; etw. in die 

Hand nehmen 

etw. anschließen, 

einstecken 

reagierend, reaktiv 

Messe 

The paint’s makers say that it lets 

people get really creative. Potential 

users see different possibilities. “We 

go to a trade fair and an electrical 

engineer picks this up and starts asking 

detailed questions,” says Matt Johnson. 

“But then someone else comes 

who knits for a living and they want 

to make their knitting responsive.” 

Concert posters that play music 

when you touch them have also been 

discussed. One artist has mixed the 

paint with oil in a lamp, so that when 

the lamp is turned to one side, the 

light goes on or off. A blogger painted 

large buttons on a cushion to use 

when playing games on her computer, 

and invitations to a party become 

musical instruments when they are 

plugged in. 

How it works 

Bare Conductive has now expanded 

to eight people, and the firm has 

received £450,000 (€553,000) from 

seven private investors. In 2013, to 

finance development of its Touch 

Board programmable circuit, the company 

used Kickstarter.com, a crowdfunding 

website, which allows individuals 

to invest in projects directly 

(see Business Spotlight 6/2013, 

pp. 72–75). The campaign produced 

eight times the amount needed. Product 

sales are expected to be greater 

than £1 million (€1.2 million) this 

year, according to Johnson. 

Along with success comes criticism 

of why the paint has no specific use. 

“I think it is that people aren’t comfortable 

because they want a simple 

story about [how] we are going to 

reinvent something iconic,” says 

Johnson. “And we say, we know it’s 

great — but we don’t know where it 

is going to end up yet.” 

BS 

© Guardian News & Media 2014 

Bare Conductive’s black paint can be spread using a brush, roller, pen or 

any other means. It contains carbon, which conducts electricity when the 

paint dries. It can be used to fix broken electronics, such as remote controls, 

and hobbyists can use it to create things such as drums that function through 

touch. In addition to paint, the firm offers paint pens and kits with greeting 

cards and electronics. These are sold through the Science Museum in London, 

in RadioShack electronics shops in the US and on the company’s website: 

www.bareconductive.com 

bare [beE] 

hier: unisoliert 

carbon [(kA:bEn] 

Kohlenstoff 

conduct electricity [kEn)dVkt ilek(trIsEti] Strom leiten 

conductive [kEn(dVktIv] 

leitend, leitfähig 

kit [kIt] 

Bastelsatz 

remote control [ri)mEUt kEn(trEUl] Fernbedienung 

Be creative: children and adults can play with electronics, 

thanks to a new paint that conducts electricity

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 

Ideas and inventions 

Gibt es Neuigkeiten? Carol Scheunemann präsentiert technische 

Innovationen und neue wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse. medium 

War of the words 

ou arrive home after a year abroad. You expect your 

“Yfamily to greet you, but the house is empty. Something’s 

not right. Where is everyone? And what’s happened here?” 

This message introduces Gone Home, which calls itself a “story exploration video game”. 

Using audio logs, notes, photographs and objects, players piece together the tale and uncover 

hidden truths about missing family members. Gone Home is a prize-winning example 

of video games that are based on storytelling. Reviewers talk about the “literary quality” 

of the games, placing them somewhere between novels and films. Some games even ask 

the players to act as authors. Elegy for a Dead World is an “experimental writing game” 

based on British Romantic-era poetry, in which players share their tales online. Storium is a 

storytelling and role-playing game that “lets you and your friends create and tell any story 

you can imagine — together”. Will there be a happy ending? You decide. 

What would poets do? 

Video games tell stories 

iStock 

In the news 

Liam F1 

Name of an “urban wind turbine” that can be 

installed on rooftops. The company claims that it 

produces 80 per cent of the maximum possible 

energy yield. Traditional wind turbines offer at the 

most 50 per cent efficiency. 

2,300 

Source: DeArchimedes.com 

Number of rivers in the UK tested for their water 

quality since 1991. Rivers are cleaner now than at 

any time since testing began. 

Source: Cardiff University 

Did you know? 

What do ants and the internet have in common? 

When searching for food, each individual ant moves 

randomly. However, mathematical analysis shows 

that groups of ants use collective problem-solving 

strategies. Their search goes from chaos to order. 

Scientists say understanding such behaviour could 

help to optimize the results of internet searches. 

Source: “Chaos-order Transition in Foraging Behavior of Ants”, Lixiang Li, 

Haipeng Peng, Jürgen Kurths, Yixian Yang, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, 

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 

700 pounds 

(318 kilograms) Amount of weight the 2015 Ford 

F-150 truck has “lost” through the use of aluminium 

rather than steel for the body panels. Earlier 

models weighed around 5,500 pounds 

(nearly 2,500 kilograms). 

Source: www.ford.com 

Ford 

audio log [(O:diEU lQg] 

body panel [(bQdi )pÄn&l] 

elegy [(elEdZi] 

forage [(fQrIdZ] 

randomly [(rÄndEmli] 

reviewer [ri(vju:E] 

Romantic era 

[rEU(mÄntIk )IErE] 

transition [trÄn(zIS&n] 

wind turbine 

[(wInd )t§:baIn] 

yield [ji:&ld] 

Sprachaufzeichnung 

Karosserieteil 

Elegie, Klagegedicht 

nach Futter suchen 

zufällig, wahllos 

Rezensent(in) 

Zeitalter der Romantik 

Übergang 

Windrad; -kraftanlage 

Ertrag 

Heavy duty: Americans’ 

favourite truck weighs less 

5/2014

LANGUAGE FOCUS TECHNOLOGY 

Helicopters 

Am Lärm seiner Rotorblätter ist ein Hubschrauber 

schon von weitem zu hören. Claire Hart erklärt die 

Bau- und Funktionsweise dieser Flügel. advanced 

We usually hear helicopters before 

we see them. It’s the sound of the 

rotor blades that makes us look to 

the sky. Most helicopter rotors have 

two to six blades, and the number 

of blades in the main rotor is based 

on the helicopter’s weight and how 

much lift is required. 

The helicopter’s rotor blades are 

convex, or rounded, on the top, but 

flat underneath, which allows the 

blades to push air downwards and 

create lift. A tail rotor acts against the 

main rotor’s torque, which is a force 

that rotates an object around its central 

point. Without a tail rotor, the 

torque effect produced by the main 

rotor would cause the helicopter to 

turn in circles. 

The main rotor is connected to a 

swash plate, a mechanical system 

that transfers steering commands 

from the flight controls to the blades. 

The swash plate lets the pilot control 

the helicopter’s flight by changing 

the angle of the blades individually. 

Using pedals, the pilot controls the 

tail rotor to turn or to adjust the 

position of the helicopter. 

When the amount of lift produced 

by the rotor is greater than the weight 

of the helicopter, the landing skids 

slowly leave the ground. Helicopters 

can fly backwards, sideways, go 

straight up or down, and can hover, 

which is when they remain nearly 

motionless in the air. 

BS 

Claire Hart is a university instructor and 

in-company trainer. She also writes 

business and technical English lesson 

plans. Contact: clairehart@gmail.com 

Vocabulary 

airborne [(eEbO:n] 

altitude [(ÄltItju:d] 

angle [(ÄNg&l] 

anti-torque [)Änti (tO:k] 

blade grip [(bleId grIp] 

cockpit [(kQkpIt] 

collective control [kE)lektIv kEn(trEUl] 

cyclic pitch lever [)saIklIk (pItS )levE] 

directional flight [dE)rekS&nEl (flaIt] 

drive shaft [(draIv SA:ft] 

flight controls [(flaIt kEn)trEUlz] 

forward flight [)fO:wEd (flaIt] 

fuselage [(fju:zElA:Z] 

gearbox [(gIEbQks] 

heading [(hedIN] 

helicopter [(helIkQptE] 

hover [(hQvE] 

Jesus nut/pin [(dZi:zEs nVt/pIn] 

landing skid [(lÄndIN skId] 

lift [lIft] 

nap-of-the-earth (NOE) flight 

[)nÄp Ev Di (§:T flaIt] 

no-tail rotor (NOTAR) [)nEU (teI&l )rEUtE] 

offset sth. [)Qf(set] 

pedal [(ped&l] 

rotate (sth.) [rEU(teIt] 

rotor blade [(rEUtE bleId] 

rotor mast [(rEUtE mA:st] 

rotor wash [(rEUtE wQS] 

rotary motion [)rEUtEri (mEUS&n] 

stabilizer bar [(steIbElaIzE bA:] 

swash plate [(swQS pleIt] 

tail boom [(teI&l bu:m] 

tail rotor [(teI&l )rEUtE] 

thrust [TrVst] 

torque (effect) [(tO:k (E)fekt)] 

Exercise: Up in the air 

Tick true (T) or false (F) for each statement. 

in der Luft, schwebend 

Höhe (über NN) 

Winkel 

Drehmomentausgleich 

(Rotor-)Blatthalter 

Cockpit, Pilotenkanzel 

kollektive Rotorblattverstellung 

Steuerknüppel für die zyklische 

Blattsteuerung 

Richtungsflug 

Antriebswelle 

Flugsteuerung 

Horizontalflug 

Rumpf 

Getriebe 

Flugrichtung, Kurs 

Helikopter, Hubschrauber 

Schwebeflug; schweben, in der Luft 

stehen bleiben 

Jesus-Schraube, -Mutter 

Landungskufe 

Auftrieb 

Flug in sehr geringer Flughöhe 

„kein Heckrotor“, ohne 

Heckrotorkonfiguration 

etw. ausgleichen 

Pedal, Fußhebel 

sich drehen, rotieren; etw. drehen 

Rotorblatt 

Rotormast 

Rotorabwind 

Dreh-, Rotationsbewegung 

Stabilisator 

Taumelscheibe 

Leitwerksträger 

Heckrotor 

Vortrieb 

Drehmoment(wirkung) 

a) Heavier helicopters usually have more rotor blades. ❏ ❏ 

b) Helicopters and aeroplanes can remain nearly motionless ❏ ❏ 

in flight. 

c) Rotor blades are rounded on both sides to create lift. ❏ ❏ 

T 

F 


iStock 


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6/2014 PREVIEW 

Successful job interviews 

After studying all the job advertisements, you have written a 

strong job application, and now you’ve been invited for an 

interview. In the final part of our special Careers series, we tell 

you what to do and say to help you get the job you want. 

Big Cheese Photo 

iStock 

Foto: Michael Brown 


Working with the US 

The United States is the world’s leading 

economy and an important trading partner 

for Europe. In our Intercultural feature, we 

look at how to do business with Americans. 

LANGUAGE 

ENERGY 

Improve your business 

vocabulary with 

our 20-page guide: 

SKILL UP! 

A meeting of minds 

Meetings may not always be fun, but they are an essential part 

of working life. Bob Dignen provides ten key tips for making 

your meetings both more effective — and more enjoyable. 

also: 

Email: linking phrases 

Grammar: showing interest 

English for... relocation 

Business Spotlight 6/2014 is on sale from 15 October 2014 


PEOPLE MY WORKING LIFE 

Denis Elioni: Post-office manager 

Als 10jährige fand sie es cool, wenn jemand Briefmarken verkaufte. Heute bietet sie selbst 

Postdienste in einem Dorf in Kroatien an. Vicki Sussens sprach mit ihr. 

easy 

Foto Luigi Opatija 

Languages: Croatian, English and Italian. 

We have many German tourists, 

but I don’t speak German. 

Skills needed: You need to be good 

with people and to be able to sell. 

Happy at work: Denis Elioni loves working with locals and tourists 

Current job: I run the post office in 

Mošćenička Draga, a holiday town 

on the northern Adriatic coast. 

Job description: I work in the post office 

with two postmen. I do all the 

postal work, but sell small things 

like postcards, books, stationery and 

things for the beach, too. I also sell 

television services or other Croatian 

Post services. And I answer telephone 

enquiries, usually from older people 

who don’t have computers. 

Age and family: Forty-two, married, 

with two daughters, Michaela (16) 

and Simona (9). 

OK — but costs are going up all the 

time, especially in the tourist season. 

Working hours and holidays: Monday to 

Friday, eight hours a day. I close for 

30 minutes for lunch. I have 28 days 

of holidays. 

Why did you choose this job? I decided 

to do this job when I was ten years 

old. My sister and I used to go to the 

post office for my mother and I loved 

it. It seemed so cool to sell stamps! 

And I always wanted to work in 

Mošćenička Draga. It is small, I like 

the people and it is so beautiful. I can 

see the beach from here. 

Main changes in the business: Before we 

got computers, about 15 years ago, 

we wrote everything by hand. There 

are also many new online postal services. 

With online shopping starting, 

a lot more parcels are also being sent. 

And as more people learn about this 

beautiful area, we get more tourists. 

Least favourite part of the job: Counting 

the money at the end of the day. 

Favourite part of the job: This is my 

second home. I like the people in 

Mošćenička Draga. In winter, there 

are mostly older people, who often 

come to pour their hearts out to me. 

In summer, it is hectic, but I love all 

the different kinds of people. I was 

shy before I started this job, but now 

I have opened up. I hope to work 

here until I retire. BS 

Home: I was born in Lovran, near 

Rijeka, and have always lived there. 

Years in the job: I’ve been with Croatian 

Post for 22 years and have been 

running this post office for two years. 

Pay: I make €620 a month. Most 

Croatians earn very little, so this is 

Training for the job: I went to college 

for four years after school to get a 

postal diploma. Then, I first had to 

deliver post before working in an office. 

Now, I go on training courses 

about three times a year, for example, 

to learn about the postal services we 

are offering, selling skills or how to 

improve communication. 

Adriatic coast 

Adriaküste 

[eIdri)ÄtIk (kEUst] 

Croatian [krEU(eIS&n] Kroate/Kroatin; kroatisch 

enquiry [In(kwaIEri] Anfrage 

make (money) 

(Geld) verdienen 

[)meIk ((mVni)] 

open up [)EUpEn (Vp] aufgeschlossener werden 

parcel [(pA:s&l] 

Paket 

pour one’s heart out to sb. jmdm. sein Herz 

[)pO: wVnz (hA:t )aUt tu] ausschütten 

shy [SaI] 

schüchtern 

stationery [(steIS&nEri] Schreibwaren, 

Bürobedarf 


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SKILL UP! 

VOKABELTRAINING LEICHT GEMACHT 

AUSGABE 28 


media 

also: 

From “pub” to “publication” | Print or digital media?

CONTENTS 

BREAKING NEWS 

How do you get your news in the morning? From newspapers, apps or 

maybe via social media? I find it hard to choose between these options, 

so I turn on the radio, switch on my computer and check for Twitter trends 

on my smartphone — all before breakfast. In this Skill Up!, we present 

the language you will need to talk about the news media. 

We’re on air in Picture This! (pp. 4–5). Live broadcasts are stressful 

for journalists and producers. In fact, people who work in the media 

are generally having a stressful time right now. Traditional media companies 

can no longer afford to focus purely on print products. In Word 

Bank (pp. 6–7), we present an overview of print and digital products — 

and new business models. Turn to In Focus (pp. 10–11) to learn how 

these new formats are changing the way journalists and editors work. 

Long story short... whether you work in the media or not, we think you’ll 

find useful media expressions for work in Essential Idioms (pp. 12–13). 

In our dialogue in Small Talk (pp. 16–17), a news junkie discusses the 

value of listicles. We also look at new trends, including news-snacking. 

Are you hungry for the news? 

Deborah Capras, deputy editor 

bs.deputyeditor@spotlight-verlag.de 

SKILL UP! 

Start and end your week with one news 

item in English — from a newspaper, 

smartphone app or online. On our website, 

you’ll find new business stories 

every week. To help you improve your 

vocabulary, we provide translations of 

difficult expressions in context. Go to 

www.business-spotlight.de/news 

www. 

Skill up! online 

On our website, you’ll find selected 

vocabulary from this guide in our 

Word of the Day section. To listen 

to the words, definitions and example 

sentences — and to download 

the MP3 file of each word — go to 

www.business-spotlight.de/skill-up 

2 SKILL UP! ISSUE 28

Alamy/Mauritius 

What kind of news do you want? 

CHECKLIST: WHAT CAN YOU DO? 

Below, you will find the contents of this issue of Skill Up! and a checklist of what you should 

be able to do with confidence after studying this guide. Ask yourself what you can really do. 

If you can’t say yes to every statement, go back and spend more time on learning the relevant 

vocabulary. Don’t forget to read our Skill Up! tips and do the online exercises! 

wContents Page(s) Checklist Not yet A little Yes! 

Picture This! 

Live on air 4–5 I can use the correct terms to talk about how TV news is ❏ ❏ ❏ 

presented and I have learned key expressions with “news”. 

Word Bank 

Print and digital 6–7 I can talk about traditional and new media formats. I also ❏ ❏ ❏ 

media 

know the key terms for different business models. 

False Friends 

Announcing the 8–9 I can identify the false friends presented here — and use 

Romans 

the correct translations. 

❏ ❏ ❏ 

In Focus 

Creating content 10–11 I know the various jobs in the media industry and can talk ❏ ❏ ❏ 

about the work that people do. 

Essential Idioms 

Records and leaks 12–13 I can correctly use idiomatic expressions to talk about ❏ ❏ ❏ 

media events and business situations. 

Close Relations 

The publishing 14–15 I know how to use the different members of the “pub” ❏ ❏ ❏ 

business 

family and understand a range of “public” collocations. 

Small Talk 

News junkies and 16–17 I can make small talk about the kind of news I enjoy 

listicles 

reading — and explain how I prefer to get my news. 

❏ ❏ ❏ 

Your Profile 

This is my news 18 I feel more confident using the vocabulary in this guide. ❏ ❏ ❏ 

Preview 19 

ISSUE 28 

SKILL UP! 3

PICTURE THIS! 

Bernhard Förth 

2 

1 

4 

5 

3 

10 

6 

7 

9 

8 

It’s hectic in the 

newsroom 

LIVE ON AIR 

New technology has given us the 24/7 news cycle. We can watch the news anywhere and 

anytime. Here, we present vocabulary for talking about the news, especially on TV. 

1. news presenter Moderator(in), Nach- 

(US news anchor) richtensprecher(in) 

apologize [E(pQlEdZaIz] sich entschuldigen 

cause offence Ärgernis erregen 

2. live coverage Liveberichterstattung, 

-übertragung 

topical event aktuelles Ereignis 

3. news ticker Nachrichtenticker 

glitch 

Panne 

mix-up 

Verwechslung 

4. international Auslandskorresponcorrespondent 

dent(in) 

break a story mit einer Geschichte 

als Erste(r) herauskommen 

cover sth. 

über etw. berichten 

report from the scene vor Ort berichten 

5. eyewitness Augenzeuge/-zeugin 

6. on air auf Sendung 

broadcast live live senden 

follow sth. in real time etw. in Echtzeit / live 

miterleben 

7. technician Techniker(in) 

slip up ifml. 

einen Fehler begehen 

8. newsroom Nachrichtenredaktion 

9. producer Produzent(in) 

freak out ifml. ausflippen 

10. screen Monitor, Bildschirm 

newsfeed 

Nachrichteneinspeisung 


What are they saying? 

Producer: You have to apologize for the glitch, Kate. Now! 

Kate: I’m so sorry. There seems to have been a mix-up on the 

ticker. We apologize for any offence we may have caused. 

Bad news 

travels fast 

English proverb 


24/7 news cycle Nachrichten rund um 

ifml. 

die Uhr 

hard news 

etwa: seriöse Berichterstattung 

newsagent 

Zeitungshändler(in); 

Zeitungskiosk 

news alert 

Vorschau 

news angle 

Perspektive 

news blackout Nachrichtensperre 

news bulletin [(bUlEtIn] Nachrichtenbulletin, -teil 

newscast US 

Nachrichtensendung 

news coverage Berichterstattung 

news desk 

Nachrichtenredaktion 

news digest [(daIdZest] Kurzfassung 

news flash 

(eingeblendete) Kurzmeldung 

news item [(aItEm] (einzelne) Nachricht 

news source 

Nachrichtenquelle 

news summary Nachrichtenüberblick 

newsworthy 

berichtenswert, (für die 

Öffentlichkeit) interessant 

on the news 

in den Nachrichten 

soft news 

etwa: Boulevardberichterstattung 

the news 

die Nachrichten(sendung) 

yesterday’s news Nachrichten von gestern 

How’s the coverage? 

blanket coverage umfassende Berichterstattung 

media coverage Medienberichterstattung 

press coverage Presseberichterstattung 

rolling coverage laufend aktualisierte 

Berichterstattung 

saturation coverage flächendeckende 

[)sÄtSE(reIS&n] Berichterstattung 

SKILL UP! 

It may have an “s” on the end, but the word 

“news” is singular: “The news is on at 9 p.m.” 

News organizations 

broadcasting 

broadcast media 

commercial broadcaster 

public broadcaster 

radio station 

TV channel/station 

Rundfunk; Fernsehen; Ausstrahlung 

von Rundfunkund 

Fernsehsendungen 

Rundfunk- und Fernsehmedien 

kommerzieller Sender 

öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunk- 

und Fernsehanstalt 

Rundfunksender 

Fernsehsender 

The team 

announcer 

graphic designer 

meteorologist [)mi:tiE(rQlEdZIst] 

programme editor 

subeditor UK 

weathergirl 

weatherman 

Ansager(in) 

Grafiker(in) 

Meteorologe/Meteorologin 

Programmredakteur(in) 

Redakteur(in) 

Wetterfee 

Wetterfrosch 

It’s a live broadcast: 

say something 

iStock 

ISSUE 28 

SKILL UP! 5

WORD BANK 

Keeping an eye on 

the news 

PRINT AND DIGITAL MEDIA 

Most people get their news from a variety of sources. Here, we present vocab- 

ulary for talking about print and digital options. 

The media 

Fleet Street UK die britische 

Presse 

mainstream press Publikumspresse 

media conglomerate Medienkonzern 

[kEn(glQmErEt] 

media event Medienereignis 

media landscape Medienlandschaft 

networks: the ~ US die Medienkonzerne 

wire services Nachrichten- und 

Presseagenturen 

SKILL UP! 

Generally, “media” is treated as a plural noun. We 

say: “The media have contacted us about the accident.” 

However, when we use “media” to mean 

“TV, radio, internet and the press all together”, 

it is treated as a singular noun: “The media was 

criticized for the way it reported the accident.” 

Print 

(back) issue 

(alte) Ausgabe 

broadsheet (newspaper) großformatige (seriöse) Zeitung 

[(brO:dSi:t] 

front page 

Titelseite 

gossip rag [(gQsIp rÄg] ifml. Klatschblatt 

national newspaper überregionale Zeitung 

newspaper supplement Zeitungsbeilage; Feuilleton 

tabloid [(tÄblOId] 

Boulevardzeitung,- blatt; -presse 

tabloid press 

Boulevardpresse 

trade journal 

Fachzeitschrift 

Photos.com 

How often? 

daily 

weekly 

monthly 

bimonthly 

[baI(mVnTli] 

quarterly 

täglich 

wöchentlich 

monatlich 

zweimonatlich, 

alle zwei Monate 

vierteljährlich 

The details 

copy 

(front-page) splash ifml. 

headline 

lead (US lede) [li:d] 

scoop ifml. 

spread 

standfirst UK 

strapline 

subheading 

(Zeitungs-)Text; Exemplar 

Titelaufmacher 

Schlagzeile; Überschrift 

Vorspann und Einführungstext 

Sensationsnachricht 

Doppelseite 

Vorspann 

Verkaufssatz, Werbeslogan 

Zwischenüberschrift 


What do you look at first? 

byline [(baIlaIn] 

Zeile mit dem Namen des 

Verfassers / der Verfasserin 

caption 

Bildunterschrift 

classified advertisement Kleinanzeige 

column [(kQlEm] Kolumne 

commentary [(kQmEntEri] Kommentar 

cover story 

Titelgeschichte 

editorial [)edI(tO:riEl] Leitartikel 

feature [(fi:tSE] 

Sonderbeitrag; Feuilleton 

infographic [)InfEU(grÄfIk] Informationsgrafik 

leader UK 

Leitartikel 

main topic 

Hauptthema 

masthead [(mA:sthed] US Impressum 

news in brief 

Kurznachrichten 

obituary [E(bItSuEri] Nachruf 

pull-quote US 

optisch hervorgehobenes 

Textzitat 

straight news 

(unkommentierte) Nachrichten, 

Meldungen 

think piece 

ausführlicher Kommentar 

Media today 

l Total circulation has stayed the 

same this year. 

l Back issues are as popular as 

digital editions. 

l We have over 100,000 Twitter followers. 

l Our Facebook referrals have increased 

digital traffic. 

l Native advertising has become 

popular online. 

l Page views always go up after a 

major media event. 

l Have news aggregators, like Google 

made it harder for the media? 

Print business 

advertising revenue 

advertorial 

[)ÄdvE(tO:riEl] 

circulation (figures) 

newsstand sales 

paid circulation 

print subscriber 

source of revenue 

surreptitious advertising 

[)sVrEp(tISEs] 

total circulation 

trial offer [)traIl (QfE] 

Werbeeinnahme 

Advertorial 

(redaktionell 

aufgemachte 

Anzeige) 

Auflage(zahlen) 

Einzelverkauf 

verkaufte Auflage 

Printabonnent(in) 

Einnahmequelle 

Schleichwerbung 

Gesamtauflage 

Schnupperangebot 

Digital business 

digital copy 

digital edition 

digital-first publication 

digital magazine 

digital subscription 

homepage 

(metered) paywall 

native advertising 

news aggregator 

[(ÄgrIgeItE] 

pay-per-view 

digitales Exemplar 

digitale Ausgabe 

Zeitung/Zeitschrift, die als 

erstes digital erscheint 

digitale Zeitschrift, 

E-Paper 

E-Paper-Abonnement 

(Internet-)Startseite 

Bezahlschranke 

Werbung im natürlichen 

Umfeld 

Nachrichtenaggregator 

Abrechnung im Einzelabrufverfahren 

Digital success? 

digital traffic 

Zahl der Besucher(innen) einer Website 

Facebook referral [ri(f§:rEl] Empfehlung auf Facebook 

hit 

Zugriff (auf eine Website) 

mobile reader [(mEUbaI&l] elektronisches Lesegerät 

page view 

Seitenaufruf 

social-media distribution Verteilung in sozialen Netzen 

Twitter follower 

Follower(in) auf Twitter 

unique visitor [ju:(ni:k] einzelne(r) Besucher(in) 


Digital traffic is going up 

ISSUE 28 

SKILL UP! 7

FALSE FRIENDS 

ANNOUNCING THE ROMANS 

There are many words in German and English that sound similar but have very different 

meanings. They are “false friends”. Learn the correct translations of these terms. 

Getty/Thinkstock 

iStock 

advertisement 

What’s Annonce in English? 

Annonce = advertisement, ad 

“How much does an advertisement in your newspaper 

cost?” 

announce 

It’s not announce! 

announce sth. = etw. bekanntmachen, ankündigen 

“As soon as they announce the winners, post it 

online.” 

Other translations 

announcement = Bekanntmachung, Ankündigung 

“I’m not surprised by the announcement. I knew he 

wanted to leave.” 

Getty/Thinkstock 

What’s Roman in English? 

Roman = novel 

“You can make more money from writing novels 

than writing for a magazine.” 

novel 

It’s not Roman! 

Roman [(rEUmEn] = Römer(in); römisch 

“It was the Romans who worshipped Venus. 

The Greeks worshipped Aphrodite.” 

iStock 

Roman 


channel 

sender 

iStock 

iStock 

What’s Sender in English? 

Sender = (TV) channel, (TV/radio) station 

“The TV in my hotel room has over 100 different 

channels.” 

It’s not sender! 

sender = Absender(in), Einsender(in) 

“If the address is incorrect, the letter will be returned 

to sender.” 

reading 

matter 

What’s Lektüre in English? 

Lektüre = reading matter 

“My hairdresser’s has a great choice of 

reading matter.” 

It’s not lecture! 

lecture = Vortrag; Vorlesung 

“There’s a lecture tomorrow morning on the 

future of publishing.” 

lecture 

iStock 

 

Skill up! Audio 

You can do an exercise on 


Stockbyte 

YOUR PROFILE 

Write down your own example sentences for the false friends on this page. 

ISSUE 28

IN FOCUS 

CREATING CONTENT 

Who are the people in the media and what do they do? Here’s an overview of some of the 

important positions today — and some of the regular tasks they involve. 

Freelance journalist: 

ready to file 

Authors and freelance journalists 

write and file a story to the media organization. 

They often decide on the angle after 

a discussion with the editor-in-chief or 

commissioning editor. 

SKILL UP! 

All good journalists tell stories 

that answer the questions “Who?”, 

“What?”, “When?”, “Where?”, 

“Why?” and “How?”. If you have to 

tell a story, see if you answer the 

five “Ws” and the “H”, too. Prepare 

it before you tell it! 

Copy editors have to edit the content and 

tweak the text so that it is easier to read. 

Today, they often have to fact-check, too. 

Social-media editors are 

responsible for promoting content 

on Twitter, Facebook and other 

social-media sites. 

Data analysts monitor users and 

traffic on the websites and report 

to the editors. 

10 SKILL UP! ISSUE 28 

Photos.com

The people 

author 

citizen journalist 

commissioning editor 

copy editor 

data analyst [)deItE (ÄnElIst] 

deputy editor 

designer 

editor 

editorial journalist [)edI(tO:riEl] 

editor-in-chief 

freelance journalist [(fri:lA:ns] 

investigative reporter [In(vestIgEtIv] 

managing editor 

photojournalist 

proofreader 

reporter 

social-media editor 

staff writer 

Autor(in) 

Bürgerjournalist(in) 

verantwortliche(r) Redakteur(in) 

Korrektor(in) 

Datenanalyst(in) 

stellvertretende(r) Chefredakteur(in) 

Layouter(in) 

Redakteur(in); Lektor(in) 

Redakteur(in) 

Chefredakteur(in) 

freie(r) Journalist(in) 

Enthüllungsjournalist(in) 

geschäftsführende(r) Redakteur(in), 

Chef(in) vom Dienst 

Fotojournalist(in) 

Korrekturleser(in) 

Berichterstatter(in) 

Redakteur(in) für soziale Medien 

angestellte(r) Journalist(in) 

Citizen journalists 

have no formal training 

and do not work 

for a media organization. 

They may write 

a blog or use social 

media to share their 

ideas. 

Did someone fact-check 

the celebrity stories? 

Best practice for journalists and editors 

corroborate sth. etw. bekräftigen 

edit sth. 

etw. (redaktionell) bearbeiten 

fact-check sth. etw. auf Richtigkeit überprüfen 

promote sth. etw. unterstützen, verbreiten 

question sth. etw. hinterfragen 

quote sb. 

jmdn. zitieren 

repackage sth. etw. neu aufbereiten 

research sth. etw. recherchieren 

share sth. 

etw. mitteilen 

tag sth. 

etw. verschlagworten; taggen 

tweak sth. 

etw. optimieren; verbessern 

tweet sth. 

etw. twittern 

verify sth. 

etw. belegen, überprüfen 

write sth. 

etw. schreiben 

In more detail 

curate content Inhalte kuratieren 

decide on an angle einen Standpunkt festsetzen 

engage the reader den Leser / die Leserin 

ansprechen 

file a story 

einen Bericht einsenden 

optimize for search für die Websuche optimieren 

write a catchy eine eingängige Einleitung 

lead-in [(li:d In] schreiben 


The goal! 

build readership 

drive traffic to the site 

monetize content 

[(mVnItaIz] 

monitor users 

retain readers 

track readers 

einen Leserkreis aufbauen 

Besucher(innen) auf die 

Website lenken 

Inhalt zu Geld machen 

Nutzer überwachen 

Leser(innen) behalten 

Leser(innen) rückverfolgen 

ISSUE 28 

SKILL UP! 11

ESSENTIAL IDIOMS 

RECORDS AND LEAKS 

The media is interested in great stories and secret information. In our short dialogues, we 

focus on useful idioms for talking about this topic. 

SKILL UP! 

First, read the two versions of the short conversations. Then 

cover up the idiomatic version and read the simpler version 

again. Can you remember how to say the same things idiomatically? 

Check that you’ve understood them with our translations. 

It made the headlines: 

someone leaked it 

First, the idiomatic way 

Nick: Oh, no. It’s made the headlines! Our decision to close 

the Leeds office, I mean. 

Kate: But we haven’t gone public with it yet. 

Nick: Exactly. So who leaked the story to the press? 

Now, more simply 

Nick: Oh, no! People know about our decision to close the 

Leeds office because the press have written about it. 

Kate: But we haven’t officially told anyone yet. 

Nick: Exactly. So who gave the secret information to the 

press? 

Check the translations 

make the in die Schlagheadlines 

zeilen kommen 

go public with etw. öffentlich 

sth. 

bekannt machen 

leak sth. to der Presse etw. 

the press zuspielen 

Getty Image News 


Kate: I managed to uncover the truth. 

Nick: The truth? About what? 

Kate: I know who spilled the beans. It was 

Paul. 

Nick: I knew he was bad news! 


Kate: I managed to find out the truth. 

Nick: The truth? About what? 

Kate: I know who revealed the secret information. 

It was Paul. 

Nick: I knew he was an unpleasant person! 


uncover the truth 

spill the beans ifml. 

bad news ifml. 

die Wahrheit aufdecken 

auspacken, nicht dichthalten 

ein fieser Kerl 

Be very careful: don’t 

spill the beans! 

iStock 

ISSUE 28

Don’t forget to keep 

me posted 


what’s the latest? was gibt’s Neues? 

break the news to sb. jmdm. die Nachricht überbringen 

keep sb. posted jmdn. auf dem Laufenden 

halten 

iStock 


Kate: So, what’s the latest? Have you decided 

what to do about Paul? 

Nick: I’ve no choice. We have to fire him. 

Kate: I’m not surprised. When are you going 

to break the news to him? 

Nick: This afternoon. 

Kate: Keep me posted. 


Kate: So, what’s the most recent news? Have 

you decided what to do about Paul? 

Nick: I’ve no choice. We have to fire him. 

Kate: I’m not surprised. When are you going 

to tell him? 

Nick: This afternoon. 

Kate: Tell me what happens. 


Nick: Tell me, Paul, when did you decide to 

dish the dirt? 

Paul: Look, I really thought I was talking off 

the record. 

Nick: I don’t want to hear it. Long story 

short? You’re fired. 

Paul: Well, I’ve got news for you. I quit! 

With reporters, you’re 

never off the record! 


Nick: Tell me, Paul, when did you decide to 

tell everyone what you knew in order to 

damage us? 

Paul: Look, I really thought I was talking unofficially 

and that it wouldn’t be used. 

Nick: I don’t want to hear it. I’ll get to the 

main point without wasting any time. 

You’re fired. 

Paul: Well, I’m telling you something you 

don’t know. I quit! 


dish the dirt ifml. jmdn. öffentlich bloßstellen 

off the record inoffiziell, nicht zur Mitschrift 

bestimmt 

long story short um es kurz zu machen 

I’ve got news for you ich muss dir mal was sagen 

 

Skill up! Audio 

You can do an exercise on 


iStock 

ISSUE 28 

SKILL UP! 13

CLOSE RELATIONS 

THE PUBLISHING BUSINESS 

Old and new media is all about how and where you publish. Here, we present useful expressions 

for the world of publishing that begin with “pub”. 

pub 

+ lic public + ation 

publication 

+ ist publicist 

+ ity publicity 

+ ize publicize 

+ ly publicly 

SKILL UP! 

“Pub” is short for “public 

house” — it’s a place for 

the public. Journalists like 

pubs as people often reveal 

secrets there, especially 

after a beer or two. If 

you’re in the UK, go to a pub 

and try to find out the news 

from the local people. 

+ lish publish + able 

publishable 

un + 

unpublishable 

+ ed 

published 

un + 

unpublished 

+ er 

publisher 

+ ing 

publishing 

re + 

republish 

+ ed 

republished 

self- + 

self-publish 

+ ed 

self-published 

+ ing 

self-publishing 


From “pub” to “unpublished” 

pub UK Kneipe 

public öffentlich; staatlich 

publication Veröffentlichung; Herausgabe 

publicist Presseagent(in) 

publicity Werbung, Reklame 

publicize sth. etw. an die Öffentlichkeit bringen; 

Werbung für etw. machen 

publicly in der Öffentlichkeit, öffentlich 

publish sth. etw. veröffentlichen; herausgeben, 

verlegen 

publishable zur Veröffentlichung geeignet 

published 

publisher 

publishing 

republish 

republished 

self-publish 

self-published 

self-publishing 

unpublishable 

unpublished 

veröffentlicht, erschienen; herausgegeben 

Verlag; Verleger(in); Herausgeber(in) 

Verlagswesen; das Herausgeben 

etw. wieder/neu veröffentlichen, 

herausbringen 

neu erschienen 

etw. im Eigenverlag herausbringen 

im Eigenverlag erschienen 

das Herausgeben im Eigenverlag 

zur Veröffentlichung nicht geeignet 

unveröffentlicht 


From the pub to 

publication 

The public and the press 

public figure Persönlichkeit des öffentlichen 

Lebens 

public house UK Gaststätte; Kneipe 

public image öffentlicher Auftritt 

public opinion öffentliche Meinung 

public outcry öffentlicher Aufschrei, Entrüstung 

der Öffentlichkeit 

public pressure Druck der Öffentlichkeit 

public relations Öffentlichkeits-, 

Pressearbeit 

public television öffentlich-rechtliches 

Fernsehen 

Fixed expressions 

go public an die Börse gehen 

go public with sth. etw. öffentlich bekannt 

machen 

in public 

in der Öffentlichkeit, 

öffentlich 

in/out of the public im Blickpunkt der Öffenteye: 

be ~ lichkeit stehen / nicht 

stehen 

in the public der Allgemeinheit bedomain: 

be ~ kannt sein; urheberrechtlich 

nicht geschützt sein 

in the public im öffentlichen Interesse 

interest: be ~ liegen 

the general public die Allgemeinheit; 

die Öffentlichkeit 

Digital Vision 

Use the family: publish 

l He’s a public figure, so we’re publishing 

the story. We can easily argue 

that it’s in the public interest. 

l She’s constantly in the public eye, 

but she’s managed to keep her 

children out of it. 

l There was a public outcry when we 

published pictures of him smoking 

cannabis. He gave in to public 

pressure and resigned. 

l Can Twitter really change public 

opinion? 

Publishing 

publication day 

Erscheinungstag 

publish and be damned etw. schreiben und verurteilt 

werden 

publishing company/house Verlagshaus 

publishing industry Verlagswesen 

publishing platform Verlagsplattform 

publish on demand auf Abruf veröffentlichen 

publish or perish publizieren oder krepieren 

trade publication Fachzeitschrift 

IN ACTION: PUBLIC AND PUBLISH 

➜ If something is in the public domain, it is not protected by copyright and can be used by anyone: 

“Of course we can use the text from one of Shakespeare’s plays. They’re in the public domain.” 

➜ Information that is in the public domain is not secret. It is available to the general public: 

“Thanks to Edward Snowden, a lot of classified information is now in the public domain.” 

➜ The expression publish and be damned is used when someone wants to publish something that 

will probably be criticized, possibly because it says something unpopular or shocking: 

“Most tabloids have a publish-and-be-damned approach.” 

➜ In the academic world, it’s important for professors to publish articles and books about their 

work. If they don’t, their career may suffer. Use the expression publish or perish to express this: 

“The pressure to publish or perish may be stronger in the US.” 

➜ A company that goes public starts selling shares to the public. If you go public with something, 

you reveal private or secret information to everyone: 

“When do you want to go public with the decision that we’re going public?” 

ISSUE 28 

SKILL UP! 15

SMALL TALK 

NEWS JUNKIES AND LISTICLES 

Here, we present vocabulary to talk about the type of news people read — and how they get 

their news. It can make a good topic for small talk. 

Situation: 

Bill and Mo work together. Mo is reading Bill’s newspaper, 

which leads to a debate about the way new 

websites are presenting information. 

Bill: I’m surprised to see you with your head in my 

newspaper. Did someone steal your tablet? 

Mo: No, the battery ran out and I’ve forgotten my 

charger. 

Bill: Another plus point for print. Come on — give it 

back. 

Mo: I will — just let me finish this report. I’m on the 

last paragraph. 

Bill: So now you can’t put it down. That’s ironic from 

someone whose primary news source is a website 

of listicles. 

Mo: You read them, too. Don’t deny it. 

Bill: Yeah, I do. They’re churnalism at it’s worst, but 

they’re pretty addictive, too. As clickbait, they 

work. They stand out and grab your attention. 

Mo: And they go viral when they’re accompanied by 

some paparazzi shot or a funny sound bite. 

Bill: Exactly. They’re always popping up in my news 

feeds, and even I find it hard not to click. I like 

factoids as much as the next person. 

Mo: And they’re great for people with a short attention 

span — like me. They’re short and sweet. 

Bill: But where do you go for hard news? 

Mo: You mean when I don’t want to read the gossip 

columns or useless facts? You tell me. You’re the 

serious news junkie. 

addictive: be ~ 

charger 

churnalism 

[(tS§:nElIzEm] 

clickbait [(klIkbeIt] 

deny sth. 

factoid [(fÄktOId] US 

gossip column 

[)gQsIp (kQlEm] 

go viral [)gEU (vaI&rEl] 

grab sb.’s attention 

hard news 

listicle [(lIstIk&l] 

news junkie ifml. 

paparazzi shot 

[)pÄpE(rÄtsi SQt] 

paragraph 

pop up 

primary news source 

put sth. down 

run out 

short and sweet 

short attention span 

sound bite 

stand out 

süchtig machen 

Ladegerät 

Churnalismus 

Kurztext zum 

Anklicken mit großer 

Aufmachung und 

wenig Inhalt 

etw. leugnen 

Nachrichtenfetzen 

Klatschkolumne 

sich rasend schnell 

verbreiten 

jmds. Aufmerksamkeit 

erregen 

etwa: seriöse 

Berichterstattung 

Listicle (Artikel mit 

der Aufmachung 

einer Liste) 

Nachrichtenjunkie 

Paparazzi-Foto 

Absatz 

eingeblendet werden 

Hauptnachrichtenquelle 

etw. weglegen, zur 

Seite legen 

hier: leer werden 

kurz und schmerzlos 

kurze Konzentrationsspanne 

kurzes, prägnantes 

Zitat 

hervorstechen 

iStock 

Can you choose: 

print or digital? 

ISSUE 28

media-mesher 

“When I watch something on 

TV, I sometimes tweet about it 

or post comments about it on 

Facebook at the same time. I 

often check the same story online 

from other sources, too.” 


SKILL UP! 

Listicles are not a new phenomenon, but they 

are incredibly popular on the internet right 

now. They are a way of presenting information 

in a condensed format — with bullet 

points. You could use this format as part 

of your learning programme. Read a short 

news item — a story in Business Spotlight 

or at www.business-spotlight.de/news — 

and try to condense the main points in three 

to five bullet points. Use a heading such as 

“Three things I need to know about...” or 

“Five things that surprised me about...”. 

news-snacking 

“I probably check for news 

updates on my mobile devices 

at least five times a day, but 

I spend less than 20 minutes 

reading the news each time.” 

Bad news for journalists 

clarification Klarstellung 

[)klÄrEfI(keIS&n] 

correction Richtigstellung 

libel [laIb&l] Verleumdung, 

üble Nachrede 

plagiarism Plagiat 

[(pleIdZE)rIzEm] 

retraction Widerruf 

Today’s readers 

In the past, a family would all sit 

down to watch the news together. Today, 

a family may be sitting together 

in the same room, but they could all 

be consuming the news in different 

ways: TV, radio, newspapers, tablets, 

laptops as well as smartphones, too. 

What are they doing? 

prosumer 

“I read the news, but I 

also upload photographs, 

comment on articles online 

and write my own blog.” 

Good news for readers 

award-winning articles preisgekrönte Artikel 

[E(wO:d )wInIN] 

compelling stories faszinierende Geschichten 

data-driven journalism datenbasierter Journalismus 

[(dZ§:nE)lIzEm] 

hard facts 

nackte Tatsachen 

hard-hitting journalism knallharter Journalismus 

media-stacker 

“If I’m streaming a film on my tablet, I 

can check news updates on my smartphone 

app and read Facebook posts from 

friends on my laptop.” 

Your primary 

news source? 

ISSUE 28 

SKILL UP! 17

YOUR PROFILE 

THIS IS MY NEWS 

Personalize this guide by adding your own example sentences — which should reflect 

words and expressions you need in order to talk about your circumstances. 

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS? 

What’s the first thing you read in a newspaper, magazine or on a news site? Write down the sections. If you 

read the headlines first, our exercises in Business Spotlight plus will help you to understand the language. 

What do you think about the work that journalists and reporters do? List the most important tasks below. 

At work, you will need to give people good news and bad news. Create a short dialogue below in which you 

update a colleague. Use expressions from Essential Idioms (pp. 12–13). 

SMALL TALK: NEWS TRENDS 

How do you get your news? Could you convince a colleague to read or listen to the news in the same way? 

Write down your arguments below, using expressions from Small Talk (pp. 16–17). 

18 SKILL UP! 

ISSUE 28

PREVIEW 

Getty Images 

ENERGY 

IMPRESSUM 

HERAUSGEBER UND VERLAGSLEITER: 

Dr. Wolfgang Stock 

CHEFREDAKTEUR: Dr. Ian McMaster 

STELLVERTRETENDE CHEFREDAKTEURIN: 

Deborah Capras 

GESCHÄFTSFÜHRENDE REDAKTEURIN (CvD): 

Maja Sirola 

AUTORIN: Deborah Capras 

REDAKTION: Margaret Davis, Hildegard Rudolph, 


BILDREDAKTION: Sarah Gough (Leitung), 

Thorsten Mansch 

GESTALTUNG: loop grafikdesign München 


VERTRIEBSLEITUNG: Monika Wohlgemuth 


ANZEIGENLEITUNG: Axel Zettler 

VERLAG und REDAKTION: 

Spotlight Verlag GmbH 

Postanschrift: Postfach 1565, 82144 Planegg 

Hausanschrift: 

Fraunhoferstraße 22, 82152 Planegg 

Telefon: +49 (0)89 8 56 81-0; 

Fax +49 (0)89 8 56 81-105 

Internet: www.business-spotlight.de 

LITHO: Mohn Media Mohndruck GmbH, 33311 

Gütersloh 

DRUCK: Rotaplan Offset Kammann Druck GmbH, 

93057 Regensburg 

© 5/2014 Spotlight Verlag, auch für alle 

genannten Autoren, Fotografen und Mitarbeiter. 

Cover photograph: iStock 

ISSUE 28 

Far too 

high? 

How to 

lower the 

cost 

Where would we be without energy? In 

the next issue of Skill Up!, we provide 

you with the language you will need to 

discuss this topic. 

FALSE FRIENDS: damp, sticker 

ESSENTIAL IDIOMS: back burner 

IN FOCUS: Feel the energy 

also: 

SMALL TALK: 

Save energy, 

save money 

iStock

Sprachen lernen 

und erleben. 

Ihre Sprachreise von zu Hause aus: Online-Training mit 

Videos und Übungen. Jederzeit verfügbar. 

50% 

Rabatt 


+49 (0)89/8 56 81-16 

www.dalango.de/50rabatt 

Sonderpreis für Erstlaufzeit 6 Monate: EUR 9,97 pro Monat statt regulär EUR 19,95. 

Danach kann die Mitgliedschaft jederzeit gekündigt werden - E-Mail an info@dalango.de genügt.


100 

KEY 

VERBS 

FOR BUSINESS 

Mit Sprachtest 

Your language survival guide

Übung macht 

den Meister! 

Das Übungsheft zu Ihrem Sprachmagazin: 

Die Extra-Dosis Sprachtraining – flexibel & e≤zient! 

Ihr 

Magazin- 

Upgrade 


+49 (0)89/8 56 81-16 

abo@spotlight-verlag.de

Stop and think!* 

Agood knowledge of vocabulary is 

the key to speaking English well at 

work. And one of the most important 

vocabulary elements is verbs — the 

“doing words” that express actions, 

states and events. In this special booklet, we present 100 key verbs for 

your job, covering such topics as talking about your company, meetings 

and negotiations, and dealing with problems. We also give you extra 

information, such as the irregular forms, pronunuciation and key word 

partnerships. And at the end of the booklet (p. 18), you can take our 

special test. We look forward to your feedback. 

Impressum 

HERAUSGEBER UND VERLAGSLEITER: Dr. Wolfgang Stock 

CHEFREDAKTEUR: Dr. Ian McMaster 

STELLVERTR. CHEFREDAKTEURIN: Deborah Capras 

GESCHÄFTSFÜHRENDE REDAKTEURIN: Maja Sirola (CvD) 

REDAKTION: Margaret Davis, Hildegard Rudolph, 


AUTOREN: Deborah Capras, Carol Scheunemann, 

Ian McMaster, Hildegard Rudolph 

BILDREDAKTION: Sarah Gough, Thorsten Mansch 

GESTALTUNG: loopgrafikdesign München 

VERTRIEBSLEITUNG: Monika Wohlgemuth 


ANZEIGENLEITUNG: Axel Zettler 


VERLAG UND REDAKTION: Spotlight Verlag GmbH 

Postanschrift: Postfach 1565, 82144 Planegg 

Hausanschrift: Fraunhoferstraße 22, 

82152 Planegg, Telefon: (0049) 89 856 81-0 

Internet: www.business-spotlight.de 

LITHO: Mohn Media Mohndruck GmbH, 33311 Gütersloh 

DRUCK: teNeues, 47906 Kempen 

© 5/2014 Spotlight Verlag, auch für alle genann ten Autoren, 

Fotografen und Mitarbeiter. 


i.mcmaster@spotlight-verlag.de 

Contents 

Show and tell 4 

Hire and fire 6 

Give and take 8 

Pick and choose 10 

Mix and match 12 

Rise and fall 14 

Crash and burn 16 

Live and learn (test) 18 

*Many expressions in English, like 

“stop and think”, have the form “verb 

and verb”. Each chapter in this booklet 

has a headline in this form, whose 

meaning we explain to you. 

Business Spotlight 3

Show and tell 

“So, as you 

can see...” 

The company’s history 

Mark Proctor is talking about his 

family business to a group of potential 

investors. 

Wavebreak Media 

“Our company was founded 

in 1930 by my grandfather to 

manufacture office furniture. 

He also created a network to 

distribute his products and 

broadened the product range. 

My father came on board in 

1955 and set up factories in 

ten countries. I took charge in 

1985, planned the restructuring 

of the company and…” 

Did you know? 

The expression “show 

and tell”, used mainly 

in North America, comes 

from a teaching method 

in which young pupils 

bring in items to class 

and talk about them 

with their classmates. 

The company’s plans 

Mark goes on to talk about his 

plans for the business. 

“Going forward, we are planning 

to scale up our business 

by going public within the next 

12 months. In particular, we 

are going to expand our operations 

in China and plan to 

launch in Brazil and India. Our 

other priorities are to appoint 

a new head of finance and to 

unveil a new product range.” 

head of finance 

[)hed Ev (faInÄns] 

product range 

[(prQdVkt reIndZ] 

restructuring 

[)ri:(strVktSErIN] 

Finanzchef(in) 

Produktpalette 

Umstrukturierung 

4 Business Spotlight

Key verbs for company presentations 

appoint sb. [E(pOInt] 

jmdn. ernennen 

~ a new head of finance eine(n) neue(n) Finanzchef(in) bestimmen 

broaden sth. [(brO:d&n] 

etw. verbreitern 

~ appeal Attraktivität erhöhen 

~ a product range eine Produktpalette erweitern 

come on board [)kVm Qn (bO:d] 

an Bord kommen 

~ as CEO als Geschäftsführer(in) einsteigen 

(come – came – come) 

distribute sth. [dI(strIbju:t] 

etw. verteilen 

~ information Informationen verbreiten 

~ a product ein Produkt vertreiben 

expand sth. [Ik(spÄnd] 

etw. ausdehnen 

~ a business ein Unternehmen ausbauen 

~ operations die Geschäftstätigkeit ausweiten 

found sth. [faUnd] 

etw. gründen 

~ a company eine Firma gründen 

go public [)gEU (pVblIk] 

an die Börse gehen 

(go – went – gone) 

launch sth. [lO:ntS] 

etw. lancieren 

~ a campaign eine Kampagne starten 

~ a product ein Produkt einführen 

manufacture sth. [)mÄnju(fÄktSE] 

etw. herstellen 

~ a product ein Produkt herstellen 

~ an excuse eine Ausrede konstruieren 

scale sth. up [)skeI&l (Vp] 

etw. vergrößern, erhöhen 

~ a business ein Unternehmen ausbauen 

~ operations die Betriebstätigkeit heraufsetzen 

set sth. up [)set (Vp] 

etw. aufstellen 

~ a business ein Unternehmen gründen 

~ a network ein Netzwerk aufbauen 

(set – set – set) 

take charge of sth. [)teIk (tSA:dZ Ev] 

für etw. die Verantwortung übernehmen 

(take – took – taken) 

unveil sth. [)Vn(veI&l] 

etw. enthüllen 

~ a product range eine Produktpalette vorstellen 


Hire and fire 

Tell us: why 

did you apply? 

SITUATION: Matt Clark 

has heard that ACME 

is recruiting sales staff. 

He knows his own company 

will be downsizing 

soon, so he decides to 

apply for a job as regional 

sales manager. 

He wants to quit before 

he’s laid off. 

As I fulfil all the requirements 

for the position of regional sales 

manager at your company, I am 

submitting my application for 

your consideration. 

Did you know? 

The expression “hire 

and fire” refers to how 

a company employs and 

dismisses its employees. 

The term suggests 

that a company hires 

quickly, but that it fires 

people frequently, too. 

6 Business Spotlight 

l Generated record sales and new 

contacts on a monthly basis. 

l Monitored competitors in the 

market and compiled monthly 

reports. 

l Achieved a ten per cent increase 

in client satisfaction. 

l Overhauled the bonus system to 

the company’s satisfaction. 

l Streamlined the workflow and 

reduced the staff costs. 

l Oversaw training of new employees. 

l Established excellent rapport 

with clients and colleagues. 

application 

[)ÄplI(keIS&n] 

competitor [kEm(pEtItE] 

sales manager 

[(seI&lz )mÄnIdZE] 

Bewerbung 

Mitbewerber(in) 

Vertriebsleiter(in) 

Monkey Business

Key verbs for job applications 

achieve sth. [E(tSi:v] 

etw.erreichen 

~ an increase eine Erhöhung erreichen 

apply for sth. [E(plaI fO:] 

sich um etw. bewerben 

~ a job sich um eine Stelle bewerben 

compile sth. [kEm(paI&l] 

etw. erarbeiten, erstellen 

~ a report einen Bericht erstellen 

downsize (sth.) [(daUnsaIz] 

(etw.) (sich) verkleinern, verschlanken 

~ a department eine Abteilung verschlanken 

establish sth. [I(stÄblIS] 

etw. aufbauen, gründen 

~ a company eine Firma gründen 

~ excellent rapport with sb. ein ausgezeichnetes Verhältnis zu 

jmdm. aufbauen 

fulfil sth. [fUl(fIl] 

etw. erfüllen 

~ requirements Anforderungen erfüllen 

generate sth. [(dZenEreIt] 

etw. erzeugen 

~ contacts Kontakte knüpfen 

~ sales Umsätze erwirtschaften 

lay sb. off [)leI (Qf] 

jmdn. entlassen 

(lay – laid – laid) 

monitor sb./sth. [(mQnItE] 

jmdn./etw. überwachen, beobachten 

~ the market den Markt beobachten 

overhaul sth. [)EUvE(hO:l] 

etw. überarbeiten, überprüfen 

oversee sth. [)EUvE(si:] 

etw. beaufsichtigen 

~ training eine Ausbildung betreuen 

(oversee – oversaw – overseen) 

quit (sth.) [kwIt] 

(mit etw.) aufhören 

~ (a job) (eine Stelle) kündigen 

(quit – quit/quitted – quit/quitted) 

recruit sb. [ri(kru:t] 

jmdn. anwerben, einstellen 

~ staff Personal einstellen 

streamline sth. [(stri:mlaIn] 

etw. straffen 

~ the workflow den Arbeitsablauf straffen 

submit sth. [sEb(mIt] 

etw. einreichen, vorlegen 

~ an application eine Bewerbung einreichen 

~ a CV einen Lebenslauf vorlegen 


Give and take 

Getting ready 

Peter Hollis and Angela Parks are 

preparing for an important negotiation 

about new machinery. 

Peter: I think we really need to 

approach this in a different 

way. We should think about 

how the new machinery 

would impact productivity. 

Angela: Absolutely! And then 

bargain hard to negotiate 

the best possible deal. 

Peter: Absolutely! Although I’m 

contemplating whether we 

shouldn’t postpone this investment 

till next year. 

Angela: No, I think we should 

definitely do it this year. 

Peter: OK. Can we just go over 

the technical details... ? 

Did you know? 

The expression “give 

and take” refers to a 

situation in which two 

parties reach a compromise 

by each giving 

something that the other 

wants and taking something 

that they want. 

Monkey Business 

Doing the deal 

Angela is leading the negotiations 

with the supplier, James Moore. 

Angela: So, you can assure us of 

delivery by the end of the year? 

James: We will do everything to 

ensure we get it to you on time. 

Angela: Is that a yes? 

James: A definite yes! I will take 

personal responsibility for that. 

Angela: Great. And about the 

price … could you tweak that 

a little, as discussed? 

James: Of course. We won’t bill 

you for the new design and 

we’ll stipulate in the contract 

that you can deduct three per 

cent if you pay in full this year. 

Angela: Perfect. It’s a deal! 

supplier [sE(plaIE] 

Tell us: can you 

tweak this? 

Zulieferer/Zulieferin 


Key verbs for meetings and negotiations 

approach sth. [E(prEUtS] 

sich etw. nähern 

~ a task eine Aufgabe angehen 

~ a person an eine Person herantreten 

~ a destination sich einem Reiseziel nähern 

assure sb. of sth. [E(SO:r Ev] 

jmdm. etw. zusichern 

bargain [(bA:gIn] 

handeln, feilschen 

bill sb. for sth. [(bIl )fO:] 

jmdm. etw. in Rechnung stellen 

contemplate sth. [(kQntEmpleIt] 

etw. betrachten, über etw. nachdenken 

~ an idea über eine Idee nachdenken 

deduct sth. [di(dVkt] 

etw. abziehen 

~ a sum of money einen Betrag abziehen 

~ expenses Ausgaben abziehen 

ensure sth. [In(SO:] 

etw. gewährleisten, sicherstellen 

~ a delivery eine Lieferung garantieren 

~ a result ein Ergebnis gewährleisten 

go over sth. [)gEU (EUvE] 

etw. durchgehen 

~ the details die Einzelheiten durchgehen 

~ the figures sich die Zahlen ansehen 

(go – went – gone) 

impact sth. [Im(pÄkt] 

sich auf etw. auswirken 

~ productivity die Produktivität beeinflussen 

~ a company sich auf eine Firma auswirken 

negotiate (sth.) [nI(gEUSieIt] 

verhandeln; etw. aushandeln 

~ a deal über ein Geschäft verhandeln 

~ a price einen Preis aushandeln 

~ a situation über eine Sachlage verhandeln 

postpone sth. [pEUst(pEUn] 

etw. verschieben 

~ an investment eine Investition hinausschieben 

~ a meeting eine Sitzung verlegen 

stipulate sth. [(stIpjuleIt] 

etw. vertraglich festlegen 

~ terms and conditions Bedingungen vereinbaren 

~ a deadline eine Frist festsetzen 

tweak sth. [twi:k] 

etw. verbessern, optimieren 

~ a price einen Preis nachbessern 

~ a process einen (Arbeits-)Ablauf optimieren 


Pick and choose 

Selling well: 

we’re all happy 

Did you know? 

Closing the deal 

Liam talks about a new client. 

Angela: Liam, I heard you closed 

the deal with the Indian firm! 

Liam: It was hard work. Six firms 

were competing with us. The 

buyer took forever to evaluate 

the proposals. Now, we have to 

process the order quickly. 

Angela: So what are the conditions? 

Liam: They promise to purchase 

1,200 pieces per year, which 

we deliver in monthly batches 

of 100. However, I quoted the 

price based on one shipment, 

not 12. To save money, we’ll 

ship the batch in bulk, but 

they must declare the pieces 

individually. 

The expression “pick and 

choose” refers to a situation 

in which you have 

a range of alternatives 

available. You compare 

these and select carefully 

to get the best and 

most desirable option. 


Handling the order 

Angela and Liam discuss further 

details of the order. 

Liam: The shipments will be 

tracked electronically. We 

will invoice only after they 

have inspected the merchandise. 

Any pieces they 

reject will be destroyed, not 

returned. The customer can 

also exchange the products 

for a full five years. 

Angela: Five years? That’s generous! 

Well, at least our quality 

is good. 

batch [bÄtS] 

in bulk [In (bVlk] 

merchandise 

[(m§:tSEndaIz] 

shipment [(SIpmEnt] 

Charge 

unverpackt 

Ware(n) 

Sendung, Lieferung 

iStock

Key verbs for buying and selling 

close sth. [klEUz] 

etw. schließen 

~ a deal ein Geschäft abschließen 

compete (with sb. for sth.) [kEm(pi:t] 

(mit jmdm. um etw.) im Wettbewerb stehen 

~ for an order um einen Auftrag konkurrieren 

declare sth. [di(kleE] 

etw. erklären 

~ goods Waren angeben, deklarieren 

~ a state of emergency einen Notstand ausrufen 

deliver sth. [di(lIvE] 

etw. liefern 

~ a shipment eine Sendung (an)liefern 

~ a speech eine Rede halten 

evaluate sth. [i(vÄljueIt] 

etw. bewerten 

~ a bid ein Angebot bewerten 

exchange sth. [Iks(tSeIndZ] 

etw. austauschen, umtauschen 

~ experiences Erfahrungen austauschen 

~ merchandise Waren umtauschen 

inspect sth. [In(spekt] 

etw. prüfen, untersuchen 

~ a shipment eine Warensendung prüfen 

invoice (sb.) for sth. [(InvOIs fO:] 

(jmdm.) etw. in Rechnung stellen 

~ for services Dienstleistungen in Rechnung stellen 

process sth. [(prEUses] 

etw. bearbeiten 

~ an order einen Auftrag abwickeln 

~ information Informationen aufbereiten 

purchase sth. [(p§:tSEs] 

etw. (ein)kaufen 

~ goods Waren (ein)kaufen 

quote sb./sth. [kwEUt] 

jmdn./etw. nennen 

~ a price einen Preis anbieten 

~ a person eine Person zitieren 

reject sb./sth. [ri(dZekt] 

jmdn. ablehnen; etw. zurückweisen 

~ a product ein Produkt zurückweisen 

~ a person eine Person ablehnen 

ship sth. [SIp] 

etw. versenden, verschicken 

~ merchandise Waren versenden 

track sth. [trÄk] 

etw. verfolgen 

~ an order einen Auftrag verfolgen 

~ sb.’s progress jmds. Fortschritt(e) überprüfen 


Mix and match 

Product management 

Raphael White is product manager 

for kitchen blenders. He’s telling 

June Lione about the new model. 

Raphael: We’re designing a 

blender just for men. They 

can add a coffee grinder or 

cocktail shaker as options. 

June: Are you sure about that? 

Shouldn’t we research the 

market more thoroughly? 

Raphael: Who’s got time for 

that? The blenders will be 

assembled in our factory, 

so we’ll face some production 

challenges. I’ll have to 

benchmark the processes to 

make sure we maintain our 

quality standards. 

Did you know? 

The expression “mix 

and match” refers to a 

selection of separate yet 

complementary products. 

Examples include clothing 

and accessories, or 

software options and 

pieces of equipment. 


Teamwork: designing new products 

Project management 

June has joined Raphael’s project team. 

Raphael: I’ve scheduled delivery of 

the parts from our new supplier. 

June: Have they confirmed that they 

will meet our deadline? 

Raphael: No, they can’t commit to 

an exact date. I can’t predict the 

delivery, but I estimate the goods 

will arrive before the 15th. 

June: Will you try to collaborate 

with the team, too? We have to 

update our report with that date. 

Raphael: OK, I’ll delegate that task 

to you, then. 

coffee grinder 

[(kQfi )graIndE] 

kitchen blender 

[(kItS&n )blendE] 

supplier [sE(plaIE] 

Kaffeemühle 

Küchenmaschine 

Lieferant(in) 

iStock

Key verbs for product and project management 

assemble sth. [E(semb&l] 

etw. zusammenbauen 

~ a machine eine Maschine montieren 

benchmark sth. [(bentSmA:k] 

etw. als Maßstab/Leistungsstandard nehmen 

~ a process einen (Arbeits-)Ablauf standardisieren 

~ sth. against sth. etw. als Vergleichsgröße gegen etw. anwenden 

collaborate (with sb.) [kE(lÄbEreIt] 

(mit jmdm.) zusammenarbeiten 

~ on a project an einem Projekt zusammenarbeiten 

commit (to sth.) [kE(mIt] 

sich (zu etw.) verpflichten 

~ to a target sich für ein Ziel einsetzen 

~ (oneself) to a principle sich zu einem Grundsatz bekennen 

confirm sth. [kEn(f§:m] 

etw. bestätigen 

~ a date einen Termin bestätigen 

~ an order einen Auftrag bestätigen 

delegate sth. [(delIgeIt] 

etw. delegieren 

~ a task eine Aufgabe übertragen 

design sth. [di(zaIn] 

etw. entwerfen 

~ an object einen Gegenstand konstruieren 

estimate sth. [(estImeIt] 

etw. (ab)schätzen 

~ costs Kosten schätzen, veranschlagen 

face sb./sth. [feIs] 

jmdm./etw. begegnen, entgegentreten 

~ a challenge einer Herausforderung gegenüberstehen 

~ a person jmdn. konfrontieren 

maintain sth. [meIn(teIn] 

etw. (aufrecht)erhalten 

~ a standard einen Standard beibehalten 

~ a building ein Gebäude instand halten 

predict sth. [pri(dIkt] 

etw. vorhersagen, prophezeien 

~ an event ein Ereignis vorhersagen 

research sth. [ri(s§:tS] 

etw. erforschen 

~ a market Marktforschung betreiben 

schedule sth. [(Sedju:l] 

etw. (zeitlich) festlegen, planen 

~ delivery den Liefertermin festlegen 

~ a meeting eine Sitzung anberaumen 

update sth. [)Vp(deIt] 

etw. aktualisieren 

~ a report einen Bericht aktualisieren 

~ software Software aktualisieren 


Rise and fall 

Going up — or maybe down 

Did you know? 

A financing plan 

Head of finance, Sue Hay, and CEO 

Sam Ford discuss a project budget. 

Sue: I’ve drawn up a preliminary 

plan. We have to raise 

$2.5 million. 

Sam: Are you sure you’re not 

overstating the costs? 

Sue: Well, I’ve broken them 

down by department. The 

biggest amount is allocated 

to production. 

Sam: So, how are we going to 

procure funding? 

Sue: Our holding company will 

contribute $1 million. And 

the bank will grant us a loan 

of $500,000, which we’ll 

have to repay over ten years. 

“Rise and fall” is used to 

refer to gaining power, 

wealth or influence, only 

to lose it later. It can refer 

to civilizations, firms 

or individuals. In the context 

of finance, share 

prices also rise and fall. 

Finding funds 

Sue and Sam look for other sources of 

money for the project. 

Sam: Do we have any possibility of 

financing the project internally? 

Sue: Well, we do have reserves, but 

they’re earmarked for other purposes, 

so we can’t tap them for 

this project. And we can’t divert 

money from our foreign offices. 

Sam: What about private investors? 

Sue: Provided we cap costs and 

freeze salaries, at least one investor 

will back the project. 

Sam: Well, I’m sure we can 

convince other investors that 

their investment will soon pay off. 

department [di(pA:tmEnt] 

funding [(fVndIN] 

preliminary [pri(lImIn&ri] 

Abteilung 

Finanzierung 

vorläufig 

Getty Images 


Key verbs for finance 

allocate sth. [(ÄlEkeIt] 

etw. zuweisen, zuteilen 

~ costs Kosten umlegen 

~ tasks Aufgaben vergeben, zuweisen 

back sb./sth. [bÄk] 

jmdn./etw. unterstützen 

~ a project ein Projekt unterstützen 

cap sth. [kÄp] 

etw. deckeln 

contribute sth. [kEn(trIbju:t] 

etw. beisteuern, zuschießen 

~ funds Mittel zuschießen 

~ (money) (Geld) spenden 

convince sb. [kEn(vIns] 

jmdn. überzeugen, überreden 

divert sth. [daI(v§:t] 

etw. abzweigen, umlenken 

draw sth. up [)drO: (Vp] 

etw. entwerfen 

~ a plan einen Plan erstellen 

(draw – drew – drawn) 

earmark sth. for sb./sth. [(IEmA:k fO:] 

etw. für jmdn./etw. vorsehen 

freeze sth. [fri:z] 

etw. einfrieren 

~ salaries Gehälter einfrieren 

(freeze – froze – frozen) 

grant sb. sth. [grA:nt] 

jmdm. etw. gewähren 

~ a loan ein Darlehen/einen Kredit gewähren 

overstate sth. [)EUvE(steIt] 

etw. zu hoch angeben 

pay off [)peI (Qf] 

sich auszahlen 

pay sth. off 

etw. abbezahlen 

pay sb. off 

jmdn. auszahlen; bestechen 

(pay – paid – paid) 

procure sth. [prE(kjUE] 

etw. beschaffen 

~ goods Waren beschaffen 

raise sth. [reIz] 

etw. erhöhen; aufbringen 

~ money Geld aufbringen; aufnehmen 

~ prices Preise erhöhen 

repay sth. [ri(peI] 

etw. zurückzahlen, tilgen 

~ a loan ein Darlehen / einen Kredit zurückzahlen 

tap sth. [tÄp] 

etw. anzapfen 

~ reserves Reserven anzapfen 

~ telephone wires Telefonleitungen anzapfen 


Crash and burn 

Did you know? 

Computer problems 

Zoe is having problems with her 

computer, and so is her colleague 

Brian. 

Zoe: Sorry to bother you again, 

Brian, but can you access 

the database? 

Brian: No, I think the server 

has crashed. 

Zoe: It breaks down every day! 

I thought IT had resolved 

all the issues with the new 

software. 

Brian: Apparently not. This is 

really affecting our work. 

The whole investment has 

totally backfired. I’ve yet to 

see how we’re going to benefit 

from it. 

Zoe: Shall I find out who’s 

dealing with it? 

If you say that something 

will “crash and 

burn”, you believe that 

it will fail spectacularly. 

It comes from the image 

of a crash followed by a 

fire that completely destroys 

everything. 

iStock 

How can I sort 

this out? 

A perfect solution? 

Zoe finds the answer. While one 

person works, the others can relax. 

Zoe: Brian, I spoke to Joy. She’s 

taking care of it — and she 

apologized profusely. She 

says they’re troubleshooting 

the problem right now. 

Brian: How long will it take? 

Zoe:They should be able to 

sort it out in an hour. 

Brian: Great. Well, let’s not 

waste any time. While 

they’re working hard, do you 

want to grab a coffee? 

Zoe: I’d love to! Just let me get 

my jacket. 


Key verbs for problems 

access sth. [(Äkses] 

etw. betreten; auf etw. zugreifen 

~ a database auf eine Datenbank zugreifen 

~ a company’s premises ein Firmengelände betreten 

affect sb./sth. [E(fekt] 

sich auf jmdn./etw. auswirken 

~ sb.’s work jmds. Arbeit beeinflussen 

~ sb.’s health jmds. Gesundheit schaden 

apologize [E(pQlEdZaIz] 

sich entschuldigen 

~ profusely sich vielmals entschuldigen 

~ for the inconvenience sich für die Unannehmlichkeiten entschuldigen 

backfire [)bÄk(faIE] 

fehlschlagen; nach hinten losgehen 

benefit from sth. [(benIfIt frQm] 

aus etw. Nutzen ziehen 

bother sb. [(bQDE] 

jmdn. belästigen 

break down [)breIk (daUn] 

zusammenbrechen 

(break – broke – broken) 

crash [krÄS] 

abstürzen 

deal with sth. [(di:&l wID] 

sich mit etw. befassen 

~ with a complaint einer Beschwerde nachgehen 

~ with an issue sich mit einem Problem befassen, mit einem 

Problem fertigwerden 

(deal – dealt – dealt) 

grab sth. [grÄb] ifml. 

(sich) etw. schnappen 

~ a coffee schnell einen Kaffee trinken 

~ an opportunity eine Chance wahrnehmen 

resolve sth. [ri(zQlv] 

etw. lösen 

~ an issue ein Problem beheben 

~ a matter eine Angelegenheit klären 

~ one’s differences seine Differenzen beilegen 

sort sth. out [)sO:t (aUt] 

etw. klären, in Ordnung bringen 

take care of sth. [)teIk (keEr Ev] 

sich um etw. kümmern 

(take – took – taken) 

troubleshoot [(trVb&lSu:t] 

Störungen beheben 

~ a problem ein Problem analysieren und beheben 

waste sth. [weIst] 

etw. vergeuden, verschwenden 

~ an opportunity eine Chance ungenutzt lassen 

~ time Zeit verschwenden 


Live and learn 

How well have 

you learned the 

verbs presented 

in this booklet? 

Find out by doing 

our test. 

It’s time to pick 

and choose 

Show and tell 

1. “The company _____ in 1964.” 

a) founded b) found c) was founded 

iStock 

2. “We’re planning to _____ public in six months’ time.” 

a) go b) make c) do 

Hire and fire 

3. “I’ve _____ the training of the whole sales team.” 

a) oversaw b) overseen c) overseeing 

4. “He was _____ at the end of last year.” 

a) laid off b) laid up c) laid back 

Give and take 

5. “Can you _____ with them so that we get a better price?” 

a) bargain b) contemplate c) handle 

6. “I can _____ you that we will deliver on time.” 

a) insure b) ensure c) assure 


Pick and choose 

7. “If you’re not happy with the quality of the product, you can _____ it.” 

a) evaluate b) exchange c) experience 

8. “What price did they _____ you for a bulk order?” 

a) declare b) track c) quote 

Mix and match 

9. “We all _____ on the design. It really was a team effort.” 

a) collaborated b) delegated c) maintained 

10. “We can’t _____ to a date until we’ve spoken to the head of production.” 

a) confirm b) commit c) schedule 

Rise and fall 

11. “How much can we _____ for the investment?” 

a) earmark b) remark c) trademark 

12. “Can we _____ the parent company for funding?” 

a) nap b) rap c) tap 

Crash and burn 

13. “The investment has been a disaster. It’s totally _____.” 

a) backdated b) backfired c) backstabbed 

14. “I need a break. Do you want 

to _____ a quick coffee?” 

a) grab 

b) take 

c) waste 

Answers 

1–c; 2–a; 3–b; 4–a; 5–a; 6–c; 7–b; 8–c; 9–a; 10–b; 

11–a; 12–c; 13–b; 14–a 

Did you know? 

Use the expression “you 

live and learn” to show 

that you have learned 

something that is new, 

and often surprising: 

“I had no idea that we 

had to pay. Oh well, you 

live and learn!” 


Besser mit 

Sprachen! 

Land und Leute verstehen – 

und nebenbei die Sprache lernen. 

Jeden Monat neu. 

Jederzeit 

kündbar! 

www.spotlight-verlag.de/flex

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