Business English Advice Guessing Game

Guessing game example dialogue

Read the example dialogue of two students playing today’s guessing game and fill the gap with one of the business situations on the next page.

• Student A “I think you should move to a smaller office”
• Student B “You think I should move to a smaller office because I am going to renovate the office”
• A “No, that’s not the one I am talking about”
• B “Okay, give me one more clue”
• A “If I were you, I would move to a smaller office and make people work lots of overtime”
• B “I think I’ve got it. If you were me you would move to a smaller office and make people work lots of overtime because I want to make a fortune in a short time”
• A “No. Here’s one more hint. I think you ought to move to a smaller office, make people work lots of overtime and cut the pay”
• B “This time I’m sure I understand which one. You think I ought to move to a smaller office, make people work lots of overtime and cut the pay because _______________”
• A “That’s right!”
• B “I think cutting their pay could work. I would resign if my boss did that to me! I’m not sure about moving to a smaller office though”

 

Language presentation one – Language of advice

In the dialogue above, find:

• three phrases that mean “I think the best thing to do is…”
• one phrase that means the same as “(That) might be a good idea, (thanks)”
• one phrase that means the same as “I don’t think (that) will work”

 

Speaking practice one

Like the two students in the example dialogue above, choose one of the situations below without saying which one and give advice in that situation until your partner guesses which one, then discuss the best advice.

 

Language presentation two – Do and make collocations

Without looking above, fill the following gaps with the verb “do” or “make”

___________________________________________ people work lots of overtime

___________________________________________ a fortune

___________________________________________ overtime

___________________________________________ mistakes

___________________________________________ a speech

___________________________________________ a phone call

___________________________________________ a good impression

Check above.

 

Speaking practice two

Play the same guessing game with your own ideas for difficult situations.

As a class, discuss good advice for improving your level of English and coping with lack of English knowledge at work.

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Business situations to give advice on

• You are going to chair a meeting for the first time
• You are going to give a presentation
• You are going to give a presentation in English
• You are going to have a job interview in English
• You are going to have your first business video conference call
• You are going to make a speech at the shareholder’s meeting.
• You are going to renovate the office
• You need to downsize
• You want a promotion
• You want to bankrupt your company
• You want to become managing director in the next ten years
• You want to buy a new fleet of company cars
• You want to cut down on absenteeism
• You want to cut down on the amount of overtime the staff do
• You want to cut down on the amount of time you spend in meetings every week
• You want to cut down on your personal debt
• You want to decrease staff turnover
• You want to earn lots more money
• You want to get on better with your colleagues
• You want to get the sack
• You want to improve staff morale
• You want to improve teamwork
• You want to improve the health of your employees
• You want to improve your Business English vocabulary
• You want to increase your company’s market share.
• You want to make a fortune in a short time
• You want to make a good impression when you meet your CEO for the first time
• You want to make fewer phone calls in your job.
• You want to set up a joint venture with a Chinese company
• You want to stop making mistakes when you email in English
• You want to take time off in the first week of August but your boss has already booked that week
• You want your employees to stop stealing office supplies