Business English- Discussing Priorites

Discuss and practise your priorities

Needs analysis

Take turns asking each other questions to make notes about your partner below.

Use the list below to continue talking about priorities.

• Apologising
• Being a guest/ Dealing with guests
• Casual/ friendly/ informal English
• Chit chat/ Small talk
• Clarifying
• Communicating with particular nationalities
• Complaining/ Dealing with complaints
• Conferences/ Trade fairs
• Contacting and meeting people again
• Contacting and meeting people for the first time
• Customer service
• Dealing with conflict
• Dealing with cultural differences
• Describing figures/ trends
• Enquiring/ Dealing with enquiries
• Face to face meetings, including being chair
• Formal/ polite English
• Giving feedback/ Receiving feedback
• Giving presentations/ Speaking at other people’s presentations
• Giving tours
• Help desk enquiries, e.g. with IT support
• Insisting/ Demanding
• Introducing people
• Inviting/ Responding to invitations
• Job applications/ interviews
• Making arrangements
• Negotiations
• Ordering/ Responding to orders
• Persuading
• Progress reports
• Reading and writing, e.g. emailing, writing reports, online chat, memos, minutes, PR, online content, manuals, faxes, agendas, SMS, letters
• Requesting/ Dealing with requests
• Socialising/ Networking
• Speeches
• Talking about products/ services
• Talking about your company and job
• Telephoning/ Teleconferencing/ Video conferencing
• Thanking
• Training, e.g. an MBA or presentations course
• Working in the same office as someone

Choose a top priority from above, explain why that it your top priority, then roleplay a related conversation, email exchange, etc with you as yourself and your partner as the people you will communicate with. 

Brainstorm some typical email, telephone and face to face exchanges as a class.