M: Hello English learners! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

E: And I’m Erica.

M: Today we’re bringing you a lesson about the office, so, something related to business, right?

E: That’s right, and in this lesson we’re learning, um, language you can use to tell someone they did a good job.

M: Okay, so, a job well done.

E: Uhu.

M: You want to praise somebody.

E: That’s right, so, we’re gonna listen in as a manager praises his employee on a presentation.

M: Okay, so, before we listen to the dialogue, let’s take a look very quickly at “vocabulary preview”.

Voice: Vocabulary preview.

E: Well, we’re gonna hear both of these words in the dialogue and the first one is a wiz.

M: Wiz.

E: To be a wiz.

M: Okay, so, it’s an adjective? – somebody is a wiz. [NOTE: actually, it’s a noun]

E: That’s right and wiz comes from the word wizard.

M: Okay, so, kind of like a… like a witch, but a guy-witch.

E: Yeah, man-witch, um, but, so, a wiz is someone who is really good at something.

M: Okay, so, I can say “David is a computer wiz”.

E: Or “Anthony is a math wiz”.

M: Okay, so, he is really good at computers or he is really good at math or he knows a lot about math.

E: Exactly.

M: Okay, and, uh, our second word.

E: Well, we’re gonna hear about slides.

M: Slides.

E: PowerPoint slides.

M: PowerPoint slides, okay, so, everyone knows PowerPoint, right?

E: Uhu, a computer program.

M: A computer program that you use to make presentations.

E: And a slide is one page in that presentation.

M: Okay, so, if you have ten pages in your PowerPoint presentation, you basically have ten slides.

E: Exactly.

M: Very good, so, now let’s listen to the dialogue for the first time and we’re gonna see what’s happening in this business meeting.

DIALOGUE, FIRST TIME

E: Alright, well, it sounds like the employee is a little bit, mm, shy or… or embarrassed by receiving all of these compliments.

M: Yeah, I guess he is kind of, uh, being humble about it.

E: Uhu, exactly! So, why don’t we move on to the language now? There’re so many really useful phrases in this dialogue, um, that I think we’re just gonna focus on those today, so, let’s get started with “fluency builder”.

Voice: Fluency builder.

M: Okay, so, today on fluency builder let’s start with our first phrase. The boss was so impressed with the presentation that he said “I was completely blown away” [NOTE: actually, the boss was a woman, so… she said]

E: To be completely blown away.

M: Okay, so, to be completely blown away.

E: Or to be blown away.

M: Alright, so, what does that mean to be blown away?

E: To be surprised, um, and amazed, but in a very positive way.

M: Okay, so, I can say “I’m surprised”, “I’m amazed”, uh, but I’m still not very clear on this. Why don’t we listen to a couple of examples of how we could use this phrase?

Voice: Example one.

A: Karl blew me away with his knowledge of political science.

Voice: Example two.

B: I was blown away when I heard that Jennie and Rick had gotten married. They have known each other for less than a month.

Voice: Example three.

C: My parents were blown away when they found out I had a tattoo.

E: Okay, so, I think that’s a little bit clearer now and this is a wonderful way to give your praise to someone when they do something really amazing.

M: Okay, so, completely blown away. You…

E: Uhu.

M: Blew me away.

E: That’s right.

M: Now, what about our second word?

E: Well, it’s quite similar. Um, the boss said that you really wowed me.

M: You wowed me.

E: To wow someone.

M: Okay, so, it’s spelled W-O-W, wow.

E: So, when you wow someone, you make that person go wow.

M: Okay, so, you impress somebody.

E: Yep.

M: To wow someone. I can use it as a verb.

E: Yeah.

M: You wowed me; I wanna wow you.

E: Well, I want you wow me.

M: Okay, so, uh, wow! Now, let’s take a look at our third phrase. The guy, he’s a little bit shy, he’s trying to be a little bit humble about, you know, receiving so many compliments, so, he says “Oh, it was nothing”.

E: It was nothing.

M: Really, it was nothing.

E: It was nothing.

M: So, that’s a way of saying “It wasn’t hard” or “It’s not a big deal”.

E: It’s not that important.

M: Exactly, so, if somebody’s saying “Wow! Thank you so much for lending me your car”, don’t worry about it.

E: It was nothing.

M: It was nothing.

E: Yeah, uhu.

M: Alright.

E: It’s k… it’s a polite way, actually, to respond to a nice compliment.

M: Very good, so, before we move on to our next phrase, let’s listen to a couple of examples with it was nothing.

Voice: Example one.

A: Thanks for lending me your car this week. I really appreciate it.

B: It’s okay really, it was nothing.

Voice: Example two.

C: I can’t believe you organized the surprised birthday party. Thank you so much.

D: Don’t worry about it, it was nothing.

E: Okay, so, I think that’s petty clear. Now, our final phrase here for fluency builder. Um, the… the employee said that Kirsten gave him a hand.

M: Okay, so, to give someone a hand.

E: Give me a hand.

M: Give me a hand.

E: Basically, to help someone.

M: Help me or…

E: Yeah.

M: Assist me.

E: Uhu.

M: Okay, so, to help someone… “give me a hand” or “let me give you a hand”.

E: That’s right.

M: Alright, very good, so, great phrases in fluency builder today. I think it’s time for us to listen to the dialogue for the second time. Uh, we’re gonna slow it down a little bit, so, we can catch all these phrases and then we’ll come back.

DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)

E: Okay, so, like we said before there’s a… a lot of really helpful phrases in here, um, and we’re gonna look at a few more of these in “putting it together”.

Voice: Putting it together.

M: Okay, so, let’s start with the first phrase. Uh, the boss was quite impressed with him and he said “That was quite the presentation”.

E: That was quite the presentation!

M: Alright, quite the presentation.

E: So, this phrase quite the presentation, it means “it was good”, right?

M: Uhu.

E: It was… it was special.

M: It was… it was very good.

E: Yep, now, we can shake the noun presentation out and replace it with any other noun. [NOTE: shake out = throw away; put aside]

M: Alright, so, I can say “Bob is quite the basketball player”.

E: Uhu. Why don’t we listen now for a few more examples?

 Voice: Example one.

A: I heard you’re quite the dancer. Can you teach me some moves?

Voice: Example two.

B: Karl is quite the ladies man. He is very good when it comes to talking to girls.

Voice: Example three.

C: Nancy is quite gifted at math. She can solve any math problem you give her.

M: So, you’re saying in a… in a very good way that something is very good.

E: Or special.

M: Very special.

E: Yep, uhu.

M: Alright, so, the boss was very impressed with the employee and he said “And I saw that you took on board my feedback”.

E: To take on board my feedback.

M: Okay, so, take on board something.

E: Uhu. So, here my feedback is, uh, my suggestions, right?

M: Uhu.

E: And when you take on board my feedback, you accept my feedback and you use it.

M: Okay, so, I can say, for example, uh, “I want you to take on board my ideas”.

E: Uhu, or “Jenny took on board a few of my suggestions, I was really happy”.

M: Okay, very good, so, to take on board – to accept and use.

E: Alright, so, take on board feedback, take on board suggestion[s], take on board ideas.

M: Okay, very good. And we have one more phrase on putting it together today – to think something through.

E: To think it through.

M: Okay, so, think it through.

E: So, here the boss said that he took the time to think through my suggestions.

M: Uhu, so, think through. What does that mean?

E: Um, to think carefully about all of the details of something.

M: Okay, so, to take into consideration all the aspects.

E: Right, so, why don’t we give an example?

M: Uhu.

E: Um, if you’re thinking through a plan, right, you don’t just think about the end.

M: Uhu.

E: The outcome.

M: Okay.

E: You wanna think about all of the small details, the steps in that plan.

M: Okay, so, maybe I wanna buy a new car, but…

E: Yeah.

M: It’s a lot of money, so…

E: Yeah.

M: I really have to think it though.

E: So, you have to think carefully about everything that is involved in buying the new car.

M: Right.

E: All the money you’re gonna have to, you know, not spend on parties and…

M: Exactly, you have to think it through, you have to analyze it very carefully.

E: That’s right, so, let’s give a few examples of how we can use this phrase. “Hey, Marco, have you thought through my suggestions?”

M: I can say “You guys are very young, I think you should think it through before you get married”.

E: Hm, good advise.

M: Okay, so, to think it through.

E: Okay, so, um, three great phrases and why don’t we hear them one more time in our dialogue?

DIALOGUE, THIRD TIME

M: Okay, great dialogue and, uh, some interesting phrases for giving praise, right? That’s I think very important in the workplace.

E: Yeah, and, you know what, I read recently that something like 6 out of every 10 employees don’t get regular praise from their boss.

M: Hm, yeah, it’s very important and in some cultures, well, it’s not very common to praise or to give positive feedback to their employees.

E: Yeah, but I think, um, for… for western employees, actually, it’s really important and it helps them work harder, the more…

M: Uhu.

E: The more, um, times they hear “Job well done!”

M: Yeah, very good. So, now you have the tools that maybe you can use with your employees or…

E: With your friends.

M: With your friends.

E: Yep.

M: Okay, so, if you have any questions, comments or doubts, please come to our website englishpod.com.

E: Yep, Marco and I are always around to help you out, so, um, until next time, thanks for listening and… Good bye!

M: Bye!

A: And so, that concludes my outline for our marketing strategy next year. Thank you very much for your time.
B: Hey, that was quite the presentation! Honestly, I was completely blown away by your strategy outline. I’ve gotta say, Alex, you really wowed me today.
A: Aw, come on; it was nothing. I’m just doing my job.
B: No, I think you deserve some recognition here; I mean, if I look back on your previous presentations, this is a huge improvement.
A: Well, Kristin did give me a hand with the slides.She’s a real wiz on PowerPoint.
B: And I saw that you took on board my feedback about pricing strategies. I really appreciate you taking the time to think though my suggestions.
A: Yeah, well, that was some good advice. You made some really good points.
B: Well, I just wanted to say well done. Really you did a great job.