Business_Spotlight_No3_202..

LANGUAGE 55

Fotos: gradyreese/iStock.com; privat

3/2020 Business Spotlight

Answers

Here are three things that

Anna does to make sure she

gets support for her idea:

⋅ She gets agreement that a

problem exists.

⋅ She makes two concrete

proposals that are simple

enough to explain in just a

few sentences.

⋅ She describes clearly the

consequences of doing

nothing or not agreeing to

her proposal.

It is essential to practise your

pitches before the meeting or

discussion. Practise deliver-

ing your pitch to a colleague

or friend. Then ask them to

explain to you your key idea

and its benefits. If they cover

the main points correctly, then

you know you’ve explained it

clearly. Also, ask for feedback

on how fast you speak, your

clarity and anything else that

might help you to present

your idea more clearly.

KEY TIPS!

Make sure you understand the problem.

• Make your proposal easy to understand.


• 
  

  Make it easy for others to say yes.

  
  


• 
  

  Anticipate questions or objections.

  
  


• 
  

  Be willing to adapt your proposal on the basis
  of the suggetions of others.

  
  

Useful phrases for

pitching your proposal

A. Identifying the problem

⋅ The problem we’re facing is...

⋅ This is a problem because...

⋅ We’re facing some issues at the

moment, and I think I have a

possible solution.

⋅ We can’t allow this situation to

continue.

⋅ There are a number of problems

here.

B. Talking about your proposal

and its benefits

⋅ In short, I think we should...

⋅ We need to...

⋅ We need to make some changes.

⋅ The benefit of doing this will be...

⋅ We should do it this way

because...

C. Identifying and overcoming

objections

⋅ You might be wondering how we

can be sure that... / why we can’t...

⋅ I know you’re thinking that we

don’t have enough time/budget/

resources/people.

⋅ But I’ve thought of a solution for

that, too.

⋅ Yes, it might cause us more work,

but think of the extra work we’ll

have if we do nothing.

⋅ There’s no real reason why this

shouldn’t work.

D. Calling to action

⋅ This is a great opportunity for us

if we move quickly.

⋅ We need to do it — and soon.

⋅ The most important thing we

need to do is... and we need to do

it now.

⋅ We can’t afford to delay this

decision.

E. Summarizing

⋅ To summarize my idea, we need

to...

⋅ I’m suggesting that we...

⋅ In summary, I think that we

should...

⋅ I should be able to get back to

you with some results by...

Making your

pitch: be clear

and confident

adapt sth. [E(dÄpt]

, etw. anpassen

anticipate sth.

[Än(tIsIpeIt]

, etw. vorhersehen;

auch: vorwegnehmen

call to action

[)kO:l tu (ÄkS&n]

, zum Handeln auffordern

clarity [(klÄrEti]

, Klarheit

in summary [)In (sVmEri]

, zusammenfassend,

kurz gesagt

objection [Eb(dZekS&n]

, Einwand

pitch [pItS]

, Verkaufsgespräch; hier:

Überzeugungsgespräch

Grammar

Talking about things

we can do in the future

When we make plans for the

future, we often imagine the

things that we will probably be

able to do then. This is not cer-

tain, but we believe it will be

true, and so we use “should”.

Look at these examples from

the dialogue:

⋅ We should be able to

identify some patterns.

⋅ I should be able to get

back to you in about a

month.