You're learning with nine to five English. Business English for the workplace.
Hi Tim here with another 9 to 5 English lesson. In our last two lessons
we looked at how to talk about your job and your work. Today we're going to learn
how to talk about your company. Anytime you talk about your work you're probably
also going to talk about your company so what exactly do we talk about what are
the important aspects of your company that might be interesting to people?
Well to begin with you can talk about what your company actually does. That's
probably the most important piece of information and when we talk about what
our company does we usually say "we" because that shows
that we're a part of the company it's also a good idea to use a strong
verb like manufacture or develop or you can say what kind of company it is such
as a manufacturer and finally you might want to mention what industry or field
your company works in all of that information will give people a good
sense of what your company does let's practice some examples of talking about
your company in this way listen to each example then repeat it yourself ready
let's get started we produce electric motors for the automobile industry
we're an OEM manufacturer for the computer industry
we develop software for the education market
we make branded merchandise for small businesses
there are lots of other great verbs you can use depending on what kind of work
your company does you might use design or sell or represent or distribute to
describe the company's main activity so that's how we explain what our company
does but what else can you mention about your company well one thing you might
want to talk about is your company's reputation that means how the public or
the industry think about the company you might mention awards or distinctions
which show how great the company is or you might say what your company is known
for and once again pay attention to the verbs you choose let's try a little
practice talking about your company's reputation once again I want you to
repeat the examples after you hear them my company is known for its excellent
customer service
we have won several awards for our advertising campaigns
we're seen as one of the major players in our industry
our company is rated number one for safety and reliability
one thing you might have noticed in those examples is what we call the
passive voice that's when we say things like is known for and are seen as and is
rated that's a useful way to talk about reputation because it shows how the
company is generally seen or thought of so besides what your company does and
its reputation another useful bit of information is about your company's
customers to understand a company it helps to know who its customers are and
how can you talk about that well there are a couple of ways first you can use
an expression like we serve or we sell to before mentioning the kinds of
customers you help or you can start with our customers are and name the industry
or type of customer how about giving this a try listen to the examples and
repeat what you hear we serve small and medium sized businesses throughout
California
our customers are mainly in the automobile market
we sell mostly to large retailers like department stores
most of our customers are schools and universities in Europe
okay so when we talk about our company we mention what the company does its
reputation and its customers now how does this information fit into a
normal conversation let's listen to a short dialogue a woman is curious about
David's company let's hear what they have to say so David what exactly does
your company do we make engines for farm and construction equipment oh really
my brother's in construction I wonder if he's heard of you yeah he probably has
we're a major player in the industry how did that sound David started by
explaining what his company does then when the woman wonders if her brother
knows about his company David mentions its reputation by calling it a major
player that means it's an important or large company in its industry now it's
your turn to practice will repeat the dialogue but this time will beep out
David's words you'll have to say those parts yourself remember start by
mentioning what the company does then mention the reputation so David what
exactly does your company do
oh really my brothers in construction I wonder if he's heard of you
you
nice work so that's how we talk about our company and if you've looked at the
past few lessons you can now talk about your job your work and your company be
sure to tune in to our next lesson when we'll start talking about likes and
dislikes and ideas until then so long and happy learning