VI Organising meetings, presentations and discussions 3. What do you think about the new product idea? Discussing in an appropriate way

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1 VI Organising meetings, presentations and discussions 3 Discussing 1 von 28 What do you think about the new product idea? Discussing in an appropriate way Von Martina Angele, Konstanz Wie gebe ich höflich zu verstehen, dass ich mit der Meinung eines anderen nicht übereinstimme? Wie formuliere ich meine eigene Meinung oder einen Gegenvorschlag? Ob in Konferenzen mit Kollegen oder im Gespräch mit Kunden und Geschäftspartnern Diskussionen gehören zum geschäftlichen Alltag. Dabei sind nicht immer alle Kunden und Geschäftspartner in Deutschland ansässig und so ist die Verhandlungssprache oft Englisch. In dieser Einheit lernen Ihre Schüler, welche Redewendungen für eine erfolgreiche Diskussion hilfreich sind, und wenden diese in abwechslungsreichen Übungen an. Let s start the discussion! Kompetenzen Standpunkte und Meinungen entwickeln und begründet vertreten Vorschläge machen und auf Vorschläge anderer reagieren Wichtiges zusammenfassen höflich und zielgerichtet diskutieren Das Wichtigste auf einen Blick Diskussionen gehören im Geschäftsleben zum Alltag. Dauer 3 Schulstunden (+ Test) Niveau B1 (Differenzierungsmaterial B2) Ihr Plus Feedbackbogen zur Bewertung einer Diskussion, Rollenkarten für die Abschlussdiskussion Thinkstock/iStockphoto

2 6 von 28 Discussing Organising meetings, presentations and discussions 3 VI M 1 How does it work? Rules for a discussion Thinkstock/iStockphoto 1. Describe the picture. 2. What are these people doing? 3. What are they talking about?

3 VI Organising meetings, presentations and discussions 3 Discussing 7 von 28 Let s discuss this! Basic rules M 2 You work for the marketing department of mytechnology, a company developing innovative technical devices 1. The company s latest product is a smartphone. Together with your colleagues your task is to discuss the marketing of this new phone. 1. Imagine you have to lead the discussion. What would you say? Have a look at the discussion rules 1 to 6 and match them with the correct sentences on the right. Make sure people stick to the point 2. Decide who speaks and when. Encourage 3 people to give their views. Ask questions to prevent misunderstanding. Keep control of time. Sum things up at the end. a) What do you think, Colin? c) So, to sum up, it seems that most of us agree. e) Thanks, Chris. Nina, I think you wanted to add sething. b) I m sorry, but we re moving away from the topic. d) So, what you re saying is that it s OK to do without any advertisements. Is that right? f) I m afraid we only have five minutes left. Let s move on to the next point. 2. Discuss the dos and don ts of a discussion with your partner. Mark the dos with a and the don ts with a. a) Talk about topics only you are interested in (or that the others want to avoid). b) Use language that the others cannot understand (e. g. special terminology ). c) Take each other and your suggestions and criticism seriously. d) Show interest in what the other person is saying. e) Pay attention to the signals (e.g. yawning 4, raising eyebrows ) the others are sending and react to them. f) Talk while somebody else is speaking. This keeps the conversation lively. 3. Work in pairs: What else is important in a discussion? Write down some more rules. Vocabulary 1 device: das Gerät 2 to stick to the point: beim Thema bleiben 3 to encourage: ermutigen 4 to yawn: gähnen

4 16 von 28 Discussing Organising meetings, presentations and discussions 3 VI M 7 How to talk fluently linking words In a discussion you want others to listen to your opinion and suggestions. Linking words make it easier for your listeners to follow what you say and your conversation becomes more fluent. 1. Match the English words on the left with their German translation on the right as in the example. Write them in your exercise books. Linking words and phrases therefore on the other hand to begin with on the one hand last but not least although another thing is that first second erstens ein anderer Aspekt ist, dass nicht zuletzt einerseits zweitens andererseits erst mal obwohl daher 2. Your colleague Sam from Buzzy Beverages is talking about the pros and cons of energy drinks and gives his opinion on introducing an energy drink onto the market. a) Fill in the blanks with the linking words from the box in task 1. Sometimes there is more than one possibility. The subject of energy drinks has been much discussed at our meetings lately. (1) I would like to consider the pros and cons of this topic. (2) you could say that energy drinks are good for the health of customers, because they contain many vitamins and minerals. than coffee, for example. (3) energy drinks are more easily accessible (4) we, as the potential producer of an energy drink, have to consider that energy drinks seem to be a profitable business at the moment. Thinkstock/iPixland (5) there are many reasons for introducing an energy drink onto the market you have to admit that (6) there are also a few disadvantages: (7) we don t know enough about the effect of energy drinks on the body yet. (8) there are already many different energy drinks on the market. b) Sam forgot to give his opinion. Is Sam for or against introducing an energy drink onto the market? Write down his opinion from his point of view. Compare your result with a partner. Sam:

5 VI Organising meetings, presentations and discussions 3 Discussing 17 von 28 Are there any questions? Ending the discussion M 8 When you want to come to the end of a discussion you summarise 1 the main points and then you can invite questions or make suggestions. 1. Copy the chart into your exercise books. Look at the phrases in the speech balloons and put them into the correct category. Well, this brings us to the end of the discussion. Before we stop let me go through the main points again. We therefore recommend 2 that we What I d like to suggest is Are there any questions? Phrases to end a discussion Signalling the end of a discussion Well, this brings us to the end of the discussion. OK, I think that s everything we wanted to discuss We just have time for a few questions. Summarising the main points Suggesting something In my opinion, we should Just to summarise the main points Inviting questions 2. Imagine you are at a meeting. Now it s your turn to end the discussion. Work with a partner. Use the phrases from task 1 and the notes from the box below. Follow the chart to practise the end of a discussion in which you talked about your new energy drink Funky Monkey. Write a conclusion 3 and be prepared to present it to the class. You can start like this: Well, I think that s all we wanted to discuss Signal the end of the discussion. Summarise the main points. Say what you agreed on. Make a suggestion. Invite questions. Topic of discussion: How to promote the new energy drink Funky Monkey Main points: we decided to do market research ( survey 4 ), we defined our target group 5 ( people between 16 and 35) and how to advertise ( billboards, commercials) Suggestion: business partner Exchemics: important for the success of the project, very successful, good reputation 6, lots of experience 1 to summarise: zusammenfassen 2 to recommend: empfehlen 3 conclusion: der Schluss, der Abschluss 4 survey: die Umfrage 5 target group: die Zielgruppe 6 reputation: das Ansehen, der Ruf

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