Use the following words and word groups:
1. to present specifications – not to be interested
2. to provide flexible payment conditions – to give a discount
3. to receive payment by tomorrow – to start legal action
4. an out-of-date product – to stop negotiating
5. to explain how the device works – not to buy it
6. to reduce overheads – to reach the targets
7. to know the contract`s contents quite well – not to sign it
8. to break into European market – to increase the turnover
9. to be quite sure about the payment currency – not to come to agreement
10. high-quality goods – not to be impressed
IV. Represent the main idea of the text in ten preferably short sentences.
V. Negotiating is a tricky business, especially if you have to negotiate in a foreign language. Learning some useful expressions may make it easier. Test your knowledge of a few that begin with C. Complete the following sentences by choosing the correct expression from the box.
1. Find out in time who you will be negotiating with, in other words, who your
(…) is.
| counterparty; counterpart; counter-partner |
2. You can refuse an impossible request very simply by saying: "I'm sorry, I can't do that, it's against (…).
| company standards; company policy; company politics |
3. Always prepare several options so you are ready to make another suggestion if you are not happy with the way the negotiation is going. Be prepared to ( … ).
| (counter-act; counter-propose; counter-attack) |
4. Be very careful about the details of the final agreement, in particular, look very closely at the terms and (…).
| condition, conditionals, conditions |
5. If you are asked to promise something that you know is impossible, don't! You can refuse by saying: "I can't make such a (…) right now."
| (committee, commitment, committal) |
6. A successful negotiation is one where everyone is satisfied with the (…).
| configuration; conclusion; confusion |
Text B
Difficult Negotiations in Construction Industry
March 1998 saw the start of acrimonious negotiations over pay between the social partners in Austria's construction industry. The sector's trade union originally wanted to discuss only wage rates but later indicated that it might be willing to concede minor points on issues prioritised by employers, including some related to working time. A conclusion seemed likely before the 1 May deadline.
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The collective agreement on wages in the Austrian construction industry proper covers 130,000 workers out of a total of about 200,000 in the construction industry in a broader sense. There are three parties to the negotiations: the Union of Construction and Wood Workers (Gewerkschaft Bau-Holz, GBH); the Association of Industrial Employers; and the Guild of Crafts Employers. The construction industry did surprisingly well in 1997, partly owing to the mild weather in the autumn, but pressures to rationalize the structure of the sector remain. Mergers have resulted in a greater concentration as well as clarification of ownership of the leading enterprises and are likely to be followed by further mergers in the future. At the same time the large firms are internationalizing, mostly into the markets of Germany and Hungary, which enables them to compare costs and to subcontract more. Under pressure to rely less on the unemployment insurance system, a collective agreement was concluded in 1996 reducing overtime during the summer in favour of paid time off in lieu at less busy times of the year. Time off carries a premium of only 10% instead of the 50% that applies to overtime.
Negotiations over a new agreement formally started on 5 March with an exchange of demands and offers. The employers clearly wanted to achieve a reduction in wage costs. They had outraged the trade union in January 1998 by suggesting an increase in the upper limit of normal weekly flexible working hours from 45 to 55 or 60. At the same time they announced their wish for more restrictive regulations on the compensation payable to weekly commuters - who are widespread in the industry - based on the distance they travel. The employers also wanted to revise pay scales to ensure higher starting pay and reduce the value placed on length of service. The main points of the employers' demands were:
- maximum weekly working hours to be raised from 45 to 60 and maximum daily hours from nine to 10;
- the 10% time premium on time off in lieu to be scrapped
- entitlement to holidays only after 52 weeks of employment, instead of 46
- the first day of any period of sickness to be counted as holiday;
- abolition of 24 December and 31 December as paid days off;
- "distance compensation" for commuters to be paid only for days actually worked - that is, not for days off in a short week/long week shift cycle or for time off in lieu;
- Christmas bonus to be reduced;
- "working at heights" premium rate of pay to be scrapped;
- remuneration of apprentices to be reduced by 5%
- exclusion of apprentices from bad weather compensation; and
- termination of the one-third financing of apprentices' training college costs by employers
The trade union, GBH, estimated that the whole employers' package would cost the average construction worker ATS 40,000 a year. ATS 13,500 of this would result from the proposed changes in holiday regulations; ATS 13,000 from changes in the structure of working time; ATS 6,500 from reducing the Christmas bonus; ATS 5,000 from the amended distance compensation; and ATS 2,000 from abolishing the two December holidays. In return, GBH calculated, they were being offered an average rise of 1.3% or ATS 3,500 per year, while another 1.3% on offer constituted only a shift from gross to net income. The figures were disputed but served to motivate the trade union, on 24 March, to announce a campaign of information and action entitled, "Scene of the crime: construction site". While nothing was ruled out, it consisted in practice of public meetings in five places in Vienna and in 11 other towns across the country between 26 and 28 March. GBH stated that it would negotiate only an increase in wage rates and nothing else, and that it wanted a 2.7% increase in gross wage rates.
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On 31 March, at the first genuine negotiating session, nothing happened. Subsequently GBH issued threats of stronger action. The next session, on 8 April in the afternoon, was marked by renewed public meetings of activists. Afterwards, the employers described their offer as a 2.7% rise in gross wages compensating for inflation and productivity growth, and for amendments to the annual working time model, vacation and Christmas payments, and vacation and holiday entitlements. They protested against the union's actions and threatened to discontinue the negotiations. The union acknowledged that progress had been made.
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More progress was made on 15 April, when it was agreed to drop the points most resisted by GBH. What remained were: the apprenticeship issues; the height premium; the day on which compensatory time-off falls due as overtime; two minor working time issues; and one small issue of wage scales. Employers offered a rise of 1.9% in return for assent by the trade union to the six points. The trade union estimated that this would still result in real income losses for the average worker, maintaining that a 2.4% increase in nominal wages will be necessary for concessions on some of the six points. It is now clear that wage rates will be increased somewhere between 1.1% and 2.4%, depending on the concessions the union is prepared to make. Negotiations were due to resume on 21 April. For the moment, no further industrial action is threatened.
There was disagreement on the further fate of the dropped issues. The employers' representatives said that they would be negotiated in a working group before the end of 1998, but the union issued a statement saying that these issues had been dropped for good. Provided that there was a collective agreement by 1 May, there would be a working group, but its remit was to evaluate the framework agreement for the construction industry in a cost- and income-neutral way and to modernize it.
GBH has a history of militancy, in Austrian terms. It organizes 178,000 of the roughly 240,000 wage earners in the construction and wood processing industries. This degree of membership density (70%) is unusually high. Further, given the unexpectedly buoyant development of the industry in 1997 and 1998 on the one hand, and the relatively large number of (seasonally) unemployed workers on the other, the union is in a strong position to argue for a better distribution of working time to boost employment (on annual average) and to demand at least compensation for inflation (1.2% forecast in 1998), if not a share of the productivity gains.
In fact, GBH went onto a broader offensive. It keeps castigating the employers for illicit employment (of immigrants) and it keeps hinting at the possibility it might oppose the eastern enlargement of the European Union if it does not receive adequate concessions from employers. Both of these are strong bargaining chips, not only in 1998 but for years to come.
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However, the union's strength is based on a peculiarity of the construction industry, which is its minimal exposure to international competition in the home market. This is likely to have resulted in higher prices which the most important customers - that is, national, provincial and local governments - have been perfectly willing to pay. Furthermore, part of the industry is currently coming under investigation for price rigging and possibly for corruption, though the scope and scale of this is not yet apparent. Should this result in any convictions, the repercussions could be far-reaching, not only for the companies involved but for the whole industry, and by implication for the trade union's strategies.
Unit 5
Text A
Presentations for Business
Presentations skills are very useful - for business, sales, training, public speaking and self-development. Presentations format, media and purpose vary a lot - oral, multimedia, short impromptu presentations, long planned presentations - but in every successful presentation the principles explained here are used. Aside from presentations techniques, confidence and experience are big factors. You are not alone if the thought of speaking in public scares you. Giving a presentation is worrying for many people. Presenting or speaking to an audience regularly tops the list in surveys of people's top fears - more than heights, flying or dying.
A common physical reaction to having to speak in public is a release of adrenaline and cortisol into our system the equivalent to drinking seven cups of coffee. Our brain shuts down normal functions as the 'fight or flight' impulse takes over. Good preparation is the key to confidence, which is the key to you being relaxed. Will be reduced your nervousness by 75% as a result of a proper preparation and rehearsal, and the likelihood of avoiding errors will be increased to 95%.
Preparation and knowledge are the pre-requisites for a successful presentation, but confidence and control are just as important. Remember and apply Eleanor Roosevelt's maxim that "no-one can intimidate me without my permission". Remember also that "Depth of conviction counts more than height of logic, and enthusiasm is worth more than knowledge". People retain more if they are enjoying themselves and feeling relaxed. You have 4 - 7 seconds in which to make a positive impact and good opening impression, so make sure you have a good, strong, solid introduction, and rehearse it thoroughly . Try to build your own credibility and create a safe comfortable environment for your audience. Don't start with a joke unless you are supremely confident - jokes are high risk things at the best of times, let lone at the start of a presentation. The average attention span of a an average listener is only 6-8 minutes, so intersperse your material with ‘spice’ and a variety of stimuli, media and movement to maintain maximum interest. Memorize a couple of good quotations, and always credit the source. It is important to give your presentation depth and texture, as well as keeping your audience interested.
Be daring and bold and have fun. Use props and pass them around if you can. The more senses you can stimulate the more fun your audience will have and the more they'll remember. Examples of 'spice' that can be used to bring your presentation to life and keep your audience attentive and enjoying themselves are the following:
· Stories
· Questions
· Pictures, cartoons and video-clips
· Sound-clips
· Audience participation exercises
· Quotations
· Props
· Examples
· Analogies
· Statistics (which dramatically improve audience 'buy-in' if you're trying to persuade)
· Your body language, and the changing tone and pitch of your voice.
For longer presentations, if you're not an experienced speaker, you must schedule a break every 45 minutes or so for people to get up and stretch their legs, otherwise you'll be losing them regardless of the amount of spice you include. Take the pressure off yourself by not speaking all the time. Get the audience doing things, and make use of all the communication senses available. For instance; the use of visual aids generally heightens retention of the spoken word by up to 70%.
Extensive sections of text can be read more quickly in serif font because the words have a horizontal flow, but serif fonts have a more old-fashioned traditional appearance than sans serif. If you need to comply with a company type-style you'll maybe have no choice anyway. Whatever - try to select fonts and point sizes that are fit for the medium and purpose. Use no more than two different fonts and no more than two size/bold/italic variants or the whole thing becomes confused. If in doubt simply pick a good readable serif font and use it big and bold for headings, and 14 - 16 point size for the body text. Absolutely avoid capital letters in body text, because people need to be able to read word-shapes as well as the letters, and of course upper case makes every word a rectangle, so it takes ages to read. Upper case is just about okay for headings if you really have to.
See 'tricks of the trade' in the marketing and advertising section for lots of tips and secrets about presenting the written word. Create your own prompts and notes - whatever suits you best. A single sheet at-a-glance timetable is a great safety-net for anything longer than half and hour. You can use this to monitor your timing and pace.
When preparing to the presentation, clearly identify your subject and your purpose to yourself, and then let the creative process take over for a while to gather all the possible ideas for subject matter and how you could present it. Use brainstorming and *mind-mapping. Both processes involve freely putting random ideas and connections down on a piece of paper - the bigger the better - using different coloured big felt pens will help too. Don't write lists and don't try to write the presentation until you have picked the content and created a rough structure from your random collected ideas and material.
When you have all your ideas on paper, organize them into subject matter categories, three is best. Does it flow? Is there a logical sequence that people will follow and you’ll be comfortable with? Use the rule of three to structure the presentation; it has a natural balance and flow. A simple approach is to have three main sections. Each section has three sub-sections. Each of these can have three sub-sections, and so on. A 30 minute presentation is unlikely to need more than three sections, with three sub-sections each. Presentations almost always take longer to deliver than you think the material will last. You must create a strong introduction and a strong close. You must tell people what you're going to speak about and what your purpose is. And while you might end on a stirring quotation or a stunning statistic, you must before this have summarized what you have spoken about and if appropriate, demanded an action from your audience, even if it is to go away and think about what you have said.
When you have structured your presentation, it will have an opening, a middle with headed sections of subject matter, and a close, with opportunity for questions if relevant. Practice it in its rough form. Next you give it a 3rd dimension by blending in your presentation method. This entails the equipment and materials you use, case studies, examples, quotations, analogies, questions and answers, individual and syndicate exercises, interesting statistics, and any kind of presentation aid you think will work. Take nothing for granted. Check and double-check, and plan contingencies for anything that might go wrong. Plan and control the layout of the room as much as you are able. Make sure everyone can see the visuals displays.
When you start your presentation, you should be firm, confident and in control; the floor is yours, and the audience is on your side. Introduce yourself and tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them how long it will take you to speak and that they are welcome to ask questions afterwards (if you're nervous about being thrown off-track during your presentation it's okay to ask them to save their questions until the end). By the time you've done this introduction you've established your authority, created respect and credibility, and overcome the worst of your nerves. If you're just giving a short presentation then by the time you've done all this you've completed a quarter of it! Remember, if you are truly scared, the only way to overcome your fear is just to do it. One thing should be kept in mind: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." (Friedrich Nietzsche)
Remember also, initial impact is made and audience mood towards you is established in the first 4-7 seconds. Be aware of your own body language and remember what advice you got from your friend on your practice run. You are the most powerful visual aid of all, so use your body movement and position well. Don't stand in front of the screen when the projector is on. If people talk amongst themselves just stop and look at them. Say nothing, just look. You will be amazed at the effect, and how quickly your authority increases. (This silent tactic works with an entire unsettled audience too.) If you want a respite or some thinking time, asking the audience a question or involving them in an exercise takes the pressure off you, and gives you a bit of breathing space. Pausing is fine. Knowing that a pause now and then is perfectly fine will help you to concentrate on what you're saying next, rather than the pause. Keep control, no-one will question your authority when you have the floor, so don’t give it up. If you don’t know the answer to a question say so and deal with it later. You have the right to defer questions until the end (on the grounds that you may well be covering it in the presentation later anyway, or just simply because you say so). Close positively and firmly, and accept plaudits graciously.
Exercises
I. Match the words and word groups from the first column with their translation from the second column:
| impromptu presentations scare(v) audience to speak in public confidence rehearsal pre-requisite to make a positive impact comfortable environment average attention span intersperse stimulus (pl. stimuli) quotation props schedule visual aids serif bold/italic variants 14 - 16 point size for the body text Heading (n) safety-net to monitor your timing and pace | (Само)уверенность варианты шрифта: жирный или курсив Визуальные вспомогательные материалы Включить (в расписание) Выступать публично заглавие, заголовок Импровизированная презентация Пересыпать, разнообразить чем-л. предохранительная сетка (для акробатов и т.д.) Предпосылка Произвести благоприятное впечатление Пугать Раздаточный материал Репетиция следить за временем и темпом выступления Слушатели Среднее количество времени, когда аудитория слушает внимательно Стимул Удобная окружающая обстановка Цитата шрифт шрифт размером (14/16) для основного текста |
II. Before doing the following exercise, revise the grammar material regarding the two non-finite verb forms - Infinitive and Gerund. Complete the sentences with the correct form given in brackets and translate into Russian.
1. We must… you that your payment is overdue. (inform /to inform/informing)
2. We have … overtime. (do/to do/doing)
3. Do you mind … the window? (open/to open/opening)
4. Catherine managed … an important customer. (acquire/ acquire/acquiring)
5. We look forward … from you soon.(hear/hearing)
6. Jane is busy … invitations for our company's anniversary celebration.(write/to write/writing)
7. Could you let me …my sentence? (finish /to finish/finishing)
8. It is hard … certain customers. (please /to please/pleasing)
9. Let me begin by … you something about our company's history. (tell /to tell/telling)
10. We risk …a lot of money. (lose /to lose/losing)
Text B
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