Part Ⅰ Situational Dialogues

Situational Dialogue 1

Susan, a junior secretary of ABC Company, is asked to arrange an important meeting. She doesn't have much experience, so she asks David for help.

(S: Susan,D: David)

S: Hi, David. Can you do me a favor?

D: I will if I can.

S: Could you help me arrange this meeting? I don't have much experience arranging meetings and I heard that you have done it before.

D: What kind of meeting is it going to be?

S: We're going to have a meeting with all the departmental managers.

D: When is this meeting?

S: Next Tuesday.

D: That's easy. The first thing we need to do is to set an agenda for the meeting and then give copies of it to everyone who is going to be attending.

S: No problem, I have a list of all the people right here.

D: Which meeting room are you going to use?

S: I think we should use Conference Room 2. It's the most comfortable one and the facilities there are new and excellent.

D: That's a good idea.

Practice 1

Task 1: Listen to the dialogue and role-play it in pairs.

Task 2: Simulated situational conversation.

Suppose you are Susan, the secretary. You are calling to inform the Marketing Manager，Mr.Brown, of a meeting.

Situational Dialogue 2

Sophia, a secretary, is talking with Tony, the director of the Administrative Department, about taking minutes.

（S: Sophia, T: Tony）

S: Although I've taken minutes for several meetings, I don't think I've done a good job. Would you please give me some tips?

T: I'd be happy to. To take good minutes, you really need to concentrate. Of course, you must be accurate as well.

S: Surely I did. But the problem is I can't take down everything everyone says during the meeting.

T: You have to take down all the topics discussed, the main points made by each speaker and any decisions made, but you don't have to write down every word.

S: So it's OK for me to write down the main points about each topic?

T: You are right. And I think you should make good preparation before the meeting.

S: What should I prepare?

T: Make sure you have the name of the meeting, the date, time and venue correct and the names of all the people present.

S: Oh, I get it. Thank you very much, Tony!

T: Don't mention it.

Practice 2

Task 1: Listen to the dialogue and role-play it in pairs.

Task 2: Simulated situational conversation.

Suppose you are Linda. You are very interested in chairing a meeting, so you ask Peter, an experienced chairperson, some questions to get the general idea of chairing meetings.

Situational Dialogue 3

Mr.Jackson, the Chairman, Mr.Brown, the Marketing Manager, and Mr.Wu, the HR Manager are having a discussion at a meeting.

Mr.Jackson: Mr.Brown thinks we need to reduce the training budget. What's your opinion about this, Mr.Wu?

Mr.Wu: I'm afraid I don't agree with that.

Mr.Jackson: Why?

Mr.Wu: If we cut the budget, we won't be able to provide the most up-to-date technology training.

Mr.Jackson: But we'll be in real trouble if we don't find some way to reduce costs.

Mr.Wu: I understand that. But I think staff training is very important. What if we cut expenses in other areas first, like advertising budget?

Mr.Brown: May I cut in here? To be honest, I don't like the idea. Advertising is one of the most useful marketing strategies.The advertising budget shouldn't be cut.

Mr.Jackson: Well, what do you have in mind, Mr.Brown?

Mr.Brown: How about reducing travel budgets?

Mr.Wu: Good, I can accept that.

Mr.Jackson: Do we all agree on this? Then let's move on to the next item.

Practice 3

Task 1: Listen to the dialogue and role-play it in pairs.

Task 2: Simulated situational conversation.

Suppose you are Jack Brown, the Marketing Manager. You are discussing the pricing strategies for the new products with the staff members of your department.