Business English,

part I
The Adventures of Lola Badiola.

Chapter 1 - The Resignation.

Lola got on the subway train, switched on her iPod and turned up the volume. It
was half an hour before the start of the morning rush hour. She closed her eyes
and listened to a meditation playlist trying to empty her mind of negative thoughts.

She was traveling to work earlier than normal. She wanted to arrive at the office
before anyone else. She needed time to compose herself before she made the
announcement. She had hardly slept the night before. Her subconscious was still
second-guessing the decision that her conscious mind had already made. How
would everyone react? What would they think? Was this all just a terrible mistake?

At 2:00 in the morning, she had called her best friend. She needed some
reassurance, someone to tell her that she was doing the right thing. Is this really
what you want? Asked Concha in a sleepy monotone. Yes Then you have to be
ruthless. Lola's best friend, worked as a recruitment consultant specializing in the
placement of senior executives in the financial sector. She knew better than
anyone how dangerous it could be to resign from a company, to join a competitor,
to bite the hand that feeds. But I want to leave on good terms, said Lola. Good luck
with that, replied Concha, dryly. The company has nurtured you, trained you and
invested in you. You've become one of their top producers, a HiPo. They won't let
you go without a fight. Lola had hoped that the telephone call would calm her
down, help her get back to sleep, but it had the opposite effect. Resigning is not as
easy as it seems. Concha continued. So let me give you some advice. Don't tell
them where you're going. Don't get emotional and above all else, do not change
your mind. Remember, Lola, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Lola got off the train, switched off her iPod and walked towards the glass and steel
skyscraper of her downtown office in Madrid. It was a Norman Foster designed
tower that stood head and shoulders above the other buildings in the vicinity. A
statement of a modern multinational corporation that sought to dominate its
ecosystem.

José, the only male receptionist at the headquarters, welcomed Lola with a big
smile, a look of surprise evident on his face, which she could only assume was due
to her early arrival. As always, they exchanged a few pleasantries before Lola
swiped her card on the electronic turnstiles and walked quickly towards the
elevators. While waiting, she saw the elegant figure of Mario Ruiz de Velasco enter
the building, his entourage following quickly behind him. This was the CEO who
had lifted the company out of a financial black hole. The CEO, who was responsible
for 10 years of exponential growth. As always, he was wearing a clean-cut, tailor-
made suit that would cost the average person their monthly salary with a single
pop of color in the form of a green silk tie consciously chosen to match the color of
his eyes.

Lola got into the elevator and rode it up to the 14th floor. She walked directly to
her office in the Cyber Security Services Department, sat down at her desk and
waited. At 8:45, her direct boss, Luis Bruna, walked through the entrance with a
cup of coffee in his hand and a newspaper tucked under his arm. Luis was an
empathetic manager. He'd always been good to her. He had fought for her
promotions, trusted her with the biggest accounts, and supported her diversity and
inclusion initiatives. In the years that they had worked together, a certain
closeness had formed between the two of them. She knew, therefore, that the next
conversation was going to be a difficult one.

"Luis, I need to speak to you" she said as he passed by her desk. "Just a minute,
Lola. There's been a ton of activity through the wires I need to catch up." He didn't
stop. He clearly had urgent matters to deal with. Lola got up from her desk and
followed him down the corridor. This can't wait, she said with an authoritative
tone. Luis stopped and looked at her. She didn't normally speak to him like this. He
knew that something was obviously wrong. Okay, follow me. They walked to his
corner office and he politely asked his secretary to hold all the calls. He put down
his coffee and newspaper and then sat down. What's going on? Lola got straight to
the point. I'm resigning.

So how do you think the company is going to react to Lola's resignation? Will she
be able to leave on good terms? Or not. We'll find out in the next chapter.

Have you ever resigned from a company? Have you ever walked away from a
project or a team? It's not an easy thing to do, particularly if your team or your
company don't want you to go. You have to handle the situation well. As you know,
it's a small world, and it's best to avoid making enemies, right?

So we'll discuss the sensitive issue of moving companies in the next couple of
podcasts. But let's start by looking at a few cool business expressions. Have
another listen to the advice that Concha gives to Lola. "Then you have to be
ruthless." "Remember, Lola. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there."

What is it to be ruthless? What is a dog-eat-dog world? Well, this word and this
expression allude to the same thing. Ruthless means without pity or showing no
remorse for your actions. A dog-eat-dog world is one which is aggressive and
competitive. Either I survive at your expense or you survive at my expense.

Concha wants Lola to do what's best for her. Even if it hurts the company. Because
at the end of the day, that's exactly what the company would do to her if they
needed to. It's a dog-eat-dog world.

Have you ever worked for a ruthless manager? Have you ever worked in a dog-eat-
dog world? Well, it depends on how competitive your industry is and how much
money is at risk. Anybody who has been fired in their career or had to fire someone
will probably know what we're talking about here. I myself have experienced both
of those unpleasant situations. I have worked for a ruthless manager in a dog-eat-
dog world.

There are several other cool common expressions. Let's go through them. You
know what the rush hour is, right? Everybody who has a 9 to 5 job has experienced
the rush hour in the morning and in the evening.

You understand the expression to bite the hand that feeds. This is almost self-
explanatory. It's normally said as a warning - don't bite the hand that feeds, don't
hurt the person who you depend on.

Here's another obvious one - to be head and shoulders above the rest. It means
that you stand out. You are significantly bigger or better than the people around
you.

Right, one final modern business expression that I only learned recently. Have a
listen to this sentence again. "The company has nurtured you, trained you and
invested in you. You've become one of their top producers, a HiPo. They won't let
you go without a fight".

What is a HiPo? A Hi-Po? Our human resource managers will know what this
means. HiPo is short for high potential or high potential employee, someone who
the company believes is worth investing in. Somebody on the fast track to senior
management. Somebody with high potential. Normally there will be only a handful
of employees at a big company who are considered HiPos. They are the future
leaders and there will be specific retention and promotion strategies in place for
these people. Are you a HiPo? Yes, of course you are.

Let's move from common expressions to phrasal verbs. Yes, the tricky verb plus
preposition combinations that drive non-native English speakers crazy. How many
phrasal verbs did we include in this short text? I counted 16 different phrasal verbs
in this text. In fact, we included three phrasal verbs in the very first sentence.
Have a listen again. "Lola got on the subway train, switched on her iPod and
turned up the volume."

Now, these are very common and pretty basic phrasal verbs. Remember, you get on
and get off a train, you switch on and switch off electrical items and you turn up
and turn down the volume. Learning phrasal verbs is a constant work in progress.
You can't just memorize a long list. You have to try to add 1 or 2 phrasal verbs to
your vocabulary each week.

Let's continue with a classic phrasal verb question. What mode of transport do you
get on? And what mode of transport do you get into? Yes. This is English designed
to confuse the non-native speaker. Well, here is the definitive answer.

Let's start off with a horse and a bicycle. Well, this is quite obvious, really. You get
on a horse, you get on top of a horse, and you get on a bicycle. You get on top of
the bicycle. You don't go inside. You don't get in the horse or the bicycle. So we
definitely say, you get on the horse, you get on the bicycle. That makes perfect
sense.

But what about an enclosed vehicle? Because sometimes you say get on. And
sometimes you say get into. Well, here's the rule. Are you listening carefully? If you
enter the vehicle standing up. You get on the vehicle. If you enter sitting down. You
get into the vehicle. So a bus, a plane. a train, a ship, a spaceship, whenever you
enter these vehicles, you are standing up. So you get on those vehicles, you get on
a bus, you get on a plane. etc.

In contrast, a car, a taxi, a canoe, a kayak, a space capsule. As you enter, you sit
down. So you get into those vehicles. You get into a car. You get into a space
capsule. And the preposition remains constant whenever you refer to that mode of
transport. So, for example, you would say, I'm on the bus, I'll be home soon or I'm
on the plane. Or if you're Captain Kirk, you might say, I'm on the Starship
Enterprise. ON for any vehicle you enter standing up.

In contrast, you would say, I'm in the taxi. I'll be there in five minutes. I'm in the
kayak having fun? Or if you're Jeff Bezos, you might say that you are in the lunar
module on your way to landing on the moon. So IN or INTO for any vehicle where
you enter sitting down.

So there you go. You never need to be confused by those phrasal verbs again or
those prepositions. Just keep practicing and you'll get there.

Now that we have reviewed and explained some of the key vocabulary, expressions
and concepts. Why don't you listen to the chapter again? Count the phrasal verbs
and absorb the common expressions so that you can use them in your next
conversation. And make sure you join us for the next podcast. You can find out
what happens when Lola resigns, how her company reacts, and if there's trouble
ahead as we continue to entertain you to a leadership level of business English.
Until then, keep practicing. And remember, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Chapter 2: The 51st Floor

Luis took a moment to process the news. He was shocked and upset, like a faithful
long term lover who has just been discarded for an exciting alternative. Lola was a
rainmaker. Her team had beaten their budget for the last four years consecutively,
often going beyond the company's stretch targets. Without her, the whole division's
financial plans would be almost impossible to fulfil.

Why?

I need a change, Luis. A new challenge.

Where are you going?

It's a small tech startup. You won't have heard of it.

Louis motioned for Lola to sit down in his office. Then, as Concha had predicted, he
did everything in his power to convince her to stay.

He started with the logical arguments. 90% of startups fail in the first two years.
When she didn't let up, he moved on to the emotional arguments. We've been
through so much together. We're like a family. As a last resort, he ended with the
moral arguments. How can you do this to me after all I've done for you? Lola was
patient and resolute. She had learned that one of the key attributes of a successful
salesperson was the anticipation of objections to a proposal. She had created a
mind map of all the possible scenarios for this discussion. If he says X, I will
respond with Y. She had filled a dozen sides of A4 paper with notes and spent most
of the week practicing her lines.

Wait here, said Luis, as he realized he was getting nowhere. I need to go and have
my daily call with senior management, but I'll be right back. He went into the
adjoining meeting room and dialled into a conference call. Lola could see
everything, but she couldn't hear anything due to the soundproofing. It gave her a
moment to reflect on the course she was taking.

As was often the case, the expectation of a difficult conversation was more
unpleasant than the conversation itself. In verbalizing her thoughts and desires,
Lola fully accepted that she was doing the right thing. There was no turning back
now. She was burning her boats.

After about 20 minutes, Luis returned to his office. His attitude had changed. He
was distant, as if emotionally detached from the situation. He no longer looked
Lola in the eyes. Okay. Follow me. We're going up to the 51st floor.

In her seven years at the company, Lola had never been to the 51st floor. It was
where the company had its board meetings and entertained VIPs. It was strictly for
senior managers only. Even Luis looked a little nervous as the elevator doors
opened and the two of them walked out into a palatial reception. It felt like a five-
star hotel with double-height ceilings, baroque artwork and panoramic views of
Madrid.

Luis led Lola along a corridor past the company's boardroom until they reached an
old oak door. He knocked on the door and then turned to Lola. Good luck. You'll
need it. Then he walked away.

The oak door opened and a smart middle aged lady invited her in. This way, please.
Lola walked into an opulent study filled with antique furniture, old books and
Persian rugs. On the walls were oil paintings of hunting scenes framed in elaborate
gilt. In the corner, there was a sideboard replete with crystal glasses and vintage
whisky.

Would you like a drink?

No, thank you.

The lady smiled politely and then walked out of the study. Lola was left on her own.
The silence was deafening. It was a room that absorbed all the ambient noise, like
a music recording studio or a padded cell in a lunatic asylum. She wandered over
to the bookshelves, keen to distract herself and ran her fingers across the shiny,
leather bound volumes. They appeared to be unopened there for decoration rather
than education. One of the oil paintings caught her attention. It was strikingly
similar to a landscape by Diego Velazquez that she had seen in the Museo del
Prado. She examined the picture closely. The composition, the lighting and
brushwork all suggested the hand of a great master. Was it possible she was
looking at an original piece by one of Spain's greatest artists?

Good morning, Lola.

The voice from behind her was deep and resonant, shocking her out of her reverie.
She spun around to see Mario Ruiz de Blasio at the entrance of the study. He was
strikingly handsome, his silver hair slicked back, his green eyes glinting in the late
morning light. Lola was momentarily lost for words.

Please take a seat.

So as you can hear, Lola has a problem. She wants to leave the company. But they
don't want to let her go. Have you ever been in that situation? You don't want
someone anymore, but they still want you. It could be a business relationship. It
could be a romantic relationship. How do you resolve this situation? How do you
escape with the minimum of damage? It's never easy, right? And sometimes you
just have to accept that somebody's going to get hurt.

Well, over the next few chapters, we're going to find out how Lola copes with this
dilemma. But right now, we're going to start by analyzing a key grammar point that
appeared in the text.

Tell me if you agree with these three statements.

A meeting that lasts two hours is a two hours meeting. Right?

A journey of two hundred kilometers is a two hundred kilometers journey. Right?

A hotel that has five stars is a five stars hotel, Right?

Wrong.

Wrong. And you guessed it: Wrong.

These are all what we call compound number adjectives. And non-native speakers
rarely express them correctly. Listen to this sentence from the chapter one more
time. "It felt like a five-star hotel with double-height ceilings, baroque artwork and
panoramic views of Madrid." It's a five-star hotel, not a five stars hotel. Why? Five-
star is a compound number adjective. You write it with a hyphen and in the
singular form. Compound number adjectives are everywhere in business. I mean,
we use them every day. For example, a ten-minute meeting, a 200-kilometer
journey, an 8-kilo turkey is what we ate at Christmas last year. And this, my dear
listener, is a 20-minute podcast.
So let's quickly move on to the next point. Let's just reflect on why the company is
so attached to Lola. Why the company doesn't want to let her go. Listen to this
paragraph one more time.

Lola was a rainmaker. Her team had beaten their budget for the last four years
consecutively, often going beyond the company's stretch targets.

What's a rainmaker? What is a stretch target? And are you familiar with the
expression to beat your budget?

Let's start off with the most obvious one: "to beat your budget". Now, I have a
standard middle class southern English accent, so I say "budget". But there are
many native English speakers, particularly in the north of the country, who would
pronounce this word "boodget". But the one thing we all agree on is the D is silent.
It's "budget", not "bud-get". Now, what does it mean to beat your budget? Well,
every commercial team that I have ever worked in interprets the word budget as
the financial target or objective. So at the beginning of the year, management set a
budget. The amount of money you are expected to generate. Now, this could be
revenues or it could be profits. And if you beat your budget, you exceed those
financial objectives. You make more revenues or more profits than expected. And
everyone is happy.

In our business English novel, Lola Badiola has very successfully managed to beat
her budget for the last four years consecutively. Well done, Lola! And sometimes
she goes beyond her stretch targets.

What is a stretch target and what is its purpose? Well, if you stretch, you try to
reach something that is unobtainable. I need to stretch my body to reach the books
at the very top of my bookshelf. So in business, stretch targets are not just
challenging goals. They are impossible goals given current practices, skills and
knowledge. So new approaches must be found to make them attainable. In other
words, you can't just work longer and harder to attain your stretch goals or your
stretch targets. You have to work in a radically different way. You have to
revolutionize your processes. So what happens is stretch targets incentivize your
employees to find innovative and creative solutions to your company's problems.
Because if you hit those stretch targets, everyone gets paid a really big bonus.

There are some very famous cases where stretch goals completely transformed a
company's process. And there are some very famous cases where they completely
failed. So sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Depends on the company,
depends on the department and depends on the industry. But in the case of Lola
Badiola, she has hit her stretch targets on several occasions. She has been able to
reinvent the way that she and her team operate. In order to make the impossible
possible. And that makes her a very, very valuable employee. And that is why she is
referred to as a rainmaker.

In ancient times, rainmakers could magically cause the rain to fall, ensuring their
crops would grow, which meant survival and prosperity for everyone. Now, the
modern business definition of a rainmaker is not much different. Rainmakers are
the people who magically generate revenue, ensuring prosperity not just for
themselves, not just for their team, but for the entire organization. Now, of course,
you and I know it's not magic. It's skill, it's discipline. It's hard work or what
human resources people refer to as talent. That's why Luis Bruña is so desperate
to keep Lola. The financial performance of the whole division depends on her. The
company won't hit its stretch targets or even beat its budget without her. And one
of the greatest challenges for the manager of any commercial team is to retain
their top talent, to prevent their rainmakers from leaving, and worst of all joining
the competition. Will the company be able to convince Lola to stay? Well, you can
find out in the next episode when she talks to the CEO.
But right now, I have one more interesting expression for you. Listen to this. "In
verbalizing her thoughts and desires. Lola fully accepted that she was doing the
right thing. There was no turning back now. She was burning her boats." To burn
the boats. This means that there is no possibility of turning back. You have passed
the point of no return. You are 100% committed to moving forwards. Hernan
Cortes, the conquistador, famously destroyed all his boats on arrival at the New
World in 1519. He didn't actually burn the boats. He just destroyed them. But the
idea of the burning the boats is much more dramatic, and that's why we use it in
the expression. So in his case, there was no turning back. He and his men had to
conquer the territory or die trying.

When Marina and I decided to move to Spain from London, we quit our jobs. We
sold everything. Our house, our car, our furniture. We even tried to sell the kids.
We burnt our boats. So that we were 100% committed to our new life here in
Madrid. And what that does is it focuses the mind. And it improves the chances of
success. So with that dramatic expression, we come to the end of our 20-minute
podcast.

Did you hear that compound number adjective: 20-minute podcast. And we wish
you well for the coming week.

Make sure you join us for the next session. You'll find out what the CEO says to
Lola. We'll find out if he can convince his rainmaker to stay at the company as we
continue to entertain you to a fluent and confident level of business English. Until
then, keep practicing and remember: If you want to beat your budget, don't be
afraid to burn your boats.

Chapter 3: The CEO

The Adventures of Lola Badiola.

Chapter 3

The CEO. Mario Ruiz de Velasco was everything Lola expected him to be:
charming, aristocratic and intimidating. She had seen him being interviewed on
television, making company presentations and from time to time walking around
the headquarters. But she had never been up close and personal like this before.
She could sense his aura, feel his magnetism. After a couple of minutes of small
talk, the two of them sat down either side of his antique oak desk.

So what's on your mind? He asked.

Well, after careful consideration and with the greatest respect to you and everyone
at TechSpania, I have decided to resign.

Ruiz de Velasco lit a cigarette and stared at Lola without replying. She felt obliged
to say more.

It's been an amazing seven years, but I really feel that it's time for me to move on.
Ruiz de Velasco remained silent. I'd like to thank you and everyone at. Where are
you going?

Lola was startled by the sudden interruption.

It's a small startup. You wouldn't have heard of it.

Try me.
The CEO waited patiently for her answer. Lola felt compelled to fill the silence.

It's a company called JBlock.

Ruiz de Velasco nodded his head.

It's run by a young American entrepreneur. They plan to use the Ethereum
blockchain to reinforce security systems.

It's a nice idea.

That's right, replied Lola, trying to hide her surprise at his knowledge of the
company.

And what are they offering you that we aren't?

It was a difficult question. Lola's decision to move was driven by instinct rather
than rationale.

I want to be part of something new. I want to build something from zero. JBlock are
offering me the chance to make a difference.

You don't think that you can make a difference here?

Ruiz de Velasco took a long drag of his cigarette and then let it balance on the
edge of a large marble ashtray. His questioning had led Lola down a dead end
road. She couldn't respond.

Listen, Lola: TechSpania controls the cyber security sector in Spain, South America
and much of Europe. Our strategic objective is to defend our monopoly position. So
when a company like JBlock enters our market, we observe them, we study them,
then we either buy them or we bury them.

The CEO took one last drag on his cigarette and then crushed it into the ashtray.

You have no future at JBlock because JBlock has no future. If you want to make a
difference, the only place you can do that is here with us at TechSpania.

The CEO paused to let his words sink in. Then he softened his tone.

You're an exceptional manager, Lola. You've done amazing things over the last
seven years. With my help, you can make it to the very top of this organization. But
I need to know that you're committed to our cause.

This was the moment of truth. Should she stay or should she go? Only half an hour
earlier, she was 100% convinced that she was leaving. Now, sitting in front of the
CEO of TechSpania, one of the most revered men in the world of business
technology, she was not so sure. In the back of her mind, she remembered the
three pieces of advice that Concha had given her: Don't tell them where you're
going. Don't get emotional. And above all else, do not change your mind. She had
already ignored the first two pieces of advice and was on the brink of ignoring the
third. She needed to buy herself some time.

Could I get back to you tomorrow with my final decision?

Ruiz de Velasco sat back in his chair with a look of disappointment on his face.
That was not the right response. His eyes narrowed and his head tilted slightly to
one side. The atmosphere in the room darkened. Lola felt the hairs on her arms
stand on end.
Your father was a great man, he said quietly.

Lola was thrown off balance by the sudden change in direction.

You knew my father.

We were close.

Really?

Lola didn't remember seeing Ruiz de Velasco at her father's funeral.

He called me when you interviewed here seven years ago. He asked me to look
after you.

Lola started to feel uncomfortable. She resented the implication that her father
had pulled strings for her.

Since then, I have been following your progress closely. Making things happen for
you.

Lola became defensive.

I think that I've made things happen for myself at this company.

Ruiz de Velasco smiled. It was the smile of a shark about to bite into its prey.

Do you think a girl like you could have succeeded in a company like this without a
sponsor like me?

The attractive mask slipped from his face to reveal the shadow beneath.

I'm the invisible hand that's been guiding your career. And I can take you to the
very top of the mountain. Or I can throw you off it.

A shot of adrenaline pumped through Lola's nervous system. This was the Mario
Ruiz de Velasco that she had heard whispers about the vain and vindictive tyrant
who took pleasure in crushing his competitors. She knew that it was over. A line
had been crossed.

Thank you very much for your time, Mr Ruiz de Velasco.

Lola stood up slowly, looking straight into those piercing green eyes.

I'd shake your hand if it weren't invisible.

And then she left TechSpania for good.

Well, there you go. Lola has made her move. She has left TechSpania to join JBlock.
Now, to stop me from revealing any spoilers, let's turn our attention to an
important grammar point. Let me ask you a question. Did your father give
you a lot of good advices when you were young? Did your mother give you a
lot of good advices when you were young? No, they didn't.

Your father didn't give you good advices, and neither did your mother.
Because advice is an uncountable noun and therefore cannot be used in the
plural. Have another listen to this paragraph from the episode.

In the back of her mind, she remembered the three pieces of advice that
Concha had given her. Don't tell them where you're going. Don't get
emotional. And above all else, do not change your mind.

You either use advice as an uncountable noun: she gave me a lot of good
advice, or as in the segment that you have just heard, you use a countable
noun to quantify the advice. She gave me three pieces of advice. What you
must not say is she gave me three advices. Now talking about advices is one
of the most common mistakes that you hear from non-native speakers in
business situations. So try to avoid that mistake.

Now, what do you think of those three pieces of advice? Lola is going to
resign. And her best friend says: don't get emotional, don't tell them where
you're going and do not change your mind. Do you think that this is good
advice?

Well, let's imagine, like Lola, that you have worked happily at your company
for many years. You like them and they like you. But then a wonderful
opportunity arises. It's your dream job. It's an opportunity that's too good to
refuse. So you accept it? Now you have to go back to your old company and
resign. You have to look your boss in the eyes and tell him or her. It's over.

So firstly, don't get emotional. It's your career. It's your future. And if there
was ever a time to make a rational decision. Then this is it. Now, it's difficult
to remain unemotional at times like this, but it's necessary.

Secondly. Don't tell them where you're going. You see, if you give them this
valuable piece of information, then they will tell you why that specific
company is not a good fit for you and your personality. They may even
introduce you to people who used to work there and were really unhappy.
And little by little, they'll put doubts into your head until you eventually
crumble. So don't tell them where you're going until they've accepted your
resignation and you are out of the building.

Which brings us to the third and final piece of advice. Don't change your
mind. You should be 100% committed when you tell somebody that you're
resigning. Why? Well, if they convince you to stay. If they persuade you to
withdraw your resignation. Maybe by increasing your salary, giving you a
promotion or offering you some other kind of improvement. Then on the
surface, everyone will feel quite pleased with themselves. But deep down,
there will be a breakdown in trust. You are no longer going to be seen as a
team player. You have put a gun to their head. And things will never be the
same.

In my 15 years working in investment banking, I have seen people who have

resigned and then changed their minds. And it almost always ends in tears.

So in conclusion, I think those three pieces of advice that Concha gives to

Lola are very sound. What do you think?

Okay, let's move on to a fundamentally important business word and

concept. Listen to this sentence again.

Listen, Lola, TechSpania controls the cybersecurity sector in Spain, South

America and much of Europe. Our strategic objective is to defend our
monopoly position.

What is a monopoly and why does Ruiz de Velasco want to defend his
monopoly position? Well, in its purest form, a monopoly is a company that is
the only supplier of a good or service in a specific market. It faces no
competition. Now, in the old days, the big telecommunications companies
were monopolies. And in these days, the big tech companies like Facebook
could be called monopolies as well. Now, here's the rule about monopolies:
They always and everywhere screw the consumer. They are a failure of
capitalism. And you, me, and all the other customers suffer. Why? Because
we have nowhere else to go. We have no choice but to use the monoplies'
services. No matter how bad or expensive they are.

Let me give you a real life example. We moved to Madrid in 2012 at the
height of the financial crisis, and in our neighborhood, almost all of the
restaurants had shut down. In fact, there was only one that had survived, so
there was only one place that you could eat out if you didn't want to drive
20 minutes into the center of Madrid. So this restaurant was therefore a
monopoly supplier in our local market. Now. What do you think the service
was like at this restaurant? It was absolutely awful. Terrible. Horrible. The
food was expensive. The waiters were rude. And yet the business made a lot
of money. Because it was a monopoly and customers had nowhere else to go
until three years later and the economy is starting to recover. And another
restaurant opened up next door. So guess what happened next? Everyone,
including myself and my family, started eating at the new restaurant and
eventually the old restaurant went out of business. It was taken over. So
nowadays we have six restaurants in our neighborhood. We have a real
choice. And the service in all of them is great. Why? Because there is
healthy competition and the customer can choose.

Now let's go back to the story. The strategic goal of Mario Ruiz de Velasco is
to defend his company's monopoly position. You say monopolies are bad for
consumers. But they are great for the owners of a business. Because they
don't have to compete. They don't have to lower their prices and improve
their standards. They can generate excess profits. And that is exactly why
Mario de Velasco wants to defend his monopoly position.

So in conclusion, the next time you receive consistently poor service from a
company. Ask yourself why this is. And normally the answer will be the
company providing you with the service has some kind of monopoly power.
You have nowhere else to go.

Okay. Let's move on to an interesting common expression. Have a listen to

this sentence again.

Lola started to feel uncomfortable. She resented the implication that her
father had pulled strings for her.

To pull some strings. This means that you are secretly using your power and
influence to manipulate a situation. The term comes from puppetry, so
puppets or marionettes are manipulated by the means of strings that are
held by the puppet master. Now, how would you feel if someone was pulling
strings for you? How would you feel if hidden behind the scenes a powerful
ally was manipulating the situation for your benefit? Well, in the case of
Lola, it makes her feel uncomfortable. And resentful. Why? Because it
implies that her success is not due to her own skill, talent and hard work,
but due to the influence of her father and the intervention of Mario Ruiz de
Velasco. She doesn't want anyone pulling strings for her. After all, what
pleasure is there in success that you have not earned? What pleasure is
there in success that you do not deserve?

Okay. On that note, we come to the end of today's class. In the next session,
we will be introducing some new characters to our story. As Lola starts her
new life at her new company, and we continue to entertain you to a fluent
and confident level of business English.
 Until then, keep practicing and remember: Don't get emotional. Don't tell
them where you're going. And above all else. Do not change your mind.

Chapter 4: JJ Thompson

JJ Thomson. JJ Thomson's alarm went off at 6 a.m. but he was already awake. He
was visualizing the forthcoming day, running through all the issues that he had to
deal with at his tech startup. The new commercial director was starting at 9:30
a.m. that morning, and he wanted everything to be ready for her.

He went to his kitchen and prepared a pint of detox juice using the vegetables in
his pantry. Then he laid down on an exercise mat on the wooden floor of his attic
apartment. He went through his daily stretching and breathing exercises, followed
by an ice cold shower.

JJ opened the sliding door of his living room and stepped out onto his terrace. He
looked out across the rooftops of Barrio Salamanca in the center of Madrid, taking
a deep breath of frigid air. The weather app on his phone indicated 5°C, 41°F.
According to the meteorologists, the local forecast was a chilly start to the day,
followed by sunshine, as usual for this part of Spain at this time of year.

Amongst the cars parked in the street below was a black Toyota Prius. Inside, a
man looked up at JJ's apartment as the lights turned on, making a note of the time.

JJ Thomson was born in a small conservative community near Seattle, WA in 1984.

He was a gifted child and his parents expected him to become a university
professor or a doctor. But he had other plans. He was a rebel, a misfit, a round peg
in a square hole.

As soon as he was old enough, he left home to travel the world, working in manual
jobs to finance his nomadic lifestyle. He was forced to return to Seattle when his
mother was diagnosed with motor neuron disease. The family didn't have enough
money for private health care, so he spent the next 18 months caring for her until
she passed away. This experience convinced him that the status quo needed to be
challenged. He vowed to be one of the crazy ones who changed the world for the
better.

While caring for his mother, he learned how to code in several different computer
languages and created his first applications. Over the next five years, he became a
serial entrepreneur, starting more than a dozen technology companies. Three of
them were outstanding successes. He sold each of them to a different tech giant,
giving him the financial freedom to live and work wherever he wanted. He chose
Madrid, the city he had fallen in love with during his travels. This was where he
planned to build his biggest and most ambitious project.

He left his apartment on Calle de Hermosilla at 7:30 a.m. and picked up an electric
scooter on the corner of Velázquez. From there, he headed south to Gran Via
where he had rented an entire floor of the Adriatica building. It was more space
than he needed for his current operations. But if the business were to grow as
rapidly as he expected, it would be worth the additional cost.

His first meeting of the day was with the new commercial director of the company.
He was really looking forward to seeing her again. He had finally found someone
who truly shared his core values, someone who could help him realize his vision.
Her name was Lola Badiola. JJ had met Lola at an annual cybersecurity conference
in Las Vegas. At the time, she was working for a technology giant that was rapidly
expanding its cybersecurity business.

He watched her give a presentation on multi-cloud security and was immediately

impressed by her ability to take complex issues and simplify them into messages
that could be understood by the average Joe. He introduced himself to her and
within five minutes he knew that she was the person he needed to catalyze the
growth of his company. It was love at first sight in a business sense. Lola politely
declined his initial offers. It was understandable. She had a secure job in a big
company and was on the fast track to senior management. But JJ was smart and
persistent. He knew that he had something special and exciting to offer her,
something that would appeal to her sense of morality and adventure.

Over the next six months, they had many conversations, until one day he sent over
an official contract. And to his delight, Lola accepted. In his mind, the management
team was now complete. The final piece of the puzzle had been put in place. As he
rode his scooter up Gran Via, zigzagging in and out of the morning traffic, he was
full of optimism about his latest venture. He arrived at the Adriatica building at
just before 8:30 a.m. and parked the scooter at one of the collection stations
nearby. He checked his smartphone for any new WhatsApp messages and then
jogged inside the office block. As he disappeared up the stairs, a black Toyota Prius
drove slowly past the entrance.

So now we know more about Lola's new boss, the tech entrepreneur JJ Thomson.
Tech and entrepreneur, two very important business words. Tech, of course, is
short for technology. Make sure you don't pronounce it "te- ch", which I hear from
time to time. And "entrepreneur", that is the British English pronunciation.
"entreprenoueur" is how the Americans pronounce it.

So what is the definition of an entrepreneur? What makes them different from

other business people? Well, the dictionary definition is as follows.

They are the owner or manager of a business enterprise, who, by risk and
initiative, attempt to make profits.

The first keyword here is risk. Entrepreneurs risk their money, their time, and
sometimes their health. And the second keyword is initiative. Entrepreneurs try to
create something completely new.

JJ Thomson is described as a serial entrepreneur. And that means that he loves to

start new businesses and then sell them and then start another new business and
sell that and so on and so on. Because what he's interested in is the early stages of
business creation.

Now, you might have heard of the expression serial killer. These are people who
carry out a series of individual murders. Well, you can also use the expression for
serial entrepreneur. They carry out a series of business new ventures. And JJ
Thomson is a serial entrepreneur: serial.

So we meet JJ at the beginning of his day. Have a listen to this paragraph again and
count the number of phrasal verbs. Included in this paragraph is, in my opinion,
the number one most common, most useful, most important phrasal verb in
business English. So listen carefully.

JJ Thomson's alarm went off at 6 a.m., but he was already awake. He was
visualizing the forthcoming day, running through all the issues that he had to deal
with at his tech startup.

Okay. The first phrasal verb, the alarm went off. To go off. This is when a machine
activates. So a bomb goes off: it explodes. A gun goes off: it fires. And an alarm
goes off: it starts to ring. So these are the machines that are set to do something.
And when that thing occurs, they go off.

The second phrasal verb. He was running through all the issues. To run through
something. This means to review or rehearse the details of a process or a
sequence. So you're thinking about them, preparing them like you might do in the
car on the way to work. You run through the issues of your upcoming day.

And this brings us to the third phrasal verb in the paragraph, the one that I believe
is the number one most important phrasal verb in business English. And it is to
deal with. Now this means to take action in order to solve a problem. And that's
really what business is all about, right? Taking action to solve problems. That's
what people pay you for. So whenever your boss asks you about a process, use this
phrasal verb. I'm dealing with it. Whenever your boss asks you about a problem,
use this phrasal verb. I'm dealing with it. It's music to the ears of any manager.

Let's find out a little bit more about JJ Thomson, the man. We have some
interesting vocabulary and expressions here, so listen carefully.

He was a gifted child and his parents expected him to become a university
professor or a doctor. But he had other plans. He was a rebel, a misfit, a round peg
in a square hole.

A gifted child is one who is naturally endowed with great abilities, normally
intellectual or artistic abilities. They may also be called a prodigy. So, JJ Thomson
was a gifted child. He was a prodigy. He was also a rebel, a misfit, a round peg in a
square hole. Have you heard that expression before? A round peg in a square hole.

Well, let me explain it to you. A peg is a short cylinder of wood that may be sharper
at one end. And it's used for securing something in place like a tent. So you would
secure a tent with a series of tent pegs that placed into the ground? And a round
peg goes into a round hole in the ground. So if you have a round peg in a square
hole. It's not going to fit. Or it's not designed to work. So when you refer to
someone as a round peg in a square hole, what you're saying is that they don't fit.
They are not right for the task. And in a business context, you use it to describe
someone who doesn't fit into a corporate culture.

Like many entrepreneurs, JJ was probably never going to succeed in a corporate

world. But as a rebel, a misfit, a round peg in a square hole, he can succeed in an
entrepreneurial environment. He can disrupt traditional businesses and traditional
ways of doing things.

Listen to the expression in this paragraph that captures what entrepreneurs like JJ
Thomson do.

This experience convinced him that the status quo needed to be challenged. He
vowed to be one of the crazy ones who changed the world for the better.

To challenge the status quo. It's a very popular modern business expression. The
status quo is how things are, what has been established. Why are we doing things
this way? Well, because we've always done them this way. That is the status quo.
It's a preference that things stay the same. And it can be very comforting because
it's easy. It doesn't require us to challenge ourselves. It doesn't require us to take
risks and potentially make mistakes. The problem is, in modern professional life, if
you don't challenge the status quo, someone else will. And you, your company, even
your whole industry could be left behind.

Let's talk more about core values. Have a listen to this again.

He had finally found someone who truly shared his core values, someone who
could help him realize his vision. Her name was Lola Badiola.

What are core values? What are the core values of your company? Can you list
three core values? Well, core values are what a company truly believes, what it's
willing to fight for, what makes it different from its competitors. And these core
values determine the day-to-day behavior of all of the company's employees.

According to a report by the Harvard Business School, the following are the three
most common core values for companies. Number one: integrity. Number two:
customer focus. Number three: teamwork. What do you think of these core values?
Do they inspire you? Do they educate you?

Well, personally, I think they are generic and boring. You are saying that your
company has integrity. Well, of course you have integrity. You shouldn't need to tell
me that. I need more than just the word integrity. Of course, your company is
customer-focused. That's the minimum that we would expect. I need more than
that. Of course you believe in teamwork. Everyone believes in teamwork. That
doesn't differentiate you from other companies.

A company's core values must embody what makes the company unique, what
differentiates it from other companies. And crucially, the words that describe these
core values should be distinctive. They must be memorable, meaningful. They must
create an emotional connection with the employees.

If you want to communicate effectively as an ambassador for yourself, your

department and your company, you need to know your company's core values. And
if you align yourself with these core values and you promote these core values
amongst your team, you are more likely to succeed within your company.

And that, my dear friends, brings us to the end of today's session. Now, we've
reviewed a lot of vocabulary, phrasal verbs and some business concepts. Why don't
you have a listen to the chapter again and make sure you join us for the next
podcast. You can find out what happens when Lola arrives at her new company and
how they treat her and the challenges that lie ahead. As we continue to entertain
you to a leadership level of business English. Until then, keep practicing and watch
out for a man in a black Toyota Prius.

Chapter 5: The Apple

The Apple. It was 8:45 a.m. and JJ Thomson was sitting at his desk trying to write a
mission statement that truly expressed the purpose of his company. He wanted to
demonstrate its core values to all the stakeholders. But he found it impossible to
summarize everything in one inspirational sentence. He had written more than 25
versions of the same idea, but none of them worked to his satisfaction. He threw
down his pencil in frustration and looked at the team he had assembled over the
last six months.

Up until that moment, his primary concern had been human resources. The
success of the company depended on the success of the people. But like many
startups, there was little cash to pay the employees. So to attract talent and get
their long term commitment, he had offered everyone share ownership. He wanted
his team to feel like they were part of something special, like they were changing
the world for the better.

This sense of purpose was reflected in the environment in which they worked. JJ
had invested a lot of money in the interior design of his offices. The objective was
to bring the outside world inside the building. The rooms were filled with natural
woods, plants and flowers and subtle but exotic aromas. There was a central
meeting area with an artificial waterfall and a vast ceiling light that mirrored the
changing colors of the sky. All the items of furniture combined form and function
and were made of sustainable materials. He wanted to lift the spirits of everyone
who walked into the office, be it an employee, a client, or a pizza delivery boy.

Nobody expected the company to to generate profits or even revenues overnight.

But JJ was eager to win their first big contract as soon as possible. They had been
operating in a marketing vacuum for some time. Consequently, he was thrilled to
have Lola onboard and expected her to hit the ground running.

JJ, do you have a second?

His train of thought was interrupted by the voice of Cayetano Tolosa.

Sure

Cayetano was the salesman who would be reporting to Lola. Despite his lack of
direct experience in the cybersecurity sector, he was very well connected, plugged
in, as they say in Spain, and could open doors to some of the biggest accounts in
Europe.

JJ was well aware of the subtle but significant differences in business culture
between his native and adopted countries. It was not just an empty cliche to say
that trust in Latin cultures was built through personal relationships. In his years of
doing business in Spain, he had learned to adapt to spend more time talking about
the families of his business associates, to enjoy coffee breaks and long lunches, not
as a way of avoiding work, but as a way of building confidence and credibility. He
understood that if he wanted to succeed in Spain, he would need salespeople who
were not only highly competent but also well-connected.

Cayetano walked into JJ's office, half eaten apple in hand and sat down on one of
the Smart Ocean office chairs. He was an archetypal salesman, supremely self-
confident and smooth as butter on a hot summer's day. He was clean shaven, hair
gelled back, sleeves rolled up to reveal his tanned and toned forearms. He could
have been a male model if only he'd been 30 cm taller.

When is the new commercial director arriving? He asked.

Any time now.

Great.

Cayetano leaned back in the chair, crossed his legs, and took a small bite of his
apple.

I have a question about her.

Yeah.

Why did she get fired from her last company?

JJ was startled by the question. As far as he was concerned, Lola had resigned from
TechSpania following the acceptance of the offer from JBlock.

She wasn't fired, he replied. She quit.

Oow! Cayetano chewed quietly on his apple.

I heard a different story.

One of the administrative assistants interrupted the conversation to inform them

that Lola had just arrived at the office. JJ closed his laptop, stood up and looked
down at Cayetano.

Well, you heard the wrong story, he said.

Then he walked quickly to the entrance to greet the new arrival. Cayetano spun
around in the revolving chair. Then threw the remains of his apple into JJ's rubbish
bin.

What is Cayetano Tolosa doing here? It seems like the office politics have already
started even before Lola has arrived at JBlock. Have you heard the expression
office politics before? It's when somebody has a hidden agenda to advance
themselves normally at the expense of the other people in their team. It involves
gossip, rumor, talking behind people's backs. Have you ever experienced office
politics? You probably have. Because it exists in almost every corporate
environment.

Over the next few episodes, we are going to find out how Lola deals with the office
politics in her company. But right now, let's go back to the beginning of the chapter
and the very first sentence. Listen to this again.

It was 8:45 a.m. and JJ Thomson was sitting at his desk trying to write a mission
statement that truly expressed the purpose of his company.

What is the point of a mission statement? Do you know the mission statement of
your company? Well, a mission statement is intended to explain the purpose of the
company. What is it that the company does right now? It's also meant to
communicate a sense of the company's core values. And that is a subject that we
discussed in the last episode.

A mission statement is directed at the employees of the company, the management

of the company and the clients of the company. It is meant to inspire the
employees. It is meant to focus the minds of the leadership team. And it is meant to
connect the company with the consumers at a deeper level. Mission statements are
meant to do all this in just 1 or 2 sentences, which makes them very difficult to
write, as JJ Thomson is finding out.

I think what would be helpful is if we looked at and we analyzed some really

effective mission statements. Then we can understand what makes a great mission
statement and how to write them. So I have chosen three. And we're going to play
a little game. I am going to read the mission statement to you and you are going to
guess the company. Even if you've never heard the mission statement before, there
is a chance that you will recognize the company within the mission statement.
Okay, here's the first one. Are you ready? Listen carefully.

To inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup and one
neighborhood at a time.

I'll give you three seconds to think about it. Okay. The clue is the one cup, one
neighborhood. Did you get it? It is, of course, Starbucks. To inspire and nurture the
human spirit - one person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time. That is a fabulous
mission statement. And it does exactly what it's intended to do. It inspires the
employees. It focuses the mind of the leadership team, and it connects with
Starbucks consumers.

Okay, here is your second mission statement. Listen carefully and see if you can
guess which company this is.

To help women everywhere develop a positive relationship with the way they look.
Helping them raise their self-esteem and realize their full potential.

I'll give you three seconds to think about it. It is not a cosmetics company. Because
we are talking about women developing a positive relationship with the way that
they look, developing their self-esteem. It is, of course, Dove.

And when we cover these topics in Club Grattan, our online business English
platform, there is always at least one woman in the class who immediately
recognizes this mission statement as belonging to the company Dove. Even if
they've never heard the mission statement before, they get it. And that is the
power of a really well written mission statement. So well done, Dove. We really
believe in you.

Okay. Here's one for the boys. Are you ready? Listen carefully. More than building
machines, we stand for the timeless pursuit of adventure: Freedom for the soul. I'll
give you three seconds to think about it. Okay. It might help if I read it in my best
American accent. Okay, here we go. More than building machines, we stand for the
timeless pursuit of adventure: Freedom for the soul. It's not a car company. It's a
motorbike company. Have you got it? It can only be Harley Davidson.

So there you go. Three examples of effective mission statements. They all
demonstrate the purpose and the values of the company to the employees and the
customers.

Now let's get back to the story. So JJ Thomson is struggling to write this mission
statement. Have a listen to this sentence again.

He wanted to demonstrate its core values to all the stakeholders.

Who are the stakeholders? Well, first, let's define the word stakeholder. It is
literally someone who holds a stake. In the company: S-T-A-K-E. So what is a stake?
Well, in a general term, a stake is when you have a personal interest or
involvement in something. Normally, it's financial. So when you bet at the gambling
tables of Las Vegas, you put down your stake onto the roulette wheel. This is the
amount of money that you are willing to lose in the hope of gaining something. It is
your personal interest in an uncertain outcome. So when the stakes are high, you
are betting a lot of money. You are taking a lot of risk. You have a high degree of
personal involvement in the game, in the company and the competition, whatever
it is.

So when we talk about stakeholders of a company, it is anyone who has a personal

interest in the success of the business. Anyone who will lose if the business fails
and gain if the business succeeds. And it doesn't just include shareholders or
bondholders. It doesn't just include employees, management, suppliers. It also
includes the community. The local and regional government. And any other
business who has an indirect connection to the company. These are the
stakeholders.

And JJ Thomson wishes to communicate to all of them in an effective way. And that
is why he is spending a lot of time thinking about his mission statement.

Let's analyze some more common expressions. Listen to this sentence again.

They had been operating in a marketing vacuum for some time. Consequently, he
was thrilled to have Lola on board and expected her to hit the ground running.

Operating in a marketing vacuum. Existing in a vacuum. Well, if something exists

or happens in a vacuum, it operates in total isolation. It has no interaction with
other people, places or actions. And when we use this expression in a business
context, it almost always has a negative connotation. We can't operate our business
in a vacuum. JBlock can't exist in a marketing vacuum. It needs interaction with
other elements. So that expression was quite simple.

The next one is a little bit more complex to hit the ground running. Well, this
means to operate at full speed as soon as you start something. There is no build
up. There is no acceleration. As soon as you arrive, you are moving forwards at full
speed. Now, we're not sure of the origin of this expression, but some people
believe that it started in the Second World War when troops were moved into
battle as soon as they got off the automobile or the train or even the plane. As they
landed on the ground, they had to already be running so that they didn't get shot,
so that they could get into position. So it makes sense, right?

It's a very popular expression in business, particularly when you refer to employing
somebody with the relevant experience. What you're saying is this person needs to
be productive as soon as they arrive. No need for training, No need for
preparation. They need to hit the ground running. And this is JJ Thomson's attitude
towards Lola Badiola. He expects her to produce immediate results. After all, she
is a rainmaker, right?

Okay. Finally, let's turn to this character, this new character in our story, Cayetano
Tolosa. He is the salesman who will be reporting directly to Lola. What is his
background? What is his story? Let's have another listen.

Despite his lack of direct experience in the cybersecurity sector, he was very well
connected, plugged in, as they say in Spain, and could open doors to some of the
biggest accounts in Europe.

Well connected. This is an expression we use for someone who has important or
influential relatives or friends. It's quite a simple self-explanatory expression. Are
you well connected? Is it important to be well connected in your industry? Are
connection more important in some business cultures than others. For example, in
Latin versus Anglo-Saxon business cultures. These are interesting and potentially
controversial questions which will be explored during subsequent podcasts.

But right now we have reached the end of this session. We've discussed mission
statements, stakeholders, and we've covered some really cool common
expressions. Make sure you join us for the next podcast. You can find out what
happens on Lola's first day at work as we continue to entertain you to a leadership
level of business English. Until then, keep practicing and try to avoid any office
politics in your department.

Chapter 6: The Programmers

Leading the programming team at JBlock was Diego de la Fuente, a Spanish

national who had grown up in California and gotten a degree in electrical
engineering from Stanford University. He had worked with JJ on previous
initiatives as a consultant. Now he was a partner and major shareholder in JBlock.

He was a brilliant team leader, able to get the best out of the freaks and geeks
around him. They included a Norwegian, a Dutch, a Brit and two Spaniards. All the
coders were men between 25 and 35 years old. All of them had ethical hacking
backgrounds and lived and breathed computer code. Diego was a big, energetic
man. His whole body was covered in a thick layer of hair apart from the shiny
surface of his head. On the outside, he looked like a ferocious grizzly bear. On the
inside, he was more like a cuddly teddy bear.

By nature, he was a nervous character and that morning, he could almost be

considered hyperactive. He had a lot on his plate.

First, he had to come up with a cybersecurity solution for a pharmaceutical

company. Second, he needed to give some input into the creation of JBlock's
mission statement. And finally, he wanted to make a good first impression on the
new commercial director.

Diego knew that the key to the success of any tech startup was the close
collaboration between the product and marketing departments. At that moment,
the programmers had little faith in the commercial side of the business. Least of all
with Cayetano Tolosa.

The arrival of Lola Badiola was therefore a key moment in the development of the
company.

Okay, people, unplug yourselves. We need to start the morning meeting.

From 8:30 to 9 a.m. every morning, Diego gathered his team to find out how they
were progressing and if they had any problems.

First up, where are we with the POC for the pharmaceutical company? he asked
Turner, the British programmer.

Almost done. Just need to answer a couple of bugs.

Good. Next. JJ wants our input on the company mission statement and slogan. Any
feedback for the suggestions I sent you?

The silence was deafening.

However, think about it. As you know, our new commercial director arrives today.
The marketing push starts now.

The programmers looked skeptical and mumbled their disapproval.

Okay. What's on your mind?

Van Dyke, the Dutch coder was the first to speak.

You mean we're going to have another pretty boy wasting our time?

There was never any filter between what the Dutchman thought and what he said.
Both a strength and a weakness.

Pretty boy is a salesman. His job is to open doors for us. And he does that very
well.

Diego had the patience of a saint, but at times he needed to assert his authority.

And from now on, we're going to stop calling him Pretty boy. His name is Cayetano.
He's our colleague and we'll treat him with respect.

Do we really need a sales team at all? asked Turner.

Is that a serious question? replied Diego.

The way I see it, our code sells itself.

Yeah, agreed Velasquez, one of the Spaniards.

Salespeople just get in the way. The only thing they do well is book lunch, said
Munk, the Norwegian, and ask dumb questions. I've explained blockchain to Pretty
Boy a dozen times, but he still doesn't get it.

Read all the work and they make all the commission, said Van Dyke.

Diego allowed the five programmers to express themselves. He understood that

coding could be a lonely and deeply frustrating process. These moments of
communal complaining were a necessary evil. After 30 seconds, he interrupted
their banter.

Listen, guys. I've heard through the grapevine that the new commercial director is
a rock star. She was a top producer at TechSpania. She knows the industry inside
out, and she's adored by her clients.

The new commercial director is a woman? asked Turner skeptically.

Yes, she's a woman. said Diego. And her track record and CV are impeccable. It's a
miracle JJ convinced her to join us.

Once again, the five coders started arguing amongst themselves. Once again,
Diego allowed them to express themselves. The discussion reached a crescendo
until suddenly it stopped and everyone went quiet. Something had caught the
programmers' attention. Diego turned around to see JJ Thomson walking through
the office. With him was a smartly dressed woman in her early 30s. She gripped
the handle of her leather briefcase with strong but perfectly manicured hands.

As she passed by, she looked across at the coding team, exuding confidence and
authority, and smiled. Then she followed JJ into one of the meeting rooms. Diego
turned back to his team. Okay, boys, close your mouths and say hello to Lola
Badiola, our new commercial director.

Okay. There you go. It seems that Lola is the only woman working at JBlock. And
that's not an unusual situation in the technology sector. According to Statista, the
business data platform, 92% of computer programmers are men. That means that
in a typical team of 20 programmers, the average number of women will be one. Is
this situation driven by biological differences between men and women? Or by
cultural expectations? Now, that is a big question. And we're not going to answer it
in this podcast or even attempt to answer it in this podcast. But it will be a theme
that runs throughout our story.

So in this episode we are introduced to Diego de la Fuente. He is the manager and

leader of the programmers. Let's listen to his background again.

Leading the programming team at JBlock was Diego de la Fuente, a Spanish

national who had grown up in California and gotten a degree in electrical
engineering from Stanford University.

It is a very common mistake to confuse a degree with a career. So let's just make it
absolutely clear. A degree is what you receive for successfully completing a course
at university. A career is what happens in your professional life after you graduate.

There are different types of degrees. So, for example, there's a bachelor's degree,
which is typically three years long. Then you have a master's degree which
requires 1 or 2 more years of study. And beyond that, there's a PhD, also known as
a doctorate. And this can take well, it can take any number of years to complete,
but it requires the presentation of some new academic research in your field of
study.

Okay, let's find out more about Diego and his team of programmers. Listen to these
sentences again.

He was a brilliant team leader, able to get the best out of the freaks and geeks
around him. They included a Norwegian, a Dutch, a Brit, and two Spaniards.

What is a freak and what is a geek? Well, a freak is someone or something that is
very strange or unusual. In the old days, it had a negative meaning. For example,
in the 19th century, you would go to a freak show to see all the strange and
shocking forms of humanity. The Elephant Man, for example, was considered a
freak.

Well, nowadays the meaning has changed somewhat and it just means someone or
something that is very different from the norm. And it could be good or it could be
bad.

So Michael Jordan was a freak athlete. Last year, we had a freak storm in Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a freak accident and couldn't play football for a month. You
get the idea.

So freak is very different from a geek. And what's a geek? Well, once again, the
meaning of this word has changed over the years. Originally, it was someone who
was intelligent, but not at all fashionable and probably not very popular either.
Like when I was a kid at school, you really wouldn't want to be called a geek. But
things have changed over the last 30 years. The geeks are now running the world.
The geeks are the ones that we look up to. We respect. We aspire to be. Steve Jobs.
Bill Gates. Elon Musk. They are all geeks and they are building spaceships to travel
to Mars. How cool is that? So nowadays it's a source of pride to call yourself a
geek. And it has come to mean anyone who is passionate about any field of
expertise.

So there are freaks and geeks in Diego de la Fuente's team, and they are all of
different nationalities. There are certain nationalities that non-native speakers
always confuse or forget. So let's do a little test and see if you make any mistakes.
I'll say the name of the country. And you say the nationality. For example, I say
Italy and you say Italian.

Okay. That was an easy one. The next ones are the ones that people always seem to
get wrong. Okay, here's the first. Peru. What is the nationality of someone from
Peru? They are Peruvian. What about Thailand? Somebody from Thailand is Thai.
You knew that, right? You've eaten Thai food and you've seen Thai Airways in an
international airport. What about the Philippines? The nationality of people from
the Philippines is Filipino. And finally, these next two are always confused. So what
are the nationalities of people from Sweden and Switzerland? People from Sweden
are Swedish. And people from Switzerland are Swiss. Don't get those two the
wrong way round.

I have one last question about nationalities. How about someone from the United
States? This can be a little bit controversial because people from the United States
call themselves Americans. But Canadians are North Americans and Brazilians are
South Americans. So some people don't like the fact that Americans call
themselves Americans. So instead of saying he is the American president, they will
say he is the US president or he is the United States President. It's the US Army.
It's a US policy. It's a US invention.

In fact, there was a time when people were considering using the words United
Statesonian to describe somebody from the United States. United Statesonian. I
think for obvious reasons, that didn't become popular. So in conclusion, from a
grammatical perspective, you can either use American or US or United States
when describing the nationality of someone or something from the United States of
America.

Okay, let's move on to some business jargon. What is Diego talking about in this
part of the story?

First up, where are we with the POC for the pharmaceutical company? he asked
Turner, the British programmer.

A POC, sometimes known as a poc well, a POC is a Proof Of Concept. This is an

exercise to determine whether an idea can be turned into reality. It is meant to
determine the feasibility of the idea. Does it actually function in the real world? So
what a lot of software companies do once they have presented their services to to a
prospective client is set up a small and simple version of the systems. This is the
POC. This is the proof of concept. And Diego and his team are implementing one at
a pharmaceutical company.

Now, just be careful with the pronunciation of this word pharmaceutical. Don't be
tempted to pronounce it phonetically. "far-ma-se-you-ti-cal". The vowel sound in the
middle is very simple. It's just "far-ma-syou-ti-cal".

And there are five words in the health care sector that often get mispronounced.
Pharmaceutical is one of them. The second is biotechnology. Don't pronounce that
"bio-technology". The third one is Antibiotics. Antibiotics. Which is a very
interesting word because there are three I vowels in that word and they are all
pronounced differently. Welcome to the wonderful world of English pronunciation
"en-ti-bay-o-tics". And the final word is virus. Don't be tempted to pronounce that
"bi-rous".

Okay, let's just review those five words again. Pharmaceutical, biotechnology,
antibiotics, paracetamol and virus.

So what is the next subject that Diego and his team discuss? Have another listen to
this.

JJ wants our input on the company mission statement and slogan. Any feedback for
the suggestions I sent you.

In the last two podcasts, we've talked about core values and we've talked about
mission statements, but what is the point of a slogan?

Well, a slogan is a short, memorable phrase. It's a feeling and emotion, and it's
often associated with a company logo. And it is backed up. It is supported by an
advertising campaign. So it's part of an overall package. And often the words mean
very little in isolation. But ultimately, when they're part of a marketing campaign
and you hear them over and over again with certain images and certain sounds,
they enter your subconscious and they create a positive reaction to a product
whenever you see it.

Let's play another game. This time I'm going to tell you the slogan and you are
going to guess the company. For example, I'm going to say, "Just do it". And you're
going to say Nike. Yeah, that was an easy one.

Okay, here we go. I have five more slogans for you. Which companies are these?
I'm loving it. That has to be McDonald's. McDonald's have spent literally hundreds
of millions of dollars in their television advertisements, in their Billboard
advertisements. And whenever you go into a restaurant, "I'm loving it" is
associated with McDonald's, the company and the brand.

Here's the second one. "Once you pop, you can't stop". That is a fabulous slogan. A
really well balanced sentence with a little rhyme in the middle. What's the
product? What's the brand? When in this case it's Pringles. And it's a slogan that
works perfectly because it's very true. Once you open the tube of Pringles, once
you pop the tube, it's very difficult to stop yourself from eating all the crisps inside.
Excellent slogan.

Okay, here's our third one. "Taste the rainbow". Now, you might not know this
slogan, but I'm sure your kids do, because "Taste the Rainbow" is the slogan for
Skittles, the sweets or the candies called Skittles. And there is a very popular and
memorable marketing campaign that is associated with this particular slogan.
Okay, here's the next one, which I think you will know. "It gives you wings". That is,
of course, Red Bull. Red Bull gives you wings. And finally, our last slogan: "Because
I'm worth it". Where have you heard that before? Well, it's actually a slogan that's
been around for about 50 years. And there have been many different sports people,
personalities, celebrities, who have been seen on television saying "I use this
product because I'm worth it". It is, of course, L'Oreal.

So there you go. These are all effective slogans, short, memorable phrases that
give you a feeling or an emotion and are backed up, are supported by an
advertising campaign that gets the words into your memory and into your
subconscious.

Okay. That was a bit of fun. And it brings us to the end of today's session. Make
sure you join us for the next podcast. You can find out what happens when Lola
starts her first day at JBlock. As we continue to entertain you to a leadership level
of business English.

Until then, keep practicing. And remember, when faced with a challenge in either
your professional or your personal life, just do it!

Chapter 7: The Speech

Lola pressed the buzzer of the intercom and entered the Adriatica building. She
walked up the spiral staircase to the third floor. She needed to release the
adrenaline that was flowing gently through her bloodstream. Waiting for her at the
entrance to the office was JJ Thomson.

Lola, it's great to see you again.

He moved forward to kiss her on the cheek. He had become accustomed to this
Southern European style of greeting, having spent so much time in Madrid.

Meanwhile, Lola was walking towards him with her hands stretched out, ready to
greet him in a more formal manner.

They ended up simultaneously shaking hands and kissing in a slightly awkward

manner.

Did you have any trouble getting here?

No. No problem.

You have a great location here.

Yes. We wanted to be central.

You couldn't be more central than Gran Via.

We love it. Follow me.

JJ led Lola into the main area of the office and passed a group of employees who
were having a team meeting. They all stopped and looked at her as she walked by.

She smiled at them as it dawned on her that she would be the only woman working
at JBlock.

JJ led her into his office and they engaged in a few minutes of small talk.

How is your trip to Las Vegas? asked Lola.

It was a disaster, JJ replied, shaking his head and laughing. I bought a hot dog for
three bucks from a street vendor and ate it while I read through my speech. By the
time I reached the conference center, I was feeling really sick. I'm not sure how I
completed my presentation, but as soon as I concluded, I ran to the nearest
bathroom and threw up.

Lola grimaced.

Then I washed my face, walked back into the conference room and answered some
questions from the audience.

Now that's dedication, said Lola.

Yeah.

They both laughed a little nervously, and then JJ turned the conversation to more
serious matters. He leaned forward at his desk.

Listen, Lola, I want you to take control of the marketing plan. I want you to create
a brand image that truly reflects our core values. I want our customers to believe
in us, to trust our promises, to say great things about us when we're not in the
room. I'll give you whatever you need to make it happen.

Lola was excited by the entrepreneurial challenges of her new role, and she finally
felt a deep sense of purpose.

There was a war being fought in the digital world: a war between truth and lies,
between the fake and the real, between information and manipulation. She was
ready to go into battle with JJ Thomson and his army of geeks.

Ok. "Let me introduce you to the rest of the team", said JJ. I'm going to gather
everyone in the conference room.

Would you like to make a little speech?

Sure, said Lola, then immediately regretted it. She wanted to make a good first
impression, but she never expected to give a speech on her very first morning.
Public speaking was not something that came easy to her.

In fact, making a speech was one of the biggest challenges she faced in her role as
commercial director, particularly when it was in English.

She would spend many long days and sleepless nights preparing for her
conference presentations.

JJ led Lola into a small auditorium with 20 seats, a stage and an enormous video
screen. Then he invited the other employees to join them.

One by one, they entered the room and sat down in silence, staring at the new
arrival.

Lola felt the sickening sensation of panic rising from her stomach as if she were
just a shy girl who had been chosen to read a poem in front of the class.

JJ jumped onto the stage, made a few announcements and then said: "It's a great
pleasure to introduce you all to the new commercial director, Lola Badiola".

Everyone clapped half-heartedly.

Good morning.
Lola looked into the eyes of her all-male colleagues and her mind went completely
blank. There were no words, no ideas, no thoughts. There was nothing. Just a
blank.

Oh, dear. Poor Lola! Her mind has gone blank. I feel so sorry for her. Has that ever
happened to you? Has your mind ever gone blank when you have been speaking in
public? It's happened to me and it felt like I was disappearing into a black hole of
panic and humiliation. It was awful. And I didn't ever want to feel like that again.

But we must all remember, if this happens to us, it's never as bad as we think it is.
In fact, it's highly likely that our audience doesn't notice or doesn't really care. And
I'm going to talk more about this a little later. How to minimize the chances of your
mind going blank and how to recover if it does.

But first, we're going to start off by discussing three essential phrasal verbs.

Let me just explain what a phrasal verb is and why they are so difficult for non-
native speakers. Because the fact is, I had never heard the term phrasal verb
before I came to live in Spain. Even though as a native speaker, I use 1 or 2 of
them in almost every sentence I speak. So for the native English speakers that
listen to this podcast, let me define what a phrasal verb is.

It's a verb with a preposition attached to it.

Sounds very innocent, right? Well, this little preposition completely changes the
meaning of the root verb.

It's easy to understand with an example. So we have the root verb "get". To "get"
that means one thing. "Get up" means something completely different. So just by
adding the preposition "up", we've completely changed the meaning of "get". And
then there is "get up to". So now we're adding a second preposition. And once
again, this completely changes the meaning another time.

Now, this is easy for native speakers who grow up absorbing all these different
meanings and all these different phrasal verbs. You kind of learn through osmosis.
But it's a nightmare for non-native speakers. You see, there are at least 19 phrasal
verbs with the root verb "get". And people studying English have to learn them all.

Here they are: Get across. Get along. Get around. Get out. Get away. Get away
with. Get by. Get down. Get down to. Get up. Get up to. Get on. Get off. Get out. Get
on with. Get out of. Get over. Get through to, and Get rid of.

Native English speakers have no idea what a torture it is for non-native speakers to
learn all these different definitions. So here's the thing. You should try to add 2 or
3 phrasal verbs to your vocabulary each week. Don't attempt to memorize long
lists. Treat this as an ongoing process of language development, and that is what
we are going to do today.

We are going to examine three cool phrasal verbs that were used in today's text.
Let's listen to the first one again.

They ended up simultaneously shaking hands and kissing in a slightly awkward

manner.

"To end up". This is to reach a particular destination, and it implies that your final
situation is unexpected or unanticipated. You don't know where you are going to
end up when you start the process. And therefore it is a very common phrasal verb
in business English.
For example, we invested in this new technology and ended up losing a lot of
money.

We launched the product and ended up being sued by a competitor.

To end up: to reach a final and unexpected destination.

Okay, let's move on to our second phrasal verb, which is not so common in business
English, unless we are talking about the office Christmas party. Have another
listen to this.

As soon as I concluded, I ran to the nearest bathroom and threw up.

To "throw up" is simply to vomit. And the less time we spend on this subject, the
better. So let's quickly move on to the coolest phrasal verb of them all. Have
another listen to this.

She smiled at them as it dawned on her that she would be the only woman working
at JBlock.

To "dawn on". I love that phrasal verb. But what does it mean?

Well, you know what the dawn is, right?

DAWN. It's the rising of the sun at the end of a dark night. Slowly but inevitably
bringing light to the world. So if something dawns on you, it is the slow but
inevitable realization of the truth. The answer is revealed to you not in a flash of
inspiration, but through the gradual process of subconscious thought.

Here's an example.

While I was working at Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis, it dawned on me
that I was going to be fired.

So there you go. Three phrasal verbs: to end up, to throw up, and to dawn on. Use
them in your conversations this week, and little by little you can build up your list
of useful phrasal verbs in business situations.

Okay, let's move on to a social dilemma. When you meet someone new in a
business situation and they are of the opposite gender to you, do you shake their
hand? Or do you kiss them on the cheek?

This was the question that I asked in one of my LinkedIn posts, and the answers
people gave were fascinating. But before I read out what people wrote, let's just
listen again to what happened to JJ and Lola. Here we go.

He moved forward to kiss her on the cheek. Meanwhile, Lola was walking towards
him with her hand stretched out, ready to greet him in a more formal manner.

Ok. So do you kiss or do you shake hands? And if you kiss, what are the rules of
engagement?

Well, when I asked my LinkedIn connections, there were three main conclusions.
And please bear in mind that this discussion took place before COVID 19, and I
think it will be relevant again after COVID 19.

The first conclusion was this: It completely depends on the culture in which you
are doing business.

So Sanae, a director of a multi-national company working in Abu Dhabi, said, "Do

not try to kiss anybody, and especially women when you're doing business in the
Middle East".

Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, Bruno, a credit officer from Peru,
said, "It is different in Latin America. Even Spanish female colleagues always talk
about the Mexican visitors who kiss everybody at meetings".

So there we go. We have a kissing spectrum from the Middle East, one extreme
through Europe and Spain to Mexico and Latin America at the other extreme. So I
think the best policy is just to be aware of the culture you are in and adapt to that
culture.

The second point that my connections made is the following.

It is the woman who should decide whether a handshake or a kiss is appropriate.

And the man should respond.

So, according to Luis, a managing director in the technology sector, he says always
women take the control in professional and social situations. They establish the
distance with men and the men should wait for her quick decision and follow her.

Okay. The final recurring point was the following: The kiss should never actually be
a kiss.

So Paul, a retail brand manager, offered some very specific advice on this issue. He
says the following: Business cases should be air kisses, cheeks side by side, but not
touching. And then you make the kissing sound with no lips to skin contact. So
thank you very much for that very specific advice, Paul.

So what do you think? Do you agree with our three rules? Number one, be aware
of cultural differences. Number two, let the woman take the lead. Number three,
even if you kiss, don't actually kiss.What do you think about those three
conclusions?

Before we end, let's return to the moment that Lola's mind goes blank. Listen to
this again. There were no words, no ideas, no thoughts. There was nothing. Just a
blank.

Okay, here's my very simple advice. To help you avoid your mind going blank in
these kind of situations because it is a very horrible experience, if you make a
speech, use notes. A list of single words that remind you of the points that you
want to make. It is like a safety net and it will give you confidence. So when I give
a speech at an industry event, I have three pieces of A4 paper with the same list of
keywords on them. I put one on the floor on the left hand side of the stage, one on
the floor, on the right hand side of the stage and one in the middle. And if I ever
get lost, I just look down and I am immediately reminded of what I need to say
next.

And the curious fact is: I rarely, if ever, get lost because having the notes gives me
the confidence. It is a safety net that you don't need to use.

Now, in the case of Lola Badiola, she didn't have any time to prepare notes. So
what do you do if your mind goes blank in this situation? You breathe in through
your nose deeply and out through your mouth and you focus on your breath. And
you just keep repeating this until you have calmed down and controlled your
nerves and the words will come to you. Believe me, they will come. Just go into
YouTube and search Barack Obama pauses. And you will see that even the mind of
the greatest orator of our generation sometimes goes blank. And when the ex-
president of the United States cannot immediately think of the answer to a
journalist's question, he pauses for as long as it takes. He breathed slowly and
deeply, and then the words eventually come to him.

And on that reassuring note, we come to the end of today's session. Make sure you
join us for the next podcast. You can find out if Lola is able to control her nerves
and deliver her speech to her new colleagues at JBlock. As we continue to
entertain you to a leadership level of business English.

Until then, keep practicing and remember: Breathe in through the nose and out
through the mouth. In through the nose and out through the mouth, in through the
nose and out through the mouth. In through the nose and out...

Chapter 8: The Attack

The Attack. Luis Bruña opened the front door of his house and tiptoed in, quietly
shutting the door behind him. It was past midnight, and he'd spent the last 18
hours dealing with a crisis at TechSpania.

Lying at the bottom of the stairs was his six-year-old son, Chima. The little boy was
deep asleep. Luis picked him up and took him to his bedroom. He laid the little boy
gently in the bed and put the sheet on top of him, watching him breathe slowly and
peacefully. He kissed him on the forehead and left the room. Then he went to check
on his wife. She was still awake, lying in bed, reading a novel.

Hey, sweetie.

Hi.

She didn't look up from her book, and it was clear from the tone of her voice, she
was in a bad mood.

I'll come to bed in a few minutes.

Luis went back downstairs for a whisky. He didn't have the energy for a late night
fight about work life balance. It had been a day of non-stop stress.

At 6 a.m. that morning, one of his clients, SMZ, a Swiss life insurance company,
had been shut down by a ransomware attack. The hackers had exploited a
vulnerability in the Spanish branch of the company. They had locked the company
database and given the company 12 hours to transfer 100 Bitcoin, more than €4
million to an untraceable digital wallet. If the money didn't arrive on time, they
promised to unleash a virus that would disrupt their systems for days and weeks to
come. Luis and his team of engineers had spent the whole day brainstorming ideas,
writing code and communicating with their colleagues in Switzerland. With two
hours to go until the deadline, the CTO arrived in Madrid on a private jet from
Zurich.

He would have been the image of business sophistication if his face weren't red
with anger and stress. The company's reputation was at risk. People's jobs were on
the line, including his own.

Where are we? he said brusquely.

Let me take you through our plan of defense, replied Luis, with as much
confidence as he could summon. At that moment, he truly missed Lola. She had
managed the SMZ account. She knew the client inside out. She'd even learned
some basic German to enhance the relationship. She would have been able to
reassure the client and deal with the crisis. But she had resigned from the
company a month earlier, and Luis still hadn't found a suitable replacement.

With an hour to go until the deadline, the CTO started to take the necessary steps
to transfer the Bitcoin to the digital wallet. There was only one thing left that Luis
could do: organize an emergency meeting with the North Americans. Just like in
Europe, the US cybersecurity market was a virtual monopoly. Despite being
competitors at a global level. TechSpania and its US equivalent had agreed to
come together in moments of crisis to share their expertise. A high profile breach
of security like the one that SMZ was experiencing, eroded the trust of the entire
sector. It was therefore in everyone's interest that this problem was resolved
quietly and competently.

During the emergency meeting, it became apparent that the ransomware code was
almost identical to the one used to break into a life insurance company based in
New Jersey earlier in the year. With the collaboration of IT experts in the US, Luis
and his team were able to design a program to override the malware and
neutralize its effect. With less than 15 minutes remaining, SMZ systems were
unlocked and an upgraded firewall was put in place.

The Bitcoin transfer was canceled and the company's reputation was saved, but
nobody celebrated. Luis knew that this was probably the end of the relationship
with the SMZ company and the loss of more than $1 million of revenue per year.
He would have to explain the situation to Ruiz de Velasco at the next morning
meeting, a prospect he dreaded.

As he sat on his sofa in the darkness, he took another sip of his whisky and
wondered how his department was going to hit its budget, let alone its stretch
targets, without the Swiss life insurance account. He also wondered how on us he
was going to be able to replace Lola Badiola.

He heard the footsteps of his wife coming down the stairs. She was wearing a
dressing gown and slippers. She sat down next to him on the sofa, reached for his
glass of whisky and took a small sip. You want to talk about it? She asked softly.

So Luis has been unable to replace Lola, and his department is suffering as a
result. How many managers have found themselves in exactly that situation! Often
clients have a stronger connection with the individual that they deal with than with
a company. So when that individual leaves, so does the client. You lose one of your
key employees and everything starts to fall apart. And that's why retention
strategies are so important. And it's also why it's dangerous for a company to rely
on star performers.

We'll talk more about these human resources issues in future podcasts. But right
now, let's do some business English. Today we have three everyday expressions,
three phrasal verbs and three business concepts to discuss. Today, three is the
magic number.

So let's start off with the everyday expressions. Have a listen to this again.

She didn't look up from her book, and it was clear from the tone of her voice, she
was in a bad mood.

Your mood is the way you feel. Your emotional state. So if you are in a good mood,
you're happy, you're pleased, you're cheerful. If you are in a good mood, you see
the world in a positive way.

On the other hand, if you are in a bad mood, like Luis's wife that evening, then you
see the world in a negative way. Something has upset you and it creates a dark
cloud over everything around you.

Are you in a bad mood? That's a very common question amongst friends, family,
and particularly husbands and wives. It's a very useful and popular expression
because it's non-specific and it covers so many different emotions. When you ask
the question, "Are you in a bad mood?" it really means: I know that something is
wrong, but I have no idea what it is specifically.

And therefore, that question can make people even more upset than they already
are. So be careful. Why, let's move on to our second expression.

Here it is. The company's reputation was at risk. People's jobs were on the line.

When something is on the line, it means that it is at risk. It means that there is a
high chance that you might lose it, whatever it is. And it also means that whatever
you do or say right now is critical. If your job is on the line, it means there's a
chance that you might lose your job and therefore, how you behave now will have a
major impact on whether you stay employed or you lose your job.

Originally it was a gambling reference to the physical lines on the craps tables. You
see, gamblers would place their chips on the table and the table has a lot of lines
on it. So we would say that their money is on the line.

In our story, people's jobs specifically at SMZ Insurance Company are on the line.
They are at risk.

Our third and final expression is within this phrase. Listen carefully.

At that moment, he truly missed Lola. She had managed the SMZ account. She
knew the clients inside out.

Inside out. Well, literally, this means that the inside part of your clothing is facing
outwards. And maybe, when you were a kid, you might have put your jumper on
inside out, or maybe you put your T-shirt on inside out. So that's the literal
definition of inside out.

Now if you know something or someone inside out, you know them very well. It
makes sense, right? It implies that all the internal workings of that person or that
company are visible and knowable to you. So in this case, Lola knows the SMZ
account inside out. She is extremely familiar with how the company operates.

Let's now move on to our three phrasal verbs. Here is the first one.

It was past midnight and he'd spent the last 18 hours dealing with a crisis at
TechSpania.

"To deal with". As I've said before, this is the number one phrasal verb in business
English. This is the daddy of all phrasal verbs.

"To deal with" means to take action in order to solve a problem.

And that's what business is all about. Taking action to solve problems. That's what
you do. And that's why you get paid. So whenever a boss asks you about a process
or a problem or even a crisis, you use this phrasal verb. I'm dealing with it. It's
music to the ears of any manager.

Here's the next phrasal verb.

One of his clients, SMZ, a Swiss life insurance company, had been shut down by a
ransomware attack.

"To shut down", it means to cease an operation or to cease a business.

So, for example, you might shut down your computer. What is the difference
between shut down and switch off or turn off? Well, typically shutting down
involves some processes or steps. It's more convoluted. Whereas switch off or turn
off is something quite simple, you just push a button to switch something off and
that's it. It's done.

Our third and final phrasal verb is the following:

Despite being competitors at a global level, TechSpania and its US equivalent had
agreed to come together in moments of crisis to share their expertise.

"To come together". This means to start working successfully with each other. We
need to come together in times of crisis.

You might be familiar with the Beatles song "Come Together". And the inspiration
for that song was when John Lennon was involved in non-violent protests against
the Vietnam War. He started to write a campaign song for the anti-war movement
called "Come Together, Join the Party". He never finished the song, but it became
the foundation of that very famous Beatles song.

Quick question for you. What is the plural of crisis? Is it crisises? No, it's not. It's
crises.

So one crisis, two crises, and it's spelt CRISES. That is the plural of crisis.

Okay, let's move on to our business concepts. Here's the first one that we're going
to discuss today.

Luis and his team of engineers had spent the whole day brainstorming ideas.

Let's talk about brainstorming. What is it and how do we benefit from it?

Well, it's basically a method of generating ideas and sharing knowledge to solve a
particular problem. So you get a group of people together and you encourage them
to think without interruption. It's a group activity where each participant shares
their ideas as soon as they come into their mind. And at the conclusion of the
session, the ideas are categorized and ranked so that you can then follow some
concrete action.

And there are some interesting rules that govern successful brainstorming. And
the first rule is that no idea is a bad idea. Write whatever comes into your head,
however surreal, you just say it out loud and somebody's going to write it down
onto a whiteboard.

The second rule is the quantity of ideas is more important than the quality. We just
want as many ideas on the whiteboard as possible, and then eventually, we're
going to rank them. When you're participating in brainstorming, you'll be expected
to build on the ideas put forward by others, never pushing back on them. Because
every person and every idea has equal worth during the actual brainstorming itself
before you rank those ideas.

Brainstorming is a lot of fun, particularly if you have a very capable and energetic
moderator. And it's quite amazing the ideas that can be generated. You can go very
deep into your own subconscious mind and extract images and thoughts and
concepts that you didn't even know were there. So why don't you try it the next
time you have a particular problem? An advertising campaign? A strategy meeting?
Have a brainstorming session beforehand.

Ok, Here is our final common expression. He didn't have the energy for a late night
fight about work life balance. It had been a day of non-stop stress.

What is work life balance and why is it so important? Well, in short, work life
balance is in equilibrium between your professional life and your personal life. You
are able to spend enough time on each to satisfy yourself and the needs of your
work and the needs of your family. You are able to prioritize the demands of your
career and the demands of your personal life.

Now, here's a question for you. Do you have a work life balance?

Well, very few people do. It seems to be an ideal that we are all struggling to
reach. Well, here are some ways to reach that ideal.

Firstly set very clear boundaries in your life. Set very clear boundaries and clear
work hours so the company knows when they can contact you and when you'll be
out of contact.

I have two friends. They work for the same technology company. One of them has
set very clear boundaries as to when he's available, when he's not, and the other
one hasn't. So the second one is always given the extra work and always accepts it.
Who do you think has a better work life balance out of those two? It's obvious,
right? So really, it's in your hands to send a clear signal to your company and your
manager.

But the second thing is, of course, prioritize your health. Don't move your yoga
class because you might have a meeting. Don't cancel your bike ride because you
might need to stay late at work. The yoga and the bike ride take priority over the
meetings.

Thirdly, don't be afraid to unplug.

When I go away on holiday, I shut down social media. I send a message to

everybody on LinkedIn saying I'm not posting for the next six weeks. I'll see you in
September. And that works for me.

And then finally, in the words of Michelle Obama, plan your joy.

I think that's a great line and a great philosophy: plan your joy.

You know what it means, right? So you look at your year or you look at the next few
years and you put certain pleasurable things into your diary, so that you can look
forward to them and you know that you're not going to change those plans if
anything else comes up. Plan your joy.

Okay with that excellent piece of advice, we come to the end of today's class. Make
sure you join us for the next podcast. You can find out what happens to Luis and his
team and how Lola eventually gets drawn into this situation. As we continue to
entertain you to a leadership level of business English.

Until then, keep practicing and remember: Plan your joy!

Chapter 9: The North Koreans

Park Jae Bong was a genius. He attended the University of Technology in

Pyongyang, North Korea, where he obtained a master's degree in physics,
graduating top of his class. He was immediately recruited by the country's state-
sponsored hacking organization. Within a year, he had created and released
WannaCry, one of the world's costliest ransomware attacks.

Over the following three years, he generated hundreds of millions of dollars for his
government through brilliant and devastating computer-related frauds.

Within the international hacking community he was considered a demigod. Nobody

knew who he was or what he looked like, but his style of coding was unmistakable.

Within his own country, however, he was just another anonymous civil servant. He
wore the same smart casual clothes, traveled on the same public buses, and
received the same benefits as everyone else in his division. He operated in a small
cubicle in an enormous room with 13,000 other hackers. Each of them spent 16
hours a day in a continuous cycle of trial and errors until they bumped into a
system weakness. Park was the most imaginative and persistent of them all.

He worked closely with his best friend and confidant, Kim Dae Won. Their
personalities complemented each other perfectly. Park was, in many ways a typical
introverted computer geek, someone who found it much easier to communicate
with machines than with people. Kim, on the other hand, had a childlike
enthusiasm for the real world around him.

That morning. The two of them were monitoring the progress of their most recent
infiltration. The target was the Spanish branch of a Swiss insurance company
called SMZ. It was a classic ransomware attack. They had shot down a critical link
in the company's computer systems and demanded payment in the form of
cryptocurrencies.

Midday report: Park and Kim's concentration was interrupted by Kang, their direct
superior in Division 6523 of the Hacking Department. Kang was a functionary. He
walked around all day collecting reports that he didn't understand.

Park and Kim hated Kang. They hated being supervised by him. And above all, they
hated the pointless routine of producing daily reports that nobody read.

Here it is, sir, said Park, as he handed over the document.

Kang then asked a few standard questions.

Have you observed any new anomalies?

No, sir.

Have you crashed any systems?

No, sir.

Have you conducted any infiltrations?

No, sir.

What is the status of the SMZ attack?

They have three hours to respond.

Kang made a note in his report, then walked away without any acknowledgment.

Kim and Park waited until he was out of sight, and then they turned back to their
computers.They had some time to kill before the Bitcoin payment arrived.

Without anybody else in Division 6523 knowing, they bypassed the internal
security systems and accessed the uncensored Internet. It was a dangerous
activity. If either of the programmers were caught, they would be at best demoted,
at worst imprisoned. But this didn't deter them. After all, they were the smartest
guys in the room.

For the next couple of hours, the two Koreans surfed the web, consuming the
content that most interested them.

Park checked the BBC, New York Times and Russia Today for international news.
Kim signed into his Disney Plus account and continued watching episodes of Star
Wars Rebels. To the two of them, the Western world was both alien and fascinating.

With 15 minutes to go before the deadline of their attack, they received an

unexpected notification on their screens. Their attack had been disarmed, their
code erased, and an upgraded firewall put in place.

I can't believe it, said Park.

We were so close, said Kim.

They sat in silence in their little cubicles, feeling defeated and deflated. Almost a
month's work had come to nothing.

We'll get them next time.

Yes, we will.

Park hated being beaten by another coder. To lose like this was a humiliation.

He started typing instructions into his computer.

Let's start again.

Are you kidding?

They've reprogrammed their whole system.

They're still vulnerable.

Come on, comrade. It's time to go home.

I'm staying.

Kim sighed and shook his head. He logged off, shut down, and headed for the exit.
He knew it was pointless to argue with his best friend when he was in this sort of
mood.

Park turned back to his computer and stared into the abyss of cyberspace. He
closed his eyes and tried to visualize the people he was targeting.

Who were they? What were they like? What did they look like? He tried to put
himself into their shoes.

Whoever had defeated Park Jae Bong was going to feel the full force of his
revenge. He wasn't just going to rehack SMZ. He was going to attack the company
that protected them. He was going to bring down TechSpania.

Well, I wonder what Park is going to do next. We'll find out in a future episode.

But let's start off today by talking a little bit about hacking and cyber security.
Listen to these sentences again.

It was a classic ransomware attack. They had shut down a critical link in the
company's computer systems and demanded payment in the form of
cryptocurrencies.
What is ransomware?

Okay, so what is a ransom? When a ransom is a sum of money demanded in

exchange for someone or something that has been taken away.

So gangsters, for example, sequester or kidnap the children of rich people and
then demand a ransom.

They say pay us some money and only then will we free your son.

So ransomware is computer code that enters your computer system as a virus, and
then it stops your software from operating. You need to pay the hackers in order to
free your files.

Ransomware generates billions of dollars every year in payments to

cybercriminals. And it inflicts significant damage and expenses for businesses and
government organizations.

The average ransomware payment in 2021 was $570,000. Only two years earlier, it
was only $120,000.

So as you can see, this is a growing threat. This is a very profitable business for
cyber criminals because, think about it, what would you do if you suffered from a
ransomware attack? How much would you or your company pay to free your files,
to be able to operate again?

Imagine you work for a bank or an airline company or an online retailer. How much
would it cost your company to miss just one day of business?

In many cases, the cost would be much more than $570,000. And that's why people
pay. That's why ransomware is so effective. And that is what Park Jae-bong and
Kim Dae-won are doing to generate revenue for the North Korean government.

Now, in this particular case, they were prevented from achieving their goal by Luis
Bruña and the team at TechSpania.

But they, like all hackers and kidnappers, will be back.

Let's move on to some pronunciation work. Have a listen to this again.

Kang then asked a few standard questions.

Have you observed any new anomalies?

No, sir.

Have you crashed any systems?

No, sir.

Have you conducted any infiltrations?

No, sir.

Observed. Crashed. Concluded.

These three verbs have been chosen for a reason.

They are all past, simple, regular verbs ending in -ed. However, the ED at the end
of each of these verbs is pronounced differently in each case. And this causes
terrible problems for non-native speakers.

It's very common to hear people express these verbs phonetically.

For example, "observ-ed", "crash-ed" and "conclud-ed" when in fact they should be
pronounced "obzerv'd" with a d sound at the end, "crasht" with a t sound at the
end, and "concludid" with an "id" sound at the end.

Native speakers don't even think about this. It all comes naturally because they
have grown up learning English as a spoken language. When they eventually see
these words written down, they have already internalized how the words are
pronounced.

On the other hand, non-native speakers often learn the written word first. And
therefore it's quite logical for them to assume that the ED at the end of each of
these words is pronounced exactly the same.

So how do you know which pronunciation applies to which verbs?

Well, there are about 12 or so different rules to learn here, and we are not going to
go through them one by one. What we're going to do instead is we are going to test
you. We are going to find out if you have an ear for the difference between these
particular pronunciations, if you have an instinctive sense for what is right.

Should it be pronounced -d as in "observed"?

Should it be pronounced -t as in "crashed"?

Or should it be pronounced -id as in "concluded"?

So here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to say "every day I observe".

And I want you to say out loud: "yesterday, I observed".

So I'm going to say the present simple. And you're going to turn it into the past
simple.

Now you must say these words out loud and you must pronounce these words very
clearly.

They must end in a -d, -t or -id.

Are you ready? Let's do nine verbs.

Here we go.

Every day I ask.

Every day I increase.

Every day I influence.

Every day I borrow.

Every day I receive.

Every day I manage.

Every day I accept.

Every day I decide.

And finally, every day I succeed.

Ok. How did you do? Let's see if you got them correct.

In fact, what I did here was create a pattern because the first three verbs all ended
in the -t sound. So you should be saying yesterday I "ask-t", yesterday I "incris-t".
and yesterday I "influens-t".

The second three verbs ended in a -d sound. So you should have said yesterday I
"borrow-d", yesterday I "reciv-d" and yesterday I "maneg-d.

That's a difficult one, isn't it, where you have a "g" followed by the ED.

Try it again. Yesterday I managed.

Yesterday I judged.

Yesterday I challenged.

Whenever you have a verb that ends in G, the ED is just pronounced -d.

And finally, the final three verbs all had the ID sound at the end. So you should
have said "accept-id". "disaïd-id" and "succid-id".

So the question is, how do you dominate this pronunciation point? How do you
learn which is which?

Well, first, as an advanced speaker, you just have to be aware of this. You have to
be aware of the three different sounds.

And then secondly, you have to listen actively to native speakers on the TV and on
the radio.

And finally, you have to question yourself when you're speaking:

Did I get that right? Did that sound right?

And if you're unsure, always check. Remember as a high, intermediate or advanced

speaker, as you are, your improvement is a continual and gradual work in progress.
The more actively you listen and engage and discuss with native speakers, the
more you will improve.

Ok. Our final discussion today concerns these sentences here. Listen carefully,
because within this paragraph is the number one most difficult grammatical
structure for non-native speakers to apply correctly. So listen carefully.

He closed his eyes and tried to visualize the people he was targeting. Who were
they? What were they like? What did they look like?

Ok. Before we discuss that number one, most difficult grammatical structure, we're
going to play another game. And this is how it works. I'm going to say a statement.
And you are going to ask me the corresponding question. So I say,

"It's blue".

And you say, "What color is it?"

I say "I'm 49 years old".

And you say, "How old are you?"

So we're going to practice constructing interrogatives here in this game. And even
native English speakers who listen to this podcast can have fun with this little
game. And by that I mean my mom and dad.

Hi, Maggie and Brian!

I hope you're well and we'll have a good little chat on Sunday.

Okay, here we go. We're going to do five more examples. Are you ready? I say the
statement. You say the corresponding question. Let's do this.

He's from Paris.

He makes €20,000 a year.

He goes to the gym once a week.

He is tall, blond and good-looking.

He is kind, generous and patient.

How did you do?

Let's go through them one by one.

Okay, here we go.

He's from Paris. Where is he from?

He makes €20,000 a year. How much does he make a year?

He goes to the gym once a week. How often does he go to the gym?

He's tall, blond and good-looking.

Ok, This is it. This is the difficult one. This is one of the most difficult grammatical
structures to apply because it's seemingly makes no sense.

He is tall, blond and good-looking.

What does he look like?

Here we are questioning somebody's physical appearance. And if you translate it

from your root language, you're going to probably end up with the sentence: "How
is he?"

And that is not correct. That is a different question.

When we're asking about somebody's physical appearance, you've just got to
memorize this sentence. What does he look like? Repeat it as a mantra. What does
he look like? What does he look like? Because I've done this exercise with students
many, many times.

And often it takes weeks and weeks and weeks for them to get the sentence "How
is he?" out of their head and put the sentence "What does he look like?" into their
head.

And just to confuse things a little bit more. The question that corresponds to the
final statement. "He is kind, generous and patient." is "What is he like?"

When we're asking about somebody's personality or their character, we say, "What
is he like?" When we ask about their physical appearance, we say, "What does he
look like?" And it's only when we're asking about their health do we say, "How is
he?"

Your grandfather is in hospital. How is he?

Okay, so these three interrogative sentences often confuse non-native speakers.

You need to practice, you need to memorize and you need to become confident
with them.

Ok. On that note, we come to the end of today's class and I hope that you have
been interacting today. I hope that you've been speaking out loud because the
more you engage in these exercises, the more you absorb. And remember: if you
want to improve your English and do more exercises like these on a more formal
basis, you can sign up to our online Business English Platform: Club Gratton, live,
interactive and fun classes with me and my partner Marina, and a bunch of other
smart professional people just like you.

So if you search "Club Gratton" in Google, you'll find us. We also hope that you can
join us for the next episode of our podcast because the situation is beginning to get
hot. There are many questions to answer.

Lola Badiola. What happened to her after her mind went blank?

Luis Bruña. How can he and his department succeed?

The North Koreans. What will they do next?

And of course, Cayetano Tolosa. What is he really like?

Until then, keep practicing and remember the mantra.

What does he look like?

Chapter 10: Coffee

Lola looked into the eyes of her all-male colleagues and her mind went completely
blank. There were no words, no ideas, no thoughts. There was nothing. Just a
blank. Her heart raced, her legs trembled, and the walls of the room started to
close in on her. She looked across at JJ, who was patiently waiting for her to start
her speech.

In the middle of the audience, she noticed an immaculately dressed man. His hair
was jailed back and his sleeves were rolled up. He was staring at her with a smile
on his face.

Was he encouraging her? Or was he enjoying her suffering? Either way, it jolted
her out of the inertia.

She focused her attention on her breath, cleared her head of all the negative
energy, and moved forwards.

Thank you very much for such a warm welcome. I'm so happy to be part of this
team. I'm really looking forward to working with you to make the digital world a
safer place.

It wasn't a great speech, short and bland, but it was good enough to save Lola from
a public meltdown, and for that, she was thankful.

Lola stood alone in the women's bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. It had
been almost three years since her last panic attack. Her therapy and yoga sessions
had helped control these self-destructive tendencies. Ever since she was a
teenager, she had fought an ongoing battle with the little demons inside her head.
She knew the triggers: alcohol, caffeine, lack of sleep, stress, and she avoided
them as much as she could.

She took some cold water in her hands and splashed it over her cheeks. She was
determined to keep her condition a secret from her new colleagues. Mental
strength was considered essential in her line of business. She didn't want to be
stigmatized.

Waiting for her outside the bathroom was Cayetano Tolosa.

Hey, nice speech.

Thanks.

Do you have time for a coffee?

Lola's father had once warned her to be suspicious of the first person who wanted
to be your friend. When you started a new job, moved to a new neighborhood, or
joined a new team. He believed that they always had a hidden agenda.

Sure.

She knew she would be working very closely with Cayetano. It was therefore a
good idea to to find out his strengths and weaknesses as soon as possible. He had
never worked in the cybersecurity sector and she had never worked in a startup
environment, so they had something in common. They were both fish out of water.

I know the best place for pintxos around here, he said.

Great.

Lola followed Cayetano out of the office and down onto Gran via. It was a relatively
quiet morning, only a few tourists for the pickpockets to target. Lola held her
handbag close to her body as they headed onto one of the quieter side streets.

Cayetano was a little taller than her, but this was only because of the six-
centimeter heels of his Balenciaga boots. He clearly spent a lot of money on his
appearance. He wore a skin-tight Armani jeans, a shiny white shirt by Karl
Lagerfeld and a Burberry winter jacket. He was either living beyond his means or
he was independently wealthy.

Coffee with milk, said Cayetano to the old man behind the bar at the cafe.

Fresh orange juice, please.

Smoke?

No.

Do you mind if we sit outside so I can have a cigarette?

Sure.

They took their drinks and sat at a small round table next to the entrance of the
cafe.

Cayetano lit his cigarette and looked coolly into the distance.

So what brought you to JBlock? Lola asked.

Cayetano took a sip of his coffee, a drag of his cigarette, and then smiled: the
money.

It was an ironic comment. The salary and benefits at JBlock were lower than more
established companies.

It was true that all the employees had an equity stake in the company, but at that
point it was valueless, Cayetano continued.

My cousin introduced me to JJ. I knew I had to work at JBlock. The guy's a

visionary.

Did you have a job interview?

Of course, replied Cayetano. I prepared like a maniac, read everything, anticipated

the questions. Then I practiced my answers in English out loud.

What kind of questions did he ask you?

Cayetano crushed his cigarette into the ashtray and looked Lola straight in the eye.

You think I'm only here because of my connections, don't you? The expression on
Cayetano's face changed. The peacocks strutting down Gran via was suddenly just
a sad and vulnerable duckling.

Lola couldn't help sympathizing with him. She knew what it was like to be an
outsider. She leaned forward.

Hey, if JJ offered you the job, then you deserve the job. As you said, the guy's a
visionary.

Thanks, Lola.

Cayetano reached forward and gently held her arm. It was an unexpected gesture,
and Lola wasn't sure how to respond.

That's a beautiful watch, he said.

They both looked down at the large watch on Lola's thin wrist.

It was my father's. It's a Patek Philippe in white gold.

Cayetano completed her sentence.

Your father was a very stylish man.

He released her arm. It's a pity that it doesn't have the original strap.

Once again, Lola was unsure how to respond. She had inherited the watch and
replaced the crocodile skin strap with a synthetic alternative that looked almost
identical. Nobody had ever noticed before.
Shall we head back to the office? he said. I need to follow up a few sales leads.

What do you think is going through Lola's mind at the end of this chapter? How
does she feel about Cayetano Tolosa? And how does he feel about her? It's going to
be interesting to see how their professional relationship develops.

But right now, let's go back to the beginning of the chapter. Lola is in the bathroom
having the following thoughts:

Mental strength was considered essential in her line of business. She didn't want
to be stigmatized. Let's talk about mental health at work and the words associated
with it.

Meltdown. Panic attack. Nervous breakdown.

These are similar ways of expressing the same thing. The inability to control
ourselves in a situation of stress or discomfort.

A panic attack tends to be a severe but brief experience, a sudden period of

anxiety in which your heart beats fast, you have trouble breathing, and you feel as
if something very bad is going to happen.

A nervous breakdown or, more informally, a meltdown, is more long term and
probably follows a gradual period of deterioration. It is considered to be a form of
mental illness, usually without any physical cause.

People who suffer from mental illnesses such as panic attacks and nervous
breakdowns are often stigmatized. So what is a stigma?

Well, this is a strong feeling of disapproval. So if something is stigmatized, it is

considered to be a mark of disgrace in modern society. And often people don't talk
about their mental illnesses in the way that they talk about their physical illnesses
because of this stigma.

So let me tell you a true story about mental illness. It is the story of Antonio Horta
Osorio.

Antonio was a charming, handsome and quite brilliant banker. At the age of 34, he
became the head of Banco Santander's Portuguese operation and a member of the
management committee of Banco Santander. Many people believe that he could
eventually be the CEO of the whole bank. But there was one thing that stood in his
way and her name was Ana Botin. The daughter of the man who created the bank.

And so, when Antonio was offered the position of CEO at Lloyds Bank, one of the
UK's oldest and most prestigious financial institutions, he took it.

The year was 2011, the height of the financial crisis. In the first eight months as
CEO, he worked intensely and tirelessly to help rescue Lloyd's from a very difficult
financial situation. The company's shareholders, employees and even the British
government had confidence that he could rescue the bank.

And then one day, without any warning, Antonio Horta Osorio didn't come to the
office. He just disappeared. Nobody knew where he was or what he was doing. One
day passed and then the next. And the next. And still no sign of the CEO. And then
the bank announced that he had checked into a mental health clinic for two
months of medical leave.

You see, he hadn't slept for five days straight due to the stress of his job, and he
had become deeply depressed and eventually he suffered a nervous breakdown.
The financial community was in shock. This surely meant the early end to a
brilliant career. After all, mental illness was stigmatized, particularly in the macho
world of international finance.

But the financial community underestimated Antonio Horta Osorio. After two
months recuperation and with the ongoing help of a psychiatrist, he returned to
the leadership role at Lloyd's. And over the next few years, he saved the company
from bankruptcy and he returned it to profitability.

He also became a high profile campaigner for mental health awareness, speaking
openly and honestly about his own experiences. He introduced mental health
programs at Lloyd's, which acted as a model for other banks and other companies
to do the same thing.

And in 2020, after he assumed dual nationality, he was knighted by the Queen of
England Sir Antonio Horta Osorio. The highest honor that can be given to a British
citizen.

He had turned the most negative thing in his life into the most positive.

Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go before the stigma of mental illness is
completely removed from the business world and actually the world in general.
And that is why, in this particular chapter, Lola is eager to hide her past from her
new colleagues.

Okay, now let's move on. Let's discuss some common expressions.

We have three of them today. And here is the first one.

Lola's father had once warned her to be suspicious of the first person who wanted
to be your friend when you started a new job, moved to a new neighborhood or
joined a new team. He believed that they always had a hidden agenda.

What is a hidden agenda? Well, this is a situation where someone secretly tries to
achieve a particular goal while they appear to be doing something else.

Do you agree with Lola's father's point of view? Be careful with people who want to
be your best friend. When you move into a new situation because he believes that
they often have a hidden agenda.

When Marina and I bought our first house in southwest London back in 2004, we
were really excited to start our new life in our new community. And the day we
moved in, there was a knock at the door. And it was a smiling woman. One of our
neighbors. And she had brought us a little welcoming gift. And we were thrilled. So
we invited her in for a cup of coffee and we sat down and we had a nice long chat.
And she asked us a lot of questions about ourselves. Little did we know at the time
that she was the local gossip and everything we said to her was then repeated to
all of our new neighbors.

She had a hidden agenda. It appeared like she wanted to welcome us to the
community when in fact, she just wanted to satisfy her own curiosity.

Now, in our story, Lola suspects that Cayetano Tolosa may have a hidden agenda
when he invites her out for a cup of coffee. Do you agree?

Okay, here's another common expression. Listen to this one.

He had never worked in the cyber security sector and she had never worked in a
startup environment. So they had something in common. They were both fish out
of water.

If you feel like a fish out of water, you do not feel comfortable or relaxed because
you are in an unusual or unfamiliar situation. Do you feel like a fish out of water
when you have to speak English in front of a group of international people? Well,
let me tell you something: You shouldn't.

If you are a non-native speaker and you can understand this podcast, then you can
handle any situation in English. And here's the thing. 80% of the people who you
do business with in English are non-native speakers, just like you.

It's the native speakers that are the problem. They should feel like the fish out of
water. Not you.

Here's our third and final expression.

He was either living beyond his means or he was independently wealthy.

To live beyond your means. It simply means to spend more money than you can
afford. You are living a lifestyle that is excessive and unsustainable. You are living
beyond your means.

Now, Cayetano is dressed in designer clothing from head to toe. He's got
Balenciaga, he's got Hermes, He's got Karl Lagerfeld. Do you think he's living
beyond his means?

The last thing we are going to discuss today is irony. Listen to this again.

So what brought you to JBlock? Lola asked.

Cayetano took a sip of his coffee, a drag of his cigarette, and then smiled: the
money.

It was an ironic comment.

What is irony? How do you define it? It's quite a difficult concept to put into words.
Well, there is verbal irony, which is what is being used here. And this is when you
say the opposite of what you mean in order to emphasize what you mean.

It's easy to see in an example. So when it's raining, you say to your friend: "lovely
weather".

When you get fired from your job, you say: "Wonderful!"

And when a presentation you're watching is really boring, you turn to your
colleague and you say: "Fascinating presentation!"

That is irony. Saying the opposite of what you mean to emphasize what you mean.
So why do you do this? Why do you say the opposite of what you mean?

Well, it's a very powerful way of connecting with your listener. You are speaking in
code and they understand that code. And that means that you're part of the same
tribe. It brings you closer together. And that is what Cayetano is doing in this
chapter. By making this ironic comment, he's connecting with Lola. He is implying
that they are both from the same tribe.

Now understanding and correctly applying irony is beyond C2-level English. It is

super advanced and it's something they don't teach you at language schools. But
it's something you need to discover and learn for yourself by reading books,
watching TV programs, and going for drinks with your international friends.
And with that happy thought in mind, we come to the end of today's class.

Remember, if you want to improve your English on a more formal basis, you can
sign up for our online business English Platform Club Gratton. It's live interactive.
It's fun classes with me and Marina and a bunch of other smart, professional
people just like you. And we do go beyond the normal language classes and include
elements of cross-cultural communication. For example, when and how do you use
irony?

So search Club Gratton in Google and you'll find us.

And of course, we hope you can join us for the next episode of our podcast.

Until then, keep practicing. And remember, beware of people with a hidden
agenda.

Chapter 11: The Interview

JJ got onto his electric scooter and rode through the rush-hour traffic of central
Madrid. It was already 8:30, and he had a busy morning ahead of him. He had to
pick up his residency permit from the town hall. Then, he had to drop off various
documents relating to his business at the tax office. After that, he had an
appointment for an interview with an American journalist at Cyber Story magazine
at a restaurant near Plaza Colon. He was running late, but every time he tried to
speed up, a car, truck, or bus would get in his way, and he would have to slow
down. He looked forward to a world where all large vehicles were banned from the
city centers.
It was 11:15 by the time he reached Platea on Calle de Goya, an Art Deco cinema
that had been converted into a series of interconnected restaurants. The journalist
was already at the bar waiting for him.
"Hi, Bradley Manson."
"JJ Thomson."
"Orange juice?"
"Sounds good."
"You know, I've spent more than 18 months living in Spain, and I still can't say
zumo de naranja." JJ smiled. "I can't double roll my rrs. That's why I never travel by
ferrocarril."
They both chuckled. After a little more small talk, the journalist got straight to
asking JJ some standard questions about his past business life.
"Your first big success was ePort, wasn't it?"
JJ had worked with the San Francisco Port Authority to design software that would
dramatically improve the logistics within the port. There were great inefficiencies
in the way that oil tankers, cargo ships, and yachts navigated inland. There were
even greater inefficiencies in the way that the freight was dropped off by the ships
and picked up by the awaiting trucks and trains. JJ had designed an algorithm that
minimized the amount of time and movement of each boat using the port. The cost
savings were worth tens of millions of dollars a year. When other port authorities
around the world heard about the success in San Francisco, JJ's phone didn't stop
ringing.
"And then you sold ePort to a private equity firm, didn't you?"
"That's right. I love creating businesses. Other people love building them."
"What's the secret to your success?"
"Every tech entrepreneur needs the right mix of hard skills and soft skills. Clearly,
you need to have the technical ability. You need to be able to write code and
implement best practice in your business. But you also need to understand people.
You need to be able to communicate, influence, lead, negotiate, and work in a
team. And you need to do all of this with integrity."
"Your current venture's called JBlock, isn't it?"
"JBlock is a startup cybersecurity company using blockchain technology to
revolutionize the fight against corporate crime."
JJ explained in detail the plans to compete against the big companies that
protected the status quo in the IT sector. He explained how the software that his
company was developing would surpass any products that were currently in the
cybersecurity market. Just like ePort, it would drastically reduce the operational
costs of doing business, and in doing so, it would put some powerful IT companies
out of business.
"It's David versus Goliath", said JJ, "and we all know how that story ended."
The journalist clearly liked the sentence and wrote it word for word into his
notepad.
"How do you think the incumbents will react?" he asked.
"That's their business," replied JJ. "My job as CEO of JBlock is to focus on mine."
At the end of the interview, JJ and the American journalist from Cyber Story
magazine exchanged numbers and agreed to go out for a beer together before the
end of the month. JJ picked up an electric scooter just outside of Platea and headed
back to the office. It was 12:45 p.m., and streets were now relatively free of traffic.
Following close behind him was a black Toyota Prius.

This is a very dense chapter with a lot of business vocabulary and concepts. So,
let's work our way through the key learning points. Slowly but surely.
At the beginning of the chapter, we find out about JJ Thomson's first successful
company: ePort. Have a listen to this again:
JJ had worked with the San Francisco Port Authority to design software that would
dramatically improve the logistics within the port. There were great inefficiencies
in the way that oil tankers, cargo ships, and yachts navigated inland. There were
even greater inefficiencies in the way that the freight was dropped off by the ships
and picked up by the awaiting trucks and trains. JJ had designed an algorithm that
minimized the amount of time and movement of each boat using the port.
So, let's start off by reviewing some of the keywords: logistics. This is the
organization and implementation of a complex operation. The adjective is
logistical. For example, there are many logistical inefficiencies in international
ports. And here's another example. It is a logistical nightmare trying to get my
three teenage daughters to school in the morning.
Okay, next we have the words cargo and freight. These are synonyms, and they
refer to the commercial goods that are transported in large quantities, either by
truck or train or ship or aircraft. They do not refer to passengers.
We also have the word: yacht. This, of course, is a large and usually expensive
boat. Now, most people spell and pronounce this word incorrectly. So, for the
record, it is spelled Y-A-C-H-T. And it is pronounced "yot".
Another keyword is algorithm, and this is simply a set of rules to be followed in
calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
So, now let's put all that vocabulary together. What do we get? ePort uses
algorithms to improve the logistics of the delivery of freight or cargo into a port.
And in our story, ePort is a hugely successful company and JJ sells it for many
millions of dollars. Well done, JJ.
Ok, let's move on to some everyday phrasal verbs. Have a listen to this again:
He was running late, but every time he tried to speed up, a car, truck or bus would
get in his way and he would have to slow down.
Native English speakers are likely to use the phrasal verbs "to speed up" and "to
slow down" in everyday conversation rather than their Latin-based synonyms "to
accelerate" and "to decelerate." Now, this is a typical challenge for non-native
speakers because the Latin-based alternative is easy to understand, particularly for
southern Europeans who speak romance languages like Italian, Spanish,
Romanian, and many others. On the other hand, the phrasal verb is really not so
easy to understand. And this is something that the native English speaker should
really bear in mind if they're in an international environment. If you are a native
English speaker making a speech or writing a report, it is helpful to choose the
Latin-based word over the phrasal verb.
Here is another example.
He had to pick up his residency permit from the town hall. Then, he had to drop off
various documents relating to his business at the tax office.
"Drop off" and "pick up" two very common phrasal verbs. Their synonyms would be
"to deliver" and "to collect". And once again, these Latin-based synonyms are much
easier for non-native English speakers to understand.
So, here are the key learning points: If you are a non-native speaker, try to learn 2
or 3 new phrasal verbs every week. Don't try to memorize long lists. That is a
depressing and futile activity. Remember, this is a constant work in progress for
you as a high, intermediate, or advanced non-native speaker.
If you are a native English speaker, I recommend you look for formal Latin-based
alternatives to the phrasal verb when you're communicating in an international
environment. So, for example, "speed up" becomes "accelerate," "slow down"
becomes "decelerate," "pick up" becomes "collect," and "drop off" becomes
"deliver."
Let's move on to some pronunciation work. Listen to this interaction again.
You know, I've spent more than 18 months living in Spain and I still can't say "zumo
de naranja." JJ smiled. I can't double roll my rrs. That's why I never travel by
ferrocarril.
We do a lot of pronunciation work in this podcast. Normally, I'm helping non-native
speakers avoid the typical mispronunciations in English. But, there are always
certain combinations of sounds that will be extremely difficult to reproduce
naturally simply because these combinations are not common in your native
language. So your mouth, your tongue, your palate are not accustomed to making
the combination of movements required to make the sound.
And that is equally true for me when I am trying to speak Spanish. I'm just like the
two Americans in this chapter. Every time I order an orange juice at a bar in
Madrid, it feels like a vocal contortion to produce the words "zumo de naranja"
because there is no "zu" sound in English. There is no "j" sound in English. These
are new syllables for me. They are new vocal formations for my mouth. And I find it
extremely difficult to make them flow in a natural way. And I also find it extremely
difficult to roll my rrs. RRRR. Ok, I did it just then, but I was really concentrating.
You see, there is no rrr in my southern English pronunciation. I have to make a
huge effort to say the word ferrocarril. Okay, so this word actually has two double
R combinations. And it means railway. So it's a very important word to be able to
express clearly and correctly.
Now, what happens when I say "ferrocarril" in Spanish? In order to make those R's
roll, in order to get that right sound, my body becomes tense. I look like I'm in a
great deal of pain. And it's actually quite disturbing for the people I'm speaking to.
They kind of look at me with a strange expression. Are you okay, Sam?
So I've decided, rather than making that extraordinary effort to roll my rrs, I'm just
going to say "fero caril". I'm not even going to try to roll my rs. I'm just going to
accept that when I speak Spanish, I will never sound like a Spanish person. And
that's okay. My English accent when I speak Spanish is part of who I am. It's part
of my heritage. It's part of my personality. My Spanish wife thinks it's adorable.
And I'm proud of it. As long as you can understand me, I'm happy with my accent.
And that's exactly how you should feel about your accent when you're speaking
English, be it a Spanish accent, a French accent, a Japanese accent, whatever your
accent is. Because in international business all accents are equally valid so long as
the person listening to you can understand you.
Just before we move on, it is interesting to note that most Scottish people can
indeed roll their R's. They can get that rrr sound very easily because it's a vocal
formation that is part of the way that many Scottish people express themselves.
And in case you didn't realize it, the wonderful narrator of our story, David
Monteith, is from Scotland. And he would have no problems saying the word
ferrocarril.
Okay, now let's move on to a couple of business concepts. Have a listen to this
again.
Every tech entrepreneur needs the right mix of hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills and soft skills. What's the difference? Well, hard skills are also known
as technical skills. They tend to be job-specific. So, for example, if you are applying
to be a computer programmer at an IT company, you probably need to know some
computer programming languages like C++ or Python. Hard skills are easy to test,
and they're easy to demonstrate. So, you can get a good sense of someone's hard
skills from their CV, from their curriculum vitae.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are general characteristics and part of your
personality, and they include your communication skills, your ability to collaborate
with other people, your ability to solve problems. So, they're not so obvious on your
CV and they tend to become apparent during an interview process.
And as you move up the career ladder, as you get promoted, the importance of
your hard skills tends to decline, and the relevance and importance of your soft
skills tend to increase. So, for example, senior managers in a bank are no longer
calculating discounted cash flows. They are communicating with clients, they are
motivating their team. They are creating a vision for the future of the company. So,
as you move up the career ladder, your hard skills become less relevant and your
soft skills become more relevant.
Finally, let's return to JBlock. What is going to happen when JJ Thomson launches
his company and competes in the cybersecurity sector? Have a listen to this again.
He explained how the software that his company was developing would surpass
any products that were currently in the cybersecurity market. Just like ePort, it
would drastically reduce the operational costs of doing business, and in doing so, it
would put some powerful IT companies out of business.
"It's David versus Goliath", said JJ. "And we all know how that story ended."
So JJ plans to disrupt the cybersecurity market. His small startup intends to
compete with and conquer the huge incumbent IT companies. He sees JBlock as
David and techSpania as Goliath. So, let's just remind ourselves again of that story
and why the metaphor is so appropriate.
So, in the famous Bible story, the young boy, David, beats Goliath by using a
strategy that Goliath wasn't expecting. Instead of fighting the giant in the
conventional way with armor and with a sword, he used a slingshot and stones. So,
even though Goliath was bigger, it didn't mean that Goliath was better. In fact,
Goliath had some major disadvantages. He was big, dumb, and slow-moving. While
David was fast, smart, and innovative.
Now, there are some very interesting examples of David and Goliath situations in
the world of business. And probably the most famous one is how Netflix conquered
Blockbuster video.
So this is how the story goes. In 1997, Reed Hastings, who's now the CEO of
Netflix, he returned the video of Apollo 13 to Blockbuster and received a $40 late
fee. And this fee seemed very unfair to him. So, he came up with the idea of
Netflix. Now, at that time, Blockbuster was the dominant player in the DVD rental
business. It had over $3 billion of revenue and over $200 million of profit.
Now, in 1999, a couple of years later, Netflix announced that they had created a
monthly subscription for DVD rentals, and they dropped all late fees. And
Blockbuster still didn't see this as a competitive threat. They didn't react to the
changes that were happening around them because Blockbuster was a huge
company with a big bureaucracy, and there wasn't a culture of innovation. It was a
big, dumb, slow-moving Goliath. While Netflix had the speed, intelligence and
dexterity of David. And we all know how the story ended with Netflix dominating
and Blockbuster in bankruptcy.
So, in our story, JJ Thompson sees himself in the role of Netflix or in the role of
David, and Tech Spania in the role of Blockbuster or the role of Goliath. And he
believes he is going to win this battle in exactly the way that they did: by using his
innovation, by using his dexterity and by using his intelligence.
So what do you think? Who's going to win this battle? Well, we have a long way to
go before we find out. And on that question, we come to the end of this episode. We
hope you can join us for the next episode of this podcast. Until then, keep
practicing and ask yourself the question: Whose side are you on? David's. Or
Goliath's.

Chapter 12: The Press Conference

Lola and Cayetano returned to the Adriatica building on Gran Via. After their
coffee together, they were having a friendly chat about the best restaurants in the
area, but stopped abruptly when they entered the office. The whole JBlock team
was standing together, silently, looking up at the television screen on the main
wall. It was showing one of the 24-hour business news channels. Lola and
Cayetano joined the rest of the group.
"What's going on?" asked Cayetano.
"Shh! Just listen!" replied one of the coders dismissively.
A press conference was just about to begin. All the journalists and photographers
were in their seats waiting for the presentation to start. The side door opened, and
through it walked two people that Lola knew very well: her ex-boss, Luis Bruña,
and the CEO of TechSpania, Mario Ruiz de Velasco. The two men sat down at a
long table with their lawyers, either side of them.
"Hey, Lola. Old friends of yours!" shouted JJ from across the room.
Lola moved forward to see the screen more closely. Mario looked as elegant and
imperious as ever, but Luis was merely a shadow of himself. His face was white as
a sheet, and he had dark rings around his eyes. He looked ten years older than
when she had last seen him.
"What's this about?" Asked Lola.
"They've been hit," replied JJ.
"What?" Lola couldn't believe it. Europe's biggest IT company, the provider of
cybersecurity services to thousands of companies around the world, had been
hacked.
"Their share price is down 20%," added JJ.
Before Lola could react, the press conference started.
"Good morning, everyone", said Mario in his customary, relaxed but authoritative
manner. "Yesterday afternoon at exactly 2 p.m., we experienced an intrusion in our
systems. Let me explain the context of this attack, the action we have taken, and
the results of that action. As you know, our company is one of the global leaders in
fintech, particularly in the area of cybersecurity. A few days ago, we successfully
neutralized a ransomware attack on a Swiss insurance company. Shortly after that,
the same group of hackers gained access to our own systems and released a series
of viruses. We immediately shut down the infected areas and disarmed the viruses
one by one. Within six hours, we were once again fully operational. I am proud of
the way our team has responded to this crisis, and I wish to reassure our clients,
investors, and all our stakeholders that we have everything under control. We
remain a stable and profitable company in a challenging and disruptive sector. I
will now answer your questions."
There was a slight pause in the proceedings before one of the journalists took hold
of a microphone.
"Bradley Manson, Cyber Story Magazine. Do you know who is responsible for the
attack?"
"It is too early to comment on that: rogue hacker or hostile government, I cannot
confirm or deny either of those possibilities."
A journalist raised her hand and, without waiting for permission to speak, she
asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "What does it say about the safety
of our data if the company protecting our data is vulnerable to attack?"
There was a murmur around the press conference. This was the elephant in the
room, and it needed to be addressed.
"We are living in unprecedented times", said Mario Ruiz de Velasco calmly and
confidently, having prepared for the questions with a rehearsed response that was
loaded with rhetorical devices. "A time when the integrity of data is coming under
threat from forces both foreign and domestic. A time when any company, big or
small, startup or multinational, is vulnerable to the insidious actions of criminals. It
is therefore, paramount that during these times we stick together, support each
other, and present a unified front. Let there be no doubt in anybody's mind:
TechSpania will fight back. TechSpania will prevail. TechSpania will continue to
counteract the causes of chaos. It is therefore, an opportune moment for me to
inform you of our current product pipeline."
"He's turning this press conference into a publicity stunt," said JJ.
"What's happening to share price?" shouted Diego.
"Still down 20%", replied one of the programmers monitoring his screen.
For the next ten minutes. Mario Ruiz de Velasco spoke about the upgrades the
company was making to its endpoint protection, network encryption, and web
application firewalls. It looked like he was going to bore the press conference into
submission until a journalist interrupted him with a question that caught
everyone's attention:
"Was it an inside job?"
"What do you mean?"
"Most malicious attacks are made by a company's current or ex-employees. Do you
think that was the case here?"
"We are pursuing all lines of investigation."
"Is it true that the account manager responsible for the Swiss insurance company
recently left?"
"Yes. We had to fire her."
The journalist made a note in his book and then asked.
"Is she implicated in this incident?"
Mario Ruiz de Velasco went back in his chair and took some advice from his lawyer.
Then he said, "That is something for the cybercrime department of the police force
to decide."
"What's her name?"
Ruiz de Velasco turned to Luis Bruña and waited. Luis hesitated for a moment,
then leaned forward so that his lips were touching the microphone.
"Lola Badiola. Her name is Lola Badiola."
Ruiz de Velasco gave the journalists time to write down the new information, and
then he looked directly into the television camera. "I hope that I can be the
invisible hand that guides the police towards these criminals whomsoever they
may be."
One by one, the JBlock team turned to look at Lola. She was frozen to the spot,
staring incredulously at the television screen and the sickening sensation of panic
started to rise from her stomach.

O-M-G. Oh, my God. TechSpania has been hacked, and we know who hacked them,
but they do not. And Mario Ruiz de Velasco has taken the opportunity in the press
conference to point the finger indirectly at Lola Badiola. O-M-G.
Okay, we're going to do something slightly different in the analysis of this chapter.
We will discuss a couple of common expressions, but our real focus is going to be
on public speaking skills. We will talk in depth about the speech that Mario Ruiz de
Velasco makes and the techniques he uses to make his words powerful, memorable
and persuasive.
Let's start with the question from the journalist that prompts the speech.
"What does it say about the safety of our data if the company protecting our data is
vulnerable to attack?"
There was a murmur around the press conference. This was the elephant in the
room, and it needed to be addressed.
"The elephant in the room". This is a wonderful expression. But what does it mean?
Well, it's a very important and sometimes controversial issue that everybody knows
about but nobody wants to talk about. Let's imagine you're sitting in your Monday
morning meeting and you're talking about administrative issues with your
colleagues. And there happens to be an African elephant sitting in the corner of the
room behind you. And nobody mentions it in the discussion. Everybody just ignores
the fact that there is this two-ton beast sitting behind you. That's the elephant in
the room. So, for example, if the company is struggling, it's losing money, there are
going to be redundancies, some people are going to lose their jobs. And in the
Monday morning meeting, the manager just continues with the usual
administrative issues. He doesn't address the real situation. He doesn't address the
problems that the company is having and the fact that some people might lose
their jobs because he doesn't want to, or he doesn't know how to, or maybe he's
not allowed to. He doesn't deal with the elephant in the room.
Now, in our story, the elephant in the room, in the press conference, is the fact that
TechSpania, the company that is meant to protect other companies, has itself been
hacked. So, this is the issue that everybody has to address, that everybody's
interested in. It's an important issue, and it's controversial. And, so up until the
point the journalist asks the question, people have been ignoring the elephant in
the room.
So how does Mario Ruiz de Velasco respond to this question? Let's have another
listen.
"We are living in unprecedented times", said Mario Ruiz de Velasco calmly and
confidently, having prepared for the questions with a rehearsed response that was
loaded with rhetorical devices.
Let's talk a little bit about public speaking. Whenever you make a speech, a
presentation, or in this case, deliver a press conference, you need to know who
your audience is, how they will respond, and potentially the questions that they
will ask. You need to adapt your style and the content of your speech according to
the type of audience you have. Now, in most cases, your audience will be friendly.
Believe it or not. They will want you to succeed. If you make a speech at the
Christmas party or at a wedding or even a company presentation, your listeners
will want you to succeed. They are on your side.
But what do you do if you face a hostile audience? Imagine you are the manager of
a factory, and you need to reduce wages. How would you announce your proposal?
What would you say? Imagine you are a politician and you need to increase taxes.
What would you say in your speech? Or in this case, you are the CEO of a company.
And you need to explain a costly failure to your shareholders, to your customers, or
to the awaiting journalists. How do you approach this leadership challenge? Well,
here are some advice if you ever have to face a hostile audience.
Firstly, you've got to be aware that your audience is going to be hostile. You need
to put yourself in their shoes. You need to be ready for their anger. Do not be
surprised by their reaction. Secondly, you need to be prepared. You need to
anticipate their questions. Prepare your answers and practice, practice, practice.
Ask your colleagues to roleplay with you. Ask them to attack you with the strongest
criticisms you can imagine. Thirdly, empathize with your audience. Do not fight fire
with fire. Listen actively, allow them to express themselves. Allow them to release
their frustration. And then try to genuinely understand their point of view. And
finally, once everyone has been allowed to release their anger and their frustration,
introduced new information. Make a new suggestion. Move the conversation
forwards, into the future.
Now in our story, it's clear that Mario Ruiz de Velasco has anticipated the
questions from the audience. He has prepared his responses and practiced them.
And so he remains calm and in control. And then eventually he introduces new
information to move the conversation forwards. He also uses some very effective
rhetorical devices in his speech to persuade the listening audience to agree with
him. Have a listen to the following again:
"TechSpania will fight back. TechSpania will prevail. TechSpania will continue to
counteract the causes of chaos."
Ok, there are a couple of rhetorical devices in this sentence. And by that, I mean a
choice of words that sounds good, that's memorable. And the fact is, if something
sounds good and is memorable, it is more likely to be believed whether it's true or
not. The first device is called anaphora: A-N-A-P-H-O-R-A. And this is the repetition
of a word or a phrase over and over again. So it becomes like a mantra, so the
audience never forgets. In this case: expand your will, expand your will, expand
your will. This is just like Winston Churchill's great wartime speech. "We will fight
them on the beaches. We will fight them on the landing grounds. We will fight them
and we will never surrender". Just like Martin Luther King's Lincoln Memorial
address: I have a dream, I have a dream, I have a dream, which he repeats eight
times in his 17-minute speech. So the speaker repeats this phrase in order that the
audience remembers it. And truly absorbs the message: that is anaphora.
The second device that Mario Ruiz de Velasco uses is called alliteration. This is the
repetition of a single letter at the beginning of successive words. And it just sounds
great. It's used in poetry, in advertising, and in a lot of common expressions.
TechSpania will continue to counteract the causes of chaos. Lots of K sounds there.
It's similar to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in which he says the
following: "I want my children to grow up in a word where they are not judged by
the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Color of their skin.
Content of their character. Counteract the causes of chaos. The repetition of the K
sound is a form of alliteration. It makes the sentence sound pleasant. It gives it
rhythm. And there are lots of examples of alliteration in the world of business.
Simply, we have companies like PayPal, P Coca-Cola, K, and of course, Krispy
Kreme doughnuts. And it wouldn't be the same if you listened to a TED conference
instead of listening to a TED talk. Right? They chose the word "talk" very
consciously because they've created an alliteration. Ted Talks. We love alliteration.
It's all around us. And once again, it just makes everything sound great. And if
something sounds great, your audience is more likely to believe it.
Before we end today's session, let's look at a couple of useful expressions. Listen to
this again.
"Was it an inside job?"
"What do you mean?"
"Most malicious attacks are made by a company's current or ex-employees. Do you
think that was the case here?"
An inside job is used to describe illegal activity that is perpetrated by the people
who work for the organization being targeted. According to Cyber Crime
magazine. 66% of data breaches involve an insider. So, insiders are the biggest
cyber threat to a company. Its own employees, past or present are the biggest
cyber threat to a company. And this article continues with the claim that only 10%
of security budgets are focused on internal threats. So they conclude that
employees are stealing the organization's data and companies are not doing
enough to stop it. OMG I'm starting to feel paranoid about my own business.
Anyway, it is therefore a very reasonable question for the journalist to ask Ruiz de
Velasco "Was this an inside job?" And he takes the opportunity to implicate Lola
Badiola. What a cunning and dangerous man he is!
Ok, finally, have a listen to the last paragraph of the text again.
"I hope that I can be the invisible hand that guides the police towards these
criminals whomsoever they may be."
What's an invisible hand in this context? Well, it's a hidden power that is directing
an activity or a project. Now, do you remember in the first few episodes we heard
Ruiz de Velasco tell Lola that he was the invisible hand that had been guiding her
career. And then when Lola quit the company on bad terms, the last thing she said
to the CEO was: "I would shake your hand if it weren't invisible." Nice one, Lola.
Well, Ruiz de Velasco hasn't forgotten that exchange and is using the expression
once again. It's an implicit message to Lola. It's a threat. I personally am going to
ruin you.
And on that dramatic note, we end today's session. We hope you can join us again
for the next episode of our podcast. And if you do want live interactive business
English classes with me, then sign up to Club Gratton. Just search Club Gratton on
Google and you will find us. Until then, keep practicing. And just make sure that
there isn't an elephant in your room.

Chapter 13: The Blind Date

Lola stood alone on the balcony of her apartment, looking out across Plaza del Dos
de Mayo in the Malasaña district of Madrid. She couldn't get the image of Mario
Ruiz de Velasco out of her head, his green eyes staring into the camera, accusing
her of being involved in the attack. Everybody at JBlock had turned to look at her.
The administrative staff, the programmers, Diego de La Fuente, Cayetano Tolosa,
and JJ Thomson. She knew what they were thinking. She knew that they were
questioning her integrity. But at that moment, her feelings of anger and
indignation gave her strength.
"Okay, listen up." she said in a loud voice. "This security breach is bad for Ruiz de
Velasco and his shareholders, but it's good news for us. The truth is they were
running outdated and inferior programs, and it was only a matter of time before
they were breached. We need to take this opportunity to show our potential
customers that we offer a superior solution. Diego, Cayetano, I'd like you to join
me in my office so that we can revise our marketing plan in light of these
developments. I have more than a dozen hot prospects lined up, and I'd like to visit
them this week with our new proposal, and in case any of you are wondering, I
wasn't fired from that company. I left them to join a group of people who I believe
will make the business world a better and safer place. If anybody doubts that,
please speak out now."
Nobody said anything. Lola, let the silence hang in the air as she scanned their
faces.
Then she said. "Right. Diego, Cayetano, let's go!"
The two men dutifully followed her into her office while everyone looked on.
As she stood on the balcony of her apartment, Lola replayed the day's events over
and over again in her head. Her little speech had been effective. She was confident
that she had won back the trust of most, if not all, of her new colleagues. But she
was worried about Ruiz de Velasco and what he would do next.
"Hey, Lola."
She was distracted by the sound of a familiar voice from the street below. She
looked over the balcony and saw Concha, her best friend, beckoning her down.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?"
"Come on. It's double-date night."
Lola had completely forgotten that Concha and her husband had organized a blind
date for her and one of their single male friends. She wasn't in the mood. She
wanted to relax in front of the TV. Concha sensed her reticence.
"Don't let me down, Lola. We've been planning this for weeks. You've got to meet
this guy. He's made for you."
Lola shook her head, ran her fingers through her hair. She was mentally
exhausted. But for the first time that day, she had been distracted from work.
Maybe an evening with friends was what she needed.
"Okay, Concha, I'll be down in ten minutes." She hung up the phone and headed to
the bathroom.

Of course, Lola was able to defend herself. She may have her insecurities, as we all
do. But she's also a woman of character, courage, and self-control.
Did you notice what I did there? In that last sentence.
I used alliteration to make it sound more attractive. Do you remember from the
last episode what alliteration is? It's the repetition of the first letter of successive
words in a phrase. "Lola Badiola is a woman of character, courage, and self-
control." Alliteration makes our sentences more attractive and more memorable.
Okay, let's review the key language learning points from this episode. And we are
heading straight back to the concept of phrasal verbs. So here's a question for you.
How many phrasal verbs can you form with the root verb "to look"?
There are loads of them, aren't there. Well, in this episode we use three simple and
standard phrasal verbs with the root verb "to look". We used "look out".
Lola stood alone on the balcony of her apartment, looking out across Plaza del Dos
de Mayo in the Malasaña district of Madrid.
We used "look on":
"Diego, Cayetano, let's go!" The two men dutifully followed her into her office
while everyone looked on.
And we used to look over.
She looked over the balcony and saw Concha, her best friend, beckoning her down.
Now, these are three everyday phrasal verbs. They're quite literal. They're simple,
and you can understand them when you see them or you hear them in context.
Now, in the research for this podcast, I encountered 17 phrasal verbs with the root
verb "to look." There are probably more. Are you ready for the ones that I found?
Here we go: look at, look for, look after, look ahead, look around, look away, look
back, look forward to, look on, look into, look out, look over, look through, look up,
look out for, look up to, look down on.
Now, instinctively, you know what most of these mean, particularly when you see
them in context. And as I've said before, there is no point in learning long lists of
phrasal verbs. It's boring, and it's depressing. You have to add 2 or 3 new phrasal
verbs to your vocabulary each week.
So, I have chosen three phrasal verbs to focus on today: Look out for, look up to
and look down on. Now, what are these three phrasal verbs have in common other
than they use the root verb "to look"? Well, first of all, they're advanced verbs. You
will hear native English speakers using these. In the office, when they're talking
about their colleagues, their managers, and their clients. So they're advanced, but
they're very commonly used by native English speakers.
The second thing that they have in common is each of them have two prepositions
attached to the verb, which makes them a little bit tricky. So let's start with "to
look out for". This means to protect someone, to make sure that they are treated
well. "The company has always looked out for me. That is why I feel so loyal to the
management." Are you looking out for your team? Are you making sure that they
are happy, healthy, and fully engaged?
Now let's move on to to look up to and to look down on. These are opposite sides of
the same coin. Look up to means to admire. To respect someone. "I look up to my
mother and my father. I look up to Ian Slatter, my old boss at JP Morgan." Who do
you look up to?
Look down on is the opposite. It's to feel that someone is not worthy of admiration
or respect. And it's difficult to find simple synonyms for this verb, but they would
include the words to disdain or to scorn someone. But it's much more likely that
you'll hear a native English speaker use the phrasal verb "to look down on". And
the point is you believe that you are superior to the people around you I don't like
it when people look down on me.
Okay, let's do a little test. I'm going to give you three sentences with these phrasal
verbs, and you have to choose the correct phrasal verb. I'm going to say the
sentence with a gap, and you have to fill in the gap with the correct phrasal verb.
It'll be one of the three that we've just discussed. So here we go.
 I have always looked ... the CEO. She's a true leader.
 He's such an arrogant manager. He looks... everyone in our team.
 This year is going to be very difficult. We need to look ... each other.
Ok, Did they come naturally? Did you manage to include the correct prepositions?
Okay, let me read out the full sentences.:
 I've always looked up to the CEO. She's a true leader.
 He's such an arrogant manager. He looks down on everyone in his team.
 This year is going to be very difficult. We need to look out for each other.
So there you go. Three advanced phrasal verbs. You should understand them in
context and you should try to experiment with using them when you're interacting
in English.
Okay, now let's analyze some cool vocabulary. Here we go.
I have more than a dozen hot prospects lined up, and I'd like to visit them this
week with our new proposal.
A hot prospect also known as a warm lead. Now, this is a term that makes every
salesperson very excited. It's a potential client that has expressed interest in your
product, and the probability of making a sale is therefore high, higher than 50%.
I'd say if you have a hot prospect, the likelihood of you closing them is between 70
and 80%. Now, if you classify a lead as a hot prospect, then your manager is going
to expect you to close the deal. Why? Well, because the prospect has a problem
that you can solve. They probably want to meet you, and they have budget
available. That's what makes them a hot prospect. So don't disappoint your
manager. Make the sale.
Okay, here's the next item of cool vocabulary.
Lola had completely forgotten that Concha and her husband had organized a blind
date for her and one of their single male friends.
A blind date is a romantic meeting between two people who've never met each
other, and it's normally organized by mutual friends. And the point of a blind date
is that you know nothing about the person you are meeting. You don't know what
they look like. You have no idea about that personality. It's a mystery. So it is
exciting and terrifying at the same time.
Have you ever been on a blind date? I went on one once when I was a teenager.
What an adventure! And what a disaster! And I'm thinking, do blind dates actually
still exist? Does this generation of kids actually go out on blind dates? Because,
with social media and applications like Tinder, it's almost impossible not to know
anything about the person you are meeting, even if you have never met them
before. You can look them up on Google. You can go onto their Facebook or their
Instagram profile, get a very good idea of what they look like and actually have a
good idea of their personality as well. So my question is "Do blind dates still exist?"
As you can see, I haven't been in the dating game for many years. I think what you
really want to know right now is what actually happened on the blind date? Was it
a success or was it a disaster? Or was it both? Shall we find out? Shall we find out
exactly what happened on Lola's blind date? Yes, let's do that. Here's a little bonus
chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Lola took another sip of red wine as she listened to her blind date, telling a funny
anecdote about his travels. He worked as an engineer for the Red Bull Formula
One racing team and spent nine months of the year traveling from one major city
to another. He was intelligent, charming, and he loved the music of Leonard
Cohen. As Concha had said earlier that evening, he was perfect for Lola. But Lola's
mind was distracted. It fluctuated between the conversation at the dinner table
about the skyscrapers in Melbourne and the Ferris wheel in Osaka, and the
conversations in her head about JBlock, Ruiz de Velasco and the cyber attack.
By the time they ordered dessert, Lola was feeling a little too drunk for a
Wednesday evening. She excused herself from the table and headed to the ladies
toilet. Concha followed her.
"So what do you think?"
"About what?" Lola replied as she touched up her makeup in front of the bathroom
mirror about your blind date.
"Oh, he's lovely". Lola paused and then turned to Concha and said, "What's his
name again?"
"Come on!" Concha shook her head in genuine frustration. She had made a lot of
effort to get these two together, and she wanted it to work. "What's up with you
this evening?"
Lola stopped retouching her makeup, put down her mascara brush, and then burst
into tears, big, loud, uncontrollable sobs. Concha opened her arms and Lola fell
into them like a tall, gangly teenager in need of some mother love. For a moment,
they didn't say anything. They just rocked from side to side in the middle of the
bathroom. A couple of other women came and went smiling sympathetically as they
passed.
"He wants to ruin me, Concha."
"What?"
"He wants to end my career."
"Who?"
"Ruiz de Velasco."
"How?"
"He's lying about me saying I was fired, implying I'm a criminal. I've made the
worst decision of my life."
"Okay, okay. Calm down. Let it all out."
Lola took a few deep breaths and gradually regained her composure. She caught
sight of her face in the bathroom mirror. "Oh, God! Look at me now. What a
disaster! I feel so sorry for my blind date."
She washed her hands and face and took a fresh paper towel from the dispenser.
Then she turned to Concha with a smile and said, "What was his name again?"
The two women burst into laughter, and when they had calmed down, Lola dried
her face, retouched her mascara and straightened her hair.
"Thanks for listening, Concha. I needed that."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yep. Let's go."
They had one last hug, and then Lola picked up her handbag. Took a final look at
herself in the mirror and opened the bathroom door. The two women walked
confidently back to their table.
Lola sat down, leaned forward, and in a quiet voice said to her blind date. "Listen, I
haven't really been myself tonight.
"Oh?"
"It's a long story."
"Okay."
"Would you mind if we started this blind date from the beginning again?" She
smiled at him playfully.
"Sure," he replied.
She stretched out her hand and said, "Hi, my name's Lola Badiola. What's your
name?"

Chapter 14: Waking Up

Even before Lola opened her eyes, she knew that she was waking up in someone
else's bed. It smelled different. The scent of an unfamiliar washing powder. She
tried to remember what had happened the previous night and became aware of a
slight ache in her head. She could hear the movement of pots and pans in a distant
kitchen. Somebody in the apartment was already awake. She opened one eye. She
was lying alone in a double bed. She asked herself the obvious questions. Where
was she? How did she get here? And most critically, whose bed was she in?
A shot of adrenaline passed through her body, and she sat upright. She was
wearing her bra, panties and socks underneath an oversized T-shirt with the
Harvard University logo. The events of last night came rushing back to her. The
red wine, the tears, the hugs, and Mr. Red Bull.
She heard a deep voice nearby, and then the door of the bedroom started to open
very slowly. She stared at it like a deer in the headlights. A man's face appeared
from the other side of the door.
"Good morning," he said.
Lola rubbed her eyes. The man was tall and muscular, much bigger than the one
she had met the previous night. He smiled at her and then turned and shouted in
the direction of the kitchen.
"Hey, Concha! Sleeping beauty's awake."
"Perfect timing," Concha shouted back.
Lola sank back into the bed and relief. The man was Eugenio, Concha's loving
husband.
"Come on, he said. You've got a fruit smoothie with your name on it waiting in the
kitchen."
Lola got out of bed and headed through to the kitchen, apologizing sincerely to
Eugenio, who had clearly spent the night sleeping on the sofa.
"I didn't know where I was, said Lola, with an embarrassed smile. When did you
redecorate the flat?"
"Just after I got back from Angola," replied Eugenio.
Eugenio Hernandez had been married to Concha for just over a year. He was a
freelance documentary filmmaker, currently working for the World Wildlife Fund,
WWF. That morning, he was particularly excited as he was flying out to Davos to
interview politicians, environmentalists and business people at World Economic
Forum, WEF.
Lola admired Eugenio and asked him a lot of questions about his job. He was
always jetting off to exotic locations to make films about endangered animals in
stunning landscapes. He was incredibly knowledgeable about world affairs and
spoke at least five different languages. He was also a wizard in the kitchen. The
fruit smoothie he'd prepared for Lola being a testament to his abilities. Concha and
Eugenio were an odd-looking couple. She was petite and pretty. He was almost two
meters tall and had a face that had taken a few knocks from his days as a
competitive rugby player. Despite their physical differences, they were perfectly
matched in every other way. It was no secret that they were making a big effort to
have a child whenever Eugenio was in town.
"So," said Eugenio with a wicked smile. "What did you think of your blind date?"
Lola took a sip of her smoothie. Mister Red Bull was a nice guy. He was interesting,
funny and a good listener. At the end of the evening, he had walked her back to
Concha's apartment and kissed her good night. Lola searched her memory for any
embarrassing moments, any silly comments or actions that she regretted. But for
once, there were none. After her tears in the bathroom, the evening had gone very
smoothly, and she felt good about herself.
"He's all right, she said nonchalantly."
"Just all right?"
"Come on, guys. I've got a lot in my plate right now."
"Wouldn't you like to settle down with an Eugenio in your life?" Concha wrapped
her arms around her husband and pinched his chubby cheeks. Eugenio kissed his
wife and pulled away.
"Listen, girls, I need to pack my bags for the trip."
"Yeah, and I need to get ready for work," said Lola. "Concha, can I borrow a suit?"
"Sure. Let's get this show on the road."
Lola had a quick shower and then squeezed herself into one of Concha's suits. It
was a couple of sizes too small for her. The bottom of her thighs showing beneath
the skirt and her bust pushed upwards and outwards by the jacket. It wasn't
particularly comfortable, but it would do for the coming day. Lola took a short bus
ride from the apartment to the office on Gran via. Which meant that she arrived on
time for work. She smiled at the doorman as she entered the Adriatica building
and took the stairs up to the third floor. She was humming a little tune, feeling
good about herself as she walked into the office. The first thing she saw was
Cayetano waiting at her desk. He was with two other men: one tall, young and
northern European. The other short, old and Spanish. She had no meeting booked
in her agenda, so she wondered who the two men might be.
"Morning, Lola. Nice suit", said Cayetano as he moved to the side.
One of the strangers stepped forward to introduce himself. "Good morning, Miss
Badiola. My name is James Bach, and this is my partner, Guzman Sinsenegi. We
work for the cybercrime division of Interpol, and we would like to ask you a few
questions about a recent corporate hacking incident."

Just when you thought that Lola's life couldn't get any more complicated, along
come the men from Interpol. I wonder what questions they're going to ask her.
Well, we'll find out in the next episode. But right now, let's focus on improving our
business English.
Have another listen to this phrase, and then we're going to discuss interrogatives
again.
She asked herself the obvious questions. Where was she? How did she get here?
And most critically, whose bed was she in?
Okay, let's review interrogatives. What I'm going to do today is cover what I
consider to be the big five. These are five interrogative sentences that high,
intermediate, or advanced speakers shouldn't have any problems with, but often
do. And to illustrate what I mean, we are going to play a game. And here's how it
works. I'm going to make a statement, and then you are going to ask the question
that corresponds to that statement. For example, I say, my name is Sam. And you
say. What's your name? You got it. It's simple, right? But it's important that you
actually play along with the game. And you say these questions out loud. Then
you're more likely to remember them and really familiarize yourself with them
going forwards.
So here we go. I'm going to make the statement and you're going to ask me the
question.
This is my computer.
It's this pen, not that pen.
I go to the gym three times a week.
He is tall.
He has dark hair and blue eyes.
He is patient, thoughtful and empathetic.
Okay, what is the question sentence that corresponds to each of these statements?
It's not that easy because I have chosen the interrogative that most of my students
struggle with. So here we go. These are the answers.
This is my computer. Whose computer is this? So don't forget the interrogative
pronoun "whose" spelt W-H-O-S-E. And make sure you get the order of these words
correct. "Whose computer is this?" Not "Whose is this computer?"
Question number two. It's this pen, not that pen. Which pen is it? Once again, be
careful with the question order. Not "Which is the pen?", but "Which pen is it?"
Question three. I go to the gym three times a week. How often do you go to the
gym? Not "How many times do you go to the gym?", but "How often?"
Ok, Question four. He's tall. He has dark hair and blue eyes. What does he look
like? Ok, It's not "How is he?" What does he look like? It's a very unusual
grammatical structure and you just have to memorize it. When we are asking about
somebody's physical appearance. We use the sentence "What does he look like?"
Ok, The fifth and final statement was "He is patient, thoughtful and empathetic".
What's the question? What is he like? Once again, it's not "How is he?" But when
we're asking about somebody's personality, we use the interrogative phrase, "What
is he like?" When we ask about their physical appearance, we use the phrase,
"What does he look like?"
So how did you do? Did you get them all exactly right? If not, what I suggest you
do is try this exercise again. Just rewind it and try to get it deeply into your long
term memory.
Okay, let's move on to an interesting expression that could apply to many business
situations.
And then the door of the bedroom started to open very slowly. She stared at it like
a deer in the headlights.
A deer in the headlights. So you can imagine a deer crossing a country road in the
dark. Suddenly, a car comes speeding around the corner. The deer stops and stares
at the oncoming headlights. And rather than rushing back into the forest, it is
frozen to the spot. Unable to react to the oncoming danger. So when we say that
someone is like a deer in the headlights, we say that they are in a state of extreme
surprise, fear, or confusion. They seem so frightened that they cannot think clearly.
They do not know what to do, so they don't do anything. So, for example, you might
say when I told the factory manager that the inspectors would be arriving in 15
minutes. He looked at me like a deer in the headlights.
Ok. We've reached chapter 14 of this podcast. Congratulations for making it this
far. And, I use a platform called Buzzsprout to monitor the distribution of each
episode of the podcast. You see, when you release a podcast, you get a ton of data
from various different sources, including Spotify and Apple. It's really amazing. You
get a precise picture of who is listening to your podcast: The ages, the different
countries they're based in, the cities, the devices they're using, the length of time
each person spends on the podcast. It's quite insane the amount of data that you
get. It's aggregated so it's not broken down on an individual basis. So don't worry.
Don't get paranoid. I'm not watching everything you do. But let me focus on one of
these data points that I found particularly interesting.
In which countries is this podcast most popular? So I was analyzing this data
earlier on this week and the largest group of listeners are Spanish speakers, both
in Spain and in Latin America. So we have a lot of listeners in Argentina, Colombia,
and Mexico. And this doesn't surprise me, considering that I am based in Madrid.
And so is Lola. However, we have made a big effort to ensure that this podcast is
for all non-native speakers wherever you are from. So it's interesting to see where
else this podcast is listened to. Can you guess the next biggest territory for a
business English podcast after Spain and Latin America? I almost fell off my chair
when I saw the data.
It's the United States and then the United Kingdom. Now, I think this is a mix of
non-native speakers living in these two countries. But I also believe, and I hope,
that there are some native speakers, apart from my mum and dad, who listen to
this podcast. Because a lot of native speakers were never taught the rules of
grammar in school. I wasn't. I didn't know what a first, second or third conditional
was until I started my teacher training course. Now, I've always used these
grammatical structures, but I didn't know how to define them, and I didn't really
know how they related to each other in a theoretical sense. And it's actually quite
interesting to learn more about the underlying structure of your language. So I
hope that there are some native speakers listening to the podcast.
Also, because I'd like them to understand the challenges that non-native speakers
face. The difficulty with phrasal verbs, with expressions and metaphors, with
business jargon and with pronunciation. Perhaps there are some native speakers
who will modify and simplify the way that they communicate in international
business after hearing these episodes.
So, in summary, what are the top ten countries where this podcast is listened to?
Here they are. This is the top ten: Spain, Argentina, United States, United
Kingdom, Germany, Colombia, Italy, Mexico, France and Switzerland.
So let's do a global challenge for our global audience, for our multilingual global
audience. Listen to this sentence again, and then I'm going to give you a very
interesting quiz. Here we go.
He smiled at her and then turned and shouted in the direction of the kitchen. Hey,
Concha! Sleeping beauty's awake.
Let's test your knowledge of classic Disney cartoons. So I'm going to say the
character in your own language. In Spanish, Italian, French and German. And then
you are going to translate that into English. Ok. Yes, I know this is a business
English podcast, but these are culturally relevant terms, and you will hear native
English speakers referring to them in comparisons, in metaphors and in jokes. So
it's information that's good to know. So here we go. This is our first Disney
character. I'm going to start in Spanish, then Italian, then French, and finally
German. And you are going to tell me what it is in English.
Ok. Are you ready? La bella durmiente, la bella addormentata, la belle au bois
dormant, and finally in German: Dornröschen. This, of course, is Sleeping Beauty.
Okay, here we go. Here's our next character starting in Spanish. Ending in
German. Blancanieves, Biancaneve, Blanche Neige, and finally in German,
Schneewittchen. This, of course, is Snow White.
Ok. And our third and final character. Here we go: Cenicienta, Cenerentola,
Cendrillon, and finally in German, Aschenputtel. This, of course, is Cinderella.
Now, from that little exercise, you can really tell the difference in the root
languages between the romance languages of Spanish, Italian, and French, and the
Germanic language of modern German. It really was the last word, really was the
odd one out.
Now, I wish to take this opportunity to apologize to my German friends Elmar,
Alexander, and also Dominik, my friend and one of my clients who did his best to
help me with the German pronunciation there. I also wish to apologize to my
Italian brother in law, Vito, for my Italian pronunciation, and finally to Emmanuel
Macron and the nation of France for my French pronunciation, considering I
studied French for about ten years in primary and high school. At least my wife
thinks my Spanish pronunciation is adorable.
I don't know where and I don't know when you will find this information useful. But
believe me: One day you will. And also, while we're at it, make sure that you know
the names of the seven dwarves. Because one day someone, your kids, your nieces,
your nephews is going to ask you that question. I guarantee it.
Okay, now let's get back to some classic business English. Have a listen to this
sentence again.
He was a freelance documentary filmmaker, currently working for the World
Wildlife Fund, WWF.
What is a freelancer? And what is the difference between a freelancer and a self-
employed person? Well, legally speaking, freelancers and self-employed people are
really treated in the same kind of way. But there are a few differences. The main
difference is how you work. So freelancers tend to do multiple short-term jobs for
lots of different businesses. While, self-employed people are probably running their
own little business, and they have more autonomy. Freelancers almost always work
alone. For example, they work on a particular project for a client, usually for an
hourly or set fee. However, a self-employed person who's working for themselves
can also bring in other employees or even contract freelancers to undertake work
for them.
Ok. So that's the basic difference between freelancers and self-employed. Even
though for tax purposes and regulatory purposes, they're pretty much treated like
the same thing. So, in this case, Eugenio is a freelance documentary filmmaker. So,
he's doing multiple short-term projects for lots of different producers.
Ok. One final expression. An expression that encapsulates the life of Lola Badiola
at the moment.
"He's all right," she said nonchalantly.
"Just all right?"
"Come on, guys. I've got a lot on my plate right now."
I've got a lot on my plate. This means that you have a lot of work to do, or you have
a lot of issues to deal with, or you have a lot of problems to solve. And normally you
use it when someone asks you to do something for them. And you simply do not
have the time to do it. Do you have a lot on your plate at the moment?
Well, I hope that you have at least some time to join us for the next episode of The
Adventures of Lola Badiola. And of course, if you wish to improve your business
English in a more formal manner, then please join us on our online business
English platform. Just search Club Gratton on Google, and you'll find us. Until
then, keep practicing. And don't forget to memorize the names of Snow White's
seven dwarves.

Chapter 15: Interpol

Lola sat at the table of the conference room in the offices of Jay Bloch, opposite the
two agents. It was still early in the morning, and most of the other employees,
including JJ Thomson, had yet to arrive at the office. She felt isolated and
vulnerable, as if she were swimming with sharks. The young English agent, James
Bark reached for his notepad.

"You worked at TechSpania for seven years, is that correct?"

"Yes", replied Lola.

"Most recently you were the senior account manager in the cyber security division
according to Luis Bruña. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Are you still in contact with him?"

"No, we are not in regular contact anymore."

Bach wrote something into his notepad.

"One of your accounts at TechSpania was the Swiss insurance company, SMZ. Are
you aware that they recently suffered a catastrophic breach of security?"

"Yes, I am", replied Lola.

Bach raised an eyebrow and wrote something into his notebook.

Lola continued, "Because it's been reported in the newspapers."

Bach looked up from his notebook.

"Why were you fired from TechSpania?"

"I wasn't fired."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I resigned from the company. You should speak to Luis Bruña. He'll
confirm that."

The two agents looked at each other and then Guzman Sonsonegi, the older of the
two, leaned forward and in an apologetic voice said, "We've already spoken to Luis
Bruña. We've spoken to a lot of people, and they all say that you were fired."

Lola felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Luis Bruña had always been
good to her. Their relationship had been one of mutual trust. They had become
close friends, but now he was betraying her, lying about her, helping Ruiz de
Velasco to destroy her. The two agents from Interpol sat motionlessly, waiting for
her to respond, watching her clam up. But before Lola could answer, the door of
the conference room burst open and JJ and Diego marched in.

"What's going on here?" Said JJ, forcefully.

James Bark stood up, pulled out some identification from his pocket and explained
that they were agents from Interpol interested in discussing some private matters
with Lola Badiola.

"If you want to speak to any of my team in my office, you need to make an
appointment."

"It's an urgent matter of international importance", the agent replied.

"I don't care what it is. If you want to speak to any of my team in my office, you
need to make an appointment."

JJ and Diego stood shoulder to shoulder, staring down at the two agents. Lola had
never realized how big and physically intimidating Diego could be. He was as wide
as he was tall, with huge hairy hands and a solid torso that looked like it was about
to rip through the Lacoste polo shirt he was wearing.

For a moment, the confrontation looked like it was about to get ugly. But Sonsonegi
rose to his feet and attempted to defuse the situation. He turned to Lola and said,

"Thank you for your time. We will be in contact. In the meantime, here is my card
in case you want to talk to us."

Then the two agents walked out of the conference room, followed closely by Diego,
who escorted them out of the building. The morning sun was shining brightly
through the office window and directly into Lola's eyes. She squinted as the
silhouette of JJ appeared in front of her.

"What really happened to TechSpania?" He asked.

Lola felt the emotion building up inside her. She was desperate not to break down
in front of her boss. She decided to be open and honest about what had happened.

"It ended badly", she replied.

"What do you mean?".

"I tried to do the right thing. I tried to leave on good terms but Mario Ruiz de
Velasco made it personal."

Lola's voice started to crack. She felt the tears building up inside her.
"You believe me, don't you?".

"Of course we believe you, Lola", said Diego, who had returned to the meeting
room after dispatching the two agents. The ferocity from earlier had completely
vanished and now he looked, once again like a big, cuddly teddy bear.

Lola started to tremble as the intensity of the mourning boiled over.

"I'm so sorry", she said."I feel terrible that I've dragged you guys into this."

JJ sat down opposite Lola and took hold of her hand.

"Listen carefully, Lola. This is not about you, it's about all of us. You see, our
software represents an existential threat to all the incumbent IT firms in the world,
including TechSpania. We will do to them what the smartphone did to Nokia,
Motorola, and BlackBerry, make them obsolete."

Lola had never heard JJ speak like this before. She knew that they had plans to
disrupt the market, but not on such a dramatic scale. He continued,

"Ruiz de Velasco will do whatever he can to stop that from happening, and he's
joined forces with some very powerful friends. Come and have a look."

JJ beckoned Lola to join him at the window of the office. They looked down onto the
street below where the two agents from Interpol were standing waiting. A black
Toyota Prius stopped and picked them up.

"They've been following me everywhere since I arrived in Madrid. They're looking

for a weak link in our company and now they think they found it."

So now Lola can see the big picture. It's not just about her and the personal
conflict that she has with Mario Ruiz Velasco. It's about the battle between Jay
Bloch and TechSpania and the future of the cyber security market. Now she's
considered to be the weak link in the chain, the most vulnerable part of the
company. And that's why she's under attack.

Okay. Let's go back to the beginning of the chapter. Listen out for the common
expression included in this short paragraph.

"She felt isolated and vulnerable, as if she were swimming with sharks."

Swimming with sharks.

It's an obvious expression. It means that you are in an environment where there
are dangerous people. And you may not know exactly where or when they are
going to strike. And it makes you feel really rather vulnerable.

Have you ever been swimming with sharks? Have you ever operated in an office
environment where you felt like you were surrounded by dangerous people? Hmm.
I hope not.

Okay. Let's move on to the next fundamental element of business English. Listen
carefully to the following exchange.

"Why were you fired from TechSpania?"

"I wasn't fired."

"Really?"
"Yes, really. I resigned from the company."

Let's make sure that we understand the verb to fire. Because it is often misused by
advanced non-native speakers in business situations. So let me make it clear.

There are essentially two ways that someone can lose their job. The first way is
when they have done something wrong. It is their fault. Maybe they lied, maybe
they cheated, maybe they completely screwed up but it was their fault. And in this
situation, we use the verb to fire. There are a couple of synonyms of the verb to
fire. We could also say to sack. That's also quite informal and to dismiss, which is
the formal way of saying to fire. And in each case, it's the fault of the employee.

The second way to lose your job is when it's not your fault but the company you
work for is in trouble or the economic circumstances are extremely bad. So the
only option for the company is to reduce the workforce. And there are probably a
lot of people that will be losing their jobs in this situation. So in this case, we don't
use the verb to fire, to sack, or to dismiss. We use the verbs to make redundant, to
let go, to lay off. Those are three synonymous verbs that mean somebody has lost
their job, but it's actually not their fault. It's the economic circumstances. And it is
critical to differentiate between these two distinct ways of losing your job.

So, for example, if you come home and you say to your partner,

"Darling, I just got fired."

Your partner is going to say to you,

"What the hell did you do wrong?"

These words imply that you as an individual have done something bad or
incompetent that merits the loss of your job.

Now, if on the other hand you come home and say to your partner, "Darling, I've
just been made redundant."

Then your partner will probably say to you, "Oh, poor thing. Let me make you a
cup of tea here. Sit down on the sofa and I'm going to look after you."

These words mean that it is the economy or the company, not you that is in trouble.
And you are in many ways a victim of this situation.

Now, the interesting thing about all of these verbs is we most commonly use them
in the passive voice. It's much more common to say I was fired than it is to say the
company fired me.

It's much more common to say my father was let go by the company than it is to
say the company let my father go.

So why do we use the passive voice here? Why do we ever use the passive voice?
Well, because we are more interested in the recipient of the action. We are much
more interested in the thing being acted upon.

In this case, we're much more interested in the person that has lost their job than
we are in the company that is doing the firing or that is making people redundant.
And that is why we create passive voice sentences such as I was dismissed this
morning rather than the company dismissed me. They were made redundant last
year rather than the company made them redundant.

You see, we're using the passive voice. We change the order of the sentence in
order to focus on what is really relevant and interesting to the listener.

Now business English style guides encourage you to always speak in the active
voice. They say it's simpler, it's more dynamic. But this is an exception. This is
when the passive voice is more appropriate.

And there are other business situations where the passive voice is often used. For
example, when a company seeks to avoid responsibility for something. It's very
common to hear the line, mistakes were made instead of hearing somebody admit,
we made mistakes. That's a classic use of the passive voice.

Here's another example. The company was advised to avoid tax. Instead of hearing
somebody say, we advised the company to avoid tax. So lawyers will use the
passive voice to defend their clients in court and in contracts.

Public relations companies will use the passive voice to protect the name and the
reputation of their clients. Having said all that, let's return to the case of Lola
Badiola. Because we know that she was neither fired nor laid off. She actually
resigned.

That's another important business verb. And the relevant noun would be
resignation.

Be careful with the pronunciation there. To resign, resignation.

Is that all clear? Good.

Now let's move on to phrasal verbs. We have three beauties for you in this
particular episode. Have a listen to this sentence again.

The two agents from Interpol sat motionlessly waiting for her to respond, watching
her clam up.

To clam up. That's the phrasal verb that we're going to analyze now. So first of all,
what's a clam?

Well, it's a very tasty seafood. You'll find it in an Italian restaurant in a spaghetti
vongole. In a French restaurant with pilots or bird. In a Spanish restaurant when
you order Almejas and in a German restaurant when you suck on a Venusmuscheln.

Okay. You get the idea of what a clam is, right? So what do clams do when they
sense danger? Their shells close.

So to clam up is a reference to a clam that shuts itself tight when confronted by a

predator. So to clam up in a kind of metaphorical sense means that you suddenly
become silent. It means that you are nervous, that you fear danger around you and
your instinctive response is to stay very quiet. And that is what Lola does.

She clams up because she is confronted by Interpol. Okay. Here's our second
phrasal verb. It's a really important one because it has three different common
business usages. Listen carefully.

Lola felt the emotion building up inside her. She was desperate not to break down
in front of her boss.

Okay. Number one.

If a person breaks down, then they are unable to control their feelings and
normally they start to cry. So in this case, Lola is desperate not to break down in
front of her boss. She doesn't want to get overwhelmed by the emotion and start
crying.

The second common usage is when we refer to a machine. So if a machine or a

vehicle breaks down, it simply stops working, stops functioning.

So, for example, the air conditioning in this office has just broken down and it's
starting to get very hot.

The third common usage is when we talk about a system or a relationship. It's
often used in discussions about negotiations. We would say negotiations broke
down because we simply couldn't agree on a price.

So these are three very common usages of the phrasal verb to break down when
we talk about humans, when we talk about machines, when we talk about
negotiations, and they're all related to the failure of something, the inability to
continue functioning.

Okay. Our third and final phrasal verb is this one.

Lola started to tremble as the intensity of the morning boiled over.

To boil over. So this is literally when a liquid is boiling so vigorously that it

overflows the container. For example, you might say,

"If you put too much water into that pot, it might boil over."

And by extension, when we relate it to human beings is when you become

extremely intense or out of control, especially after a period of escalation. And we
normally refer to emotions boiling over. In this case, Lola has started to tremble
because the emotional intensity has been building and building in the office all
morning and now it is starting to boil over.

When was the last time your emotions boiled over? How did you react? Did you
clam up? Did you break down?

You see, these three phrasal verbs are often used when we're talking about
stressful situations at work with our colleagues. And we will find out in future
episodes how Lola deals with the pressure in her professional life, because that
pressure is only going to get more and more intense. And on that note, we come to
the end of today's class.

Remember, if you want live interactive business English classes with me, then sign
up to Club Gratton. Just search Club Gratton on Google and you will find us.

Until we meet again, keep practicing.

And remember, when you find yourself swimming with sharks, don't let your
emotions boil over.

Chapter 16: The Mickey Mouse Watch

Park and Kim knew more about the security systems in Division 6523 of the
Ministry of Information than anyone else. This meant that when the office was
quiet, they could override their own firewalls and surf the world wide web without
any impediments. Park liked to follow international news and sports channels,
while Kim preferred hacking streaming services to watch cartoons. The previous
week, they had successfully breached the defenses of TechSpania and caused the
share price of the company to fall by more than 20%. In doing so, the two hackers
had discovered vulnerabilities in several large public companies in Spain. Their
next target would be Europe's largest commercial bank, Banco Cantábrico.
As part of their preparation for an attack, they always researched the target
company in great depth. They learned about the culture of the company, how it
was organized, where the vulnerabilities were hidden. At that moment, they were
sitting together watching the annual general meeting of Banco Cantábrico. It was
one of the biggest lenders in Europe from the smallest personal loans to the
largest and most complex corporate debt instruments. It was also the most
successful mortgage provider in the region and, therefore, had a treasure trove of
priceless data.
Park listened carefully as Nuria Nuno, the head of Banco Cantábrico, presented
the results of the company and talked about their plans for future growth. It was
the first time he had listened to a woman chairing a company's annual general
meeting. He admired the way she answered questions in a professional but
conversational manner.
"Hey, Park, I've got something to show you."
"Not now, Kim. I'm concentrating."
"Look", said Kim.
Kim rolled up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal a watch. It was old and scratched,
but functioning perfectly. It had the unmistakable image of Mickey Mouse in the
middle. The cartoon characters gloved hands were pointing at the numbers on the
dial.
"Where did you get that from?" Park whispered.
"I got it from a street vendor in Shanghai."
"If you get caught with that, you'll get fired or worse."
Kim knew the risk he was running. He knew that Mickey Mouse was considered
one of the greatest symbols of American decadence. He knew the supreme leader
would disapprove, but he couldn't resist.
Kim rolled his sleeve back down to cover the watch and winked at Park. "When you
wish upon a star, your dreams come true," he said in his best American accent.
At that moment, Kang, the divisional supervisor, appeared from around the corner.
As all was, he was pushing a trolley full of reports that he didn't understand. He
stopped at the desks of Park and Kim and looked down at them condescendingly.
"Daily Report?"
"Here it is, sir.", Park said as he handed over the document.
The supervisor then asked him the usual questions. "Have you observed any
anomalies?"
"No, sir."
"Have you crashed any systems?"
"No, sir."
"Have you concluded any infiltrations?"
"No, sir."
"The quarterly meeting will start at 7 p.m. this evening. Don't be late."
Kang put the report into a folder and moved on to the next cubicle. As soon as his
back was turned, Kim turned to Park and gave him another wink and two thumbs
up. Park couldn't help smiling. He felt like a parent who simultaneously admires
and disapproves of their facetious little child.

Okay. So now we are starting to build up a picture of the personalities of the two
North Korean hackers, how they operate, and what their next objectives are. Let's
listen once again to this paragraph, which includes a very important item of
business vocabulary that is often misunderstood.
The two hackers had discovered vulnerabilities in several large public companies
in Spain.
What is a public company? Well, the obvious answer seems to be a company owned
by the government. Right? But that is not correct. A company owned by the
government is known as a state-owned company. So, what is the English definition
of a public company? Well, this means that the company is listed on the stock
exchange and therefore its shares can be bought and sold openly by members of
the public. People like you and me. That's what makes it a public company. So
Microsoft is a public company. So is Apple. So is Telefonica. Because you and I can
go to the stock exchange and buy shares in those companies. In contrast, a private
company is one that is not listed on the stock exchange, and therefore, you and I
and the general public cannot freely buy and sell shares in this company.
The big four accounting firms are all private companies. By that, I mean Ernst and
Young, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and KPMG. The big consulting
companies like McKinsey, they are all private companies. Many law firms are
private companies. Now, the ownership structure of private companies such as
these is actually quite secretive. Indeed, one of the benefits of being a private
company is the ability to act in a more confidential manner.
You see, public companies by law they have to release information about their
strategy, their operations and the financial health of the company on a regular
basis. Have a listen to this sentence again.
At that moment, they were sitting together watching the annual general meeting of
Banco Cantábrico.
So one of the things a public company is obliged to do is organise an annual
general meeting, an AGM, to which all of its shareholders are invited, and then
anyone can ask the management a question. Another thing a public company has
to do is produce an annual report along with quarterly financial statements that
are available to the public. So on the positive side, public companies have
relatively easy access to capital. They can raise a lot of money through share
issuance and bond issuance in the open markets. On the negative side, public
companies face more scrutiny and regulation than private companies.
Okay. Let's move on to the next interesting topic. Have a listen to these sentences
again.
Park listened carefully as Nuria Nuno, the head of Banco Cantábrico, presented
the results of the company and talked about their plans for future growth. It was
the first time he had listened to a woman chairing a company's annual general
meeting.
Let's talk about gender issues in public companies. Is it unusual to have a woman
as the President, the CEO or the leader of a public company? Let's analyze the
statistics.
So, when we look at universities, we see women outperforming men. For example,
in the UK, 56% of bachelor degrees are awarded to women and 60% of master's
degrees are awarded to women. However, when we look at leadership roles within
public companies, we see women dramatically underperform men. For example, in
the top 100 public companies in the United Kingdom, there are only eight CEOs
who are women. And, for a long time there were more men called Steve running
the top companies in the UK than there were women. So what happens between
university and the boardroom? Where do all these women go? For an excellent
analysis of the issues underlying the gender inequality in senior positions of public
companies, you should read a book called "Lean In". It's written by Sheryl
Sandberg. She is the COO of Facebook and the mentor of Mark Zuckerberg. And in
her book she provides a clear and convincing reason for the disparities in these
numbers. She also suggests some practical solutions at an individual and a
corporate level. So it is well worth a read.
Okay. Let's look at something a little bit simpler now. Have a listen to this sentence
again.
It was also the most successful mortgage provider in the region and therefore had
a treasure trove of priceless data.
Mortgage. That's a word that a lot of people mispronounce. It's spelled M-O-R-T-G-
A-G-E. You know what it means, right? It's the money that you borrow from a bank
in order to buy a house. The house then acts as collateral for the loan. In other
words, if you can't repay the loan or pay the interest on that loan, then the bank
will take your home. Now, interestingly, there is a crucial difference between the
way mortgages operate in the US and the way they operate in some European
countries like Spain. So in the United States, if you are unable to repay your
mortgage or maintain the interest payments on that mortgage, then you lose your
house. And that is the end of it. You walk away and you try to rebuild your life.
Even if the value of the house is less than the value of your mortgage, it's not your
responsibility. You simply give the keys to the bank, and you walk away. And if
there are any further losses, then the bank has to eat them.
Now, this is not the case in Spain. So, if you are unable to repay your mortgage in
Spain, then you lose your house. But that is not the end of it. You do not walk away.
You do not rebuild your life. If the value of your house is less than the value of your
mortgage, you still have to pay the difference. So after the bank has taken your
house, they take your car, they take part of your salary, then they take your
children, your dog, your cat, and eventually they take your goldfish. It's absolutely
brutal.
Now, before I offend any of the listeners of this podcast who work at Spanish
commercial banks, let's move on to the next exercise. We are going to do a
pronunciation exercise that is related to finance. So here are five words that you
would use in any kind of financial conversation, and they are commonly
mispronounced. Here they are: Mortgage, interest, debt, loan, and bankruptcy.
So let's start with mortgage. Repeat, mortgage. First of all, the T is completely
silent. Imagine it's not there. And secondly, the last syllable is very short. Gage. So
let's put those two things together. Mortgage.
Okay. The next word that is commonly mispronounced is the word interest. Now, I
think the most native English speakers would pronounce this word with two
syllables. Some of them might pronounce it with three syllables interest, but most
of us just pronounce it with two syllables interest.
Okay. The third word is loan, L-O-A-N. Make sure that you are not pronouncing
that word phonetically. It is not loan, it's "Lo-n".
The fourth word is debt. It does have a B in it. I'm not exactly sure why it has a B in
it because that B is completely silent. We do not say debt. We just say "de-t".
And finally, bankruptcy. Repeat after me, bankruptcy. Once again, there's a silent T
in there at the end. It is not bankruptcy, it's just bankrup-cy.
So there you go. Five very important words. If you're having a discussion about
finance, make sure that you are pronouncing each of those correctly.
Right. We've reached the final exercise of today. It's a good one. It's interactive.
Have a listen to these sentences again.
"Have you observed any anomalies?"
"No, sir."
"Have you crashed any systems?"
"No, sir."
"Have you concluded any infiltrations?"
"No, sir."
Observed, crashed, concluded. These are three regular pass participles of the
present perfect. And they're all written with an ed at the end. But that ed is
pronounced in three different and distinctive ways, observed with a d sound,
crashed with a t sound and concluded with an ed sound. Native English speakers
instinctively know which pronunciation to use because they learn the language
first by listening and then by reading. Non-native English speakers can get quite
confused because they often learn the language first through reading and then
through listening. So let's see if you know how to differentiate between the d, the t
and the ed sound.
We're going to play a little game. I will tell you to observe the anomalies and you
will say out loud I've already observed the anomalies. You will turn my imperative
into a sentence using the present perfect. I will tell you to crash the system and
you will say I've already crashed the system. You got it? I will tell you to do
something and you will tell me that you've already done it.
Okay. Here we go. Six more.
Explain the problem.
Arrive on time.
Guess the answer.
Introduce the guests.
Connect with me.
Stop the machine.
Okay. How did you do? Are you clearly differentiating between the d, the t, and the
ed sounds? Here are the correct pronunciations.
So the first two were with the d sound. I have already explained the problem. I
have already arrived on time.
The next two were with the t sound. I have already guessed the answer. I have
already introduced the guests.
And the final two were with the ed sound. I have already connected with you. I
have already started the machine.
So we will practice this again in future episodes. But my advice to you is listen
carefully to how David Monteath, the narrator of the story, pronounces his past
participles. Try to listen actively and try to differentiate between the different
sounds that he makes for these different forms of the past participle. And on that
note, we come to the end of today's class. If you would like more formalized
business English classes, we can provide that for you. Just search Club Gratton on
Google and you will find us. So until we meet again, keep practicing. And
remember, if you plan to get a mortgage, make sure that you fully understand the
risks that you are running.

Chapter 17: The Girl with the Almond Eyes

Park and Kim caught the bus outside the Ministry of Security Affairs. It was a 45-
minute journey to their apartment block in the Chunghwa district of the city. They
passed through the Arch of Triumph and across the Taedong River and then
headed down the Pyongyang highway towards the south of the city. There was
never much traffic, but they were often delayed by people on bicycles, horse drawn
carts and government checkpoints. The most common problem they encountered
on their journey home was the bus breaking down. It was a diesel vehicle built in
China in the 1980s, and it had a completely unreliable transmission system. Every
time the driver changed gear, it sounded like the bottom of the bus was about to
collapse.
Park looked out of the window at the gray functional apartment blocks that lined
the highway. Everything was uniform. All the buildings looked exactly the same. He
couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to travel on a bus outside of
London. Passing cottages with their thatched roofs, mansions with their iron gates,
and bungalows where all the old Western people moved into when they retired.
There was no property ladder in North Korea. The government simply allocated
you an apartment and that was where you lived and eventually died.
His thoughts turned to the upcoming attack on Banco Cantabrico. He had
breached their security systems on several occasions in the past, but never
progressed very far. They always managed to kick him out before he could do any
damage. The bank had multiple layers of defense, and reaching the sensitive
information at its core was like peeling an infinite onion. He thought again about
Nuria Nuno and her presentation at the AGM. He marveled at the fact that a
woman could have so much power and influence. The Workers Party in North
Korea actively promoted gender equality for the good of the economy. But
everyone knew that a woman's place was at home. He remembered the old Korean
saying it is bad for the house when the hen singsk, and the cockerel is silent.
As all was sitting next to Park on the bus was Kim, who was focused on the task of
creating an airplane out of a blank sheet of paper. He had many talents, and one of
them was origami. The paper airplane that he was constructing not only looked
exactly like a B-52 bomber, it flew like one too. Kim stood up in his seat at the back
of the bus and aimed the airplane at a young woman at the front. He gently
propelled the model forward through the air, and it sailed across the heads of all
the other passengers, landing perfectly in the lap of the intended recipient. The
young woman picked up the paper aeroplane and read the message that Kim had
written on its wings. She looked behind her, searching for the person who had sent
her the message.
Kim waved to her to catch her attention, and then he pointed at Park. Park was, as
always, lost in his thoughts about work. He was, after all, the world's greatest
hacker feared by companies around the world, revered by the underground
hacking community, wanted by the FBI, the CIA, the NSA.
His daydream was interrupted by the presence of a woman in the aisle of the bus
standing next to him. She was staring at him with quiet determination. She had
porcelain skin and almond eyes. For a few seconds, the two of them just looked at
each other in silence. Park was mesmerized by this mysterious apparition. The
woman leaned forward and gave Park the paper airplane. She nodded, then turned
around and walked back to her seat. Park looked down at the model and read the
message that was written on the wings.
Meet me at Chunghwa Park this evening at 8 p.m.
The bus noisily changed gear and headed over the Taedong River towards the
south of the city. It took a moment for Park to figure out what was going on. Then
his heart skipped a beat and his face turned as red as the Chinese flag. Next to
him, Kim was doing his best to keep a straight face.

Park Jae-Bong may be the world's most feared and respected cybercriminal. But
when it comes to women, he's not such an expert. Thank goodness he has Kim Dae-
won to push him in the right direction.
Okay. Let's start off with a review of compound number adjectives. One of the most
mistaken grammar points in business English. Have a listen to this again.
It was a 45-minute journey to their apartment block in the Chunghwa district of
the city.
A journey of 45 minutes is a 45-minute journey. To create the compound number
adjective, you need to add a dash between the 45 and the minute. And crucially,
you need to remove the s from minutes. Likewise, a meeting of ten minutes is a
ten-minute meeting.
Okay. Here we go. Your turn. Complete these sentences. A journey of 200 kilometer
is a 200-kilometer journey. A hotel with three stars is a three-star hotel. A turkey
that weighs eight kilos is an eight-kilo turkey. Okay. You get the idea. No s at the
end of compound number adjectives.
Let's move on. Listen to this again.
There was no property ladder in North Korea. The government simply allocated
you an apartment, and that was where you lived and eventually died.
Okay. So the property ladder is a series of steps in home ownership from the
bottom to the top. From the small to the big. I got on the property ladder when I
was 28 years old. I bought a small flat in the center of London. And then when I got
married to Marina, we moved up one step in the property ladder. We sold the flat
and we bought a small terraced house away from the center of London. Then,
when we had kids, we took the next step on the property ladder. We sold our small
house and bought a slightly bigger one. So that is us moving up the property
ladder. And we were lucky. Because the whole time we were moving up the
property ladder, prices were rising. And this meant that when we sold one
property, we had a cash deposit to put down on a bigger property. Now, house
prices have risen so much over the last generation that this process is simply not
possible for young people anymore. Getting onto the property ladder and moving
up it just like we did is a serious challenge for millennials.
Now, speaking of properties, have a listen to this sentence again.
He couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to travel on a bus outside of
London, passing cottages with their thatched roofs, mansions with their iron gates
and bungalows where all the old Western people moved into when they retired.
Okay. Here's a quick vocabulary quiz based on properties. What do you call a huge
luxurious house? It begins with M. It is, of course, a mansion. What do you call a
detached house with everything on one floor? It's very popular with old retired
people in the UK, and it begins with B. It is a bungalow. What do you call a house
that is attached to other similar houses on either side in a row? It begins with T.
And we call it a terraced house. And finally, what do you call a posh apartment on
the top floor of a tall building normally with a terrace? It begins with a P. It is, of
course, a penthouse. And if you have bought a penthouse, then you have officially
arrived at the top of the property ladder.
Okay. Last week we introduced the theme of gender inequality in business. Let's
continue that discussion after we've listened to these phrases.
He thought again about Nuria Nueno and her presentation at the AGM. He
marveled at the fact that a woman could have so much power and influence. The
Workers Party in North Korea actively promoted gender equality for the good of
the economy. But everyone knew that a woman's place was at home.
So, how do you promote gender equality? How do you make sure that men and
women have an equal and fair chance of succeeding in the business world? In the
last episode, we pointed out that the number of women who were working as CEOs
of the top 100 public companies in the UK was eight. 8% of CEOs are women, 92%
are men. This feels extremely unbalanced. So, how do we promote gender equality
in leadership roles? How do we encourage more women to become CEOs of public
companies? Well, first of all, we need to ask ourselves, what is our ultimate
objective here? What is our number? In other words, under conditions of perfect
equality of opportunity between the genders, what proportion of CEOs of the top
100 public companies would be women? Is the ratio 1 to 1, is it a 50-50 split?
Would a perfectly gender neutral and equal society lead to 50% of large public
companies being run by women and 50% being run by men? Or is it natural for the
proportion of male CEOs to be higher than women? Or is it natural for the
proportion of women CEOs to be higher than men? What is our objective? What is
our number? Now, often when people debate gender inequality, they will default to
the objective of 50-50. That is the ratio that implies gender equality.
But hang on a sec, because there are some professions and certain roles that are
totally dominated by men. And there are other professions and there are other
roles that are totally dominated by women. So think about it. Which professions
are totally dominated by men? Has your car ever been serviced by a female
mechanic? Has the electrician visiting your house ever been a woman? Has the
plumber? Well, these are three professions that are completely dominated by men.
Here are the statistics. They are quite startling. In the UK, 99.2% of vehicle
mechanics are men. 98.2% of electricians are men. 98.1% of plumbers are men.
This is a rounding error. It's almost 100%.
You are not far from saying all mechanics, all electricians, and all plumbers are
men. Now, in a world of completely equal opportunity, how many women
mechanics should there be? How many women electricians and plumbers should
there be? Should it be 50-50? Should we be encouraging women to become
plumbers? Okay. Let's look at it from another perspective. Which professions are
totally dominated by women? Have a think about it. Well, have you ever walked
into a primary school? Have you ever taken your kids to ballet class? Because
97.8% of school nurses are women. 95.1% of childminders are women. 89.6% of
dancers and choreographers are women. In a world of completely equal
opportunity, how many men should be school nurses, childminders, and
choreographers? Should it be 50-50? Should we be encouraging men to become
choreographers?
You see the thing is, men and women are wired differently. We have both physical
and psychological differences, and these differences are manifest in our career
choices. In general, women don't want to be plumbers. There is simply not as
strong a psychological desire to be a plumber as there is to be a nurse. Just like in
general, men don't want to be childminders. There is simply not as strong a
psychological desire to become a childminder as there is to become an electrician.
So let's go back to the initial point. When we talk about gender equality in
business, what is our objective? What is our number? Is it 50-50 or is it something
else depending on the industry and depending on the role? Because there are both
biological and cultural reasons for gender inequality. Some inequality is natural,
and some is unnatural. Disentangling the two is a difficult but necessary process.
And once again, I recommend that you read "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of
Facebook, for an excellent analysis of the causes and the potential solutions for
gender inequality in the business world.
Okay. Let's move on. Let's test your knowledge on some common abbreviations.
Listen to these sentences again.
He was, after all, the world's greatest hacker feared by companies around the
world, revered by the underground hacking community, wanted by the FBI, the
CIA, the NSA.
So if you've watched any US movies, you will have heard these abbreviations. The
FBI, the CIA, the NSA. But what do they mean? What do they actually stand for?
FBI, what is it? The Federal Bureau of Investigation. The CIA, what is it? The
Central Intelligence Agency. The NSA, the National Security Agency. Okay. Here
are some more important institutions. I'm sure you've heard these abbreviations
too. But what do they mean? The UN. That, of course, is the United Nations. The
EU, that is the European Union. And finally the IMF, the International Monetary
Fund.
Okay. So it's good to know what these abbreviations stand for and also make sure
that you're pronouncing them like native English speakers, because sometimes
people get the pronunciation of specific letters confused. We have the FBI, the CIA,
the NSA, the UN, the EU and the IMF. Okay. One last expression before we end
today's session. It's an expression that I use a lot because it happens to me
frequently.
It took a moment for Park to figure out what was going on. Then his heart skipped
a beat and his face turned as red as the Chinese flag.
His heart skipped a beat. Well, to skip means to jump over, to miss out. So if your
heart skips a beat, it means that it misses out a regular beat. Now, if you feel like
your heart has suddenly skipped a beat, it may mean that you're having heart
palpitations. In which case this is a health issue that you probably need to address.
But in this sense, the expression is used to indicate surprise, excitement, or
nervousness. So, when was the last time you had that strange sensation in your
chest? When was the last time your heart skipped a beat?
And with that final question, we come to the end of today's class. If you like more
formalized business English classes, we can provide that for you. Just search Club
Gratton on Google and you will find us. Until we meet again, keep practicing. And
we sincerely hope that you enjoyed this 20-minute podcast.

Chapter 18: The Apartment

Park arrived back at his apartment at 7:30. He took off his shoes and went to the
toilet. He lived in a modern apartment on the 22nd floor of a tower block in zone
seven of the Chunghwa district. As a D-grade government employee, he had
certain privileges over the general public. He had a separate kitchen with a small
fridge, freezer, and an oven with two electric hobs. He didn't own any luxuries like
a microwave, a dishwasher, or a washing machine. But he did have a television,
which was the envy of all of his neighbors.
Unlike most North Korean people, Park knew that he was poor. He knew that the
standard of living in the North was significantly lower than in the South. He knew
that the infrastructure of his country remained backward, and most of his
countrymen still worked hard, time-consuming jobs in the agricultural sector. Park
also knew that the economies of many other East Asian nations had progressed
dramatically over the last 30 years as a result of globalization. They had
successfully worked together through institutions such as the United Nations and
the World Trade Organization to promote international cooperation. The supreme
leader was convinced that these institutions would eventually collapse in the
aftermath of a Marxist revolution.
Park wasn't so sure. South Korea was now much richer than North Korea. It had
higher levels of technology and productivity. The people seemed happier. They
seemed to have more fun.
Park wondered what his life would be like if he had been born 150km south, the
distance between the communist haven of Pyongyang and the capitalist center of
Seoul.
Park looked at the analog clock on his wall. It was 7:45 p.m. Chunghwa Park was a
15-minute walk from his apartment. Who was the girl with the almond eyes? Why
had she invited him to meet her? Was she a member of the secret police? It was
quite normal for the government to spy on its own employees. There was even a
department that spied on the spies of the employees.
Or was it possible that this invitation was genuine? That this mesmerizing woman
actually wanted to go on a date with him?
Of the two possibilities, Park was more worried about the latter. He was almost 30
years old and still a virgin. He walked into the bathroom, combed his hair, and then
opened the bottle of Dragon aftershave, his prized possession, a gift from Kim after
one of his business trips to China.
He carefully placed a drop of the liquid on his index finger, then spread it across
the left side of his neck. He repeated the action for the right side of his neck. He
didn't want to waste a drop. The liquid was more valuable to him than plutonium
was to the supreme leader. He stepped back from the mirror and imagined himself
with his arm around the girl with the almond eyes. Whether she was a spy or a
potential girlfriend or both, he was determined to find out.
He left his apartment and headed onto the street. It was a dark winter's night, but
fortunately, the streetlights were working that evening. He walked along the clean
and orderly streets of the Chunghwa district until he reached the main road. Then
he hailed a bicycle cab and jumped into the back of the carriage.
Pyongyang was a city for the elite. It was considered a Paradise by the peasants
who scraped a living from the unproductive lands in the countryside. Park felt
thankful to the supreme leader that he had been invited to live there.
The road to Chunghwa Park was full of traffic. There was a mix of diesel buses,
horse-drawn carts, and Chinese motorcars. The government vehicles had black
number plates, the foreign residents had red number plates, and the very rare
privately owned cars, perhaps gifts to sportsmen or actors, had yellow number
plates.
However, most of the citizens of Pyongyang walked or caught the bus. It was one of
the privileges of being a D-grade government employee that Park could flash his
identification and hail a bicycle cab. As he sat in the back of the carriage, he
wondered who the mysterious girl was, what her father did, and why her family
lived in Pyongyang.
At exactly 7:59 p.m., Park arrived at his destination. He got out of the cab and
stood beneath a huge poster of the supreme leader. He looked around the
surrounding area for his date, trying to appear relaxed but feeling deeply insecure.
Walking towards him were two people. A middle-aged lady in her mid-50s, short
and slightly bent with gray hair and pale skin. Next to her was a tall and slim
young woman with a beautiful round face and almond-shaped eyes. His date and
her chaperone had arrived.

I think Park Jae Bong is feeling a little bit nervous. What do you think? Okay. Let's
start off today with some vocabulary. In the last episode, we reviewed different
types of houses. For example, cottages, bungalows, and penthouses. This week
we're going to go inside these houses and into the kitchen to review some of the
most important vocabulary. Have a listen to these sentences again.
He had a separate kitchen with a small fridge, freezer, and an oven with two
electric hobs. He didn't own any luxuries like a microwave, a dishwasher, or a
washing machine. But he did have a television, which was the envy of all of his
neighbours.
Did you understand all that vocabulary? Let me give you a little test. You have two
seconds to respond to each of these questions. Here we go.
Where do you put your ice cream? The freezer.
What do you fry your eggs on? The hob. That is the hot plate or the burner that you
have on your cooker. The hob, H-O-B. Okay.
Question number three. Where do you wash your plates and cutlery? The
dishwasher.
Question number four. Where do you wash and dry your clothes? The washing
machine. Sometimes it's a washing machine and dryer.
Okay. Finally, for our film lovers, there is a scene in a classic '80s science fiction
film called Gremlins, where the mother is under attack in her kitchen from these
little monsters. She throws one of them into an electric machine, switches it on,
and the Gremlin explodes inside this machine. What machine am I talking about? It
is, of course, the microwave or the microwave oven.
Okay. How did you do? Were you familiar with those five words? I'm sure you were.
So, let's move on to some economic concepts. Have a listen to this again.
Unlike most North Korean people, Park knew that he was poor. He knew that the
standard of living in the north was significantly lower than in the South.
The standard of living. If your company wants to relocate you to work in another
country, it's important that you know the standard of living in this country and how
it compares to your home country. The standard of living not the standard of life.
The standard of living includes things like wealth levels, comfort, goods, and the
necessities that are available to people. And, according to a survey by World
Population Review, the countries with the highest standard of living are the
following: Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Australia.
Now, I think there is a crucial point here that this measure includes both income
and the cost of living. You see, there are certain countries where the salaries are
high but so too, is the cost of living. And therefore people cannot buy very much
with the money they make. So we need to ask ourselves, how well does the
average person with the average salary live? For example, does the average person
in the UK live better or worse than the average person in Spain? Is the standard of
living higher in the UK or lower?
Well, I used to live in London, where I worked as an investment banker. Yeah, baby.
And I had a good salary. However, the cost of living in London was so high. And
that includes things like housing, private education, food, drinks. et cetera. So we
didn't live particularly well. Our standard of living was good, but it wasn't great.
Then we moved to Madrid, where I now work as a business English teacher and I
earn significantly less money. However, the cost of living here in Madrid is much
lower than what it was in London, and therefore I can afford to do more things. So
we travel more, we eat out more. I can afford to send my three daughters to
private school. So my standard of living in Madrid is higher than it was in London,
even though my salary is lower. And this experience is actually reflected in the
data because according to the table produced by the World Population Review,
Spain is 18th in the world and the UK is 23rd in the world in terms of standard of
living.
So that's very interesting. The data confirms that it was a good idea for us to move
from the UK to Spain.
Okay. Let's have a look at our next economic concept. Have a listen to this
sentence again.
Park also knew that the economies of many other East Asian nations had
progressed dramatically over the last 30 years as a result of globalization.
Globalization. Repeat globalization. Make sure you pronounce that correctly. This
is the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a
result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange. Now, it's been taking
place for hundreds of years, but it has sped up enormously over the last half
century. And the key point here is globalization has both economic and cultural
consequences, and the impacts can be both positive and negative. How has
globalization affected your personal and professional life?
Okay. Our final economic concepts. Here we go.
Park wondered what his life would be like if he had been born 150km south. The
distance between the communist haven of Pyongyang and the capitalist center of
Seoul.
What is communism? What is capitalism? Go on. Explain capitalism. It's a pretty
important concept. We should be able to put it into words, right? Okay. For me, the
key question is who controls the economic system? Who decides what is produced?
Who decides what crops should be planted, what clothes should be designed, what
cars should be manufactured?
Well, in a communist economic system, it's very simple. The government, through a
central planning authority, commands its workers to produce what they think is
needed. There is no market, no prices, no profits, no competition. Workers are
simply told or commanded what to produce by a higher authority and then the
consumers just receive what is produced. This was the case in the Soviet Union,
and it is still the case in North Korea.
Okay. So who controls the system in a capitalist economy? It's not the king. It's not
the government. It's not a central planning authority. So who is it? Well, it's you.
You control the system. You, the consumer, you decide what is produced. If you, the
consumer, want more carrots, then you buy carrots in the market, causing the
prices to rise. This sends a signal to farmers to produce more carrots and thus
satisfy the rising demand. If you, the consumer, don't want bananas, the price in
the market falls, signaling to producers to plant fewer banana trees.
So, in a communist system, the government decides what is produced. In a
capitalist system, you, the consumer, decide. That is the fundamental economic
difference between the two systems. There are many other differences between the
two systems, which we're not going to discuss today. But I will say the following.
One system does not work and the other one does. Although imperfectly.
Okay. Let's change gears now and analyze some random vocabulary. Have a listen
to this again.
He walked into the bathroom, combed his hair, and then opened the bottle of
dragon aftershave, his prized possession, a gift from Kim after one of his business
trips to China. He carefully placed a drop of the liquid on his index finger then
spread it across the left side of his neck.
Do you know that each digit on your hand has a specific name? Let's go through
them one by one. Let's start off with the most obvious one, the thumb. Be careful
with the pronunciation. Here it is a silent B at the end of this word thumb. What is
the name of the finger next to the thumb? The one that you use when you're
pointing at something. Well, this is called the index finger. What is next to the
index finger? The one that you might raise when you are very angry with someone.
It is, of course, the middle finger. Makes sense, right? And what is next to the
middle finger? Well, this is known as the ring finger for obvious reasons. So
traditionally, this is where a bride and groom will put their engagement and their
wedding rings. And finally, last but not least, well, actually, in this case last and
least. The smallest finger on the hand is known as the little finger, or more
affectionately, it is sometimes called the pinky. P-I-N-K-Y. That's an old Scottish
term for small.
Okay. Let's move on from vocabulary to some interesting grammar. Have a listen to
this again.
He left his apartment and headed onto the street. It was a dark winter's night, but
fortunately the streetlights were working that evening.
Why does the narrator say dark winter's night rather than dark winter night? Well,
this is a peculiar thing about the Saxon genitive. Normally, we use this action
genitive to refer to something that belongs to someone. This is Sam's podcast
instead of this is the podcast of Sam. Well, we can also use the Saxon genitive for
expressions of time. Instead of saying the meeting of yesterday, we would say
yesterday's meeting. Instead of saying the annual report of last year, we would say
last year's annual report. There is a very famous Shakespeare play called
Midsummer Night's Dream. It's not called the dream of midsummer night. And so
in our story, we have a dark winter's night using the Saxon Genitive instead of the
night of a dark winter.
Okay. One final word which I think you might find interesting. Have a listen to the
final paragraph of the chapter again.
Walking towards him were two people, a middle aged lady in her mid 50s, short
and slightly bent with gray hair and pale skin. Next to her was a tall and slim
young woman with a beautiful round face and almond shaped eyes. His date and
her chaperone had arrived.
The specific definition of a chaperone is a woman accompanying and guiding a
younger, unmarried lady in public. So it's completely appropriate for this situation.
And it has been used since the 18th century. And this is a word of French origin
chaperon, meaning protector. Now, there are lots of cool French words in the
English language. And that's because after the Norman Conquest of 1066 by
William the Conqueror of Normandy, French was the official language of England
for almost 300 years. The nobility used French and the lower classes, the peasants
used English. Therefore, the French words that we use in the English language
now continue to be associated with the elite, with intellectual, and artistic
activities. And in fact, we're going to talk more about this in our next episode.
So on that note, we come to the end of today's session. And remember, if you would
like to improve your English in a more formal way, you can join me in our online
business English classes. Just search Club Gratton on Google and you will find us.
And we hope that you can join us for our next session. Until then, keep practicing.
And if you ever find a Gremlin in your kitchen, put it in your microwave.

Chapter 19: The Break

Lola sat at her desk wondering how she had ended up in this situation. The simple
act of leaving one company and joining another had turned her life upside down.
She considered all the elements that were currently conspiring against her. Mario
Ruiz de Velasco, the powerful CEO of TechSpania, wanted to ruin her. Luis Bruña,
the man she had trusted all her working life, had betrayed her, and Interpol
suspected her of involvement in a series of cyber attacks. It was overwhelming.
Lola made herself comfortable in the chair and started to meditate. She breathed
in deeply through her nose and then out through her mouth. She closed her eyes
and pictured a door opening into her grandmother's garden. The calmest, quietest,
and most relaxing place she could imagine. The fear she was feeling was purely
subjective and, therefore, could be eliminated. She was in control of her own
reality. Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She opened her eyes and looked
at the caller ID. It was Concha.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"I'm just in the middle of something. Can I buzz you back?"
"This Sunday paella? Our place Eugenius cooking?"
"Okay. Count me in."
"Great. Chat later."
"Yeah, sure."
Lola put down her phone and drummed her fingers on the surface of her desk.
There was only one way to deal with all the problems in her professional life, and
that was to move forwards, make things happen, prove everyone wrong. She
opened her email account and started working. She had about 20 unread
messages. Most of them were from suppliers marketing their products. She
transferred these irrelevant items into the trash folder. There was an internal
message from Diego reminding everyone to remain compliant with the rollout of
the new GDPR regulations. And there was a link to an article from Cyber Story
magazine about North Korean hackers ramping up attacks on European targets.
Amongst all the emails, there was one message that caught her eye. It was from
one of her ex-clients with whom she had a great working relationship in the past.
He had just been hired as IT procurement manager at Banco Cantábrico, Europe's
largest commercial bank. He was inviting her to his office for a general catch-up.
This was the break Lola needed. She didn't waste any time responding to his email.
She knew his personal number and without a second's hesitation, called it.
She placed the Bluetooth headphones in her ear and stood up. She always
communicated better when she was walking around the office. This was an
important pitch, and she needed to nail it.
"Lola."
"Fernando, it's been too long."
"Yeah. A lot of water under the bridge."
"How are you doing?"
"Good. Congrats for the new role."
"Yeah. Well, it's been a baptism of fire. So much activity through the wires."
"Tell me about it."
"So, what's up with you, Lola? I'm hearing rumors."
"Got a target on my back since I quit TechSpania."
"So you didn't get fired?"
Lola paused for a moment. It was clear that her ex-colleagues were trying to
discredit her in the market. She needed to quash the rumors. "Fernando, you and I
go way back. We've suffered together. We've celebrated together."
"Yeah?"
"You know me. What you see is what you get."
"Right."
"So, here's the thing. I quit TechSpania to join JBlock, and they didn't like it. It's as
simple as that."
There was a pause, and then Fernando responded quietly. "I knew it. They just
want to crush any kind of competition. Listen, Lola, I'd love you to come and
present your new services. How's your diary looking?"
"Well, to be honest, Fernando, pretty empty at the moment."
"Okay. I'll see you at 10 a.m. on Tuesday."
"Done."
"Done."
And with that, they both hung up. Lola had booked a meeting with the biggest fish
in the IT procurement pond. She took off her earpiece and threw it onto the desk.
It was moments like these that reminded her why she loved sales. Even though she
was still behind in the game, she took a moment to celebrate scoring a goal.

So Lola is back. This is the break that she needed. Let's hope that she can deliver
the results. Okay. We have a lot of business English to review in this particular
chapter. We have seven phrasal verbs for you, three items of advanced vocabulary
and four really useful common expressions.
So, let's start with the phrasal verbs. Listen to this again.
Lola sat at her desk wondering how she had ended up in this situation.
To end up means that you reach a final destination or a final position that you
didn't necessarily expect or anticipate. For example. When my boss criticized me in
front of the team, I ended up in tears. Or we were driving to Manchester, but we
ended up in Liverpool.
Okay. Let's look at the next two phrasal verbs. Here they are.
There was only one way to deal with all the problems in her professional life, and
that was to move forwards, make things happen, prove everyone wrong.
To deal with. We've talked about this before. It is the single most important phrasal
verb in business English, and it means to resolve an issue or a problem. That's
what we do in our everyday business life. We are constantly dealing with issues
and problems. There was a second phrasal verb in this paragraph and it was to
move forwards. And that simply means to advance or to progress.
Okay. Here's the next phrasal verb.
There was an internal message from Diego reminding everyone to remain
compliant with the rollout of the new GDPR regulations.
To roll out. This is very popular. You'll find it in a lot of headlines in the Financial
Times, and it's used in speeches by CEOs. It means to launch or introduce a new
product in a series of stages. So, you might roll out a software upgrade. You might
roll out a new design, or you might roll out a vaccine to counteract the virus.
Here's the next one.
And there was a link to an article from CyberStory magazine about North Korean
hackers ramping up attacks on European targets.
To ramp up. Another phrasal verb that is super popular with the Financial Times
and CEOs. It means to increase the production or output of your goods or services.
You might ramp up the extraction of oil in response to the economic recovery. Now
to ramp up and to roll out are really popular phrasal verbs because they imply
movement and action and dynamism. So use them in your next speech to your
international audience.
Okay. Our final two phrasal verbs are the following.
He had just been hired as IT procurement manager at Banco Cantábrico, Europe's
largest commercial bank. He was inviting her to his office for a general catch-up.
To catch up with somebody simply means to talk to someone who you haven't seen
for a long time in order to find out what they have been doing. For example. It was
great to catch up with you at the school reunion last weekend.
And our very final phrasal verb is to hang up.
"Okay. I'll see you at 10 a.m. on Tuesday."
"Done."
"Done."
And with that, they both hung up.
A very specific verb that refers to the action of ending a telephone conversation.
So there you go. Seven useful, powerful phrasal verbs that you can use in your
everyday business interactions. Okay. Now it's your turn. You cannot just sit there
passively listening to this podcast and think that you are going to absorb all of
these phrasal verbs. You have to do some work. Because no pain, no gain. So let's
play a little game. I'm going to say some sentences with these seven phrasal verbs
missing and you have to decide which one is appropriate for the sentence.
Okay. Here we go.
Here's the first one. I'm sorry I'm late. I was mm-mm a lot of human resources
issues this morning. I was dealing with a lot of issues this morning.
Okay. Here's the next one. It is disappointing that we lost the contract, but we
need to keep mm-mm. We need to keep moving forwards.
Okay. Here's the next one. I would love to see you. It's been too long, and we need
to mm-mm. It's been too long and we need to catch up.
Okay. Here's the next one. We have been mm-mm production of our electric cars in
anticipation of future demand. We have been ramping up production.
Okay. Here's the next one. I wanted to work in marketing, but I'm mm-mm in
logistics. I ended up in logistics.
Here's the next one. We will be mm-mm the new computer software upgrade over
the next six months. We will be rolling out the computer software upgrade.
And finally, what is missing from this sentence? The meeting starts in two minutes.
You need to mm-mm the phone and come with me right now. That, of course, is you
need to hang up the phone.
Okay. There you go. How did you do? If you didn't get them all right, why not
rewind the podcast and do the exercise again? Remember, repetition, repetition,
repetition. These are the things that help you remember, help you get this
vocabulary into your long term memory so that you are speaking fluently,
instinctively, and automatically.
Okay. Let's move on to some interesting vocabulary. Listen to this paragraph again.
Luis Bruño, the man she had trusted all her working life had betrayed her, and
Interpol suspected her of involvement in a series of cyber attacks. It was
overwhelming.
If something is overwhelming, it affects you very strongly. You don't know how to
deal with it. It's an adjective that is used a lot in modern business life as we try to
do more and more with fewer and fewer resources. We feel overwhelmed. The
work is overwhelming.
Okay. Another useful and versatile word.
He was inviting her to his office for a general catch up. This was the break Lola
needed.
So the word break has many different meanings, most commonly as a synonym for
damage or as a synonym for pause. But in this context, it means something
different. A break in this sense is an opportunity for improving a situation,
especially one that happens unexpectedly. This is Lola's big break. It's her
opportunity to make a sale and prove herself to her new colleagues.
Okay. The next important word.
She always communicated better when she was walking around the office. This
was an important pitch and she needed to nail it.
What is the meaning of the word pitch? Well, in this context, it refers to a speech to
persuade someone to buy your product, your service, or your idea. You might have
heard of an elevator pitch, which is an attempt to persuade somebody to buy
something in the time it takes for the elevator to rise from the ground floor to the
top floor. Okay. Three items of useful vocabulary.
Now let's move on to the final section of today's class where we have four very
useful and common native English expressions to discuss. Here is the first one.
"Lola."
"Fernando, it's been too long."
"Yeah. A lot of water under the bridge."
Water under the bridge. These are issues or problems, situations that someone has
had in the past and they don't need to worry about them anymore because it
happened a long time ago and it cannot now be changed. The phrase originated
around the early 1900s, and it refers to the fact that water in a river flows
constantly towards the sea. It is not still and it will never return. It's a very popular
line in pop songs. Adele has a song called Water Under the Bridge. Because it
conveys the sense of movement and progress. Never returning to your past. What's
done is done. Let's just move on.
Okay. Here's the next expression.
"Yeah. Well, it's been a baptism of fire. So much activity through the wires."
A baptism of fire. So, if your first experience of a new situation is a baptism of fire,
then you are put in a very difficult or unpleasant situation. So, if someone has just
begun a new job and they have a baptism of fire, they immediately have to cope
with many severe difficulties and obstacles, perhaps without the proper support or
the proper training. Have you ever experienced a baptism of fire in your career?
Okay. Here's our next expression.
"Got a target on my back since I quit TechSpania."
A target is something at which someone is aiming. Could be either their weapon or
some other object. So when you see in the Olympics, the shooting, or the archery
competitions, they are all aiming to hit their targets. So, to have a target on one's
back means that somebody is aiming their weapon at you. So you're probably the
focus of someone's anger. Maybe you made a serious error at work, and that put a
target on your back. So this means that your boss is going to be watching you
carefully to see if you make any other mistakes. Perhaps they've made up their
mind to fire you already and simply need an excuse. Have you ever felt like you
have a target on your back? It's a very unpleasant sensation.
Okay. Our final expression.
Lola had booked a meeting with the biggest fish in the IT procurement pond.
If you describe someone as a big fish, you believe that they are powerful or
important in some specifically defined area such as a company, an artistic genre, or
a location. So who is the big fish in your industry? And on that question, we come
to the end of today's session.
If you'd like to improve your English in a more formal way, you can join me on our
online business English platform. Just search Club Gratton in Google and you will
find us. And we hope that you can join us for our next session. Until then, keep
practicing the phrasal verbs, the advanced vocabulary, and the expressions that we
have covered today in your everyday business life. Because if you don't use them,
you're going to lose them.

Chapter 20: The Paella

Eugenio Hernandez knew how to cook the perfect paella. He was a native of Denia
in Valencia, where he grew up in a big house by the Mediterranean Sea with his
parents and his grandparents.
From the moment he could chop a carrot, he loved to cook. While his friends were
in the street playing football, he was in the kitchen with his abuela, boiling eggs,
frying onions and baking bread. His abuela was responsible for cooking all the food
in the house, and she taught him everything she knew. She showed him the best
combination of seafood for a fideua. She showed him how to pulverize the almonds
to make the smoothest turron. But most importantly, she shared with him the
secrets of the perfect paella.
She explained to him that success depended on three key elements: ingredients,
timing, and witchcraft. She said that it was an intuitive process, more of a feeling
than a technique. She told him that the only way to develop this feeling was to
spend hours and hours in the kitchen watching, learning, and assisting a master
cook. And that is exactly what Eugenio did for the first 18 years of his life.
When Eugenio and Concha were both in town, They loved to entertain in their
small apartment. They were the social epicenter of their community and that
Sunday, they had invited eight friends for lunch.
"How's it going?" asked Lola as she walked into the kitchen with a glass of Rioja in
her hand.
"Fine", replied Eugenio, bending down and looking at the enormous pan of
simmering rice as if it were a science experiment. He had just reached the most
critical stage in the preparation of the rabbit and artichoke dish.
"You know, in England they put chorizo in their paella", said Lola, laughing. "It's a
Jamie Oliver recipe."
Eugenio didn't react.
"They say he'll never be allowed back into Valencia."
Eugenio leaned forwards and inspected the rice at the edge of the paella like a
biologist might examine the specimens in a petri dish. "How was the trip to the
World Economic Forum?"
"Fascinating."
"Great."
Lola took a sip of wine and watched the stock bubbling away at the center of the
paella pan.
"So where are you going next?"
"China."
"Cool."
It was clear from his one-word answers that Eugenio didn't want any distractions
at that specific moment. So Lola excused herself and walked back into the living
room. Concha was in the middle of telling a story about her recent visit to New
York to the six guests who had already arrived. She had met the CFO of an
investment bank who was contemplating a move to London. She had taken him out
for lunch to discuss the terms and conditions of the offer. At the end of the meal,
she had left some change as a tip. The waiter had followed her out of the
restaurant and refused to let her get into a taxi until she paid him properly.
"20%", shouted Concha. "He wanted 20%."
The apartment intercom buzzed, the eighth and final guest had arrived. Concha
was clearly distracted with the other guests, and Eugenio could not be disturbed,
so Lola went to answer it.
"Hello", she said into the mouthpiece.
"Concha", said a man's voice.
"No, it's Lola."
"Oh. Hi, Lola. Can you let me in?"
It took a moment for Lola to recognize the voice.
"Sure", she said and pressed the button that opened the entrance from the street
below. She felt butterflies in her stomach, and her heart started to race. It was the
voice of Mr. Red Bull. She didn't know he was coming to lunch. She thought it was
going to be a simple and relaxed Sunday afternoon with friends, a chance to forget
all the stress in her life. After the grilling she had received from Interpol, her mind
was fried. She needed the weekend to unwind, de-stress and recover. But with the
arrival of Mr. Red Bull, the atmosphere of Sunday lunch, at least for Lola, had
suddenly become deliciously tense.
She opened the front door of the apartment. She could hear his footsteps running
up the stairwell. She wondered if she should stay there and greet him herself or
just disappear amongst the other guests. As the footsteps grew louder and louder,
her heart seemed to beat faster and faster until the door of the apartment burst
open and Mr. Red Bull walked in. He looked at Lola and smiled. "Hello again", he
said and kissed her on both cheeks.
"Hi", Lola replied.
They stood at the entrance, staring at each other for a moment, and then he said,
"Wow, that paella smells incredible."
Lola was lost for words like a teenager meeting her crush in the school hallway.
She searched deep inside her brain for something intelligent to say and the only
thing she could think of was, "You know, in England, they sometimes put chorizo in
their paella."

So things are getting deliciously tense in Lola's personal life. Before we talk more
about this, let's look at a very common grammar mistake. Listen to this again.
His abuela was responsible for cooking all the food in the house, and she taught
him everything she knew.
One of the most common errors that we hear when professionals are introducing
themselves in a working environment is the incorrect use of responsible for. In
many cases people say the responsible of instead of simply responsible for. So, for
example, it is quite common to hear a non-native speaker introduce themselves
and then say something like, "I am the responsible of marketing." When in fact
they should say, "I am responsible for marketing." There is no use of the definite
article there in this expression and the appropriate preposition is for and not of.
Now, just be very careful with this expression because we often use it when we are
meeting people for the first time. And, therefore, it's extremely important to get it
right so that we can convey a good first impression of ourselves.
Okay. Let's have a look at another common error, this time in pronunciation. Have
a listen to these sentences again.
"You know, in England, they put chorizo in their paella", said Lola, laughing. "It's a
Jamie Oliver recipe."
The word recipe, R-E-C-I-P-E, recipe is often mispronounced as Recep. Now a
recipe Is a set of instructions for preparing a particular dish, usually including a
list of all the ingredients required. That is a recipe. Not to be confused with a
receipt, R-E-C-E-I-PT. Receipt. This is a written statement saying that money or
goods have been received. Now the word recipe is an important word, not just in a
cooking sense, but also in a business sense. It is quite common to hear people ask
the question, "What is your recipe for success?" It is also quite common to hear
people say, "This plan is a recipe for disaster." So make sure that you pronounce
this word correctly and don't confuse it with the word receipt.
Now, do you know who Jamie Oliver is? He is one of the most successful and
famous celebrity chefs in the world. And he started on British TV when he was in
his early 20s, showing the British public how to make simple but really delicious,
mainly Italian food. From there, he became an international sensation, writing
countless cookery books, presenting countless TV programs, and also becoming a
campaigner for healthy eating. It seemed like he could do no wrong until one day
he tried to cook a Spanish paella. And he made the fatal mistake of including
chorizo in his paella. Now, this is considered sacrilege by many Spanish people.
And they were merciless in their criticism and their attacks of Jamie Oliver. Indeed,
he even received some death threats for his actions, although of course, people
were joking. But it did cause a very big reaction and a very big stir amongst the
Spanish population.
So, this is what Lola Badiola is referring to in a joking way in this particular
chapter. Now, the interesting thing from a linguistic perspective about paella and
chorizo, is that native English speakers make no attempt to pronounce these words
like the Spanish do. We say "pay-ela" and "choritzo" instead of paella and chorizo.
Now, this is in complete contrast to the way that native English speakers
pronounce French words that have entered the English language.
We make a big effort to pronounce French words like the French. Take the word
croissant. Now, the sensible way of pronouncing this word would be kroy-sant. But
native English speakers pronounce it croissant. We try to sound French, and it's
the same for words like cafe, buffet, and creme brulée. Now, my argument is this.
This is what I say to my fellow native English-speaking friends. If we try to
pronounce these French words like the French, then we should try to pronounce
the Spanish words that are in the English language like the Spanish. So we should
say paella. We should say chorizo. Now, we might not get it exactly right but the
point is we're making an effort. We're showing respect to the other language. And
speaking of respect, one more piece of advice. Whatever you do, do not put chorizo
in your paella.
Okay. Let's continue our discussion of cross-cultural confusion with the following
paragraph. Listen carefully.
At the end of the meal she had left some change as a tip. The waiter had followed
her out of the restaurant and refused to let her get into a taxi until she paid him
properly. "20%", shouted Concha. "He wanted 20%."
So in which countries is a tip expected to be paid, and how much is appropriate?
The rules are very different in different countries. So I think well, certainly in my
experience of travelling at one extreme, you have the United States where tipping
is not even considered optional. It is compulsory, almost irrespective of the quality
of the service you get. And that is because everybody in the United States knows
that the vast majority of a waiter's salary is made up from the tips. They get an
extremely low base salary because there's an expectation that they will be tipped.
So, if you don't tip a waiter or a barman in the United States, you are essentially
treating him or her almost like a slave. And, I have seen waiters in New York chase
European tourists down the street demanding to be paid a tip of between 15 and
20% of the price of the meal. So you can imagine waiters in top restaurants in New
York and other parts of the United States where people might pay a few hundred
dollars for a bottle of wine can make a lot of money in tips.
Now, at the other extreme, you have Japan where a tip is not expected. The
Japanese culture is one that is firmly rooted in dignity, respect, and hard work. As
such, good service is considered the standard. And tips are viewed as unnecessary.
In fact, it can be considered rude and insulting in many situations. And most
Japanese restaurants require customers to pay for their meals at the front register
rather than leaving money with the waiter or the waitress. So I think almost all
countries, other countries fall between these two extremes of Japan and the United
States. And it is worthwhile investigating the tipping culture of the country that
you are visiting so that you can avoid any misunderstanding or embarrassing
situations.
Okay. Let's move on to some expressions. Have a listen to this again.
She felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart started to race. It was the voice of
Mr. Red Bull. She didn't know he was coming to lunch.
To have butterflies in your stomach. This is a very common expression. And it
means that you are feeling nervous and a little bit excited. And maybe, just maybe,
you're falling in love. It is caused by a reduction of blood flow to the stomach. This
is the result of the release of adrenaline. That is what we call the fight or flight
response. And this causes increased heart rate and blood pressure, consequently
sending more blood to the muscles and less blood to the stomach. And that is why
you get these sensations, these fluttery sensations, as if there were a butterfly
within your stomach.
Okay. Here's the next expression.
She thought it was going to be a simple and relaxed Sunday afternoon with friends,
a chance to forget all the stress in her life. After the grilling she had received from
Interpol, her mind was fried.
A grilling is where you are asked a series of difficult and direct questions that
cause you to feel under pressure, making your body and your face hot as if you are
being grilled like a steak on a barbecue. You might get grilled at an interview for a
job. You might get grilled by a lawyer in a court or in Lola's case, you get grilled by
Interpol during their investigation. Now, if this pressure continues to increase, it
might even fry your mind. This is when your brain feels so overloaded, so
overwhelmed by work and stress that you cannot think straight.
Okay. One final piece of vocabulary. It's a good one to know.
Lola was lost for words like a teenager meeting her crush in the school hallway.
Literally, crush means to compress or squeeze forcefully to distort the shape of
something. But in this sense within this chapter, it has a different but related
meaning. A crush is a brief but intense infatuation for someone else, especially
someone who is unobtainable. It's the process of having your heart compressed,
squeezed, and forcefully distorted in shape by another human being. Do you
remember your first-ever crush? What was their name? Do you remember what
they did to your heart? The compression, the distortion. It's a feeling that few of us
will ever forget.
And on that note, we come to the end of today's session. And remember, if you
would like to improve your English in a more formal way, you can join me on our
business English platform. Just search Club Gratton on Google and you will find us.
And we hope that you can join us for our next session. Until then, keep practicing.
And remember to never, ever put chorizo in your paella.