WARM-UP

Look at the pictures your lecturer prepared for you. Use the information you get to
answer these following questions.

1. What are they doing?

2. Where do they conduct the meeting?
3. In your opinion, what is their relationship?

Vocabulary List

No. Word Transcript Part of Speech Meaning

1. Budget /ˈbʌdʒ.ɪt/ Noun A plan to show how
much money a person
or organization will
earn and how much
they will need or be
able to spend
2 Redundancy /rɪˈdʌn.d ə n t  .si/ Noun When something is
unnecessary because it
is more than is needed

3 Workforce /ˈwɝːk.fɔːrs/ Noun The group of people

who work in a
company, industry,
country, etc

4 Cost-cutting /ˈkɑːstˌkʌ.tɪŋ/ Noun actions which are taken

to reduce the amount
that is spent on a
service or within an
 organization

5 Market ˈ market ˌ share Noun the number of things

share that a company sells
compared with the
number of things of the
same type that other
companies sell

6 Downturn /ˈdaʊn.tɝːn/ Noun a reduction in the

amount or success of
something, such as a
country's economic
activity

7 Principle /ˈprɪn t  .sɪ.pl ̩/ Noun a basic idea or rule that

explains or controls
how something happens
or works

15 Vital /ˈvaɪ.t ə l/ Adj Very important

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Narrator: Court's power pump is an energy company based in the UK. Marcus the managing
director wants to discuss the company's sales figures. He is meeting Maya the
finance director, David the sales and marketing director and Anna a customer
services director.

Marcus : Now you all know why I've called this meeting. Sales figures for our region
are down need to address this as soon as we can. So I'd like to start by asking
Maya to talk us through the figures. Okay Maya?
Maya : Alright.
Marcus : And then we can take a look at the products were offering and compare them
with the competition. So, Maya over to you.
Maya : Thanks Marcus. Well, I prepared some handouts to show you how the figures
are looking. If we look at sales year-to-date… in order to meet budget this year
we will in my opinion have to start some cost-saving measures…
Anna : What do you mean by that redundancy?
Maya : That's one possibility.
Anna : I can't agree with you there. We need a strong workforce.
Marcus : Okay thanks Maya. Look… cost-cutting is something that we need to think
about. But we also need to stop the downturn in sales and regain market share.
So can I bring you in here David? Any comments?
David : Well it's hard to know. What the problem is our products are competitive.
Marcus : So they're not getting better offers from the competition
 David : I don't think so. How about I talk you through our office at the moment? I've
prepared some handouts
Marcus : Yes go ahead. It would be good to look at the details okay… thanks David
that was all useful information so Anna can we turn to you now do you have
any ideas why this downturn is happening?
Anna : Well it's true we are seeing a decrease in custom in our region. There's also
been an increase in customers cancelling new contracts within 14 days. So...
David : But do you know why do the customers say why they don't like our office? I
personally feel that this is vital information I mean…
Anna : If I can finish what I was saying, I'd like to suggest we review our customer
account procedures from first contact to after sales care. And perhaps it would
be a good idea to start with that and see if the sales figures improve.
Marcus : Thanks Anna. What do you two think of that?
Maya : Can I make another suggestion. I think we need to see the whole picture from
the customers’ point of view … a customer survey perhaps
Anna : There would be a big project. It would need a project team which means
taking staff from other departments.
Maya : Actually, I was thinking about hiring an external researcher. Get a neutral
view on our position in the market and customer views on us.
Marcus : Aw! I like that idea. I think it could be very useful information.
Anna : Which department pays for it, though?
Marcus : We can talk about that in a minute. Do you agree in principle though that we
need to understand the cause of the problems ?
Anna : Yes, I suppose so.
Marcus : Good. David, could you look for a market research company? We could
work with on that.
David : Sure.
Marcus : Great! Well, let's move on then shall we.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb6Oc1_SdJw&t=73s

GRAMMAR FOCUS

If we look at the transcript above, there are various types of tenses used by the speakers.
However, since you have learned about Present tense and Past tense in the previous
meetings, we are going to focus on the following tenses below. *Each colour represents
type of tense used.

A. Present and Past Continuous Tense

(+) S + is/am/are + Ving+ O (+) S + was/were + Ving+ O

(-) S + is/am/are + not + Ving + O (-) S + was/were + not + Ving + O
(?) Is/am/are+ S + Ving + O (?) Was/were+ S + Ving + O
For example:
a. So they're not getting better offers from the competition?
b. We can take a look at the products we’re offering.
 c. Do you have any ideas why this downturn is happening?
d. I was thinking about hiring an external researcher.

B. Present Perfect Tense

(+) S + has/have + V3 + O
(-) S + has/have + not + V3 + O
(?) Has/Have+ S + V3 + O
For example:
a. Now you all know why I’ve called this meeting.
b. I've prepared some handouts

EXERCISES:

Instruction: Rewrite the following sentences as negative sentences, yes/no questions,

WH-questions, and Tag questions. Look at the example provided for you.

Example for the sentence “I have called this meeting”

Negative sentence : I haven’t called this meeting.
Yes/No question : Have I called this meeting?
WH-question : What have I called?
Tag question : I have called this meeting, haven’t I?

1. You all know why I've called this meeting.

2. We can take a look at the products we’re offering.
3. We are seeing a decrease in custom in our region.
4. I've prepared some handouts.
5. I was thinking about hiring an external researcher