Dealing with difficult conversations

A. Michael Goodrich is the presenter of a consumer protection television program.

Tonight he is interviewing Tim Bradshaw, the Marketing Director of TG
Products, a large chain of shops which sells imported toys. Listen to the
interview and answer these questions:

1. What kind of toys are popular with children, according to Tim Bradshaw?
2. How many toys does his company have in stock?
3. How serious is the problem with the toys? Explain your answer.

B. Listen again and fill in the missing words.

1. Could you _______ ________ me how many of these items you import each month?
2. I don’t know off the top of my __________.
3. Could you be a little more __________?
4. Isn’t it __________ you’ve been receiving dozens of complaints?
5. Do you __________ people have been phoning you and emailing you constantly to
complain about the toys?
6. What are you __________ to say?
7. Could you __________ that comment please?
8. I can’t __________ comment on that.
9. I’ll __________ __________ the matter and I’ll get back to you.
Interviewer

Asking questions politely ● I’m interested to know why…

● ___________________________

Asking probing questions / getting a ● Could you elaborate?

more detailed answer ● ___________________________

Asking questions aggressively ● Are you saying that…?

● ___________________________
● ___________________________

Interrupting ● Forgive me for interrupting, but…

● Excuse me for interrupting, but…

Interviewee

Obvious avoidance ● I’m glad you’ve brought that up, because

there’s another point that needs
addressing.
● Before I answer that, let me just add to
what I was saying.
● ___________________________

Giving yourself time to think / ● That’s an interesting question.

delaying an answer ● ___________________________
● ___________________________

Asking for clarification ● What do you mean exactly?

● ___________________________

Building up to a point ● What we have to take into account is…

● What we plan to do is…
● All I’m saying is…