Johnny's ESL Podcast

Site Update: Premium Content

As of Episode 81 all podcasts and supplemental material on this site will be premium content.

A premium content subscription will provide you with the following:

* at least 2 podcasts per week ranging from 10-20 minutes

* supplemental material which will let you practice what you learned in the podcast

* I will also be available via email to answer any questions that you may have

The 50 dollar subscription fee will allow you to have12 month access to all premium content material. If you have any questions, please email me or look for me on skype johnnyesl.

I look forward to providing you the best ESL podcast on the web.

Episode 80: Pressing Problems

We need to get to the heart of what the real issue is here. I am sick and tired of listening to the same old excuses as to why we have not been able to get this project off the ground. Jim and I have been reviewing all the decisions that we have made up to this point and it seems we need more accountability around here. And speaking to that point, we are going to be implementing some new policies around here. First, we are going to have all department heads meet with their team managers on a daily basis. This will be done to gauge how we are progressing and to deal with any pressing problems that may arise. Additionally, I will be conducting a bi-weekly meeting with teams from each department. These will be held with the intent of providing feedback to teams so that we all know where we stand. Hopefully, these new strategies will help us communicate more effectively which in turn will lead us to seeing this project through to the end. If you have questions about this or anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Episode 79: Breaking The News

I am in such a bad mood today. I have been negotiating a merger between the two biggest telecommunications companies in the country. I thought that a deal was imminent this morning when we were able to come to an agreement on the last major stumbling block between the companies. However, just as I was about to update the parties, one of the companies threw a monkey wrench into the whole deal when they decided that they wanted to renegotiate some of the terms of the deal. After months of protracted negotiations, several sessions spent spinning our wheels, and days on end spent burning the midnight oil, this was a setback that I really didn’t want to deal with. I guess what I have to do now is contact the other company and break the news to them. I’ll keep you posted as to how things play out.

imminent—- something that is happening soon

come to an agreement is the same as reach an agreement

stumbling block—— a difficulty that needs to be overcome

throw a monkey wrench——–something that frustrates a project or plans

protracted negotiations are negotiations that go on for a very long time

setback is something that stops your progress

break the news to someone—–generally means telling someone bad news

how things play out——–the result

Episode 78: Just Brush It Off

I have been having a hard time dealing with my co-worker Daniel for the past year. Initially, I thought that maybe he was just a slow learner or that he was just green. I decided that I would cut him some slack and that eventually he would get the hang of how things were done at the office. He would make mistakes which I would brush off even though they were hurting our bottom line. I have raised this matter with my boss repeatedly, but he just says that it takes time to learn the ropes of the financial industry. I see where he is coming from to a point, but when is enough enough. I guess the part that bothers me most is not just the fact that Daniel is inept, but he also has a nonchalant attitude which makes me crazy. I guess I might have to go over my boss’s head to get this situation resolved. However, If I do that my boss might give me the cold shoulder if I need him in the future. I’ll keep you posted on what I decide to do.

Episode 77: Up To Par

I had to do the most difficult thing I have ever done as a boss yesterday. I had to fire an engineer who was not performing up to par. The part that was the most difficult was that I had to fire him right before the Christmas holidays. I really felt like Scrooge, but I knew what I was getting into when I took this job. The meeting was scheduled to start first thing in the morning because I wanted to get it over with. However, there was a problem that arose at our our office in New York that I had to deal with. This put back the meeting for a few hours which only put me on edge even more. So, at around one Jim came into the office looking extremely uptight. I think he knew that the writing was on the wall. He had not been performing well and he had received several warnings regarding his performance. I told him that I had to let him go and that I wished him the best. After listening to him tell me his side of the story, he ended with telling me he understood and thanked me for the opportunity. It was such a weight off my mind to finally have the meeting over and with that I left work early. On my way home, I decided to treat myself so I stopped at an electronics shop and bought myself a 45 inch LCD TV. I quickly forgot about the day I had at work.

Episode 76: Tight Lipped

My colleague Jake continuously asks me if our firm has any plans to merge in the near future. I have told him repeatedly that I have to keep that information close to the vest. He told me yesterday that I was always being tight lipped about corporate issues. He said that according to the rumor mill, an announcement was imminent. I told him that the only thing I knew was that nothing had been set in stone. I also informed him that the situation regarding the merger was in flux and that no announcement would be made until we had crossed all of our T’s and dotted all the I’s.

Episode 75: There is No Reason To Sugarcoat Anything

Opening Remarks:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to thank all of you for being here. There are some very important decisions we need to make as to how we are going to stop the bleeding. There is no reason for me to sugarcoat anything. If we want to stem the tide , we are going to have be disclose everything to our stockholders, customers, media, and investigators. We received confirmation this morning that the problem with the products originated in our factory. I feel that we need to be completely transparent here. By being transparent, we will show that we are cooperating in good faith and trying to get to the root of the problem. If we all chip in and do our part, hopefully this will all blow over quickly. Does anybody have anything they would like to add?

B) I’d like to offer my two cents……………..

stem the tide— to stop a very strong (usually negative trend)

to blow over— to subside, wane, or pass over with little lasting effect.

disclose— to share everything openly.

Episode 74: A Pat On The Back

1) I think I deserve a pat on the back for the presentation I gave at the conference.

2) I burned the midnight oil for two weeks to get ready for the exam, however I just passed by the skin of my teeth.

3) Have you found why Jim and Jason had that big falling out a week ago?

4) It has been over a month since she called you, you need to get the hint that she doesn’t want to see you anymore.

5) When was the last time you were floored by something?

6) I can drop you off at the mall on my way to work.

7) I appreciate you taking me under your wing. The knowledge I have obtained from watching you work will be invaluable to me.

8) I felt like a fish out of water when I first visited Japan.

9) I got into hot water with my boss because I didn’t meet the deadline.

Dictation:

I am writing to inform you that we have not yet received payment for the web design work that we did for your company. The final payment of 345.27 is now two months past due. We request that final payment be made promptly. We feel that the work we did for your company was professionally and promptly done. Moreover, we have also received a letter stating that your company was pleased with our performance. If payment has already been made, please disregard this notice.

Pronunciation tip:

see

she

ship

sheep

Episode 73: White Lies

White lies are the keys to success in every marriage or relationship. We all tell white lies on a daily basis. I can not imagine ever always telling the truth. I know that everyone out there listening, especially the guys knows what I’m talking about. Your wife or girlfriend comes home from the hairstylist and asks how her hair looks. Even if you thought that her hair didn’t look that great, you would never say it. All guys would say, “it looks great baby.” What about the “do I look fat in these jeans” question. What man in his right mind would ever say yes. What man would want to be responsible for telling his wife or girlfriend that she is hitting the wall. These are examples of white lies. The small, vital lies we tell each other because we don’t want to rock the boat. In most work situations or when a student asks me how their English is progressing , I like to be a straight shooter. However , when it comes to affairs of the heart, remember that you can always count on a white lie to save the day.

Episode 72: A Sticking Point

Memo:

I just want to keep you posted on what is going on with the meetings so far. On the whole, I feel that the recent successes we have had developing new businesses in emerging markets will continue in the next fiscal year. There are only a few sticking points which might slow down the pace of development. The one that concerns me the most is the recent credit crunch that has negatively impacted the marketplace. We will be closely monitoring this situation.

In other company news, the merger deal with Equos is on the brink of being completed. The various issues that were under discussion are close to being resolved. Additionally, we are currently narrowing down the list of possible locations for our next company seminar.

Episode 71: Picking Your Brain

A) Do you have a second? I need to pick your brain on a couple of things.

B) It’s not a good time now. I’m in the middle of something.

A) What about tomorrow?

B) Tomorrow’s not good either. I’ll be in and out of the office all day. I have some time on Friday.

A) Friday works for me. Let’s say 8 A.M.

B) Sounds good.

rack your brain

This puzzle is so difficult. I have been racking my brain for hours trying to solve it.

He’s a brain.

someone who is clever

be brain dead

By the time I finish teaching, I am brain dead.

a part of the brain trust.

A member of the president’s secretary is part of his brain trust

Episode 70: Opening The Floor To Questions

Open the Floor to Something: Ladies and Gentlemen that concludes my presentation, I would like to now open the floor to questions.

Take The Floor: Jake will be taking the floor in twenty minutes in order to discuss the latest financial data.

Give The Floor to Someone: Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank you for listening to me discuss the next step of the project. I would like to now give the floor to Ms. Adams who will be discussing the logistics of the project.

to Floor Someone: When Maria told me that she was getting married in a week, she totally floored me. I didn’t even know she was dating anybody.

Get in The Ground Floor: Look, I’m telling you this company is going to be a success. If I were you, I would get in on the ground floor so that you aren’t left standing on the sidelines when it gets big.

Falling Through The Floor: The cost of airline flights has really fallen through the floor this past year because of all the new budget airlines.

Floor It: Look I need to get to the bank in five minutes! Can you please floor it?

Wipe The Floor: Our team is much better than their team. I am confident that we will wipe the floor with them.

Episode 69: On The Spot

A) Why are you in such a bad mood today?

B) Sorry, I had a really bad day at work.

A) What happened?

B) Well, To put it in a nutshell I was in a meeting with one of our most important clients and the boss totally put me on the spot. I was sitting there listening to him make our sales pitch, when suddenly out of the blue, he said that I would now be discussing the financing for the project. He never told me that I would be talking about the financing, He said that he would handle everything.

A)What did you do?

B) I must have had the deer in the headlights look on my face when I stood up to speak. After a very shaky beginning, I was able to get my feet under me and deliver a pretty good presentation. The thing that made me really livid was that after the meeting, my boss acted like nothing out of the ordinary happened. I learned my lesson today. From now on, I’ll always be ready because you never know when things like this are going to happen.

Episode 68: Word Of Mouth

I have been trying to tell my boss that we don’t need to spend a bunch of cash advertising our English School. He seems to feel that flashy spots on television will get our name out there. Additionally, he feels that half page ads in the newspaper are another viable option for us to look at it. I can not get past how naive he is when he is dealing with these advertising companies. I have told him time and again that the best advertising is word of mouth. He doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that if our school gives good lessons, uses excellent materials, and satisifies the needs of our students that the word will spread about how good our school is. He has flushed about 10,000 dollars down the toilet so far and the results have been insignificant. I guess I will just have to persist in trying to convince him that money doesn’t grow on trees. If he could only see that an excellent curriculum is much more integral to the success of the school than advertising, our school would be much better off.

Episode 67: Please Make Note Of Episode 67

Before we start today, there are a couple of housekeeping issues that we need to take care of. First, have we made all the arrangements for next week’s Conference?

A) Yes, that has all been taken care of.

Glad to hear that. Next, Has the contractor given us a firm date of commencement on the William’s project?

B) I just hear from them today. The project will start as scheduled on the 20th of April.

Excellent, now that we have taken care of the housekeeping. Let’s move on to today’s agenda. I know that my reputation of never saying anything of note may have some of you dreading today’s meeting. Let me just say that there are a number of high priority items that we need to get through today. Before going any further, please make note of the third item listed on today’s agenda. I have decided that I would like to just touch on that issue today. I will go into more detail next week. I didn’t have enough time to prep that issue. Since we will be tackling a wide variety of topics today, please feel free to take notes. Finally, before we start with the first item on the agenda, I would like to thank Jamie for doing such a wonderful job taking the minutes during our meetings.

Episode 66: Don’t Pass Up This Podcast

ack: I can’t believe you passed up moving to France for a year.Paul: I’d love to go but the timing isn’t good for me now.

Jack: It sounds like a sweet deal. They offered you a pay raise, an apartment, and a car. I was hoping the firm would offer me a position abroad. It seems like I always get passed over when they make these decisions.

Paul: Have you told management that you would be interested in working overseas?

Jack: I’ve mentioned it to Jim in passing.

Paul: You know how busy Jim is. If you just mentioned it to him in passing, it probably went in one ear and out the other. Look if you really want to make a mark at the company, you got grab the bull by the horns, and make it absolutely clear to Jim that you feel slighted by not being offered a position at our overseas offices.

Jack: I’ll try and get a meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Paul: Let me know how things shake out.

Jack: Sure

Episode 65: Skeletons In The Closet

Do you have any skeletons in your closet? I think that we all do. Generally speaking, we don’t share the skeletons we have in our closet with friends and colleagues. A skeleton in the closet can leave you red faced or upset, if it were discovered. Let’s say you were a politician or anybody else with a high profile job, your enemies could use a skeleton in your closet to blackmail you. Most of us want this information kept on the down low. Some of us, might even offer to bribe those who have discovered a skeleton in our closet so that they will keep our secret. We would be willing to go to great lengths to keep the cat in the bag. Those of you who are married or have girlfriends and boyfriends should ask them about skeletons in their closet. They might try to duck the question, or even worse, put the shoe on the other foot, by asking about the skeletons in your closet.

Episode 64: Getting Over A Broken Heart

I still haven’t been able to get over Michelle dumping me. It happened six months ago, but I feel like it was yesterday. I know I should take these kinds of things in stride, however difficult. When my friends ask me what I got up to on weekends, I always tell them nothing. Going to work is an extremely difficult chore. I just want to get it over with as soon as possible so that I can get home and feel sorry for myself. Even my friends have started making fun of me by asking if I want them to throw me a pity party. There are so many errands that I keep putting off doing that my “to do” list keeps getting longer and longer. I haven’t gotten around to doing things that need my immediate attention. I want to get back to being the easy-going Johnny that I used to be. I hope things get better soon.

Episode 63: To Some Extent

Jake: I think the best way forward is to set up a new department. The department would be responsible for handling the influx of new business.

Joe: I agree with you to some extent. I think that we need a way to handle all the new business. I just don’t believe it is feasible to create a whole new department. I think that creating a small team of four or five employess would be enough for the time being.

Jake: I guess we have to agree to disagree on this matter. I just feel creating a new department show our competitors and customers alike that we are a force to be reckoned with in the market place.

Joe: I just don’t want to bite off more than we can chew. I want to see some significant growth in our bottom line before deciding to expand.

Jake: If I can just add my two cents on that. We haven’t gotten this far by taking baby steps. We have gotten to where we are today by always throwing caution to the wind. Why slow down now?

Joe: Let’s give it a few months and see how it goes. If the demand is outpacing our ability to handle all the new business, I’ll greenlight the creation of the new department. Fair enough?

Jake: Fair enough.