English at Work
Episode 8: Room 301
Giving praise
Paul: Good afternoon
Anna & Tom: Hi, good afternoon
Paul: Anna, Tom, room 301 please Now
Narrator: Welcome back to Tip Top Trading, where things are a teeny bit tense
today Paul has called Tom and Anna into room 301, the place where
difficult conversations happen Perhaps Paul has found out about
yesterday's unhappy clients
Anna: Oh dear
Narrator: You should be okay Anna After the way you coped with Mr Lime, you
should be praised
?Anna: Really? What do you think Paul will say
:Narrator: Well, if he is pleased, he'll say things like
Well done
You handled it well
Great job
I'm really impressed
?Anna: And if he's not
Narrator: Well, I suppose – oop Here’s Paul now!
Paul: Well, Tom, Anna Yesterday was not a great day Two clients came in with
serious complaints Mrs Kumquat received a delivery of imitation bananas
that were purple, not very convincing And Mr Lime ordered grapefruits,
but got pineapples Tom
Tom: Yes
?Paul: Were you responsible for these errors
Tom: Well yes, but…
Paul: Look, mistakes happen But it seems that Mrs Kumquat left our offices
even angrier than when she came in and she says she will never use Tip
Top Trading again
Tom: I tried my best
Paul: Hmmm I understand you told her to spray-paint the bananas and to 'stop
being such a miserable old witch'
Tom: Yeah, well look, she'd been very rude to me
Paul: If you weren't such a good salesman I would fire you for that Anna
Anna: Yes
Paul: Well done Not only was Mr Lime satisfied that his problem would be
resolved, but we might even get some extra business from him, thanks to
your Imperial Lemon proposal
Anna: I hope so
Paul: You were in a difficult situation and you handled it well You remained
calm, friendly and professional So, great job I'm really impressed I'm
going to…
(phone rings)
Paul: Who's that? Oh no It's a call from the USA
Tom: Oh god
?Anna: What
Tom: It’s the boss
?Anna: Whose boss
Tom: Ours! The big, big boss, based in America
Paul: Shhhh! (on the phone) Hellooo? Ah, good afternoon Mr Socrates, I mean,
er- morning, ha ha, where you are it's … yes, no, n-yes … I'm not sure
Mrs Kumquat … did she? … well, it was very unfortunate … purple, yes …
?totally unacceptable … I will If you'd like I could … Mr Socrates? Hello
Mr Socrates? Oh, he's gone
Right where was I? Tom, great work Anna, I'm disappointed No, no,
Anna, great work, I want you to take charge of the Imperial Lemon
presentation Tom, if you speak to a client like that again there will be
disciplinary action Mrs Kumquat was so angry she even emailed Mr
Socrates Ok, that’s it
Narrator: Phew! What a relief for Anna Let's listen again to some of the phrases Paul
:used to praise her
Well done
You were in a difficult situation and you handled it well
So, great job I'm really impressed
He also explained why he thought Anna had done a good job:
You remained calm, friendly and professional
Excellent work Anna But Tom's mistakes have given everyone a lot of
work to do tomorrow
Paul: First thing tomorrow we need to sort this mess out Tom, I want you to
phone every single client and check the orders Anna, you can go to the
warehouse and find out what's going on in there!
· Listening comprehension question
In which country is the ‘big boss’ of Tip Top Trading based?
America / United States
