Business English (eBook)
473 Seiten
Haufe Verlag
978-3-648-12134-4 (ISBN)
Lisa Förster ist ausgebildete Übersetzerin und Dolmetscherin für Englisch und Französisch. In ihrem Übersetzungs- und Sprachtrainingsbüro arbeitet sie mit einem Team aus qualifizierten Übersetzern und Dolmetschern zusammen. Außerdem bietet sie Fachsprachenkurse zu Business English an.
Lisa Förster Lisa Förster ist ausgebildete Übersetzerin und Dolmetscherin für Englisch und Französisch. In ihrem Übersetzungs- und Sprachtrainingsbüro arbeitet sie mit einem Team aus qualifizierten Übersetzern und Dolmetschern zusammen. Außerdem bietet sie Fachsprachenkurse zu Business English an. Ian C. Lewis Ian C. Lewis ist Dozent für interkulturelle Studien an der Universität für angewandte Wissenschaften in Amsterdam. Annette Pattinson Annette Pattinson ist staatlich geprüfte Übersetzerin für Englisch und als Lektorin und Layouterin in der Verlags- und Übersetzungsbranche tätig, mit Schwerpunkt auf mehrsprachigen Büchern und Zeitschriften. Sander Schroevers Sander Schroevers ist Spezialist im Bereich der internationalen Kommunikation. Er ist ein gefragter Sprecher auf internationalen Konferenzen und Seminaren und hat bereits zahlreiche Bücher auf dem Feld der europäischen Kommunikation herausgegeben. Gegenwärtig arbeitet er auch als Präsident des IECIE-Gremiums, dem Europäischen Institut für Internationale Unternehmenskommunikation (l'institut européen de communication internationale d'entreprise) in Paris. Stephanie Shellabear Die Autorin lebt seit 1992 in München und hat bis 2005 in der Mode-, Consulting- und Computerbranche gearbeitet. Sie ist qualifizierte Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) und Mitglied des britischen Chartered Institute of Linguists - Translation Division. Seit 2005 unterrichtet sie Englisch und arbeitet als Übersetzerin. Jaquie Mary Thomas Jaquie Mary Thomas stammt aus Oxford (England) und ist als Diplom-Sozialpädagogin auf Erwachsenenbildung spezialisiert. Sie ist als "Teacher of English as a Foreign Language" zertifiziert und von dem International Cultural Institute (Portland, USA) in "Intercultural Foundations" ausgebildet. Ihr Institut "International Communication Training" berät und schult Mitarbeiter und Führungskräfte von internationalen Konzernen.
Teil 1: E-mails in English
An E-mail's Anatomy
- Subject Lines That Work
- Common Salutations and Openings
- Ending an E-mail
- Signatures and Disclaimers
- E-mail Techniques: about CC and BCC A Reader-friendly Approach
- When to Use E-mail and When Not?
- Structuring the Information
- Formal or Informal?
- Netiquette Guidelines
- How to Deal with AttachmentsCommon Business Situations
- Requesting Information or Favours
- Hotel or Conference Enquiries
- Giving Enquiries
- Change of Address
- Appointments
- Invitations
- Sending Agendas and Minutes
- Refusing a Request
- Complaints
- Apologies
- Congratulations and Season's Greetings
- Thanks
- Payments and Reminders
- Making Offers
- Delivery and Incoterms
- Numbers and Currency Symbols Practical Reference
- Useful Vocabulary and Key Terms
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- E-mail Features Teil 2: Phone Calls in English
Getting Started and Ending a Conversation
- Calling according to plan
- After the greeting
- I beg your pardon?
- Connecting people
- Answering the phone
- Ending a conversation Typical Situations and How To Deal with Them
- Taking and leaving messages
- Appointments
- Telephone spelling
- Taking down names and numbers
- Electronic addresses
- Answering machine and voice mail
- Mobile telephones Special Situations
- Conference calls
- International trade
- Sales and finances
- Travel enquiries
- A job interview by telephone Practical Reference
- Intercultural communication
- Pronunciation
- Telecommunications terminology
- Key terms: the company
- Telephone sources on the Internet
- Country codes and dialling codes for well-known cities Teil 3: Presentations in English
Preparation
- Developing an international viewpoint
- Preparing yourself, the person
- Putting yourself in your audience's shoes
- Organising facilities
- Your presentation structure
- How to prepare good slides Greetings and introductions
- What to say when you enter
- Introducing your presentation well
- Introduction components
- Dealing with handouts
- Taking care of technical problems Main section: skills and techniques
- Using your voice well
- Making transitions
- Explaining slides and diagrammes
- Business English terms
- Dealing with questions
- Handling interruptions and disturbances Ending your presentation
- Making a good finish
- Ending components
- Saying goodbyeUseful examples
- Basic outline — non-specific content
- Product presentation Teil 4: Meetings in English
Preparing a meeting
- Inviting people to a meeting
- Making meeting arrangements
- Rescheduling, cancelling or confirming a meeting
- Making the agenda
- Hands-on organisation Arriving at the meeting
- Arriving in reception
- Introducing oneself and others
- Small talk
- Setting up the meeting room Conducting a meeting
- Opening the meeting
- Guiding the discussion
- Bringing about a decision
- Closing the meetingThe meeting itself
- Roles at a meeting
- Active participation and asking for more informatio
- Expressing agreement and disagreement
- Making suggestions and having your say
- Enquiring and resolving misunderstandings
- Diplomacy and politeness
- What to do in case of language problems
- VotingAfter the meeting
- Making the minutes
- Following up the meeting Special types of meetings
- Meetings with customers
- Negotiations
- Briefing and brainstorming
- Jours fixes and kick-offs
- Telephone conferences
- Literature Teil 5: Negotiations in English
Negotiating skills
- Preparation and planning
- Getting acquainted
- Opening phase
- Main phase
- Agreement phase
- Asking questions
- The art of listening
- When things get tough
- Tables, graphs or charts
- Telephone negotiatingCross-cultural negotiations
- Relation orientation
- Sociolinguistic influences
- Negotiating internationally
- Local negotiation techniques
- Strategic negotiating frameworkCountry-specific negotiating
- Introduction
- China
- Czech Republic
- France
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Russia
-
1 An E-mail’s Anatomy
This paragraph focuses on the specific elements of English business e-mails, that we don’t always pay attention to, but can make all the difference.
1.1 Subject Lines That Work
The subject line is one of the two most critical parts of an e-mail message. Most people (approximately 80 %) make decisions on reading and responding based on the subject line and the identity of the sender, not on a first-in - first-out basis. Nevertheless a subject line seems to be one of the most neglected lines in e-mails.
How to make subject lines in English
The first step is to consider what your reader needs or wants to know from the subject line:
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Ideally, it is a summary of your message.
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Just like in journalism or direct mail: the more active and informative phrases are, the quicker they result in action. That’s why mentioning essential information like who, what, when already in the subject line is advisable. Try to keep it short and simple (‚k-i-s-s’) and avoid vague indications like project or update etc.
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Always try to write subject lines that stimulate the reader to open your message. Should you need anything specific from the addressee, then introduce this in the subject line.
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Subject lines are also handy for people who wish to archive messages. Therefore make sure that they aren’t left blank and that the subject line relates to the subject of the message. Avoid lines like: one more thing or on second thoughts, if you think that your message might be archived.
Examples
| [x] | Good news Schaffhausen project |
| [x] | Action needed by 4 p.m. |
| [x] | November 27 committee meeting |
| [x] | Update |
| [x] | Status report |
RE: automatically inserted
Another thing is that when choosing ‚Reply’ most e-mail programs automatically insert ‚RE:’ (short for regarding or reply).
The same happens after choosing ‚Forward’ when ‚FW:’ is inserted. The problem is - and certainly you know this from your e-mails in German - that when a message goes back and forth several times, it might lead to unnecessary automatically expanded subject lines. This can easily result in subject lines such as: „Fw: Re: Aw: Re: Aw: Feedback on seminar Julle“. You may therefore simply want to change subject lines sometimes. This also allows you to show the progression in an e-mail correspondence.
Example
I: Request for finance Hamburg project
II: Feedback requested - financing Hamburg project
III: Feedback provided - Hamburg project
IV: Hamburg project - finance request approved
1.2 Common Salutations and Openings
1.2.1 Salutations
Salutations or greetings can be formal or informal, depending on the situation or the relationship. And of course e-mail doesn’t always follow the rules of formal business correspondence.
First name or last name?
Do bear in mind however that many English-speaking people will be quicker on first-name terms, whereas for German-speaking people it is less common to use one’s first name in an e-mail message. Therefore be careful not to appear too distant in a culture which moves to first names easily because in addressing people with a more formal address, you do. And this could indicate you don’t consider being friendly to your correspondent. Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that in the English language there is no difference between Sie and Du, as they both are translated with you.
Important
A clear indication that it’s all right to move to the first-person familiar is when a person signs her or his e-mail with the first name only. You may also wish to take the first step yourself by writing something like: „Dear Helen (if I may)“.
Formal or informal?
Which salutation to use may also depend on your company’s e-mail policy. The table below gives an overview of the possible salutations:
| Type | English | German |
|---|
| You do not know who you are writing to: |
| Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, |
| You know the person but you’ve never written to or met this person |
| Sehr geehrter Herr Müller,Sehr geehrte Frau Reusch, |
| The person is a little bit closer | Dear Sophie Reusch | Liebe Frau Reusch, |
| The person is a close business contact or she/he has signed her or his e-mail with the first name |
| Liebe Sophie, |
| Several person/closer contact | Hi everyone | Hallo zusammen |
| * Please note the extra comma! |
Important
Ms or Mrs? Ms is used more frequently in the meantime as this term does not disclose the marital status. Only if the addressee refers to herself as Mrs, do you assume this salutation. The English Miss is out of date just as is the German Fräulein. Dear Sirs or Dear Gentlemen also seems old fashioned nowadays.
Professions or positions in salutations
Just like it is possible in German to mention a profession or position in the opening without using a person’s name, this can also be done in English. In this case, the specific word must be written with a capital. For instance as in: Dear Colleague, Dear Webmaster, etc.
Non-gendered salutations/several persons
When sending bulk e-mail invitations, try to use non-gendered salutations like colleagues or friends. To whom it may concern still seems to function in e-mails, though its use appears to be on the decline. Nowadays e-mail writers prefer to use salutations like: Hi all, Hi there, Dear All, Dear Team, Dear Co-workers and so on.
Woman or man?
With certain languages you may not always be sure whether you are writing to a man or a woman. In cases where you aren’t sure, it is acceptable to write the full name in the salutation. For example: Dear Moriko Kira(this is a Japanese name, where Moriko is the female first name, and Kira is the family name). In Asian cultures (e.g. Japan, Korea, Vietnam, but also in Hungary) the family name comes first. Thus: Mrs. Kira Moriko. Family names in Slavic languages often have masculine and feminine versions. The latter can be recognised by the female suffix, often ending with ‚a’ or ‚e’.
No salutations?
Is it necessary to always use a salutation or greeting? Not always, although it usually is. But in back-and-forth e-mail correspondence, for instance, salutations quickly seem to be disappearing. And perhaps there is no need to identify or reinforce the parameters over and over again. The same applies for a quick answer to a short question for people who know each other well. Also e-mails among colleagues that are part of an ongoing conversation do not require a salutation or greeting.
Checklist: formal or informal salutations
| 1 | Is the addressee outside the organisation? Then you usually need a formal salutation. |
| 2 | Is the addressee a colleague or a friend? Then you can use an informal salutation, or even begin with the person’s first name. |
| 3 | Have you had previous contact? Then choose between formal and informal, depending on that contact. |
| 4 | Note how the sender addressed you. You probably want to return the same salutation. |
Punctuation marks and abbreviations
Should there be a colon, a comma or no punctuation after the salutation? The right answer depends on the country you are e-mailing to.
Important
no punctuation: Dear Mr Smith
colon: Dear Mr Smith:
In other English speaking areas a comma is used: Dear Mr Smith,
When using abbreviations there is another important difference you should pay attention to:
Important
Contractions in British English are generally written without a full stop, e.g. Mr, Mrs and Ms - American English usually uses a full stop however, called period in North America, e.g. Mr., Mrs. and...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 18.5.2018 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Haufe Fachbuch |
| Verlagsort | Freiburg |
| Sprache | deutsch |
| Themenwelt | Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management ► Unternehmensführung / Management |
| Schlagworte | Besprechungen • Business English • E-Mails • false friends:meeting • Negotiation • phone calls • Präsentationen • presentation • Small Talk • Telefonate • Verhandlungen |
| ISBN-10 | 3-648-12134-0 / 3648121340 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-3-648-12134-4 / 9783648121344 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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