English On The Job - Listening And Speaking Skills

as well okay sir your [Music] machine okay take your hand to the p [Music] march called in sick today Sue so Mr Ellis says we should split tables oh okay there's hardly a job where listening and speaking skills are aren't important to show you these skills in action and to give you some idea of how to make good use of them we're going to visit a few job locations we'll start here at The Filling Station we saw before this is Mr Turner the owner Mr Turner yes can I help you we're getting some ideas about listening and speaking skills can we talk for a minute sure take someone like your attendant over there well that's Don he just started about a month ago I guess what about his listening and speaking skills well that's pretty much why I got the job well sir you're down about a court okay when he came to see me about the job I like the way he talked right from the start you know there's a difference in our work between saying to a customer what's yours bud and saying good morning sir would you like tank full of Premium his attitude was good too and he sold himself well it's like I told you over the phone I'll be able to start working any shift but I guess I should tell you I don't have a lot of garage experience well I of course couldn't expect a young fellow like you to have I liked his honesty and he asked pretty good questions about the job and that showed me that he was really interested in well Don I think we'll start you out on the driveway I need you out there first and then after you've had a little experience I can get you into the garage so you can learn about the shop work sounds great I know I can sell gas and oil and I learned a lot about engines when I rebuilt this old galap last month friend of mine had this jalaf swore it would never run again well that's good so Don told you enough about himself to convince you that he could do the job in some job interviews you have to talk to more than one person did Don see anyone else besides you I saw Bill our mechanic he runs the place when I'm off what did Don say to him well he pretty well told Bill what he told me the truth about himself and I'm sure he listened carefully to make sure both of us agreed on what he'd be doing I was wondering what kind of work do you think I'd be doing well Don right now you'd be mostly outside but don't worry about not getting a shot at the garage because it gets Mighty busy maybe I can help you by showing you around so what you're saying is if you see more than one person when you apply for a job don't contradict yourself and make sure the people you talk to agree on what your job will be right well that way everyone knows where he stands so listening and speaking skills are important in getting a job but of course that's not where they end let's visit this construction site near Dawn's gas station and see how these skills are important on the job Jim Jim what listening and speaking skills would you say are important on your job I'd say uh following and giving directions your training teaches you the trade but uh whether you're on the labor crew or driving a truck or uh on a bulldozer it's being able to follow and give directions that uh makes a man good on a job like this your tire [Applause] okay anything special you do Jim when you give instructions well you have to think through what you say and uh you talk loud and clear using words everyone understands all right think it out organize it then say it so everyone understands is that it now you got it I've seen entire sewer lines torn out or some fella get hurt just because some guy forgot to do just that the other day the foreman was telling uh Ted to have Frank move a pile of dirt back towards the site over there hey BOS says move this pile dirt back hole Ted tried to tell Frank to put the dirt back of the hole but Frank thought he said back in the hole we had to dig out the hole all over again what about when you listen to instructions anything special you should do well you uh mainly listen to learn the procedure but you also want to listen close to find shortcuts or uh or better ways to do something like the time the endloader broke down machine's down Jim we'll have to put you on something else in the meantime make out a shop ticket okay fine Jim this machine's going to be down for three or four days for repairs in the meantime why don't so Steve figured for a big delay but listening to him I saw a way to save time so uh until this loader is fixed I'll uh I'll switch to hey wait a minute isn't isn't Bob's crew done most of their loading already why don't we use one of their machines hey Jim real good idea I'll check into it meanwhile make out the report by thinking while he listened Jim found a short cut that kind of careful listening is also important on Don's job at the gas station okay Don Mr larsson's car needs an oil change a Lube job a tuneup and uh take a real good look at the break good listening helps you get just about any job done right here at this restaurant Helen is a waitress Helen we're talking about using listening and speaking skills on different jobs what about on your job here in the restaurant I didn't think there were any skills at first but well I found out there's more to listening than just using your ears hen excuse me Helen Marge's called in sick today so you'll have to split her tables with Sue and uh we not busy with you try to help out of the counter please okay which of Mar's tabl should I cover Mr ell oh yes I guess I should have told you that why don't you take tables 10 to 15 over against the wall thinking while listening is important I'm not afraid to ask questions when I don't understand it's also a good idea to repeat what you've been told you can save a lot of mistakes that way like Sue's doing roast beef medium well one salad with French and two coffees I'll get your coffee now so you repeat instructions and you ask questions about things you're not sure of just common sense listening and speaking are a basic part of Helen's job her work is a matter of communication with many people but communication during a workday isn't always about your job at a break Steve and Jim are having a friendly talk so are Bill and Don are speaking and listening skills important during these casual conversations I think well let's go back to Helen's Restaurant it's a little later now Ken Joan and Lou work together in a nearby Office they're on break let's listen in on their conversation oh well there was a great TV special on last night there's never anything good on TV anyway as I was saying let me tell you something I haven't seen a good program on TV in three years Lou would you please let Joan finish hey I got to get back early well nice having coffee with you I'll see you do you have coffee with Lou very often only when it can't be avoided this uh affects your working relationship doesn't it well yes it does after all he never listens he always interrupts you don't make many friends on the job that way yeah you're right that kind of guy doesn't make friends on or off the job so having good speaking and listening skills in casual situations means that you make contributions you move the conversation along but you give everyone a chance that's just common sense too on many jobs there are meetings of the employees those are good times for the workers to review their responsibilities and make suggestions good speaking and listening skills help you speak effectively to a group and be part of a group too hi fellas morning so now that I've got you all together here let's have that meeting that I told you about yesterday let's see uh Bill how are things in the shop well they're okay by my records and uh last week the racks were pretty well filled and with the cold weather coming on now I think we we have everything we need with the exception of an it seems that bill is well prepared he organized what he had to say ahead of time Bill is doing something else very well call it emphasizing emphasizing is simply making the important words sound important listen you know I've been thinking if we move down to the rxs uh and we take Jack and have him cover the whole driveway we'll be able to catch up all around around notice that bill also gave enough details to make everyone see why his comment was important Don what do you see going on well I have noticed something Mr Turner one important listening skill is being able to take suggestions and the West pump just had one car I think if Jack and I helped spread the cars this week moved cars to empty pumps we'd probably be able to handle the evening Rush a lot better what are you talking about nobody told me to do that that Jack will you tone down a minute Don's making a good point it's worth considering from this meeting at The Filling Station you've learned two things to do at any meeting make your points persuasively and politely the way Don did and listen with an open mind something Jack didn't do so we've seen listening and speaking on the job oh say Don you know Bill is taking his two weeks vacation and uh I think I'll give you a chance to run the shop what do you say sounds great Don's listening and speaking skills are helping him move ahead these skills are so important that they may cause you problems if you don't use them well de Frank said you told him to put that dirt back in the hole no I didn't clim took me you can develop and improve your listening and speaking skills on your job it just takes a little thought and [Music] practice