Hi Tim here with another 9 to 5 English lesson. In our last two lessons

we looked at how to talk about your job and your work. Today we're going to learn

how to talk about your company. Anytime you talk about your work you're probably

also going to talk about your company so what exactly do we talk about what are

the important aspects of your company that might be interesting to people?

Well to begin with you can talk about what your company actually does. That's

probably the most important piece of information and when we talk about what

our company does we usually say "we" because that shows

that we're a part of the company it's also a good idea to use a strong

verb like manufacture or develop or you can say what kind of company it is such

as a manufacturer and finally you might want to mention what industry or field

your company works in all of that information will give people a good

sense of what your company does let's practice some examples of talking about

your company in this way listen to each example then repeat it yourself ready

let's get started we produce electric motors for the automobile industry

we're an OEM manufacturer for the computer industry

we develop software for the education market

we make branded merchandise for small businesses

there are lots of other great verbs you can use depending on what kind of work

your company does you might use design or sell or represent or distribute to

describe the company's main activity so that's how we explain what our company

does but what else can you mention about your company well one thing you might

want to talk about is your company's reputation that means how the public or

the industry think about the company you might mention awards or distinctions

which show how great the company is or you might say what your company is known

for and once again pay attention to the verbs you choose let's try a little

practice talking about your company's reputation once again I want you to

repeat the examples after you hear them my company is known for its excellent

customer service

we have won several awards for our advertising campaigns

we're seen as one of the major players in our industry

our company is rated number one for safety and reliability

one thing you might have noticed in those examples is what we call the

passive voice that's when we say things like is known for and are seen as and is

rated that's a useful way to talk about reputation because it shows how the

company is generally seen or thought of so besides what your company does and

its reputation another useful bit of information is about your company's

customers to understand a company it helps to know who its customers are and

how can you talk about that well there are a couple of ways first you can use

an expression like we serve or we sell to before mentioning the kinds of

customers you help or you can start with our customers are and name the industry

or type of customer how about giving this a try listen to the examples and

repeat what you hear we serve small and medium sized businesses throughout

California

our customers are mainly in the automobile market

we sell mostly to large retailers like department stores

most of our customers are schools and universities in Europe

okay so when we talk about our company we mention what the company does its

reputation and its customers now how does this information fit into a

normal conversation let's listen to a short dialogue a woman is curious about

David's company let's hear what they have to say so David what exactly does

your company do we make engines for farm and construction equipment oh really

my brother's in construction I wonder if he's heard of you yeah he probably has

we're a major player in the industry how did that sound David started by

explaining what his company does then when the woman wonders if her brother

knows about his company David mentions its reputation by calling it a major

player that means it's an important or large company in its industry now it's

your turn to practice will repeat the dialogue but this time will beep out

David's words you'll have to say those parts yourself remember start by

mentioning what the company does then mention the reputation so David what

exactly does your company do

oh really my brothers in construction I wonder if he's heard of you

you

nice work so that's how we talk about our company and if you've looked at the

past few lessons you can now talk about your job your work and your company be

sure to tune in to our next lesson when we'll start talking about likes and

dislikes and ideas until then so long and happy learning