节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-06-14
难易度:High
关键字:enhance, diminish, snappy, disorganize, font, clip art, QR code [Quick
Response code]
Hi, friends.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us.
My name is Steve.
In this month's BUSINESS feature, we'll be discussing a part of business culture
that everyone is familiar with, I'm sure, the business card.
You may even have one or two in your pocket right now.
Now the purpose of business cards is to make money, right?
So if you have a business card, is it doing the best job possible of
representing who you are and what you do?
To find out, let's open our magazines to page 30 and begin reading now The Do's
and Don'ts of Business Cards.
(Music).
The Do's and Don'ts of Business Cards.
What does your business card say about you?
What makes your first and your last impression on someone?
Your business card.
It should make you memorable - in the right way!
Below are some tricks of the trade:
1. Dress it up.
Your image is important, and your business card should enhance your reputation.
Potential clients or customers will judge you on the visual characteristics of
your card.
Don't cut costs.
The thickness of the paper, the colors and the font are your identity.
2. Don't use clip art.
According to Lolo Siderman, founder of Gypsywing Media, clip art is the
number-one design element that can ruin a business card.
Siderman states, "It looks cheap and diminishes the image of any company.".
(Music).
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are talking about our BUSINESS article.
Now Ryan, this is kind of an interesting BUSINESS article because we're not
talking about the normal things we talk about in business.
It's not about a company or anything but more about how you do business
successfully.
Exactly. Now normally we're talking about how you do your job or the way you
feel at your job.
This has to do with the impression you make on other people.
And we're looking at The Do's and Don'ts of Business Cards.
Now we all know that a business card is the small card with our name, our job,
our company and our contact information on it.
It's what we give to someone if we think we'd like to do business with them or
be in contact with them.
So we need to know the do's and don'ts so that our business cards can help us be
more successful.
Exactly. But it's not as simple as just handing someone a card that has your
information on it.
Your card could say a lot more about you.
So what does your business card say about you?
We start off with a question.
We say: What makes your first and last impression on someone?
Well, our author here suggests that it's your business card.
OK. Well, what are we talking about when we say we make an impression, Kaylah?
When you make an impression, that is what someone thinks of you.
Ryan, that's how they would remember you from the time they have met you.
So an impression, you want it to be a good one because you want to be remembered
well.
Right. You could leave a bad impression.
You definitely don't want to do that.
But the way you make a good first and last impression is perhaps through your
business card.
That's right.
And often we say you need to make a good first impression because it stays the
longest.
It's what is remembered.
So you should make sure that your business card is memorable - but in the right
way!
OK. So in order to make your business card memorable, we have a few tricks of
the trade that we can show you.
That's right.
We have some tips.
1. Dress it up.
Your image is important, and your business card should enhance your reputation.
All right.
Now the word "enhance" here means to improve the quality of something or make it
better.
And your reputation is the way people think about you.
That's right.
We want to improve the quality of our card so that it can improve the quality of
our reputation.
So let's use it to enhance us.
Well, our potential clients or customers will judge you on the visual
characteristics of your card.
So they're going to look at it and make a decision.
All right, yeah.
We're talking about visual characteristics.
That's the way something looks.
And if we're saying that you need to dress something up, what does that mean?
When you dress something up, that means you make it look nice.
Just like we say "I am dressing up today." That means maybe I will wear a dress
instead of pants.
So today I dressed up.
OK. You make something look prettier.
And you do look very pretty.
OK, so. Here we see don't cut costs when you're making your card.
Don't cut costs.
That means don't save too much money.
Spend the right amount of money to get the right kind of card.
All right.
So the thickness of the paper, the colors of the card and the font are now your
identity.
That's what people see and identify you as.
Now "font" refers to the set of letters and symbols in a particular design or
style.
So when you are typing on a computer, you can choose different kinds of font.
Like Times New Roman or Arial, these are different kinds of font.
OK. So dress your card up, make it look pretty.
Now the second tip is don't use clip art.
Now "clip art" are pictures that are usually found on a computer, and are
usually very low-quality pictures.
That's right. And they usually come with most computers, so they're not unique.
Well, according to Lolo Siderman, founder of... Gypsywing Media, clip art is the
number-one design element that can ruin a business card.
That's right.
People can see this clip art, they think, "Oh, that looks nasty. I've seen this
before." And they have a bad opinion of it.
Well, Siderman states, "It looks cheap and diminishes the image of any company."
So you want to keep your image sharp and not diminish it.
Yeah. If you "diminish" something, that means you make it less, it is reduced.
And the image of a company is the company's reputation.
You don't want to have a bad reputation.
That's right.
We've looked at two tips so far. We're going to look at a couple more.
But first, we need to visit the Chat Room.
Now this doesn't make sense.
Hey, what's wrong there, Ken?
This invitation from my sister.
I don't understand what she's trying to tell me.
Oh. So which part is confusing?
Well, she's inviting me to a beach party. I understand that.
But she wrote another personal note on it saying: Dear Ken, remember to dress
down.
Oh. That makes sense.
After all, it IS a beach party, Ken.
Are you trying to make fun of me, Bryan?
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad.
But you are usually dressed up when I see you in the library.
Wait. I'm a little confused.
Up and down, what are you talking about?
Yeah. This concept is a little difficult.
Let's go to Doris for a clearer explanation.
OK.
To dress up means to put on your best clothes.
You might have to dress up for a formal occasion like a wedding or an interview.
Dressing down, on the other hand, refers to wearing casual clothes on purpose.
For example, you can dress down for a beach party.
Oh. I get it.
My sister is trying to say I should wear shorts and a T-shirt.
I think so.
I bet she wants you to relax and have fun at her party.
Wear clothes you are not afraid to get wet or get dirty in.
I suppose that makes sense.
So I can dress down for the party and dress up before I come to the library.
Of course, you can.
But Ken, you don't need to dress formally to come visit the library.
I know. I just feel better when I wear nicer clothes.
OK. Well, do what you're comfortable with by all means.
I will, and thanks for the tips.