English Listening: Vocabulary for Decision-Making and Priority Expressions

After watching Dylan, Trey and Sarah, what do you think is most important to each person? Let's see if you heard what each person's top priority is. For Dylan, it's the location. For me, it's important to consider the location. For Trey, the cost is important. For me, of course, I have to think about the bottom line. For Sarah, it's online reviews. But in my opinion, we shouldn't forget about the online reviews. Did you notice the different expressions each person used to present their top priority? Dylan used, it's important to consider. This means to think about carefully. Trey used, I have to think about. And Sarah said, we shouldn't forget about. All of these are ways to say what's important to you and to try to persuade other people to agree with your preference.

Let's look at some other language we used to explain what is important in our decision. When we make a decision, we usually consider many factors. A factor is one thing that affects our final decision. The cost is an important factor. The location is going to be a big factor. Cost is often important in making a decision. In business, we often use the phrase, the bottom line, to mean the final financial result or the profit or loss. I have to think about the bottom line. That has to be a factor.

Sometimes, we need to compromise to get an agreement. When we compromise, we reduce our demands or accept less than what we want. This word can be a verb. I think I can compromise on the price or a noun. This seems like a good compromise. Finally, the team should make a decision. Make is the most common verb we use. Michael asked us to make a decision about the date of the event. We also say, reach a decision or come to a decision. We often use these phrases when the decision takes a long time. We should reach a decision by today. We need to come to a decision on this.

When a team can't agree yet, we want to stay positive. Instead of, we can't decide. We say, we haven't reached a decision. It sounds more positive and hopeful. Discussions can take a long time. Sometimes it's good to have fewer choices. Here is some language we can use when we want to discuss fewer choices. I think we can narrow it down to two. I can't decide between Measius Gallery and Sky Tower.

Before we return to the meeting, I want to take a minute to talk about three very common words that are often confusing for learners of English. When we make decisions, we often use these words. Choose, chose, choice. They look in sound familiar, so it's not surprising that people have problems with these words. Choose and chose are both verbs. Choose is the base form. It's also used in the present tense. In business, it's often used with a modal, like should or would. We should choose something closer to downtown. I would choose a place with free parking. Choose is the past form of the verb choose. We chose a nice location. Choice is a noun. I think we've made a great choice. After this lecture, let's return to the meeting with Sarah, Trey and Dylan. As you listen, think about these questions. Do the team members make compromises? What decision does the team make?