Learn how to introduce yourself formally in a business situation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome to GermanPod101.com. This is Business German for Beginners Season 1 Lesson 1 - Introducing Yourself in a German Business Meeting John here. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag, I'm Jennifer. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to break the ice and actively introduce yourself in a business meeting. The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Jennifer: It's between Linda Müller and Paul Schmitt. |
| John: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal German. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Paul Schmitt: Guten Tag. |
| Paul Schmitt: Darf ich mich vorstellen. Mein Name ist Paul Schmitt von der Firma ABC. |
| Linda Müller: Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. Mein Name ist Linda Müller. |
| Linda Müller: Ich arbeite für die Firma XY als Community Managerin. |
| John: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Paul Schmitt: Guten Tag. |
| Paul Schmitt: Darf ich mich vorstellen. Mein Name ist Paul Schmitt von der Firma ABC. |
| Linda Müller: Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. Mein Name ist Linda Müller. |
| Linda Müller: Ich arbeite für die Firma XY als Community Managerin. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Paul Schmitt: Good day. |
| Paul Schmitt: May I introduce myself? My name is Paul Schmitt from ABC company. |
| Linda Müller: I am pleased to meet you. My name is Linda Müller. |
| Linda Müller: I work for the company XY as a community manager. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: Jennifer, do Germans use business cards when they first meet a potential business partner? |
| Jennifer: Yes, we usually do. In German the “business card” is called Visitenkarte. |
| John: What does a “business card” usually include? |
| Jennifer: The Visitenkarte includes a name, phone number, email-address, registered office, and company logo as well as the occupation. |
| John: Can it be written in English as well? |
| Jennifer: It is common to have it in German, but depending on the industry, the business card might also be written in English. |
| John: What can you say when handing out a business card? |
| Jennifer: Bitte nehmen Sie meine Visitenkarte. |
| John: which means "Please take my business card." |
| Jennifer: Remember to shake hands before handling the business card and that a firm handshake is better than a limp shake. Though if you’re shaking hands with someone who is in a higher position than you, you shouldn't apply too much pressure. |
| John: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag [natural native speed] |
| John: good day |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: vorstellen [natural native speed] |
| John: to introduce |
| Jennifer: vorstellen [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: vorstellen [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: Ich [natural native speed] |
| John: I |
| Jennifer: Ich [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Ich [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have.. |
| Jennifer: arbeiten [natural native speed] |
| John: to work |
| Jennifer: arbeiten [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: arbeiten [natural native speed] |
| John: And last.. |
| Jennifer: Managerin [natural native speed] |
| John: manager |
| Jennifer: Managerin [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Jennifer: Managerin [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag |
| John: meaning "Good day" |
| Jennifer: Guten Tag in German is used in conversations when greeting somebody. In the morning it's Guten Morgen, from midday Guten Tag, and in the evening we say Guten Abend. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this greeting? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say.. Guten Tag. Wie geht es Ihnen? |
| John: ..which means "Good day. How are you?" Okay, what's the next word? |
| Jennifer: Community Managerin. |
| John: meaning "Community manager" used for a woman. |
| Jennifer: In German, Managerin is the female noun of Manager. Community Managerin is a professional title that is an innovative phenomenon in the social media era. |
| John: The main tasks of a "Community manager" is to moderate and lead an online community. |
| Jennifer: Community Managerin is often used as an equivalent to Social-Media-Managerin. |
| John: Can you give us an example using one of these words? |
| Jennifer: Sure. For example, you can say.. Ich übe den Beruf einer Community Managerin aus. |
| John: .. which means "I have been a Community manager." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn how to break the ice and actively introduce yourself in a business meeting. |
| Jennifer: When you introduce yourself in a business meeting, you can give your name first and then add your company name as well. |
| John: Let’s first see the difference between a general self-introduction in German and a self-introduction in a business setting. |
| Jennifer: A general self-introduction could be Ich bin Linda. Es freut mich Sie kennenzulernen. |
| John: Which means“I’m Linda. Nice to meet you.” |
| Jennifer: The pattern is Ich bin which means “I am,” followed by your first name, and then Es freut mich Sie kennenzulernen meaning “It is a pleasure to meet you.” |
| John: Okay, now let’s take a look at a self-introduction in a business setting, |
| Jennifer: Ich bin Linda Baker von ABC. Es freut mich Sie kennenzulernen. |
| John: Which means “I’m Linda Baker from ABC. Pleased to meet you.” |
| Jennifer: The pattern is Ich bin, which means “I am,” followed by your full name, and then von which means “of”, followed by the company name, and at the end, Es freut mich Sie kennenzulernen. |
| John: Which means “It is a pleasure to meet you.” What if you would like to introduce yourself, but you can’t find the right timing? |
| Jennifer: In that case, you can just be straightforward and, before actually introducing yourself, say that you are going to introduce yourself, using the verb vorstellen. |
| John: which means “to introduce”. |
| Jennifer: You could say Darf ich mich vorstellen? Ich bin Linda Baker von der Firma ABC. Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. |
| John: meaning “May I introduce myself? I’m Linda Baker from ABC. Nice to meet you.” |
| Jennifer: The pattern is the same, but at the beginning you just have to ask Darf ich mich vorstellen? |
| John: which means “May I introduce myself?” You can use this when, for example, business talk has casually started and you haven’t had the opportunity to give your name. You could also use a different combination, which is... |
| Jennifer: Ich habe mich noch nicht vorgestellt, |
| John: meaning “I haven’t introduced myself.” Let’s now take a closer look at the verb meaning “to work”. |
| Jennifer: when you state where you work, you should use the verb arbeiten meaning “to work.” For example, you could say Ich arbeite für die Firma ABC. |
| John: meaning “I work for the company ABC .” |
| Jennifer: Ich arbeite is followed by für, meaning “for” and a noun in the accusative case, in this case Firma ABC. |
| John: Can you give us other examples that show the usage of this preposition with the accusative case? |
| Jennifer: Sure, for example Das ist für dich. |
| John: “This is for you.” |
| Jennifer: Das ist für die Schule. |
| John: “This is for school.” Ok, let’s wrap up this first lesson with a couple of self-introduction sample sentences. |
| Jennifer: Darf ich mich vorstellen? Ich bin Anna Müller. |
| John: "Can I introduce myself? I am Anna Müller." |
| Jennifer: Mein Name ist Anna. Es freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen. |
| John: "My name is Anna. It's a pleasure to meet you." |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Jennifer: Auf Wiedersehen! |
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