Speak like a Manager: Verbs 1

2753

I'm Rebecca from engVid.

Today I'm especially excited to welcome you to a new series that I've created called:

"How to Speak like a Manager".

In this series you will learn how to take general English and upgrade it to business

And we'll be doing that by looking at different verbs that you can use, adjectives, nouns,

But today in this lesson we will be focusing on eight verbs.

But you might be asking: "Only eight verbs and I can become a manager?"

"Why?"

Because I'm going to show you how these eight verbs, to start with, can actually be used

in hundreds of ways, in different collocations or combinations of words, so therefore you'll

be able to use them in all kinds of situations.

Definitely in professional situations, but also in social situations or personal situations.

So, let's start right now.

So let's suppose what you want to say in general English or regular English is something like

this: "I need to find out what's wrong."

Now, on this side is all the regular English or the general English.

And on this side we're going to express the same idea, but in higher English, in more

advanced business English or more professional English.

And you're going to help me because I didn't write the word in yet.

You're going to help me because perhaps you already know some of these words, but even

if you know them you might not realize how many different ways we can actually use those

same words, and that's what I want you to be able to do.

So suppose your idea in your mind is that: "I need to find out what's wrong."

So how can we say that in more professional English?

"I need to", the verb starts with "i": "I need to _______ the problem.

I need to identify the problem."

So, our first word today is "identify".

Say it after me: "identify the problem".

Now, suppose the idea you're trying to convey is: "I need to fix the problem."

"Fix" is a very ordinary word, so what better word could we use here?

"I need to _______ the issue or the issues.

I need to", you might know this word.

"I need to resolve", okay?

So, "resolve" is just like "solve", but usually we say: "Solve the problem", but we might

say: "Resolve the issue".

And "resolve" is an even higher, more advanced word.

And the higher vocabulary that you use, the more professional you will sound.

And that's what our goal is.

Okay, next: "I need to give people confidence."

So what's a good word or verb for that?

"To give somebody confidence" is to, something starts with "m": "I need to _______ my employees.

Do you know this word?

I'm sure you've heard it.

Say it after me: "Motivate" or "motivate".

You can say the "t"; sometimes it's easier and clearer for people to understand you when

you say the "t".

So let's say the "t" now: "Motivate.

I need to motivate my employees" or: "I need to motivate my employees."

Instead of saying: "I need to give people confidence", because you see that all the

verbs here are very ordinary, everyday verbs, and those are higher-level verbs.

Next: "I need to give clients my attention."

Again, we have a very weak verb here, so how can you say that: "I need to give my attention

to my clients or give clients my attention"?

The verb starts with "f": "I need to _______ on our clients."

What's the verb?

Do you know it?

"I need to focus", okay?

Say it after me: "Focus".

Be careful how you pronounce this word because otherwise it can sound improper.

"I need to focus on our clients."

Sounds a lot better than saying: "I need to give my attention to my clients."

"I need to focus".

Next: "I need to spend as little as possible".

"Spend as little" means spend as little money.

So what's one word that captures that idea, to spend as little as possible?

It starts with "m": "I need to _______ our expenses or our costs."

Do you know what it is?

So the word is "minimize".

I've written it twice because this is the American way with a "z" or a "z", and this

is the British spelling with a "s"; both are correct.

So: "I need to minimize our expenses."

When you minimize something, you reduce it to as much as possible.

And, again, we're going to see so many different ways in which we can use this verb and all

of these verbs.

Not just the way I've done it here with "resolve the issues".

We're going to see lots of other things you can resolve or lots of other things you can

Next: "I need to make as much money as possible."

So, what's a good verb for that?

Again, something that starts with "m": "I need to _______ our earnings".

"Earnings" means the money that you make.

So what's the verb?

It's very similar to "minimize"...

It's actually the opposite of "minimize", it is...

Yeah, I can hear some of you.

"Maximize", good.

Again, I'm going to write it with the "z" or the "z", but you can also write it with

an "s" and it's correct.

What you need to do regarding that British and American spelling is stay consistent.

If you're using American spelling, then use American spelling; if you're using British

spelling, use British.

Try to stay consistent.

Next: "I need to get more work."

We're not making enough money.

We need more work.

So instead of saying: "Get more work", we can say: "_______ more business".

What's that really good verb here?

It starts with "g": "generate".

"Generate more business" means to make, create...

Create more business.

Instead of just saying: "Get more work", which sounds very ordinary: "We need to generate

We need to create more business."

And the last one: "I need to use the new ideas."

So, instead of saying "use", there is a verb that starts with "i" which means to put something

into practice, to use it: "I need to _______ the strategies" or "I need to _______ the

recommendations."

Do you know that word?

"To implement an idea" means to put it into practice.

So let's say you have an idea.

That's great, we all have good ideas, but what are you going to do with that idea?

You want to use it, you want to put it into practice, you want to implement it.

But not only can you implement ideas, you can implement lots of other things which we're

going to talk about as we continue the lesson, but here we're talking about implementing

a strategy, which is a plan.

So, repeat after me now, just get used to saying these things out loud.

The more you say them, the more comfortable you will be saying them, and the more likely

you are to actually use them at work, or in a job interview, or something...

Or in your emails, your professional emails.

Just get comfortable with them.

"Identify the problem", "resolve the issues", "motivate my employees", "focus on our clients",

"minimize our expenses", "maximize our earnings", "generate more business", and "implement the

Now I'm going to show you how to take these eight words and use them in so many other

I'll be right back.

All right, so let's start with our first four words.

"Identify", "resolve", "motivate", and "generate".

So let's look at how many different ways we can use these words, and these are just a

I've actually created for you a resource which has more than 100 words which you can use

in combination with just these eight verbs.

So afterwards I'll tell you where you can download that from, from our website.

But now let's look at some of the possibilities, how we can use these words.

So, the first word: "identify", so again: What does "identify" mean?

It means to find who or what.

For example: If you want to start a new business, you need to also identify the risks of starting

a new business.

What is "the risk"?

The possible problems, the risks.

Or if you want to hire someone, you need to identify or find, you need to identify the

right person for the job.

That's part of a manager's role, to recruit good people.

Now, what I want to show you on this side is that you can not only use these verbs in

business and professional situations, but also in all kinds of other situations in your

For example: You and your spouse might sit down and discuss the fact that we need to

identify the reasons why Johnny's not doing well in school, and how we can help him.

"We need to identify the ways in which we can save money."

So you see that we can use it in everyday life as well, but we're using higher-level

Now: "resolve".

Again, "resolve" is like solve.

So: "We need to resolve the situation", "We need to resolve a crisis".

What's "a crisis"?

It's a very serious situation.

Very bad, emergency kind of situation is a crisis.

"We need to resolve the disagreements between our children because they keep fighting."

Or: "We need to resolve the tension between these two neighbours."

"Tension" is like stress.

Next word: "motivate".

"We need to motivate our staff", "We need to motivate the team to do well."

"We need to motivate our kids".

"Kids" is like slang for children.

"Motivate our kids to do their homework", "I need to motivate my spouse to find another

"Spouse", what does this word mean?

Husband or wife.

And now the word "generate".

So what is "generate"?

To create more of something.

So: "To generate more sales", of course that's usually the objective and the goal of most

companies, or to generate more revenue.

"Revenue" is just a business word for basically more money.

Or: "You need to generate more interest in a particular subject."

Let's say your child is not interested in math or in some other subject, or geography,

and you want to generate...

You want to be able to help him to generate more interest in that subject or generate

more enthusiasm for helping you in the house.

Things like that.

Now, as I said, we can use all kinds of subjects-okay?-for...

In our sentence.

We can say: "We need to".

You can talk about your company, we can say: "The company needs to..."

You could talk about your government, you can say: "The government needs to", whatever.

Or: "My children need to", "My neighbours need to", "My brother needs to", "My friend

needs to", "I need to".

And not only "need to" before all these verbs; you can say: "I need to identify the risks",

"I should resolve this situation", "I must motivate the staff", or "I have to generate

So you see that you can use all kinds of verbs here as well.

Now, when I come back we'll look at the other four verbs that we learned.

Now let's focus on our next four words.

And they are: "focus", "minimize", "maximize", and "implement".

Let's look at how we can use these words.

You can focus on your priorities.

What are "priorities"?

The things that are most important, the things you should really be paying attention to are

your priorities.

Let's say you have five things to do in a day, but the first thing is the most important

thing, that's your most important priority, so you should focus on that priority.

Or you can focus on your goals, your objectives, your dreams, your visions, your ambitions,

Again, we can use these words in any sphere of life, also your academic life.

Perhaps you need to focus on your studies, you need to focus on improving your grades.

Or improving your health.

You can also add a word in there, like I did just now: "Focus on improving my health",

"Focus on increasing my grades", okay?

Things like that.

Next: "minimize".

Again, "minimize" means to reduce to the lowest level, so: "We need to minimize costs".

"Costs" are like expenses.

"We need to minimize the time that's wasted by many people in this department."

"We need to minimize the noise-all right?-that's sometimes in this neighbourhood."

And: "We need to minimize the amount of money we are spending on coffee."

Apparently I forgot to write that.

Okay, never mind.

So, "maximize" means to make as high as possible.

This was to make as low as possible; "maximize" is to make as high as possible.

So: "We need to maximize our profit."

"Profit" is the money that you earn after you have paid everything and everyone.

"Need to maximize efficiency".

"Efficiency" is productivity, how...

How well you work in terms of time, in terms of all your resources.

"Maximize efficiency".

As a student or as a parent, you want your children or you want yourself to...

You want to be able to maximize your grades.

You want to maximize your investments.

If you put money into a particular stock or share, you want to make sure that the investment

Now, here you see that I am using a lot of other business vocabulary and generally more

advanced vocabulary, so you have a chance as you learn these eight verbs to also learn

a lot of these collocations and combinations with other nouns.

And in case you're not familiar with what those mean, then that's an opportunity to

go even further with this lesson.

The last verb: "implement".

So, "to implement something" means to actually put it into practice, not just talk about

it, but to actually do it.

So: "We need to implement the changes", "We need to implement the new policies that the

department or that the company has come up with", "We need to implement the safety rules",

or "We need to implement the consultant's suggestions or recommendations", or anything

Now, again, on that resource which I've created, you will see hundreds of examples of how you

can use just these eight words.

And in future lessons you'll see more verbs and more examples, so this is a really quick

This is a vocabulary hack, actually, for you.

And a hack is a shortcut, a way for you to expand your vocabulary more quickly and more

So, what I suggest that you do now is a few things.

So, first go to our website at www.engvid.com, and there you can do a quiz on these eight

words-okay?-to make sure that you really know the meaning, understand how to use them and

Next, you can...

While you're at the website you can also download for free the resource that I've created on

how to use these eight words with many other word combinations.

Then if you really want to start implementing the recommendations that I've made to you,

then write a sentence, write one sentence, write two, write three - choose one word and

write a sentence in the comments section of our engVid website, or on our Facebook, or

somewhere-okay?-or on YouTube.

So, write a comment using one, or two, or three of these words.

Try to really make those words your own.

And you could write...

You could say, like: "I need to maximize my income."

Or: "Our department should minimize costs."

Or: "The president must..."

I don't know, you decide what the president must do.

So, there's so many different kinds of examples you could write.

Write about something that's relevant to you, and that will help you to remember these words

and understand these words properly.

And last of all, subscribe to my YouTube channel because that way you can continue to get the

other lessons in this series, and lots of other lessons which I've created which are

really, like, shortcuts and hacks for you to learn English more effectively and efficiently.

Thanks really...

Thanks very much for watching, and all the best with your English.