商務禮節美語第23期:商務展覽(2)

公司開會，經理Nick宣佈，他們要在法蘭克福的紡織品博覽會上設展臺，大家頭腦激盪，看需要做哪些準備。Elaine說，

E: I think we should have a little pow-wow with the team who will be manning the booth. They need to understand how important their role is. First impressions are crucial! 我認爲我們應該碰個頭配置一下人員。他們須要知道他們的職責有多麼重要。第一印象很重要。

M: That's a good idea, Elaine. Seeing as I will be leading the team, I think I'll get everyone together before departure and go over these points. It's really true that first impressions can make or break a deal. 那是一個好主意，伊萊恩。作爲領導小組的人，我覺得啓程之前應該碰個頭，把一些要點交代一下。第一印象確實對於促成交易有重要的影響。

Elaine建議跟負責展臺的人have a little pow-wow. Pow-wow is spelled p-o-w-w-o-w，意思是碰頭會，因爲他們在展臺接待客人 man the booth，是公司門面，而且first impressions are crucial，第一印象是非常關鍵的。

Mark同意Elaine的看法，因爲第一印象can make or break a deal，既能促成交易make a deal，又能 break a deal，讓交易泡湯。

N: That's another thing to stress to your team, Mark. We should remind them to never judge a book by its cover. The guy wandering around our booth might not look like a major buyer, but you never know! 還有一件事需要向你的組員強調，麥克。我們應該讓他們不要以貌取人。哪怕一個人其貌不揚的人從站臺旁經過，也要當成是潛在的客戶來對待！

E: Looks can be deceiving! 不可以以貌取人！

N: That's right. We need to treat each person who stops by our booth as a potential customer. Many times I've met someone who didn't look like a major player, but then they pull out their business card and they turn out to be the vice-president of a huge company. 對的。我應該把每個在展臺旁走過的人當做潛在客戶對待。很多時候我覺得某個人其貌不揚，看上去也不是什麼大人物，但是當他們拿出名片卻發現他們往往是某個大公司的副總裁。

經理Nick說，負責展臺的人必須記住，never judge a book by its cover，不要以貌取人。Elaine也說，looks can be deceiving，外表有時是有欺騙性的，外表其貌不揚的人，說不定卻是個大人物，a major player. 因此，不論什麼人從展臺旁邊走過，都必須把他當做a potential customer，潛在的客戶來對待。

M: These are all good points, but we also have to be aware of industrial espionage. Some of the people milling around could be spies! 這些都是要引起注意的，但是我們也要注意商業間諜。有些人四處亂轉很可能是間諜！

N: e are always people trying to steal ideas. We do need to be careful. We should let our staff know what kind of information they can give away and what kind of information they should not make public. 是的……有很多人想要竊取別人的想法。我們確實應該注意。我們應該讓我們的職工知道哪些信息要保密，哪些信息我們可以公佈。

Mark提醒大家，參加商品博覽會要小心industrial espionage. industrial is spelled i-n-d-u-s-t-r-i-a-l, industrial，工業的，espionage is spelled e-s-p-i-o-n-a-g-e，espionage，間諜。連在一起，industrial espionage，就是工業間諜。

在展臺附近遊蕩的人those who are milling around the booth，很可能是尋找機會to steal ideas，盜取別人的想法，所以必須讓負責展臺的員工知道，什麼信息可以公開，什麼信息不能公開。