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The dinner date

Waiter

Would you like to see the menu?

Tom

Oh yes please.

Waiter

I was asking the lady actually.

Tom

Oh, right.

Narrator

Hello again. Anna and Tom are finally on their dinner date at a pizza restaurant. Eating could be difficult for Tom because he’s sprained his arm after that accident in the office. He might still have romance on his mind but Anna is thinking about something else. Are you feeling nervous Anna?

Anna

Nervous? Why?

Narrator

Being out on your own with Tom. What are you going to talk about?

Anna

Don’t worry. I can handle this, besides I want Tom’s ideas about developing a new plastic vegetable.

Narrator

A plastic vegetable! Oh right. Well, good luck.

Tom

So, this is nice. Finally, us together, on our own, me and you, pizza, red wine… expensive red wine, actually.

Anna

Lovely, Tom. You know Tom, Paul wants me to develop a new idea – plastic vegetables – I thought, maybe, you might like to help me?

Tom

Come on Anna, we’re not here to talk business. Tell me about you – the real Anna. Have you had many… err, many boyfriends before?

Anna

That’s a bit personal. What do you think about plastic peas?

Tom

Err? Can you not switch off from work for one minute?

Anna

Tom. I think you and me are very similar – we’re a good team. If we could come up with a great idea for Paul then who knows… we may get to travel the world selling it together?

Tom

Oh, I see. I hadn’t thought of it like that. Right well… Waiter

Your pizzas… madam… sir.

Anna

Thanks. Tom, I think you’ll need some help cutting that.

Tom

Thanks. Mmm, you smell nice… or is that the pizza?

Anna

I’ve got it!

Tom

What?

Anna

Plastic aubergines!

Tom

Plastic aubergines?

Anna

Yes. Plastic aubergines. They would look great on this table – a sort of decoration.

Tom

Yeah! And you could put sauces inside… or salt and pepper. You could be on to something here.

Anna

We need to put a proposal together, to give it to Paul. But what should we say?

Narrator

Anna, your proposal needs to be brief but clear. Use positive language to propose your idea to Paul. Use words like ‘exceptional’, ‘fantastic’, ‘quality’, and talk about how it would benefit the business by using words like ‘profit’, ‘efficiency’, and ‘value for money’. Good luck!

Tom

Are you OK Anna?

Anna

Yes. Just writing some things down.

Tom

OK, well write down how we could target restaurants and cafes. They’ll be begging for our vegetables. Oh this is so exciting… let’s drink to our… succ… Oh!

Anna

Tom! What have you done? You’ve knocked red wine all over me… and my notebook.

Tom

Ermm, sorry. We had better get you out of that dress.

Narrator

Hmm, what a mess and what a date! But what may be lacking in romance is made up for in a potentially successful business deal. Let’s find out how it’s going much much later at Tom’s flat… Anna

…this exceptional product has fantastic potential… Tom

Say ‘demand for this plastic aubergine will reach melting point!’ My little joke.

Anna

…by making the production more efficient, our customers will get value for money and our profits will increase. There, done.

Tom

Great. We can pitch this to Paul first thing on Monday morning. So now, maybe we can get back to our date? Look I saved some of that pizza.

Anna

It’s all cold! Anyway, I had better go. It’s late and I want to tidy up this proposal. But it’s been great. I can’t wait till next time.

Tom

Bbbut…Next time?

Narrator

Well, that went well! The pizza may be cold but Anna and Tom have developed a red hot proposal. Here’s a reminder of some of the words you might want to use to make your business proposal stand out… Exceptional!

Fantastic!

Quality.

Profit.

Efficiency.

Value for money.

Narrator

So with the proposal written, Tom and Anna just need to convince Paul – and that means pitching their idea. Find out how they get on next time. Bye for now.