BE 603：如何在工作中谈论竞争

这里是商务英语播客第六百零三期。

This is the Business English Podcast episode six zero three.

如何在工作中谈论竞争。

How to talk about competition at work.

欢迎收听来自All Ears English的商务英语播客。

Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English.

获取你在全球商务中实现梦想所需的英语技能。

Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.

无论是演讲、会议还是办公室聚会，这是真正的商务英语，由你最喜欢的美国主持人Lindsay和Michelle带来，她们分别来自美国纽约和科罗拉多州。

For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is real business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.

你有没有听过母语者说话，然后想：单词我都懂，但还是有点摸不着头脑？

Have you ever listened to native speakers and thought, I understand the words, but I still feel slightly lost.

那是因为真实的英语对话不仅仅是词汇。

That's because real English conversations include more than vocabulary.

还有语速、连读、文化引用和习语。

There's speed, there's connected speech, there are cultural references and phrases.

你的大脑得实时处理所有这些信息。

Your brain has to process all of this in real time.

如果对话有时让你觉得应付不过来，那可能只是说明你已经准备好进入下一阶段的训练了。

If conversations sometimes feel overwhelming, it may simply mean you're ready for the next level of training.

通过我们快速免费的流利度测试，了解你的确切水平。

Find out your exact level with our quick free fluency quiz.

访问 allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore。

Go to allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore.

就是 allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore。

That's allearsenglish.comfluencyscore.

嘿，Michelle。

Hey, Michelle.

你怎么样？

How you doing?

嘿，Lindsey。

Hey, Lindsey.

你好吗？

How are you?

我很好。

I'm good.

好。

Good.

好。

Good.

我们今天要聊什么？

What are we talking about today?

对。

Yeah.

所以，Lindsey，iPhone在美国当然很流行。

So I mean, Lindsey, iPhones are huge in The US, of course.

但你觉得他们最大的竞争对手是谁？

But who would you say is their biggest competitor?

哦，可能是安卓吧。

Oh, probably Android.

我觉得安卓算是他们唯一的竞争对手了。

I mean, I feel like it's kind of their only competitor.

你知道吗？

You know?

据我所知，真的就只有这两个品牌。

They're really just two brands as far as I know.

以前好像还有个黑莓，但现在应该不算了。

I guess there was Blackberry back in the day, but I don't think you

现在确实没什么竞争对手了。

that you've had competitor now.

我觉得也是。

I don't think.

对。

No.

不过，是的，可能还有其他的，但我觉得基本上就是这两个，就像苹果和PC一样。

But, yeah, there might be others, but I would say those are kind of the two it's it's also like, you know, Apple or PC.

对吧？

Right?

你知道，就是两个主要的，随便啦。

You know, it's like the the two main whatever.

我甚至不知道还有没有别的。

I don't even know if there is another one.

不过，是的。

But yeah.

我的意思是，不管你在哪个行业工作，总有人在做同样的事情。

I mean, whatever industry you work in, there is someone else doing the same thing.

你不觉得吗？

Don't you think?

是的。

Yes.

百分之百。

A 100%.

对。

Mhmm.

对。

Mhmm.

是的。

Yep.

而且，在更大的行业里，人们都知道这一点。

And most and and the bigger industries, people know know that.

他们知道两个竞争对手是谁。

They know who the two competitors are.

我觉得在行业刚开始的时候，希望有很多竞争者。

I think in the beginning when an industry gets started, hopefully there are a lot of competitors.

但后来行业会整合。

But then industries consolidate.

对吧？

Right?

是的。

Yeah.

对。

Right.

明白。

Mhmm.

是的。

Yeah.

所以，我的意思是，这些公司都在争夺业务。

So, I mean, these people or these companies are competing for business.

这确实是最重要的。

I mean, that's everything.

你需要知道如何适应并维持业务，以免竞争对手抢走你所有的客户，对吧？

You need to know how to adapt and maintain the business so that your competition doesn't steal all your customers, right?

是的，完全正确。

Yes, Exactly.

所以，正因为如此，在工作中我们经常会聊到竞争对手、竞争公司的话题。

So so because of this, often at work, we end up in conversations about competing companies, about competitors.

我记得小时候，我爸爸开了一家验光配镜诊所，也卖眼镜。

I remember when I was a kid, my dad owned a optometrist practice optometry practice, and he sold glasses there too.

他老是提起他的竞争对手。

And he was always talking about his competitor.

他的竞争对手就在街对面。

His competitor was right across the street.

那是一个类似小型购物中心的地方。

It was like a strip mall type situation.

对，我觉得这个话题在家里经常被提起。

And, yeah, I feel like that that topic would come up a lot at home.

是的。

Yeah.

对。

Yeah.

因为

For

当然。

sure.

所以今天我们要分享一些在商业领域谈论竞争对手的方法。

So today we're going to share ways you can talk about competitors in the business world.

当然，你要保持专业。

Course, you wanna stay professional.

我们将探讨如何描述不同类型的竞争对手和竞争关系。

We're going to explore ways to describe different types of competitors, the competition.

对吧？

Right?

好的。

Okay.

对。

Yeah.

那很好。

That's good.

各位，如果喜欢我们的风格，就点关注吧。

Guys, hit the follow button if you love our style.

我们致力于帮助你在工作中建立人际关系。

We are all about helping you build relationships at work.

所以现在就点关注吧。

So hit follow now.

对吧？

Right?

是的。

Yes.

好的。

All right.

那么，Lindsay，我们可以用哪些词来谈论竞争对手呢？

So Lindsay, what words can we use to talk about competitors?

是的。

Yeah.

我是说，我们可以谈论很多东西。

I mean, so there's a lot of things we can talk about.

我们可以谈论直接竞争对手。

We could talk about direct competitors.

那是一个很宽泛的类别。

And that's a broad category.

对于直接竞争对手，我们可以说一些像“我们的竞争对手”这样的词。

So for a direct competitor, there are things we can say, like our competition.

对吧？

Right?

对。

Right.

对。

Right.

没错。

Exactly.

是的。

Yeah.

所以，竞争有不同的类型，对吧？

So, I mean, there's different types of competition, right?

而且，你知道，当我们说直接竞争时，这些是那种显而易见的，你总是会关注的。

And, you know, so when we say direct, these are kind of, these are kind of the obvious ones that you're always paying attention to.

你总是会谈论它们。

You're always talking about them.

所以，是的，直接竞争对手就是竞争。

So yeah, direct competitors are a competition.

所以，是的，这很常见，也很客观。

So, yeah, that's common and objective.

就是说，在工作场合会用。

It's I mean, it's used at work.

我不觉得它特别正式或者特别不正式。

I wouldn't say it's necessarily formal or informal.

你觉得呢？

What do you think?

我觉得是中性的。

I think it's neutral.

我觉得挺中性的。

I think it's pretty neutral.

对。

Yeah.

我不会这么说。

I wouldn't say.

所以你可以说，我们的竞争对手下个月要推出类似的产品。

So you could say our competition is launching a similar product next month.

对吧？

Right?

对。

Yeah.

或者说我们需要在竞争中保持领先。

Or we need to stay ahead of our competition.

这样我们就知道我们在说谁了。

So we know who we're talking about.

是的。

Yes.

即使你没有明确点名，你也知道你在说谁。

Even though you're not naming it necessarily, you do know who you're talking about.

然后我们可以更具体一点，说我们最大的竞争对手。

And then we can get more specific and we can say our biggest competitor.

这通常是指一家和你做差不多同样事情的具体公司。

Now this would be a specific company doing the same thing as you pretty much.

对。

Right.

安卓、iPhone，还有麦当劳、汉堡王、温迪。

Android, iPhone, a bit and McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's.

对吧？

Right?

是的。

Yeah.

然后你还可以在这里发挥一点创意。

And then you can also get a little creative here.

比如，你可以说我们最大的竞争对手是忙碌。

Like, you could say our biggest competitor is busyness.

你知道吗？

You know?

对，没错。

Like Right.

人们太忙了，没时间买东西。

People are too busy to make a purchase.

你可以，你可以这么做。

You could you could do that.

更抽象一点。

Be more abstract.

对。

Yes.

对。

Yes.

嗯。

Mhmm.

是的。

Yeah.

嗯。

Mhmm.

但你可以说，我们最大的竞争对手刚刚扩张到了欧洲。

But you could say something like our biggest competitor just expanded into Europe.

对。

Mhmm.

我们最大的竞争对手将在三月份发布他们的产品。

Our biggest competitor is releasing their product in March.

明白。

Mhmm.

我喜欢接下来这个。

And I like this next one.

所以是竞争对手公司。

So rival companies.

这是指两家或更多经常竞争的公司。

So this is two or more companies that are frequently in competition.

你知道，我想到的是体育中的竞争关系。

So, you know, I mean, I think of a rivalry in sports.

对吧？

Right?

著名的对手关系。

Famous rivalry.

对吧？

Right?

尼克斯对步行者。

Knicks Pacers.

但我们可以说竞争对手公司。

I but we could have rival companies.

是的。

Yeah.

当然。

For sure.

嗯。

Mhmm.

对。

Yeah.

比如说，有几家竞争对手公司都在投资人工智能。

So for example, several rival companies are investing in AI.

明白。

Mhmm.

或者两家竞争对手公司在争同一个客户。

Or two rival companies are competing for this client.

而且，我觉得在商业界有些著名的竞争，比如让我想想。

And, yeah, some of the famous rivalries I feel like in business kind of let's see.

嗯，苹果和PC吧，我想。

I mean, well, Apple PC, I guess.

对。

Mhmm.

你知道，苹果、微软之类的。

You know, Apple, Microsoft, that sort of thing.

对。

Mhmm.

iOS、安卓。

IOS, Android.

这些是我能想到的最主要的几个。

Those are the big ones that I that I think of.

没错。

Exactly.

所以，两家竞争公司正在争夺这个客户。

So, two rival companies are competing for this client.

对吧？

Right?

我们讨论的是两家不同公司之间的竞争，你知道，那些经常互相竞争的有名的例子。

They we talk about competition between two different ones and, you know, kind of famous ones that are they're frequently competing against one another.

是的。

So Yes.

但如果你说的是泛指竞争，那就不特指某家公司。

But also if you're talking about competition in general, you're not referring to any specific company.

对。

So Right.

你可以直接说竞争对手。

You could say something just like competitors.

对吧？

Right?

是的。

Mhmm.

是的。

Mhmm.

当然。

For sure.

所以再说一遍，这只是一般性的竞争。

So again, this is just competition in general.

你可以说这可能是该领域的任何竞争对手。

You can say this could be any competitor in the field.

这是中性的。

It's neutral.

这是专业的。

It's it's professional.

它没有特别指出某个主要对手。

It's not pointing out one archrival.

这个季度很多竞争对手都在降价。

Many competitors are lowering prices this quarter.

所以这只是你所在行业的其他公司，它们正在……

So it's just the other companies in your industry, what they're

这是行业性的。

It's the industry.

对吧？

Right?

或者竞争对手是怎么处理这个问题的？

Or how are competitors approaching this issue?

对。

Mhmm.

然后是竞争。

And then the competition.

竞争。

The competition.

是的。

Yes.

这个你会经常听到。

This one you're gonna hear a lot.

所以这通常是在说同一领域的几家公司。

So this is talking generally about several companies in the same field.

所以竞争每年都在加剧。

So the competition is getting stronger every year.

对。

Mhmm.

对。

Mhmm.

或者这个季度我们密切关注一下竞争对手。

Or let's keep an eye on the competition this quarter.

是的。

Yeah.

是的。

Yeah.

这其实是一种现实情况，你知道，如果你进入一个新市场，你可能会处于所谓的蓝海状态，你开辟了新市场，并且有优先权。

And this is kind of a reality of, you know, maybe if you are in a new market, you're in a kind of what they call a blue ocean situation where you you're opening up a new market and you have first dibs.

但不可避免的是，如果那是个好市场，其他竞争对手就会进入这个领域，然后就会变成红海。

But inevitably, if that's a good market, other competitors are gonna enter the space, and it's gonna become more of a red ocean.

这本书很棒。

This is a great book.

我现在不记得作者的名字了，但这本书很不错。

I don't have the name of the author right now, but it's a good one.

如果你对商业感兴趣，可以读读《蓝海战略》或者了解一下蓝海理论、蓝海概念。

If you're into business, read Blue Ocean Blue Ocean Theory or Blue Ocean Concept.

这种情况肯定会发生。

It's gonna happen.

所以你总是要面对这个。

So you're always gonna be dealing with this.

所以我们最好学会在商业中谈论它。

So we might as well learn to talk about it in business.

对吧？

Right?

对。

Yeah.

非常重要。

Very important.

你总是会想，我们怎么才能领先？

You're always gonna be thinking about how do we get ahead?

怎么才能在竞争中保持优势？

How do we stay ahead of the competition?

诸如此类的问题。

Things like that.

很多英语学习者都注重语法。

Many English learners focus on grammar.

他们希望自己的句子是正确的，但流利不仅仅是正确。

They want their sentences to be correct, but fluency isn't just about being correct.

流利还意味着听起来自然，选对表达方式，不用在脑子里逐句翻译就能快速回应。

It's about sounding natural, choosing the right phrase, responding quickly without translating every thought in your head.

这就是为什么有些人语法规则懂得很多，但在对话中仍然感到不自在。

That's why someone can know a lot of grammar rules and still feel uncomfortable in conversations.

真正的流利来自于理解语言模式、语气和自然的表达方式。

Real fluency comes from understanding patterns, tone, and natural expressions.

我们的免费两分钟流利度测试能帮你了解自己的水平，以及哪些技能能让你进步。

Our free two minute fluency quiz helps you discover your level and what skills will move you forward.

现在就访问 allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore 参加测试吧。

Go to allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore to take the quiz right now.

网址是 allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore。

That's allearsenglish.com/fluencyscore.

对。

Yes.

那么，Michelle，当我们谈论竞争时，有哪些常用的表达呢？

So what are some phrases that we can use when we're talking about competition, Michelle, broadly speaking.

我的意思是，竞争格局。

I mean, the competitive landscape.

我喜欢这个说法，先从这个开始吧。

I like that one to start off.

那是什么意思？

What is that?

就是竞争对手的整体环境。

The overall environment of competitors.

如果我们写商业计划书向投资者推销时，可能会考虑这个。

This is something we might look at if we're writing a business plan to pitch to investors.

对吧？

Right?

对。

Yeah.

所以你可以说，过去一年竞争格局变化很大。

So you could say something like the competitive landscape has changed a lot in the past year.

或者说，这个行业的竞争格局比以前激烈多了。

Or the competitive landscape in this industry is much tougher than it used to be.

竞争。

Competitive.

我建议我们的听众花点时间练习一下那个词的发音。

That's I would recommend that our listeners spend a little bit of time practicing pronunciation there.

竞争。

Competitive.

竞争。

Competitive.

对。

Yeah.

就像你真的得快速移动舌头。

It's like you really have to move your tongue quickly.

不。

No.

你说太多次了。

You're saying it too many times.

这个词都没意义了，Lindsay。

It's losing meaning, Lindsay.

哦，别这样。

Oh, come on.

有竞争力。

Competitive.

有竞争力。

Competitive.

对。

Yeah.

各位，这就是会发生的事。

That's what happens, guys.

当你一遍又一遍重复同一个词时，有时你会想，等等。

When you repeat the same word over and over sometimes, you're like, wait.

什么？

What?

那是个词吗？

That's a word?

真的吗？

Really?

那是个词吗？

That's a word?

什么？

What?

感觉不对劲。

It doesn't feel right.

看起来不对劲。

It doesn't look right.

不。

No.

但是，大家一定要练习那里的发音，真的。

But but practice the pronunciation there, guys, for sure.

对。

Yes.

还有别的例子吗？

What would be another one?

市场竞争激烈，或者说你可以说这是一个竞争激烈的市场。

The market is competitive, or you could say a competitive market.

对。

So Mhmm.

这是一个特定的行业，然后里面有很多竞争。

This is a certain industry, then there's lots of competition within it.

比如说，现在软件市场竞争很激烈。

So for example, the software market is competitive right now.

或者今年电子商务是一个竞争激烈的市场。

Or ecommerce is a competitive market this year.

是的。

Yeah.

是的。

Yeah.

明白。

Mhmm.

还有我之前提到的这个，这个很自然地就出现了，就是为了在竞争中保持领先。

And this one I mentioned earlier, this one came up naturally to stay ahead of the competition.

这个真的很常见。

This one is really common.

所以这个就是要比竞争对手做得更好，要抢在他们之前行动。

So this is to do better than your competitors, to do things before they do.

对吧？

Right?

对。

Mhmm.

对。

Mhmm.

当然。

For sure.

我们需要

We need

要快速适应才能保持领先地位。

to adapt quickly to stay ahead of the competition.

对。

Mhmm.

或者市场营销在保持竞争力方面也起着重要作用。

Or marketing plays a big role in staying ahead of the competition.

是的。

Yeah.

所以这很难。

So it's tough.

我的意思是，你想保持领先，但有时候你并不清楚那意味着什么。

I mean, you wanna stay ahead, but at the same time, you might not always know what that means.

而且，某件事是真的会流行起来，是你真正需要投资或去做的，还是只是看起来会流行，但最后没人去做呢？

And if something is actually going to be popular, something that you actually need to invest in or do, or is it just something that seems that way, but then no one's going to do it?

对吧？

Right?

我知道。

I know.

我是说，想想我们在Dollars English这十年的生意，潮流可不少。

I mean, if you think about our last ten years in business here at Dollars English, there've been a lot of trends.

有那个，那个是什么来着？

There was there was what was it?

谷歌，有个谷歌产品没火起来，但当时大家都特别兴奋。

Google there was one Google product that never took off, but everyone was so excited about it.

我，我想那是个聊天产品还是什么的？

I I think it was was it a chat product or something?

显然不是ChatGPT。

Not ChatGPT, obviously.

那不是谷歌的。

That's not Google.

但，就是，谷歌还做过别的东西。

But, like, there was something else that Google did.

而且这些趋势，你觉得它们会火，所以你得建立个人资料，还得建个社区，结果没过多久，六个月后，它就淡出了。对。

And there are these trends you think are gonna be big, so you have to build a profile and build a community And then before you know it, in six months, it's just faded Yeah.

你懂吧？

You know?

而且你

And you

可能在那股趋势上花了不少钱。

could have spent a lot of money on that trend.

对吧？

Right?

对。

Yeah.

所以有时候，我听人说过，你知道，你想领先一步，但你不一定想当第一个做某件事的人，但你也不想当最后一个。

So it's like sometimes I I have I've heard people say, you know, you wanna stay ahead, but you don't necessarily wanna be the first one to do something, but you don't wanna be the last one.

对吧？

Right?

可能排在第三位吧。

Want to come in maybe a third.

我也不确定。

I don't know.

对吧？

Right?

完全同意。

Totally.

我的意思是，这就是为什么，你知道，雅虎算是第一个搜索引擎。

I mean, that's why I mean, you know, Yahoo is kind of the first search engine.

对吧？

Right?

我是说，雅虎，但后来谷歌出现了，抢了他们的饭碗，就像我们说的。

I mean, Yahoo and but then Google came in and and ate their lunch, as we say.

你懂吧？

You know?

对。

Yeah.

没错。

Exactly.

有意思的是市场时机。

It's interesting, the market timing.

那是另一个有趣的竞争话题，我们可以聊聊竞争。

That's another interesting competition conversation that we could competition.

这个话题我们可以改天再聊，Michelle。

Talk Conversation that we could talk about another day, Michelle.

市场的时机。

Timing of the market.

进入这些新领域的时机。

Timing of going into these new developments.

对吧？

Right?

有时候你只需要聪明一点，真正去研究趋势，有时候就只是靠一点运气。

Sometimes it's just sometimes you can just be smart about it and really look into the trends, and sometimes it's just a little bit of luck.

我的意思是，就像房地产市场一样。

I mean, it's like the housing market.

对吧？

Right?

找到那些拿到超低利率的人，我想我们之前聊过这个。

Find people who got that amazing interest rate, I think we've talked about.

是的，是的。

Yes, yes.

对。

Yeah.

有时候就是运气好。

Sometimes you just get lucky.

所以非常有意思。

So very interesting.

当然。

For sure.

在我们进行角色扮演之前，还有一点，就是获得竞争优势。

One more before we do a role play is to gain a competitive advantage.

也就是说，要发展一种优势，帮助你超越竞争对手。

So that's to develop a strength that helps you outperform competitors.

那么，是什么让你更出色？

So what makes you better?

为什么人们会选择你？

Why people are going to go to you?

比如，我们更快的配送时间给了我们竞争优势。

So for example, our faster delivery times give us a competitive advantage.

对。

Yeah.

或者更好的技术也能给公司带来竞争优势。

Or better technology can give companies a competitive advantage.