Business · Unit 1 · Case study

Case study: Bright Lights Media

Duration: 15 min

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← Lesson 1ALesson 1B →
Warm-up

Warm-up · Prime the case (5 min, solo)

Two micro-drills that pull directly from Unit 1: (A) indirect questions to open a conversation, and (B) polite modals + register to write a low-friction message. Do both before opening the scenario.

Drill 1 — Indirect question that opens the room

Rewrite each blunt direct question as an INDIRECT question a new hire can safely ask on day four.

  1. 'Who's actually in charge here?'

  2. 'Why did the last person leave?'

  3. 'Do I really have to be in the office every day?'

Drill 2 — Register: same message, three tones

Write the SAME 'I need an intro' message in three registers — FORMAL, NEUTRAL, FRIENDLY — for three different people at Bright Lights.

  1. To the Managing Director (formal): 'I want to meet the London creative lead.'

  2. To your line manager (neutral): 'Same request.'

  3. To the peer on the London team (friendly): 'Same request.'

Bridge to the case → Two moves the case will demand: (a) every difficult question is asked INDIRECTLY, giving the other person a face-saving answer; (b) the same message is tuned to the reader's seniority and relationship, not sent in one flat 'professional' tone. Open the scenario.
🎯 Final output

Final output — 90-second briefing

In pairs, prepare a 90-second spoken briefing for Joris covering: (1) your read of the current first impression, (2) your 3 concrete actions for Aditi's first week, (3) one indirect question she should use with each APAC client. Use at least THREE B2 phrases from today's lesson.