by Anthony Goldbloom, the co-founder and CEO of Kaggle, which is a community of over 600,000 data scientists who find solutions to difficult problems.  In 2011 and 2012, Forbes Magazine named him one of the 30 under 30 in technology, and in 2013 the MIT Tech Review named him one of the top 35 innovators under the age of 35.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

dramatically:  very very big
concluded:  discovered, found out
automated:  made automatic, not needing humans
disruption:  great change
data:  information
mimic:  copy, do the same things
the cutting edge:  the very best in technology (idiom)
industry:  manufacturers
academia:  universities and technical institutes
unique:  one and only, not shared by others
perspective:  understanding
tasks:  jobs, pieces of work
assessing:  finding out the value (of something)
zip codes:  numbers for sections of the country
breakthroughs:  discoveries no one has made before
complex:  difficult
algorithm:  a series of “if A, then B” statements in a computer program
grade:  to give a mark (A, B+, B, B-, C+, C, etc.) to
challenge:  problem
diagnose:  find out which disease (someone has)
ophthalmologists:  eye doctors
essays:  writings by students
competing:  trying to win
high volume:  with lots of data
novel:  new, never seen before
fundamental:  basic
limitation:  weakness, inability
disparate:  basically different
physicist:  a scientist who studies physics (science of matter, energy, motion and force)
magnetron:  a device that creates very short radio waves
cross-pollination:  the sharing of knowledge between different sciences and technologies
extent:  level, degree, amount (how big, how much?)
frequent:  happening often
litigation:  lawsuits (court cases where one party may have to pay the other party)
shrink:  make smaller
ranks:  numbers of workers
marketing campaign:  a series of advertisements created to sell something
business strategy:  what needs to be done to make a business successful

by Judson Brewer

an associate Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, where he is Director of Research at the Center for Mindfulness.  He is a leader in the “science of self mastery,” having nearly 20 years of experience with the scientific study of mindfulness.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

retreats:  short courses held away from the city
exhausting:  very tiring
pay attention: focus on something
urge:  need
calories:  food energy
survival:  continuing to live
trigger:  something that makes you take action
reward:  a good thing you get as a result of an action
nerd:  a person who likes to study and learn
obesity:  being too fat
morbidity and mortality:  unhealthiness and death
tap into:  start using
curious:  wanting to know something
cognitively:  in your brain
disenchanted:  not liking
intellectual:  of the brain
on a visceral level:  with deep understanding
letting go:  releasing, giving up, stopping
paradox:  opposite thing that’s also true
cravings:  things that you strongly want
sensations:  feelings in the body
clobbered:  dominated, beat up
perpetuate:  keep doing

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, gives a convincing argument of why we all should start doing something to protect ourselves from an epidemic.  Listen and judge for yourself.

Preview the vocabulary below, and then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.

Vocabulary:

hunker down: stay underground
global: worldwide
catastrophe: action that kills many people
virus: microscopic life that can kill
missiles: rockets that can deliver bombs
microbes: very small life forms
deterents: things that stop something from happening
epidemic: a widespread disease
polio: a childhood disease that causes muscle weakness
eradication: destruction, thorough killing
Medecins Sans Frontiers: Doctors Without Borders
diagnostics: tools to find out about the disease
plasma: the liquid part of blood
devastating: destroying, killing
contagious: able to pass from one person to another
urban areas: cities
infectious: able to make people sick
vaccines: treatments that prevent people from getting a disease
pathogen: microorganism that kills
reserves: regular people who are all ready to fight
expertise: expert knowledge
logistics: moving things to where they’re needed
simulations: actions that are like the real thing
equity: quality of being fair and equal

Negotiating with someone means bargaining or trading to get what you want while at the same time giving the other person what he wants. This may sound easy, but unless you follow a few rules, things will not go very well for you, and you’ll give more than you get. Think of negotiating as a game that you can win because you have learned the rules. Using these rules, you have a better chance of getting what you want. Here they are:

Rule 1:

Before you start the process, do some research online to find out what a reasonable price for the item is. If you are selling, you want to start your negotiation at a price above that; if you’re buying, you want to start at a price below that. Let me explain by using an example.  You want to sell your used smartphone.  If you determine that a used smart phone is worth $200, then you want to ask $250 for it.  Someone would love to buy it from you for $150.  If you asked for only $200, which is the real price you’re willing to sell it for, the other person would still only offer you $150, knowing that you would come down a little to meet his offer. You would then probably sell it for around $175, which is not what you want. You need to give yourself some “wiggle room” and ask for more than you’re willing to take.

Rule 2:

Get the other person to tell you his opening price first.  This gives you an advantage because you now know his starting position before he knows yours.  If his number is $50 lower than you want, then counter his offer with a price that’s $50 higher than you want.  He says, “I’ll give you $150 for the phone.”  You look dissatisfied, and after pausing for five seconds, you say, “I can’t do that.  I’ll give it to you for $250.”  Looking dissatisfied is a major part of negotiating.  The more dissatisfied you look, the higher the other person will make his second offer.

Rule 3:

When the other person comes up in his counter offer, you come down by the same amount. Continuing with our example, he now says, “Well, I could come up another $25. How about $175?”   You counter by looking disappointed again, and then say, “I could come down to $225, but that’s as low as I’m willing to go. By saying this last part, you’re telling him that the negotiations are getting tougher, and you’re not going to come down much more.  If he’s not an experienced negotiator, he may agree to pay your price of $225. However, if he understands that the negotiation isn’t finished yet, he’ll suggest “splitting the difference.” He’ll say, “I’ll tell you what. Let’s split the difference, and we’ll both be happy.” At that point you can agree to sell the phone at $200.

Rule 4:

If he doesn’t seem willing to split the difference, then you can offer a little something extra to make him feel like he’s getting a good deal.  You could say, “I’d be willing to throw in the phone case if you’ll agree to $200.” Often, this is enough to seal the deal.

Rule 5:

If there’s a long silence in the negotiation, do not say anything.  The first person who speaks is the person who’s willing to make a concession and meet the other person’s price.

Rule 6:

The last rule is that you can’t seem desperate to make a deal.  You must always look like you’re willing to walk away with no deal.  Sometimes if you’re not happy with the price, walking away is the only thing you can do.

So there are the six simple rules that you can use the next time you negotiate with someone.   Of course, practice makes perfect, so go out into the world and practice this process until you get good at it.  Being a good negotiator will save you or make you lots of money in a short time.

Click on the audio recording below to hear the above lesson.

Vocabulary:

bargaining: the process of agreeing on a price.
process: the steps you take to do something
reasonable: correct for both buying and selling
item: the thing that is being sold.
determine: decide through research
wiggle room: room to move up or down
advantage:  opportunity for success that the other person doesn’t have
counter: say your price in response to his price
dissatisfied: not happy
tougher: harder
splitting the difference: going half way between his price and yours
throw in: include
seal:  successfully conclude
concession: a thing that is given up
desperate: having an urgent need
deal: agreement

Pronunciation Exercise:  Listen and repeat the vocabulary above on the audio file below.

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Michael Norton
a social science researcher and associate professor at the Harvard Business School.  His research was featured in the New York Times Magazine Year in Ideas issues of 2007 and 2009.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

experiment:  a test to see if something is true
ruined:  broken and not repairable
debt:   owing money
bug:  ask repeatedly
fantasizing:  creating a story in your head
extort:  get money to not share a secret
antisocial:  not liking to be with other people
prosocial:  doing things for other people
affluent:  having lots of everything
correlated:  related
charity:  organizations that help people
dominate:  have the most wins
league:  a group of teams that play together
benefit:  do good things for

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Andy Puddicombe

a former Buddhist monk with a degree in Circus Arts.  He is the founder of Headspace, an award-winning digital health platform that provides guided meditation sessions for its users.  As both author and public speaker, Puddicombe is known for his simple, accessible and secular approach, which has led to over 1 million users of the Headspace platform.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

frantic:  too busy
reminiscing:  remembering
precious:  of high value
distracted:  having your attention go to something else
assumes:  thinks he has the right answer without all the evidence
meditation:  a practice of letting your mind be calm
whole deal:  everything
succession:  things happening one after the other
inundated:  flooded, having too many or too much
monk:  a person who devotes his life to understanding God
tragic:  resulting in something very bad
technique:  a way of doing something
impacts:  affects, changes
anxious:  worried
wobbly:  moving a little back and forth
restless:   not being able to relax
agitated:  disturbed, made uncomfortable
perspective:  the way you look at something
potential:  possibility

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Louis Schwartzberg

an American director, producer, and cinematographer who is a pioneer in time-lapse cinematography. He has been filming time-lapse film non-stop for over three decades. He focuses on connections between humans and the subtleties of nature and environment.

First, preview the vocabulary below.  Then click the exercise below, read a question and then listen for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

intersection:  where things come together
curiosity:  wanting to know something
explore:  find out things we don’t know
portals:  entrances
the invisible:  things you can’t see
expands our horizons:  teaches us things we don’t know
transforms our perception:  makes us look at things differently
time lapse:  taking pictures over time so you can see movement
organisms:  living things
in motion:  moving
data:  information
imitate:  do the same thing
robotic:  machine
magnify:  make bigger
species:  kinds of animals
elastic:  able to stretch
patrol:  move around and look for problems
transform:  make totally different
© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Ryan Holladay

an American artist and, with his brother Hays, co- founder of Bluebrain, a music and technology duo who create site-specific sound.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

familiar:  like you’ve seen it before
convey:  show you
specifically:  only
intersect:  come together
composition:  piece of music
gallery:  a store that displays art
dialog:  close relationship
exclusively:  only
mobile app:  a computer program for your smart phone
GPS:  technology that locates your position on earth
traverses:  crosses
landscape:  park
seemlessly:  smoothly
trajectory:  walking direction
perimeter:  border, boundary
intrinsic:  a necessary part of
currently:  these present days, now
bells and whistles:  fancy technology

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Maya Penn

a young American entrepreneur whose company “Maya’s Ideas” creates eco-friendly clothing and accessories.  She is also a philanthropist, environmental activist, artist and animator.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

animator:  a person who creates a movie with drawings
defining moment:  a time when you decide what you want to do in the future
virus:  a tiny computer program that messes up your computer
creatures:  animals and insects
spark:  to get (something) started quickly
movement:  action that is taken by a lot of people at the same time
eco-friendly:  not harming the environment
branding:  getting your company brand known
marketing:  selling your product to your customers
negative impact:  hurting the environment
toxic:  poisonous, harmful
inhales:  breathes in
sustainable future:  a future that is in balance and can continue forever
compromising: going against
diverse:  with lots of differences

© 2014 Ambien Malecot

by Apollo Robbins.

an American sleight-of-hand artist, security consultant and deception specialist.  He is considered the best in the world at what he does.  In his Las Vegas shows he takes things from people’s jackets, pants, purses, wrists, fingers and necks and then returns them at the end.  People don’t notice what he does.

First preview the vocabulary below.  Then do the exercise by first reading a single question and then listening for the answer.  When you hear the answer, pause the video and answer the question.  Then read the next question and do the same thing.  If you get the answer wrong, then go back to where the answer is given and listen again.

Vocabulary:

pickpocket:  a person who takes things from other people’s pockets.
attention:  when your eyes and mind are on the same thing.
predicting:  saying what something will be in the future.
misdirection:  looking at the wrong thing.
icon:  little picture that identifies a computer program (app).
perceptions:  things that you see or hear and understand
process:  think about
data:  information

© 2014 Ambien Malecot