You're listening to English as a Second Language podcast number 132, Getting Through on the Phone.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 132.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
On this podcast we're going to talk about trying to reach someone or communicate with someone on the telephone.
Let's get started.
I've been trying to get a meeting with the CEO of Medifact to talk about a partnership between our company and theirs.
But I've had a hard time trying to get through on the phone.
First, there was the phone tree.
I had to go through three menus before I got the option to speak to an operator.
Even after I got through, I got the runaround from the receptionist.
I would like to speak to Maureen Kennedy.
Please hold while I connect you with Ms.
Kennedy's office.
Marine Kennedy's office.
How may I help you?
Good afternoon.
I am Thomas Guarini calling from Livitecht.
I would like to set up a meeting with Ms.
Kennedy.
Will Ms.
Kennedy know the subject of the meeting?
Well, I would like to speak to her about a possible partnership.
May I put you on hold for a moment?
Yes, certainly.
I was on hold for a long time.
Mr. Guarini, I'm afraid Ms.
Kennedy is traveling on business the next two weeks.
Would you like to call back?
Sure.
I'll check back in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for your help.
It's my pleasure.
Have a nice day.
Thanks.
You too.
I guess I'll keep trying.
We're talking about trying to make an appointment with someone by calling them on the telephone.
The name of the podcast is Getting Through on the Phone.
To get through means that you are able to, in this case, talk to the person that you want to talk to.
We also use that expression to get through to mean to get someone to understand us.
A parent, for example, might say this about their son or daughter.
I can't get through to him means I can't seem to communicate with him.
He doesn't seem to understand me.
But here to get through just means to be able to reach someone or talk to someone on the telephone.
Well in this case the person is trying to get a meeting with the CEO.
To get a meeting is the same as to make a meeting, to make an appointment for a meeting.
The CEO is the chief executive officer, usually the highest person in a company.
The number one person in the company is often called the chief executive officer or CEO.
Well, the CEO of this company is the person they're trying to get a meeting with, and they want to talk about a partnership between the two companies.
A partnership is, of course, when two people or more people come together and have some sort of agreement where they work together.
Well, unfortunately, he's having a hard time trying to get through on the phone.
First, there was the phone tree.
And a phone tree, T-R-E-E, like the tree that grows in the forest, the phone tree is when you call a company And you don't get a real person, a live person.
You get a message.
And the message says if you want to talk to Mr Jones, press 1, meaning you have to press the number 1 on your telephone.
Well, that's called a phone tree.
And he got through.
According to the story, he had to go through three menus before he got the option to speak to an operator.
A menu is each time you have a choice of things.
So, for example, you call a company.
And you get the phone tree and you press number one.
And then you get another message saying, if you want to talk to this person, press one.
If you want to talk to this person, press two and so forth.
And so you press another number and then you get another menu.
So these are menus in the phone tree.
Well, he had to go through three of these to get the option or the opportunity, the ability to speak to an operator, meaning the person who answers your call and tells you or helps you find the person you want.
The operator in a company is the person who directs people.
So you call and you're not sure who to talk to.
The operator will find the right person for you.
Well, even after he got through, he says, he got the runaround from the receptionist.
To get the runaround, and runaround is two words, R-U-N-A-R-O-U-N-D.
To get the runaround means that someone is not being very helpful.
They're not giving you the information that you need, maybe because they're lazy, or maybe because they don't have time.
If you call a government office, you won't get sometimes an answer.
They'll say, well, you have to talk to that person.
So you call that person and they say, no, no, you have to talk to the other person.
So that's called getting the runaround.
When people don't answer your question or don't do what you want to have them do not give you the information that you want.
Well, this gentleman, this person calls and the receptionist answers the phone.
And this is, of course, the same in this case as the operator.
She answers the phone, but with the name of the company, Medofac Limited.
That is not a real company.
I just made that name up, invented that name.
The operator says, how may I direct your call?
That is a very common expression you'll hear from people, from an operator at a company.
How may I direct means, Who do you want to talk to so I can find out the right person?
Or I can give you the number of the person you need to talk to.
That expression how may I direct your call, means tell me who you want to talk to, and then I can connect you.
And to connect someone means that you dial that person's number and you connect the two people together.
Well, he says he wants to speak to Maureen Kennedy and the operator says please hold meaning, please wait while I connect you.
When he gets to Ms.
Kennedy's office, the secretary answers.
And again, she answers by saying, Maureen Kennedy's office, how may I help you?
Very common way to answer the phone in a business is to identify, to say who you are and where you are, in this case, Maureen Kennedy's office.
Well, the gentleman Thomas says his name is Thomas Guarini, calling from Livitech, which is the name of his company, also not a real company.
Notice he says, I'm calling from, meaning this is the company that I am representing.
This is my company I am calling from.
I would like to set up a meeting with Ms.
Kennedy.
The verb to set up, S-E-T-U-P, two words, means to arrange, to make an appointment.
So to get a meeting is similar to set up a meeting.
To set up a meeting means really to schedule, to find a day and time when you can meet.
Well, the secretary says, will Ms.
Kennedy know the subject of the meeting?
Meaning, will she know what this meeting is going to be about?
And Thomas says, well, I want to speak to her about a possible partnership.
The secretary then says, may I put you on hold for one moment?
And remember to put someone on hold means that you have to wait.
Usually you hear music, sometimes while you are waiting on the phone, or sometimes you don't hear anything.
I prefer to hear nothing because usually the music you hear when you are waiting on the phone is really bad.
Anyway, so Thomas says, sure, yes, certainly.
And that's an expression we use a lot, certainly.
It's a polite way of saying yes, of course.
Well, finally, the secretary comes back and says, I'm afraid Ms.
Kennedy is traveling on business.
The expression, I'm afraid A-F-R-A-I-D.
I'm afraid we use that in front of something, that some bad news that we are going to tell someone else.
So someone comes up to you and says, can you give me $1,000?
And you say, I'm afraid I can't give you any money.
I'm afraid, meaning I'm sorry to tell you this that I cannot give you any money, although you may not be sorry to tell them.
But that's a polite way of saying that you are going to give them some bad news.
Well, the gentleman in the dialogue says, sure, I'll call back in a couple of weeks.
The secretary asks if he could call back.
To call back means to call again, to call on the telephone again.
To check back means that I'm going to call and see in two weeks or however long, whether this person is available.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech.
I've been trying to get a meeting with the CEO of MediFact to talk about a partnership between our company and theirs.
But I've had a hard time trying to get through on the phone.
First, there was the phone tree.
I had to go through three menus before I got the option to speak to an operator.
Even after I got through, I got the runaround from the receptionist.
MediFact Limited, how may I direct your call?
I would like to speak to Maureen Kennedy.
Please hold while I connect you with Ms.
Kennedy's office.
Maureen Kennedy's office.
How may I help you?
Good afternoon.
I'm Thomas Guarini calling from Livatecht.
I would like to set up a meeting with Ms.
Kennedy.
Will Ms.
Kennedy know the subject of the meeting?
Well, I would like to speak to her about a possible partnership.
May I put you on hold for a moment?
Yes, certainly.
I was on hold for a long time.
Mr. Guarini, I'm afraid Miss Kennedy is traveling on business the next two weeks.
Would you like to call back?
Sure.
I'll check back in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for your help.
It's my pleasure.
Have a nice day.
Thanks.
You too.
I guess I'll keep trying.
The script for today's podcast was written by our very own Lucy Say, Dr Lucy Say and we thank her, as always.
Be sure to visit our website for more information and the script of today's podcast.
You can find us at www.eslpod.com.
From Los Angeles, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2006.
