This is the Business English Podcast Episode 386.
Can you walk me through this?
How to ask for extra help at work.
Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English.
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Thanks, guys. Hello, Lindsay.
How are you? Fantastic.
Michelle, how's it going today?
I'm happy to be recording with you today.
Oh, me too. Me too.
It's always fun. So Lindsay, I have a question though.
What is the concept?
Is there anything that you're learning that is hard for you to understand maybe a concept or a system?
Yeah, I would say the tango has always been hard for me to understand.
I tried taking tango lessons when I was living in Buenos Aires in 2008 in Spanish.
And I obviously didn't get it.
So I've always thought it was so complicated.
But just last week I went down to this dance hall, this huge old dance hall that's in my neighborhood.
it's so historical there.
It's very cool and there are two wonderful teachers teaching a beginner Tango class every Tuesday in February and I jumped in and I'm so happy to say I'm starting to really learn the Tango.
It's very cool. It's a very cool feeling.
Yeah. That's interesting.
That's so fun. I love that.
Yeah. Something different.
Totally different. Dance is such an antidote to being on a computer all day and being indoors all day.
right? Just using the body and also challenging the mind.
Definitely. Yeah, dance can be tricky and I bet you that your teacher has to, I mean, I shouldn't say that.
Maybe you're a pro dancer.
Do you ever have to ask your teacher to repeat things several times?
I mean, that's what makes a good teacher, right?
And these two are really good teachers.
They've been teaching for like 20 years.
And they're pros at dancing, so it's really inspiring watching them dance but yeah they have to repeat things all the time and demo and repeat and demo yeah because it's really about gaining that muscle memory I think yeah yeah sure so I mean when you're in that situation if where you're they're teaching you something do you feel comfortable asking them how to do something that they've taught you several times but you just you still don't get it, or do you feel awkward?
I feel awkward for sure.
I mean, that's a normal human thing, right?
A little embarrassed sometimes, like if they've already taught it two or three times and I can't quite get it, I might feel a little awkward, but I do push through that and I do ask because it's for me, you know?
These lessons are for us as the beginners.
It's not for the teachers.
That's why they're there.
They want us to ultimately learn, right?
Yeah, exactly. So today we're going to go over what to say in these situations and, And this is also very powerful for business.
I mean, like let's say you're working on something and somebody already went over something with you and either, whatever it is because you haven't done it that much or lack of repetition or maybe you just didn't understand.
You have to ask them again and you just may need some extra handholding.
Or also maybe just to throw in another reason you're not getting it is maybe the teacher teachers not teaching it very well or explaining it very well.
People are not unless people are actual teachers and they study these things, how to teach, people are often not the best at explaining because what we do is if we're really good at something, we assume everyone else knows things that we know and we skip over the assumptions that are not assumptions.
They need to be learned.
Right? Yes. And then, yes, I've definitely been in that situation or somebody's trying to teach me something, and they do kind of, you're wondering why can't I understand this, and it's when you think about it, you realize exactly it's what you said, Lindsay.
They kind of assume that you have some background on something so they they skip over certain things.
Yeah, it's the it's the curse of knowledge.
I think I think somewhat maybe Malcolm Gladwell or someone actually wrote about this concept, the curse of knowledge when we know so much about a concept, we're actually further away from people learning it.
And it's really hard to teach it and explain it because we haven't been in that learning position in a long time.
That's really true.
Definitely. Very interesting.
So let's talk about what you can say though.
If you are in this position, maybe you're feeling a little bit uncomfortable and you need somebody to help go over something again.
Yeah, I love that. So some things we can do is we can acknowledge that it's not the first time, right?
So we've been told this a few times.
And we're just putting that out there.
right? And then you could give an extra background or explanation or you could just go ahead and ask that.
Yeah and then and then you go ahead and ask the question right?
Okay and then you say thank you.
So let's go over how to do that though.
So we're going to go over each step.
So the first thing and I think that the first I mean the thank -you I think is the easy part right?
So let's go over the knowledge first.
So what is something you could say?
So we say I know this isn't the first time you've explained this to me.
So yeah, you're just putting it all out there.
And that when you name something that feels a little awkward, you just feel better.
Right. Right. Exactly.
Exactly. And then you or you could say, I think I need a refresher, so you're not you're not explicitly saying that, oh, you've explained this to me.
But saying the word refresher means that you've already been fresh.
Yeah. I just made that up.
been fresh. Yeah, you've already heard it.
You need a refresh, right?
I love that. Or, you can, this one's a little...
I like this one because it's a little more positive.
We have two choices of how we want to see something.
This is like glass half full.
I'm really close to being able to do this on my own.
Yeah, so you're showing, okay, I almost got it.
We go over this one more time, right?
Yeah, I like that orientation to the world, right?
It's like we are always voicing the in a, you're saying the same thing, you know, I know you've explained this to me.
I need a little more help versus I'm really close to having this.
You're saying exactly the same thing, but it's two different orientations on the world.
Right. Very interesting.
Good point, Lindsay and then give a little bit of an explanation, right?
So you could say, I just haven't had enough.
You could say, uh, no repetition, repetition, practice… Yeah, exactly.
So you're kind of just giving like a little bit of an explanation for why you might.
I mean, Lindsey, do you think you have to explain?
Do, why you need an explanation?
Like explain why you need another explanation, you mean?
Like you need more help?
No, I don't think so.
I think what… Okay, I think it depends on the scenario.
Again, in my Tango classes, I can ask for that all day.
I'm paying for the class.
I mean everyone is absolute beginner.
It's totally fine But if you're talking about maybe a co -worker went out of their way to help teach you Yeah How to ask the right prompts to chat GPT or something Then maybe you do want to add a little bit more of an explanation because they're going out of their way to help you Right.
I think yes. I think that's a really good rule of thumb.
You know how how Much are they going out of their way to have to explain this to you again?
Do they now have to get up from their desk?
and hold your hands through this process.
And also not doing their own work, too.
I mean, that's a real thing.
When someone's helping you at work it means that they're not working on their own stuff, which is great, and we want a workplace like that, but they are risking something in terms of getting their own stuff done.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
You could also say, I'm still a little hung up on X.
So I'm still a get where my feet go after the eight count, right?
Yeah. And I really think maybe we can come back and do another whole episode on the phrase to be hung up on something.
Because there are a lot of meanings to it, Michelle.
This could be great for the Allers English podcast.
So guys, go over and find Allers English, by the way, and hit follow.
Get ready for that episode.
But the meaning that you're expressing in this case for hung up on is you're stuck on it.
You're just not sure yet.
Yep, right. Definitely stuck.
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Okay, so now we're going to pivot into asking.
Right? So this first one, it's more you've given something a try.
So this is maybe for that context where you really think you, you have it, but you're just not so confident to send it off into the world and say, this is all right.
So you can say, would you mind reviewing my work?
Nice, I like that. Or would you mind going over this with me one more time and to go over phrasal verb there?
Review it, go through it, good one.
Yeah, or would you mind walking me through this again?
Oh, another phrase of but I really like that one too.
Yeah. Mmm. Great. And then the thank you.
Yeah. Appreciate it.
Thank you. We know how to do that.
You can never say thank you too much.
I think honestly I think you can say sorry too much.
But I don't think you could say thank you too much.
Right. Um, just let people know you appreciate them.
Yeah. That's funny.
I, I, that's a question for another day.
I wonder if you can say thank you too mommy if you're saying that.
it all the time. Yeah, I mean, but yeah in this situation you definitely want to say thank you right even if you've thanked them before.
So, let's go into that another day on All Theirs English, I like that idea.
So but why is this such an important skill?
Oh, wow I think we shouldn't be ashamed to ask someone for help, especially for the things that we really need to learn that are important, because the sense of mastery that we get when we do learn something is incredible.
It builds self -confidence and that's actually how you get confidence, it's not by sitting in a room and repeating mantras to yourself, right?
It's by actually going out and mastering concepts, learning them and becoming good at them.
Like speaking or doing something, I don't know, any tools that work or things you need to do.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
So should we do a role play?
Yes. So here, you have taught me how to fill out client forms and I'm still not 100 % confident about that skill yet.
So I'm going to ask you.
Okay. Uh, Michelle.
Yeah. Lindsey. So I'm really close to being able to do this on my own, but I'm still a little bit hung up on some of the steps of the form.
Oh, okay. Yeah. Uh, yeah.
Would you mind walking me through it again?
Of course. Let's do one together.
Thank you so much. Yes.
All right. So the first thing I said was I'm really close to being able to do this on my So I use that glass half full type perspective, right, which is really good.
But I'm still a little hung up on some of the steps of the form.
It means I'm stuck with, I'm stuck on this, this part of the issue of the task.
Mm -hmm. And then you asked me, you said, would you mind walking me through it again?
Mm -hmm. And then he said, of course let's do one together.
I said, thank you so much.
Excellent. This is great.
So what's another episode our listeners could go to right now to keep the vibe going with business English.
Keep the vibe going with business English on episode 377.
That was how to get a genuine response to your email in 2025.
I believe that's when you did with Aubrey.
Very cool topic, really cool topic because it's a hot topic, important topic, and strategies are changing, right?
So go check that one out.
Michelle, what's our takeaway for our listeners?
Ultimately, don't be afraid to ask for help, but you have to be smart about it, We have to think about how are we going to phrase it?
We want to acknowledge that.
I think it is important to acknowledge in some way even you can do it in a humorous way that you need one more time to go over something.
Just, you know, for example, in your Tango class, you might say, can you go over that one more time?
Right. And, you know, the worst thing is to pretend that you know how to do it and just keep on doing it.
And it's completely wrong.
I mean, it's good after a certain point, maybe try it on your own, you know, a bit and try and get as close to the, you know what I like to do?
Write down what it is that I'm stuck on so that I can ask someone all in one go.
Oh yeah, you know, Oh, here are the here are the things I'm having trouble with.
Right? So it seems a little less intense.
Yeah, go through it.
Try it yourself. And then exactly I love that I document exactly where you need help, and you're kind of taking ownership of your own learning here.
Yeah. All right? Yeah.
Smart. I love it. Well, definitely give these a try.
Next time you are a little stuck on something at work.
All right. Good stuff.
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All right. All right, Michelle, you have a good week.
Talk to you soon, Lindsay.
Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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