This is the business English podcast episode 59 conference call etiquette in English Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.
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Hey, Michelle, do you tend to be on a lot of conference calls?
Me? Not so much. I mean, every once in a while, like we'll get on a call, you know?
Yeah. Or I've been on a call with like my colleagues where I teach and stuff like that, but not too frequently.
What about you? Oh, So yeah, I would say I get on a lot of calls.
I don't know if I would call them conference calls, but I get on just a lot of calls with different like consultants or people we work with or people who like people that build our app.
For example, I'm on the phone all the time.
Yes. Yeah, well, it's important to have good phone etiquette.
So we're going to be talking about this today specifically with conference calls.
So this was an episode idea was how to ask someone if they are finished speaking on a conference call.
I think this is a really good idea because, you know, sometimes the problem is in this episode, I think we're really assuming that we're not talking about a video call.
We're talking about when the camera is off, like right now our camera's off, but we're actually on zoom recording this or when you're just on the phone and we don't have the visual cues to know that someone is wrapping up.
That's the problem. Right, right, right.
Exactly. And also with a conference call, you know, there could be many people talking at once.
Oh, my gosh, that that's tricky as well.
So, I mean, let's say someone is making a point and you're not sure if they finished right.
So maybe their voice trailed off or something, or maybe it seems like they quieted down, but it's hard to tell, like you said, because of the lack of body language.
So, I mean, what can you say in these situations?
Yeah, this happens all the time. I mean, even just this morning, this happened to me.
I had a call at 6 30 in the morning, actually, because I was working with one of our people who sells our ads or works with us on ads and things.
And, uh, you know, he is in Taiwan. And so of course we had to meet at 6 30 in the morning.
So I wasn't on top of my game. and we were constantly talking over like we would just both start at the same time and it's so awkward that when that happens obviously honestly it is michelle so something i could have said sorry did you have anything else you wanted to add very polite by the way yeah yeah yeah anything else you wanted to add or you could say great did you have any other points or are you done Hmm.
Yeah. I would be careful with your intonation around.
Are you done? Cause it could sound a little bit.
Are you done? Right. Right. No, I think if you sound like friendly, right.
Yeah. You don't want to sound like, are you done?
Right. Yeah, exactly. But if you said like, great.
So did you have any other points or are you done?
Right. I think that that's okay. Yeah, it makes me think what else we could put there.
But I thought, are you all set? But that doesn't apply there.
All set doesn't work in that context, Michelle, does it?
No. So are you done? And then here's a third.
Okay, should we move on? Or did you want to continue?
Why did we use the past tense there, by the way, quick grammar tip for our listeners?
Why didn't I say, or do you want to continue?
Or could I say that? So it's interesting because if you see in these notes, it underlines it as an error, you see?
Ooh, is it an error? Is it actually an error?
Well, that's what it's telling me because it's saying it should be, do you want to continue?
So I don't know if it is technically grammatically correct to say, or did you want to continue?
But I think. A lot of people use it. Yeah, I think both would be grammatically correct.
It's more about, what's the difference? I mean, I feel like there is a difference because when we move into the past tense, we're being more indirect. you know we're moving a step back more indirect yeah if i say or do you want to continue or did you want to continue yeah it's true you're removing yourself a little bit moving yourself a little bit we go back in the past we take one step back away from the person we give them a little bit more space right in terms of politeness and we could do an episode on that michelle you know dropping back into the past tense to be more indirect and a little bit more polite right right right right exactly right so that is interesting how we said did you i mean yeah it is i think it's also good to say something first before these phrases you could say like oh like you know like okay or a nice point or a great that's just a good point right how we how we said sorry did you have anything else you wanted to add or great did you have any other points or okay right so it's just it would be awkward if you just said Do you, did you have anything else you wanted to add or should we move on or do you want to continue?
Like, I feel like you need something to pad that.
And that would be just another skill that our listeners need to build for business English.
That skill is reinforcing and mirroring back and acknowledging that you've heard what the person said, right?
Right. You can't leave those gaps, at least in American English.
We need to support the speaker a little bit more.
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So. All right. So we're going to do some role plays in just a sec.
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Exclusions apply. See details online. All right, Michelle, let's get into those role plays that we have promised our listeners because I think this is going to be immediately useful.
I feel like some of our listeners, even this afternoon, they might be on a conference call when they don't know if the person's done speaking or not.
So they'll be able to use this right away, right?
Absolutely. All right. So let's give it a shot.
So anyway, yeah, I think that'd be best for the company.
Great. Did you have any other points or are you done? oh no that's it good so I feel supported I feel like you're giving me the space and it's not just if you're facilitating the call for example right Michelle this is not just for people who are kind of leading a larger call is it no no no no just if you're listening and you're trying to figure out if you should speak or I mean I I see your point about like the are you done Essentially being a little bit direct.
Right. It feels there's something that feels slightly that when I was planning it, I didn't see.
But now that we're talking about it, I'm wondering about this.
Or are you done? I think if you say it in the right way, you could say, or are you good?
Are you good? I don't know. No, are you good is good.
It's a little, it's informal, but guys, you know, on this show, we're going to teach you human English, right?
Human beings show up at work too. We'll show you when you need to be formal, but we'll also tell you when you don't have to be formal.
It just makes me, it's funny. Cause I feel like when I was a kid, my dad used to tease me.
Like I would be doing something annoying.
I don't know, making an annoying noise. And it'd be like, are you done?
Right? you know so maybe it comes from that i don't know there's something about it that's a little bit deadpan or something i don't know yeah yeah yeah no i can see that so guys you know choose if you want to say are you done you know it does a little bit more direct but if you say it in a nice way i mean sometimes we have to just say the most direct thing to get the point across on it sometimes we do michelle absolutely and right so who's going to say this is the person who's probably going to speak next right that's an important point yes right right right uh so let's go through another one here we go So with a 33% rise in sales, I'd say we're good to go.
Okay, sorry. Oh, did you have anything else you wanted to add?
Nope, I'm done. Nice. And it's okay if you say you're done, right?
But we're still, jury's still out on are you done, right?
Yeah. Exactly. Should we do one more? Yeah, let's do it.
So that's the main reason for the changes in the numbers.
Okay, so should we move on or did you want to continue?
I just have one more point to make. oh sorry go on yeah because sometimes you know people don't do a great job of outlining what they're gonna say right like the the ideal thing is you know you raise your hand and you want to answer a question and you can say i think x and there's three reasons why here's reason one here's reason two here's reason three but not everyone does that so someone might have a reason three coming up or a reason two but they haven't outlined that yeah right right that's the problem right Right.
Exactly. I mean, the main thing to remember, I think, is to just avoid sounding too harsh when you're talking.
Right. Don't sound like you're cutting someone off.
Right. Exactly. Always. I think this is important.
Always kind of take a beat if you're not sure.
Right. So take a what? Take a take a beat like a moment.
Oh, like when you say like, OK, so let's just.
Well, OK, you know what? We'll go through one more role.
I mean, if you do interrupt, just say sorry and then use one of these phrases.
So I think kind of take a moment just to like give that person an extra second to talk.
Oh, definitely. Yeah, right. So let's just OK, let's just go through this last one.
So here we go. So these numbers definitely back up my point.
Right. Jeremy, your turn. Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Michelle.
Oh, did you have anything else you wanted to add?
Yes. Just a few points. Okay. Sorry about that.
Yeah. You know, this is so important because I just turned to someone else and I gave that person the floor. yeah and you know you responded with an oh and maybe enough maybe another episode would be about how to grab the floor back oh right i think our listeners would love that we are coming up with some great ideas here michelle i'm loving this um for a listener how to grab the floor back and just say i wasn't i wasn't quite done i had one more thing to add And I know a lot of our listeners, you guys have good ideas at your business meetings.
You have fantastic ideas. You should be heard, okay?
So just as important as it is to give the other person the floor, how to get it back, right?
How can we get it back for ourselves? We'll come back to that another day.
Absolutely, yes. I will definitely, let's do an episode about that.
But yeah, just to go back one second, when we were talking about that pause.
So like if you're asking, if somebody says, Can we just really quick go back to the role play right before this?
Yeah. Okay. So you want to do that one more time?
So no, that's the main reason. Okay. Here we go.
Okay. So that's the main reason for the changes in the numbers.
Okay. Should we move on or did you want to continue?
Right. Did you hear how I made that little pause?
Okay. Right. You said, okay, should a little pause.
Right. So you always give, I think, a little extra second.
So you're kind of waiting for me to say something in between okay and should, right?
When you say, okay, there's the wait right there.
Right. I'm kind of just giving you an extra second.
So always good to give a little bit of space if you think the person might not be finished.
Interesting. I love that. So good. Wow. This is so subtle, but it's so important for our listeners. yeah absolutely we want to make sure that we you know have etiquette when we're on these conference calls and we're not sure if somebody's done speaking so this is this is definitely a way to do it yeah guys i mean on all ears english on any podcast from all ears english our value our goal is connection not perfection and that is 100 true in the office as much as it is in everyday life So here on this show, we're looking to show you how to build connection, build relationships at work.
And these subtle moments are where rapport gets built or broken.
Right, Michelle? Yeah, very important. So guys, try these on your next conference call and let us know how it goes.
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Good stuff, Michelle. Talk to you very soon.
Bye. Bye, guys. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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