This is a Business English bonus episode, just a heads up, how to tell someone about a change in Business English.
Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English.
Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.
For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.
Still translating in your head when you speak English?
It's time to change that. The Connected Communicator course from All Ears English helps you train your ear, speak naturally, and finally connect with real people.
In our tailored study plan, you'll hear unscripted interviews from tattoo artists to entrepreneurs from all across America. and you'll use new AI tools to practice speaking anytime you want.
No more stiff, scripted English. Build confidence, fluency, and cultural insight all in one course.
Plus, get real-life speaking experience at our Open Conversation Club every single week and build community with Allers English teachers and students.
Go to allersenglish.com slash connection to save $50 this week only.
Offer ends August 10th. allearsenglish.com slash connection.
Hey, Aubrey. Welcome to the show. Glad to have you on.
Glad to be chatting today. How's it going?
I'm great. How are you, Lindsay? I'm feeling great, but I have a question to start off today's episode for you.
All right. All right. So what have you given someone a heads up about recently?
Any news that you had to break? Anything?
Yes, absolutely. Just two nights ago, my husband and I met with our eldest daughter.
She's about to turn 18. So she's on the verge of adulthood here.
And We talked to her about, we gave her a heads up that when she turns 18, she's going to start helping pay some of her bills that we've been covering, like her phone bill.
You know, she has a phone that we pay for each month.
And this is mostly to help her start to have a reason to save money.
She's working, but she doesn't have any expenses.
So she, you know, we've told her save for the future, but it's hard to get your mind around it when you don't actually have, you know, right now reasons to save money.
So we're going to give her some expenses to help motivate her.
I love that. Going right into the real world.
I bet a lot of our listeners can kind of go in their minds back to that moment when they realized, oh, this is how it works.
It's not just money coming in. It's money going out, money coming in.
Just becoming an adult. Exactly. Having some financial responsibilities, some bills.
It'll be good. What about you, Lindsay?
Have you had to give anyone a heads up lately?
Yes. Yes. Actually, just this week, I sent out an announcement to our team.
And today's episode is letting our listeners know about this exciting change that we're making to the publishing schedule of Business English.
Should we get into this now, Aubrey? Yes.
We're giving you guys a heads up here. Yes.
It's very exciting. So I let you guys know that we are now going to change the days on which Business English gets published.
It's still the same amount of content you still get three episodes a week but now we are going live on sunday tuesday and thursday that means the episodes are dropping into your listening queue on sunday tuesday and thursday currently what is the schedule aubry What is the current schedule?
We're publishing Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Yes. We are hoping to give you guys an All Ears English episode every week.
So of one of our three podcasts, we want you to be able to tune in any day and have a new episode to hear.
Exactly. So if you think about IELTS Energy, Business English, and All Ears English, guys, you could literally at this time, once we make this change, listen to an episode of All Ears English on every day of the week, currently except for Saturday.
But we are working on bringing you a Saturday episode soon as well.
So I think that's pretty exciting, Aubrey.
It's amazing. I don't know a single podcast that publishes every day.
Maybe they're out there, but I don't know about them.
So I'm excited about this. Yeah, we like to cover our bases across the entire All Ears English network of our three shows.
And yeah, I mean, sometimes we just want more All Ears English.
So we're going to get it. Good stuff. Always we want more All Ears English.
It's going to be great. So just keep in mind, as of February 11th, you are going to see the Business English, the first one of the week, drop into your queue on Sunday.
And if you don't want to listen to it on Sunday, if you want to wait for Monday, it's there waiting for you.
So nothing has to change, right? But for example, if Sunday for you is Monday, Sunday for us is Monday for you or Sunday night, you'll have it ready for your morning commute.
Love that. We have a very global audience.
So that depends where you are in the world.
But no matter where you are, we're going to very soon have an episode every day.
Something new for you to listen to when you're commuting or when you're cleaning your house.
That's when I listen to podcasts. Yep. And we'll update you guys on that Saturday All Ears English episode once we get into that.
That is a separate change. We'll let you know once we get into it.
But today I thought we would teach our listeners ways to notify someone about an upcoming change.
I actually can't believe we haven't talked about this yet.
This is a great skill. I know. Oh yes. It's a very necessary skill at work to be able to let someone know something is changing soon.
So the first one we used at the top of the episode to say, give a heads up.
This is very idiomatic. Just means I'm letting you know, I'm telling you about a change that's happening soon.
This is very native and natural. A hundred percent.
So give a heads up. I'm going to give a sample phrase here.
Are we ready? Yes. All right. I need to give you a heads up about a change we're making.
Do you have a minute? I love this too, because you don't always, you can't always dive right in, especially if there are quite a few details.
You're at work, everyone's busy. It's like you're letting them know, I need to tell you about this change.
And you're asking them, do you have a minute now that we can talk about it?
And this is such a great way to do that.
I need to give you a heads up about something.
Aubrey, as a litmus test here, what is your reaction when you hear that?
What is your automatic emotion? If someone says that to you, do you feel excited?
Do you feel scared? Where do you go in your head and heart when you hear that?
Oh, that's a very good question. I think just excited as far as my current job right here at All Ears English.
If I'm getting a heads up about a change, it's always exciting news.
It's always something exciting. fun happening on the horizon.
But I have worked at jobs in the past where if a supervisor, if a boss came up to me and said, I need to give you a heads up about a change, I might be worried.
Like, am I getting laid off? What's happening?
It's interesting how it really depends on the culture at work and the team.
Oh my God. Yeah. And actually, I'm so happy to hear that, that you feel that way, right?
That it's positive. That means we've created an amazing environment here at All Ears English where we're open.
You know, we're not in reactionary mode or fearful mode.
We're feeling good. And we're always, we make a lot of changes here, don't we?
But we're often, it's positive. We prepare ourselves for it and we do our very best.
And we do it for a good reason, making these changes.
And just to overall have sort of this general work culture of, upward movement and change to be excited about.
Whereas the average job, if very little changes and you're very used to the status quo and things going the way, then any change might feel scary.
So it's good to have that growth mindset.
I'm glad to hear that. That is really good.
What is another way, Aubrey, that we could say heads up?
What words could we put around it? You might say, I wanted to give you a heads up that we're meeting on Wednesdays instead of Mondays from now on.
So this is something where this is a very quick bit of information.
You don't need to say, Do you have a minute for me to share all of these details?
Right. You're just like giving you a heads up.
We're making this quick change. And of course, heads up comes from probably sports.
I remember learning this phrase as a kid.
If I was in the backyard throwing around a football or something with my dad, heads up.
Right. You might yell. Watch out. You might get hit by the ball.
Literally move your head, duck your head.
But we bring it into the business world, don't we?
Yes, right. We do that a lot with idiomatic language with sports and idioms.
And this is one, right? Heads up means watch out, pay attention, something's happening.
And we also say that I'm going to give you a heads up about this change at work.
Yeah, I love it. And then number two, our second way that our listeners, guys, you can use this in business, let you know, just very straightforward.
She let me know that they're changing submission requirements.
I like this. Exactly. I mean, it's the same as she told me, right?
She told me about a change, but we often will use phrasal verbs.
Even at work, we speak more informally and there's just that little bit of informality between she told me this and she let me know.
Right. Or I need to tell you, or I told you, it just feels a little more awkward and formal.
So I think we do look actively for these other ways to say these more casual phrases because we want to build rapport.
Exactly. It's all about that. Here's another example.
I need to let you know about an upcoming change.
There's just that little bit more formality if I say, I need to tell you about an upcoming change.
And that actually sounds a little more scary.
Like, oh, what's the change? What's happening?
Right. Part of it is the responsibility of the speaker to, yeah, to lighten the load in terms of the words we choose.
I do think it would be maybe a sign that something more serious is coming.
If we said, I need to tell you about something.
It feels heavier. It feels more secretive, maybe more personal in a way.
I don't know. Yeah, it's interesting. Whereas let you know, like you're taking that away.
You're like, no big deal. I just need to let you know about something.
And then maybe if it were something really serious or personal, then it might be strange that you have prepared them to not be stressed about it.
We love the nuances of English, especially when it comes to the business world.
So I hope our listeners are writing these down.
It's a fantastic episode today. What would be number three, Aubrey?
Number three is make you aware. Now this one is a little bit more formal, right?
So if you're wanting to really have that informality, give a heads up, let you know, right?
These are a little more casual, like this is not a serious change.
If you want to say, I need to make you aware of a change that's coming up, this is going to imply just that little bit of like, this is something that's a little heavier, a little more serious.
Yeah, it feels more formal, maybe more logistical, what you're going to be telling them.
Maybe something regarding schedules or maybe some kind of state requirement change.
It feels a little more like institutional as well.
Yes, exactly. It would be strange to say like, I need to make you aware that we're going to happy hour later.
No. Right? It's just a little too formal.
Like you said, systematic. It feels a little heavier.
So you wouldn't want to use that before something that's very lighthearted and casual.
I need to make you aware that we're going to happy hour.
I love that. So good. All right. Good stuff.
Let's dive into a role play. So here I am letting you know as my coworker about upcoming changes.
Exactly. You want to start us out, Lindsay?
So I wanted to make you aware of some changes we're implementing.
Okay, thanks. Should I grab a notebook to jot down some notes?
No need. I'll email you details. Basically, I just need to let you know the due dates are changing on some deliverables.
Okay. Good to know. Thanks for the heads up.
Nice. Seems like a pretty standard conversation, right?
Absolutely. I've had these kinds of conversations all the time.
This feels very native and natural, but you'll notice that first one Lindsay used, she said, I wanted to make you aware of some changes we're implementing.
So I know right away, that's why I'm saying, should I grab a notebook, take down some notes?
This feels a little more serious. This is important what she's going to tell me.
And I think that's a good way to respond, especially if you're talking to a manager or someone.
It's good that you say, should I bring a notebook?
That means I'm going to pay attention. I want to make sure I remember these changes.
I'm going to write them down if you want me to bring a notebook.
I just think it's a nice gesture. Absolutely.
Especially if, if you're working in person in an office, sometimes this conversation would happen in a hallway, right?
So I was like, Oh, I need to make you aware of a change.
And you're like, I don't have anything to take notes with.
So if you're giving me dates and details, here I am like, should I grab a notebook?
I might forget everything you tell me. Practical reason for it too, right?
Exactly. And then I said, basically, I just need to let you know that due dates are changing, right?
So that's the let you know piece that we taught our listeners second.
Exactly. And this always works, right? You've already given me that little hint with make you aware, but now she could say, just need to give you a heads up about this.
I just need to let you know that these due dates are changing.
All of these would work perfectly here. Yeah.
And then you said, okay, good to know. Thanks for the heads up.
Right. And again, we're using heads up as a noun, right?
Aubrey giving a heads up. Okay. Yes. Yes.
Yeah. Okay, good. I love it. This is great.
What's the takeaway for today? Yeah, this is such a vital skill at work.
We often need to let those we work with know about changes, something that's upcoming.
And you want interesting ways to say that, right?
The more open and clear that we can be when communicating changes, the more efficient and successful we'll be at work.
So you want to have good, clear vocabulary for doing this.
Yeah. And I think in terms of leadership, as you're sending the message to your team, whether you're recording a video or you're bringing everyone together in a room, it's important to put a package around your message, right?
So I want to let you guys know about a change.
We've talked about this before, Aubrey, on Business English, saying the why.
Like, why are we doing this? And the opposite of this would be, we're making this change, blah, blah, blah.
Here's what everyone should do, right? Right.
People need some introduction. We need a container around the message.
That's a good point, right? It can feel very abrupt or blunt if you just throw a change at somebody.
If you have one of these phrases to give them a heads up, right?
Let them know a change is coming. You're sort of leading them into it.
Then it doesn't feel as abrupt and shocking.
Yeah. This is the way to become a better leader.
And I know a lot of our listeners are refining their English to reach that leadership level.
So guys go for it, you know, and don't forget today is your heads up.
Right. And let's remind our listeners what the changes one more time operate.
What is the change you're making at business English?
Business English episodes will now be published Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday each week.
So we're excited, working towards giving you guys episodes every day of the week.
Across all three shows. Good. We are almost there.
So excited and looking forward to seeing you guys on a Sunday.
Coming to you very soon, starting on Feb 11.
Good stuff. Aubrey, thanks for hanging out.
I'll talk to you very soon. Awesome. See you next time.
All right. Bye.
