You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English Podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod for today's lesson on how to clarify what was said during a conversation.
Before we get started, a quick reminder that a PDF transcript for this lesson, along with hundreds of others, is available on the BEP website.
Premium members can also access a lesson module and online quizzes for most lessons.
To take a free trial, just head over to www .businessenglishpod .com.
Communication is rarely easy.
There's so much that can go wrong in a conversation, especially on the phone.
We might not hear someone well, we might hear them incorrectly, and we might not understand words or expressions in the same way.
For that reason, we need to be able to clarify what was said.
There are a few basic ways to clarify that are extremely useful.
We can use WH questions, like who, what, where, when and why.
We can ask people to repeat what they said and repeat things for people when they haven't understood us.
And we can use tag questions to confirm that we've heard correctly.
Today we'll listen to a telephone conversation between three colleagues, Benny, Wim and Andre.
They are speaking on the phone for the first time in a while.
During their conversation, they use several expressions to clarify what was said.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One. What does the receptionist say that Benny doesn't understand right away?
Two. What question does Benny ask that Wim needs repeated?
Three. What question does Benny restate about the river in Rotterdam?
BENNIE BENDING Benny speaking, how can I help you?
Hi, Benny. This is Anna.
I've got a Mr. Zeldenhuis on the line from Rotterdam.
Sorry. Who did you say?
Mr. Zeldenhuis. Z -E -L -D.
Oh, I know. He's calling together with a Mr.
De Vries. Great. Put them right through.
Vin? Andre? Yes. Hello, Benny.
This is Vin. Hi, Benny.
This is Andre. Wow.
It's great to hear you two.
How have you been holding up?
Sorry, Benny. I missed that.
Could you say that again?
No problem. I said, how have you two been doing?
I hear it's cold there.
It sure is. It's freezing.
There's ice everywhere.
Oh, my goodness. But it's not much better in Boston, right, Benny?
No, it's not. We haven't seen weather like this for years.
So, is ice slowing down shipping on the river any?
Hello? Vin? Andre? Maybe your phone is on mute.
Oh, sorry about that.
That's ok. Sorry. What did you just say?
Yeah, no worries. I said, is the weather affecting shipping on the river?
Yeah, yeah. Well, I think Andre can tell you about that.
You wouldn't believe it.
Of course, it doesn't affect the seagoing vessels.
But on the river we're seeing...
Now let's go through the dialogue again and talk about some of the ways the group clarifies what was said.
We start with Benny answering the phone and speaking with the receptionist.
Benny speaking. How can I help you?
Hi Benny. This is Anna.
I've got a Mr. Zeldinhust on the line from Rotterdam.
Sorry, who did you say?
The receptionist has someone on the line, or on the phone, who wants to speak with Benny.
Benny doesn't understand right away who it is.
Because the name is a bit difficult.
To clarify, Benny uses a WH question, asking, sorry, who did you say?
The WH question you use will depend on what you don't understand.
It could be a question with when, who, where, why, or what.
Let's try some examples of using these WH questions to clarify.
Could you tell me again who said that?
When is the event happening?
I'm sorry. Where did you say it's located?
What is the purpose of the meeting again?
Now let's continue.
As the receptionist begins to spell the person's name...
...then Benny quickly understands who it is.
Mr. Zeldinhust. Z, E, L, D.
Oh, I know. He's calling together with a Mr.
de Vries. Great. Put them right through.
Vin, Andre? Yes, hello Benny.
This is Vin. Hi Benny, this is Andre.
Wow, it's great to hear you two.
How have you been holding up?
Sorry Benny, I missed that.
Could you say that again?
After the group says their hellos, Benny asks the question...
...how have you been holding up?
This is just another way of asking how someone is doing.
But Wim doesn't quite understand.
It could be that he didn't hear Benny correctly.
Or it could be that he's not familiar with the expression...
...holding up. Whatever the reason, Wim wants Benny to repeat the question.
He starts by saying he missed what Benny said.
Then asks politely, could you say that again?
This is a common and polite way to ask for clarification.
Let's try some more ways to politely ask someone to repeat themselves.
I'm sorry. What was that?
Could you repeat that please?
I didn't catch that.
Could you say it again?
One more time if you can.
You'll notice that could you is a polite way of making a request.
And if we don't use could you, we might say I'm sorry instead.
Just to be polite. Now, listen as Benny repeats the question.
But he doesn't use the expression holding up.
Just in case it's the expression that is confusing.
No problem. I said, how have you two been doing?
I hear it's cold there.
It sure is. It's freezing.
There's ice everywhere.
Oh my goodness. But it's not much better in Boston, right Benny?
We just heard Andre use a very helpful piece of language.
A tag question. Andre started by making a statement.
It's not much better in Boston.
Then he put a little question on the end.
Right Benny? We can use these tag questions to confirm that someone understands.
Tag questions are useful when you want to make sure something is clear.
Or when you want to confirm that you've heard correctly.
All you do is make a statement then add the tag question at the end.
Let's run through some examples of tag questions for confirming.
We don't have a very big budget, do we?
It's been a difficult project, hasn't it?
You're leaving on Tuesday, aren't you?
Sales have gone up, haven't they?
Now let's get back to the dialogue.
As Benny connects a topic of weather with a topic of business.
In particular, Benny asks about shipping or moving goods and products by ship.
No, it's not. We haven't seen weather like this for years.
So, is ice slowing down shipping on the river, any?
Hello? Vim? Andre? Maybe your phone is on mute.
Oh, sorry about that.
That's okay. Sorry, what did you just say?
Yeah, no worries. I said, is the weather affecting shipping on the river?
Here we have two clarifying expressions.
First, Vim asks Benny to repeat himself, just like we learned earlier.
Next, we hear Benny restate what he said to be clear.
That means he says it again.
Sometimes we restate using the same words.
And sometimes we restate using different words, just in case it was the vocabulary that confused someone.
Let's practice some more examples of restating what we said to be clear.
What I said was that we need to finish this by Friday.
Once again, this is our last staff meeting of the year.
Just to be clear, I said that we won't have time to discuss the schedule.
As I mentioned, we need to hire three more people.
As you might notice, when we restate something, we often tell the other person that's what we're doing.
We do this with expressions like, what I said was, or, just to be clear, or, as I mentioned.
Alright, let's hear Vim and Andre's response about shipping on the river.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I think Andre can tell you about that.
You wouldn't believe it.
Of course, it doesn't affect the sea -going vessels.
Now that Benny clarified his question, Andre can begin explaining how weather has impacted shipping.
Throughout this conversation, you've heard the three colleagues use various expressions for asking for and giving clarification.
And this is especially important on the phone, when you can't see the person you're talking to.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine you're talking on the phone with your boss, who is giving you instructions about a meeting.
You'll hear a cue from your boss, then I'll tell you how to respond.
We'll guide you through each step in the practice and provide an example answer for each response.
Ready? Let's give it a go.
We'll have to see how that goes, but I'd like you to get together with them this week.
Start by asking the person if they can repeat what they said.
Answer. I'm sorry. What was that?
I was saying let's set up a meeting with John and his team downtown for next week.
Now use a WH question to clarify where the meeting will be.
Answer. OK, John. And where did you say we should meet?
At their downtown office on Madison Street.
I think it's important to meet in person.
Finish off by using a statement and a tag question to confirm that the meeting is with John's entire team.
Answer. Right. And the meeting is with John's entire team, isn't it?
That's all for this lesson on clarifying what was said.
We've learned how to use WH questions and tag questions to clarify.
We've also covered how to ask someone to repeat what they said.
And finally, we looked at restating something you said in order to be clear.
For more practice, Premium members can access the online quizzes and PDF transcripts for this and other lessons on the BEP website.
Want to remember yet?
Then head over to www .businessenglishpod .com and sign up for a free trial to preview some of the extra resources available to members.
Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
