This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 221.
Sharpen your conversation skills with these three business role plays.
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Hello, Aubrey. How are you doing today? Excellent.
How are you, Lindsay? Good. I've got a good question for you to start off the episode.
You ready? Yes, I'm ready. So how's your workload these days?
Are you managing okay or what's going on?
Oh, this week is easy. The last few weeks we had been building courses and so I was slammed.
I was really busy. Every minute was full of something planned out, prioritizing tasks.
And then yesterday I had a couple hours, I was like reading a book and For an hour in the middle of the day, my husband came down and he's like, really?
You have time to just read a book? I know, right?
That's amazing. It was amazing. That's so good.
It's good to have the ebb and flow of business, right?
Some weeks were really busy. Other weeks were more laid back.
That's so good. It's so good. I know. It's really nice.
This is very appropriate today because one of our role plays today where I'm going to ask you, Lindsay, about your workload.
We got this really great question on Spotify from Zhuzhu who said, I need some common conversations on working. and this is interesting right lindsay because we often give students the advice of creating role plays to practice so that they're ready and confident when they have time to have those in-person conversations we do we call it opening your brain box right that phrase came from ielts energy the ielts energy podcast but this is the same thing we open our brain box to prepare for what conversations might come in the future I love it.
Exactly. Right. And so to do that, you write out a role play and you're predicting what the person you're talking to might say.
So you're writing out both sides. Then you can just practice saying it out loud, practice with the speaking partner.
And this listener is asking for help doing that.
Like, OK, you know, I need some common conversations.
I need role plays. I need ideas of things that might come up at work. that I can practice in advance.
So I can practice knowing what someone might say and how I could respond.
So today we're providing three different role plays, each of them at a little bit different level of formality, starting with very informal, then semi-formal and a little more formal.
Yeah, that's something that we do on this podcast and also on our Business English course, guys.
We show you not just formal, informal, not just formal, which is what you find a lot on Business English.
We show you formal, informal, and semi-formal because we're all human beings.
We're not robots here. We don't just leave our personalities at the door when we walk into work.
Right, Aubrey? Exactly. And depending on who we are speaking to, we just naturally adjust. our vocabulary and our grammar to be either a little more informal or a little bit more formal, depending on who we're speaking to.
Yeah. And we're going to see that more and more, that span in our curriculum this year, showing you those three options, okay?
Because we want to be ready for anything.
But I think this is actually a really interesting conversation topic, our poll results, that our listeners could then go and take this conversation topic and absolutely you guys we challenge you to write a role play about this topic yeah we asked in episode 2 11 we were talking about contrasting linking phrases for profit and loss statements but it came up asking about i asked lindsay if she had her ideal office and we made that the poll and this is interesting the results were more skewed toward no than they have usually they're a little they're pretty even right it'll be like 40 60 50 50 right right This is drastically, 20% said yes and 80% said no.
So clearly our listeners aren't really very happy with their current office setup, whether that's at home or in an open plan office.
Right. And it's interesting because when we have the word ideal, right, do you currently have your ideal office?
It is a different question than like, are you happy with it?
Yeah, that's a fair point. It's ideal if we're imagining the CEO's office in a skyscraper where the ones you see on TV where it's like tall windows.
The quarter office. A huge palatial office.
I guess that's the ideal, right? that's kind of that reminds me of every movie that was made in the 90s or the aughts in new york city right i wonder if we won't see that as much because a lot of those office buildings have shut down and you know many people are working the hybrid lifestyle which we've talked about on other uh episodes but yeah this is a big this is interesting very revealing for where we're at and working from home or if you're in a cubicle you might be happy you can be content wherever you're working but it's not the ideal right so i guess that makes sense why 80 were like no All right.
So first we're going to open our brain boxes in a role play that is more informal, right?
Yes, exactly. This is, you know, the situations that will come up in the break room at a happy hour before a meeting when we're talking to people we know well, right?
If these are coworkers that we have a good rapport with, maybe you're talking about weekend plans, upcoming trips, but we also often talk about work in these situations, but with more informal phrases.
And we know this is so common. And I think this is a lot of what our listeners want to be able to do, to move between that informal and then maybe after this into the formal.
This is it right here. So you're going to hear the same question now from Aubrey, and we're going to build out the conversation more.
So shall we do it? Yes. Start us out. How's your workload these days?
Managing okay? Oh yeah, not too bad. Every now and then I feel like I'm drowning, but usually I'm able to manage.
What about you? Same, yeah. Have you found any good ways to manage stress when you start to feel overloaded?
I could use some tips. I guess just prioritizing tasks and putting everything that's not priority out of my mind until I get to it.
Oh, that's a great idea. Very common conversation, right, Aubrey, that you might have with a co-worker.
Yeah, and it's interesting because, yes, we're talking about work.
Like you would maybe think, okay, because it's about work, we have to get more formal.
Not necessarily. If you look at that first question I asked, like, how's your workload managing okay?
I'm cutting out the subject and verb, right?
We're simplifying our grammar. we're often going to use phrasal verbs idiomatic language you said you feel like you're drowning sometimes an interesting idiom it's quite informal the way we're speaking to each other that's an interesting point and sometimes it also depends on your relationship with this person the context is really important we're at the we're in the break room or a happy hour or it's just before a meeting but also who are we talking to how well do we know this person those are the keys Right.
That's the key because you might be in the break room, but with a new client or a person that just started at work that you don't know well, and you're regardless of the, of how informal the situation is.
If it's someone you don't know well, you'll still speak a bit more formally.
Yeah. Maybe it'll be semi-formal, which we're going to talk about in just a second.
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Exclusions apply. See details online. Okay, we are into the second scenario, which is semi-formal.
And I love that I don't hear about this very much out in the textbook world of business English, right?
But we talk about it here. And so what do we mean by semi-formal?
What is this? This is actually the way we speak the most often.
It's sort of a hybrid between formal and informal.
Halfway between, right? And this often happens during a meeting, at a conference, with coworkers or clients that you have met, you have created somewhat of a relationship, but you don't know them really well.
You might not feel comfortable asking them about their weekend or their personal life.
You don't quite have that relationship yet, so you stay a little more semi-formal. but you still want to build a relationship you still want to build a rapport and every conversation is going to move you closer to building that relationship then maybe you eventually do become more informal but we have to have it in between in the beginning so let's see what this looks like all right you start us out yeah and you said we're seated at a conference right Yes, we're seated next to each other at a conference.
I forgot to share this. And we have already introduced ourselves.
We're waiting for a workshop to begin. So we've already had a little bit of small talk, small chat.
So then you slide right into semi-formal.
Still don't know each other well, but we don't have to speak extremely formally.
We've chatted a little bit. Nice. And it's a great setup because we obviously have a great common topic that we're going to talk about now.
Whoever's speaking in front of us, right?
In the workshop. So here we go. I've heard this speaker as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies.
Exciting. Yes. What a great opportunity to absorb some of her wisdom.
Do you live here locally? No, I flew in yesterday from Chicago.
Ah, gotcha. I was going to ask for a recommendation on where to go for dinner.
I did try an Italian place nearby last night that was out of this world.
I'll look up the name. Ah, this is great.
When I was at the conference in Denver, the podcasting conference last summer, a lot of people from out of town were asking me about Red Rocks, which is our kind of well-known concert venue here in Denver.
And I was Having these conversations, not super informal.
I'm not going to like go with them to the concert, right?
But not formal either. Telling them about the venue, how to be prepared.
So this is likely to come up. Exactly. And if you look through this role play, look at the vocabulary, look at the grammar, we're not quite as... casual as we were in that informal conversation, but we can still use idiomatic language, right?
We've started now talking about a restaurant recommendation.
So I said, I tried a place that was out of this world.
And idiomatic language, phrasal verbs always pulls the conversation a little bit less formal, which is great, right?
The more formal you are, the more it's hard to build those connections.
You feel like there's a wall. It feels a little cold.
So if you can get to that semi-formal, that helps with that.
Yeah. And it also gives you pronunciation opportunities.
And I think you and Jessica talk about this a lot on IELTS Energy.
When we are using idioms, you have a big wide open opportunity to express pronunciation and get that, you know, the pronunciation score.
Is there a pronunciation score? Remind me.
Yes, there is. There is a pronunciation score for the speaking exam.
And you're exactly right. You need pronunciation. varied intonation.
You have to be expressive. And just like this in business English as well, you need to be expressive.
It would be strange if I said, oh, I tried an Italian place.
It was out of this world in a monotone. I'm not inviting that person in where I'm expressive with that idiom and with this Italian place I'm excited about.
Yeah. Pronunciation helps build that connection.
Yeah, but if you choose a more mundane way of saying like, it was good, there's not much you can do with good.
What can you really do? It was good, you should try it. boring.
All right. Good stuff. So this is, that is an example of semi-formal and a conference is a great example, right?
We're all, we're still, you know, we look, we're dressed semi-professionally, maybe like jeans and a blazer, nice jeans and a blazer.
We're not going to be totally casual, but we're also not like trying to close a deal on a huge contract over dinner or something like that.
Exactly. It's interesting to think about both the venue where you are, the situation and and who you're talking to determines how informal or formal you are because even in that situation if the very first time i meet someone we've never spoken before i'm going to start quite formal but then as we chat as we start getting to know each other we we get semi-formal yeah so fun so good all right that's where you know the relationship is building so now aubry we're getting into number three what is it yes so this one is a little more formal Same kind of situations, right, in meetings, during presentations maybe, or with clients or associates that you don't know.
Maybe it's the first time you've met them.
And these conversations will often have more industry-specific jargon.
I love it. So here you are demonstrating a product to me because I'm a potential client.
Okay. Exactly. So this will be quite a bit more formal.
We don't know each other. I'm demonstrating a product to you.
This is the first time we're speaking, right?
Okay, I'm ready. And it's during a presentation.
Okay, I'll start us out. Please direct your attention to this next slide.
Here you can see how the software uses AI to identify candidates.
Perfect. We were hoping to see details about this.
Most definitely. We integrate with a company called Parallur to optimize this process.
Interesting. This software is ready for implementation?
Unfortunately, no. It's still in the design stages.
Yeah. And you can tell just in the way we're speaking, we're elevated.
We are, there's just a much more of a formality, even in the gaps between our words.
Exactly. This very first phrase, please direct your attention to this next slide.
Perfect for a presentation. This, I'm adding a little polish, a little professionalism to my speech because I'm presenting. but this is very formal.
I would not, like in the other two situations, I would never say, please direct your attention to the stage.
The speaker's now going to know, right? We were just talking about a restaurant.
That would be strange. It's so formal. That would be bizarre.
That would be really weird. The other clue here that this is formal, as you said, most definitely, I asked you if we could see details.
Now, some people might have a personality where they say most definitely in casual conversations.
Some people, it's like part of their flair, their personality. but most people it's a it's a formal thing to say it does feel more formal to me because there are so many informal ways to say that you can say for sure yeah yeah right there are lots of of informal ways most definitely you could use that in any of these conversations but it works very well in a more formal situation too yeah any other clues that we went formal here it just felt very buttoned up Yeah, there are.
Well, first of all, notice all of the industry-specific jargon, which when you are having an informal conversation, semi-formal depending on the situation, even where we're talking about work in that first one, I'm asking about your workload, it is still, it's informal.
We're chatting between meetings. It would be strange to move to something that's very specific with lots of something industry-specific because we're having an informal conversation.
Yeah. Or even yeah, industry specific for sure.
But then you do see clues here. And this is where people sometimes get into trouble when they take words like optimize the process and put it into their casual conversations.
Like I want to optimize my life. You can get teased a little bit for that.
It's kind of funny because it's like we're taking.
No, that's such a good point. A verb like optimize is quite formal.
It's perfect in this situation. But yes, in an informal conversation, there are verbs that are so much more informal that will feel more natural.
Right. And we did a really fun episode on that, on the overuse of these businessy words, modern techie businessy words like optimize, pivot.
Look up our back catalog, guys, to find that episode.
That was a great one, too. But optimize is definitely it belongs in the formal, maybe semi-formal conversations, but probably more formal.
Yes, that was a great episode. If you guys missed it, scroll up and be sure to hit follow because that means you're missing really good episodes.
Oh, my God. So good. So good. All right.
Aubrey, what is our takeaway today? Yeah, so writing out role plays of conversations is so helpful, right?
You want to write out conversations you might have at work in lots of different scenarios with lots of different people.
And each time think about the vocabulary or using the grammar, the phrases you're using, because it will be slightly different depending on the situation and who you're speaking to.
For sure. So, you know, your assignment, guys, today is to go ahead and write out more role plays that are informal, semi-formal, and formal.
Open the brain box. This is linguistics 101.
This is learning. How we learn is by mentally rehearsing a situation before we go into it.
So it works. Absolutely. Then you know what to say when you're in that conversation and it builds so much confidence on the front end so that when you have that conversation, you feel prepared, you feel confident and you don't hesitate to dive in and start the conversation.
Oh, so cool. So good. Aubrey, thanks for being on the show today.
Guys, if you love our style, we're going to be covering more formal, informal, and semi-formal situations and contexts this year on Business English.
Then hit that follow button to get more of our show.
Good stuff. Yep. I'll see you next time, Lindsay.
Thanks. All right, Aubrey. Take care. Bye.
Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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