You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin and I'll be your host for today's lesson on keeping in touch with colleagues and customers by telephone.
Good business is built on good relationships, and good relationships are built on good communication.
Of all the tools we use for communicating over long distances, the telephone is one of the best.
We can listen and respond to the other person immediately.
We can hear the other person's voice and emotions, and we can use our own voice to convey feeling.
But talking on the telephone isn't always easy.
It can be hard to set the right tone and strike a good balance between work and personal issues.
There are certain techniques you can learn to help you do just that.
In this lesson, we'll hear several.
Today we'll cover how to lower the formality in a conversation, show interest in where someone else is located and keep the conversation going.
We'll also learn how to offer personal information and transition to work issues, using a topic that has already been introduced.
We'll hear Susan, the shipping broker from our last episode.
She's calling from Amsterdam to a customer named Paul.
Paul is an expat working in Santos, Brazil.
Susan and Paul are chatting about personal matters a bit before getting down to business.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
1.
What does Paul say about the weather?
2.
What does Susan say about Venice?
3.
Which word or topic that Chris mentions does Susan use to transition to work matters?
Hello, Brokerage.
Paul Burns here.
Hello there, Paul.
It's Susan Cooper at Nordline calling.
Ah, Susan.
It's been a while.
How's it going?
Pretty good, Paul.
Pretty good.
And how about yourself?
Well, it's sweltering here.
It hit 37 yesterday, and the humidity's at 90%.
Oh, yeah.
It's summer down there, right?
Must be pretty miserable.
Oh, you bet.
We've got the air conditioning cranked, but the office is still pretty muggy.
You've got to suffer to live, right?
You said it.
But anyway, it's not so bad.
I'm just glad that I've got a holiday coming up.
Oh yeah?
Where are you off to?
I'm flying off to Italy for a week.
I've got a couple of friends in Venice that I haven't seen for a while.
Wow, that sounds cool.
I was actually there last year with my husband, and we had a blast.
This time of year, I think it's meant to be especially nice.
Yeah, that's what I've heard.
But my schedule over the next couple of weeks is nuts so I really haven't had time to think about it.
I hear ya.
And speaking of schedules Paul, I wanted to talk to you about your proposed changes to the delivery timelines.
Right.
Sure, that's very important for us, as you know.
For us, the main concern is that 2015 deadline.
If we can agree to that, I'd be really happy.
Okay, let's go through the dialogue and look at the different techniques being used.
Hello, brokerage.
Paul Burns here.
Paul answers the phone in a brief but professional manner and Susan identifies herself and her company.
Paul responds by changing the tone.
He and Susan obviously deal with each other regularly, so he lowers the formality.
Paul says ah Susan, before saying that it has been a while, meaning they haven't talked in some time.
He also uses the question, how's it going, instead of something more formal, such as, how are you?
In English, we sometimes lower the formality to create a warm and friendly feeling.
Let's practice some more ways to do this.
So, Todd, how the heck have you been?
Oh, hi.
What's up?
I'm hanging in there.
How about you?
One day at a time, Dave.
Know what I'm saying?
Now, let's hear how Susan responds to Paul.
Pretty good, Paul.
Pretty good.
And how about yourself?
Well, it's sweltering here.
It hit 37 yesterday, and the humidity's at 90%.
Oh yeah, it's summer down there, right?
Must be pretty miserable.
Susan repeats the phrase, pretty good, two times, which is quite common in conversational English.
Then she asks Paul how he is.
Paul goes on to describe the weather in Santos, which is sweltering or extremely hot.
More specifically, it hit or reached 37 degrees, which we understand as degrees Celsius, with a humidity of 90.
That certainly does sound hot.
When we speak to someone long distance, we often ask them about or show interest in their location.
This is what Susan is doing when she says, Oh yeah, it's summer down there.
And she shows empathy by saying it must be miserable or very uncomfortable.
When you want to show interest in someone's location, there are several things you can say.
Listen to these examples.
So, have you guys been affected by the hurricane in the Gulf?
Now, are you located right in the river valley or up on the plateau?
I see that spring is finally arriving there in London.
Back to the dialogue.
Oh, you bet.
We've got the air conditioning cranked, but the office is still pretty muggy.
You've got to suffer to live, right?
You said it.
But anyway, it's not so bad.
I'm just glad that I've got a holiday coming up.
Oh yeah?
Where are you off to?
Paul's expression, you bet, shows that he strongly agrees with Susan's assessment of miserable.
He explains that the office is muggy, even though they have the air conditioning cranked.
If something is cranked, like the AC or the volume on your car stereo, it is turned up very high.
But the heat is just part of life.
As Paul says, you gotta suffer to live.
And Susan agrees with the informal expression, you said it.
Paul doesn't want to complain too much, so he says, but anyway, it's not so bad.
He then mentions that he has a holiday coming up or approaching.
This holiday is a new topic, and in conversation, we don't like to let topics just die suddenly.
For this reason, Susan helps the conversation along by saying, oh yeah, where are you off to?
If you are off to a place, it means you are going there.
Conversation helpers like this are usually a short comment followed by a simple question that invites more information about a topic.
Let's hear how this works in the following examples.
I see.
And how's that going?
Wow.
Is that something you do every year?
So, will that be a permanent change or just for the summer?
Very nice.
I imagine that will bring some new challenges.
So, where exactly is Paul going?
I'm flying off to Italy for a week.
I've got a couple of friends in Venice that I haven't seen for a while.
Wow, that sounds cool.
I was actually there last year with my husband and we had a blast.
This time of year I think it's meant to be especially nice.
Paul is going to Venice, which Susan thinks is cool or really great.
Until now it has been Paul talking about his place and his plans.
In conversation things shouldn't be too one-sided.
So Susan decides to offer some personal information of her own.
She mentions that she went to Venice with her husband and had a great time or, as she says, a blast, and she says that this time of year is particularly nice.
Asking questions gives the other person a chance to talk about themselves, but we should also offer information about ourselves as well.
Let's run through some more ways we can do this.
Oh, really?
I tried that once and really had a lot of fun.
Well, as you may or may not know, I recently got married.
You know, I lived in Paris for a few years myself.
Great city.
I'm not much of a skier, but I do like snowboarding.
Now, let's continue the dialogue.
Yeah, that's what I've heard, but my schedule over the next couple of weeks is nuts so I really haven't had time to think about it.
I hear you.
And speaking of schedules Paul, I wanted to talk to you about your proposed changes to the delivery timeline.
Paul has also heard that this time of year is nice.
He then uses but to introduce another idea.
His schedule is really busy or nuts, so he hasn't had too much time to think about his holiday yet.
Susan's, I hear you, shows she understands and emphasizes.
She then picks up one of the words or ideas that Paul has mentioned and uses it to make a transition to work issues.
The word is schedule and Susan says, speaking of schedules, to transition to a different type of schedule.
More specifically, she wants to talk about a delivery timeline, obviously for a work project.
Making a topical transition to a work issue means taking something the other person says and relating it to business.
Listen to how this is done in the following examples.
I'm glad you mentioned expenses.
We need to talk about costs on this latest project.
Well, it sounds like you got a good rate and that actually leads me to a work question.
It's good that you had everything in writing.
And speaking of that, let's talk about this contract.
Did I get a vacation?
Well, not really.
I've been working on this new software, which I actually need to ask you about.
Paul follows the transition to work without hesitation.
Right.
Sure, that's very important for us, as you know.
For us, the main concern is that 2015 deadline.
If we can agree to that, I'd be really happy.
As you have heard, Susan and Paul have a friendly conversation before moving into a discussion about work.
This is typical with many business relationships, and the techniques used are very useful.
Now let's practice some of the language we've learned in today's lesson.
We're going to start with a role play practice.
You'll play the part of a business consultant.
You're going to talk with a regular client who runs a retail store.
You'll start the call by lowering the formality, then showing interest and using conversation helpers.
Then you'll offer some personal information and make a topical transition to work issues.
At each step, you'll hear a cue given by the customer.
Then I'll give you some suggestions for the language you can use to respond.
We'll guide you through each step in the practice and play an example answer for each response.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Start off by telling the client you've been fine.
Then lower the formality by asking what's up with him.
I've been fine, thanks.
And what's up with you?
Oh, work, work, work.
You know, it's been a long winter.
Now, show interest by telling him that you've seen the weather has been very cold.
Ah, yeah.
I see that the weather has been very cold.
Yes, quite cold, but that's normal, and it means the ski runs are less busy.
Now, help the conversation along by asking if he skis very often.
I see.
Do you ski fairly often?
Most weekends.
I'd love to do more.
How about you?
Now, tell him you don't ski because you didn't grow up around the mountains.
No, I don't ski.
Actually, I didn't grow up around the mountains.
Well, I should take you out the next time you're here for a visit.
Now tell him that would be great and then transition to work by saying you should talk about your next trip.
That would be great.
And speaking of travel, we should talk about my next trip.
Now let's practice useful vocabulary and idioms.
You'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat the whole sentence, including the missing word.
For example, if you hear, You can say, After each response, we'll play the correct answer.
Let's begin.
We went on a staff retreat to Boston and really had a... Answer.
We went on a staff retreat to Boston and really had a blast.
Our office sure gets... In the summer months.
Answer.
Our office sure gets sweltering in the summer months.
Oh hi Tony, it's been a.
How have you been?
Answer.
Oh hi Tony, it's been a while.
How have you been?
I really need a break because work has been lately Answer.
I really need a break, because work has been nuts lately.
We've learned how to lower formality, ask about the other person's place and keep the conversation going.
We've also covered how to offer personal information and make a topical transition to work issues.
Thanks for listening and see you again soon.
