Do you get a pit (like a bad feeling) in your stomach when you see a British number calling your work phone? You're not alone. In this is an interactive episode where you will do two mini roleplay scenarios to practice these 3 key phrases to make sure that you have a confident start to your business phonecall in English.
P.S I think I talk quite fast in this one which is good challenge for you. In case you need it, I've included a transcript here.
About Little Snippets: Mini episodes with to-the-point business communication tips to keep you learning and moving forward before the start of the brand new season of Confident Business English on 25th September 2024
Anna: [00:00:00] Let's do another little snippet. And today I want to talk about the dreaded phone call. You can see somebody ringing you. It's a London number and you're like, should I just leave it? I mean, they'll probably just send an email and then that would just be easier. I feel your pain. Trust me. I really don't enjoy making phone calls in Spanish without the video call thing.
Anna: Actually, in fact, a client said to me the other day, really, really oddly, they were like, Oh, I'm, I'm actually really enjoying phone calls at the moment. You know, I was picking up the phone and calling the people in the different offices and I was like, wow, you are literally one in a million because the majority of people that I speak to really don't like making phone calls.
Anna: If that's you, it's totally normal. I don't know what it is. It's just not nice, right? We can't see the other person speaking. We can't lip read. We're kind of out there on our own, trying to survive. I'm going to train you on four phrases, [00:01:00] and in fact, we're going to do an interactive activity in this episode to try and help you with that, just that initial interaction with the phone call where you pick it up or somebody else picks up the phone.
Anna: Just in case you don't know, picking up the phone is answering the phone. I think you probably know that, but just in case, just in case you don't. Let me give you the phrases we're going to practice, and if you want to stop and write them down before we continue with the interactive exercise, feel free.
Anna: The first one is, Hello, your name, speaking. For example, Hello, Anna speaking. I've talked about this before on the podcast, but this is the quintessential way to answer the phone in a work context. The second sentence is, Can I ask who's calling, please? Can I ask who's calling, please? The third one is, Can I ask what it's regarding?
Anna: Can I ask what [00:02:00] it's regarding? And last but not least, How can I help? How can I help? Let me just review those ones for you. Hello, your name speaking. Can I ask who's calling, please? Can I ask what it's regarding? And how can I help? Let's do the interactive exercise then. We're going to try it once where I'm going to pick up the phone and you're going to speak back to me.
Anna: So for example, I'm going to say, hello, Anna speaking. Can I ask who's calling please? And wherever you are, I want you to add your little sentence in there. Then I'm going to say, okay, great. Can I ask what it's regarding? And you can say it's regarding and make it up, whatever you want. And then I'm going to say, oh, okay, how can I help?
Anna: And that's the end of the role play. A super mini short and sweet role play. Role play just to practice those first few sentences. And you can [00:03:00] repeat this as many times as you want. You can just rewind and go back. Let's give it a whirl. Here we go. I'm gonna pick up the phone.
Anna: Hello, Anna speaking. Can I ask who's calling, please?
Anna: Ah, okay, great. Can I ask what it's regarding?
Anna: Okay. How can I help?
Anna: Great. Done. Now, you may not have got your whole sentence in in that little gap, so if you want to, go back and repeat it. Just squeeze in your little sentence in that little gap. Now let's turn the tables on you. I want you to start this time. So you pick up the phone. Hello, your name speaking. Can I ask who's calling, please?
Anna: And then I'll speak. Say your sentence. Or pick up the phone, I should say.
Anna: Hi, yeah, it's Anna calling.[00:04:00]
Anna: Yeah, it's regarding the latest finance reports.
Anna: And you're done. You should have finished there with a little, how can I help, but feel free to go back, rewind, and just replay that exercise three or four times just to get the nice little flow of it. There's no doubt though, that just practicing those little things are going to make you feel much more confident, just picking up the phone or calling somebody else.
Anna: And it's those little things that make you feel confident inside before you do them, even if it's not going to be perfect, that's what makes a difference to how you come across overall as a professional. Wonderful. Hope that was useful. Let me know if you like that kind of interactive type of episode. I can do some more of those as well.
Anna: Thank you so much and see you in the next one.