Communicating effectively on the phone is an essential skill. And whether you’re talking to a client, a colleague, a supplier, your boss, or a bicycle courier, you need to make sure your purpose and the information is clear. Last week, we focused on your telephone attitude. Today, we’ll look at ways you can make sure information is flowing smoothly and that you are guiding the conversation.
Discussion Questions
1. How much planning do you usually do before an important telephone call?
2. What do you usually do when you don’t understand what someone is trying to say on the telephone?
3. What information do you normally include when you leave a message for someone?
Today, we’re going to take a look at an activity we do every day: talking on the telephone. We’ll look at how to start the call off on the right note by using a positive attitude, smiling over the phone, being polite, and speaking clearly.
Discussion Questions
1. How do you usually answer the telephone at work?
2. What do you think a good telephone attitude involves?
3. What do you think it is okay to speak informally on the telephone?
Business English Pod e-Books enable you to learn on the go with MP3 audio lessons and the detailed PDF study guides, including a full transcript of each lesson. As with all our e-Books, Business English for Telephoning includes over 100 online quizzes, exercises and flashcards designed to help you practice and learn all the language covered in the course.
Welcome back to Business English Pod. This is the second part of our look at answering the phone and taking a message. In this lesson, we’ll focus on taking a message.
Today’s lesson is also featured in our new eBook: Business English for Telephoning. This eBook covers essential language for many different types of business calls, including dealing with customers and complaints, making arrangements and checking on orders.
In our last lesson (BEP 69 A – Answering a Call), we looked at answering a call effectively. We heard an example of poor telephone skills and started in on a dialog that demonstrated good telephone skills. Today, we’re going to continue with that dialog and look at how to take a message. Have you ever missed a telephone message? Or have you received a message that didn’t contain the necessary information? If so, then you understand how important it is not just to take a message, but to do it right.
We’ll look at ways to ask someone to leave a message, information that should be included in a message, and how to offer help. You will also learn how to acknowledge, check back and confirm information that a caller gives you.
Now, let’s rejoin Mark, who works for a company called Trivesco. He is calling a shipping company, Daneline, hoping to speak with someone named Sylvie Petersen. Sylvie is not there, so Mark has to leave a message with Amy, the receptionist.
Listening Questions
1. How does the tone of Amy’s voice sound?
2. What information does Mark include in his message?
3. How does Amy make sure she has Mark’s phone number correct?
In this Business English Pod episode, we’re going to take another look at one of our most popular and important podcasts. Today we’re talking about using the telephone in English. This is something we all do, but we don’t all do well.
Today’s lesson is also featured in our new eBook: Business English for Telephoning. This eBook covers essential language for many different types of business calls, including dealing with customers and complaints, making arrangements and checking on orders.
Talking on the telephone has become an extremely important part of business. You need to be able to answer a call professionally and create a good image of yourself and your company with only your voice. Having effective telephone skills leaves a good impression on your customers, clients, and colleagues. People are busy, so you want to be very clear, polite and organized.
In this lesson, we’ll begin by looking at a bad example of answering a call and taking message. We’ll discuss why it’s a bad example, and then we’ll go into a good example of answering a call. I’m sure you’ll see a clear difference.
For our bad example, we’ll listen as Justin, an employee with Trivesco, calls a shipping company called Daneline. Justin is hoping to speak with Sylvie Petersen, but it is a receptionist named Amy who answers the phone.
Listening Questions – Bad Example
1. How would you describe Amy’s attitude?
2. Does Justin seem prepared?
Listening Questions – Good Example
1. What information does Amy include in her first sentence?
2. How does Mark Rand introduce himself?
