Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to get action over the英文電話.
Being productive at work means getting stuff done. And sometimes to get our own work done, we need other people to get things done. So when you need action from someone, what’s the best or quickest way to get it? 出色地, often we just pick up the phone and call the person.
那你怎麼說? Is it okay to just come out and say “hey, do this” or “hi, do that?” Not really. You need to be firm and direct, but not that firm and direct. You might need to emphasize how important the issue is. 下一個, you might lead into the main issue before you actually talk about what you want or need done.
但這還不是全部! If you want action, you want to make absolutely sure you’re going to get it. That’s why you might ask for a guarantee, which is like a promise from the other person. 最後, just to be 100% sure, you should finish off by confirming the action. 這樣, you’re not being too direct or bossy, but you’re still firmly doing more than just making a polite request.
在今天的對話中, we’ll hear Nathan, who works for an aircraft company called Cyclops. Nathan is calling George at a company called Airtronics. Nathan is calling because he wants to get action on a proposal from George. 進一步來說, he wants to make sure George is going to submit the proposal to Cyclops today.
聽力問題
1. Why does Nathan think it’s important for George to submit a proposal today? 2. What important question does Nathan ask that relates to whether George can complete his proposal? 3. 談話即將結束時, Nathan asks George to do something just to confirm that the proposal is being sent. What does he ask George to do?
Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on how to make an enquiry on the英文電話. Making an enquiry means that you want to ask a question, or questions, to get information.
Getting information over the telephone in English can be challenging! You need to be very clear about what you need, and sometimes you need to ask the other person for clarification when you can’t hear or don’t understand. If information isn’t correct, or if it’s misunderstood, there could be big trouble. So it’s important that you learn good ways of making telephone enquiries.
What do you actually do when you make an enquiry? 出色地, 開始, you will want to ask for information. That could simply mean telling the other person what you want to know more about. Sometimes you might also use an alternative choice question, 喜歡 “is it A or is it B?” Giving limited options like that can help make things clear.
現在, what if you can’t hear the other person correctly? 出色地, you might have to use an expression like “sorry, what did you say?” to get the other person to repeat himself. And sometimes a word or abbreviation might not be clear and you might have to spell it out, letter by letter. All of these are ways of making sure your enquiry and the information is clear.
在今天的對話中, we’ll hear George, who works for a company called Airtronics. George’s company is writing a proposal to make radios for an aircraft company called Cyclops. George is talking to Simon at Cyclops Aircraft to get some information he needs for his proposal. The telephone connection isn’t always clear, which creates some difficulty in the call.
聽力問題
1. George asks Simon about “shipping,” or delivering the radios. What are the two choices George gives Simon about shipping? 2. At one point, George can’t hear what Simon says. How does George ask Simon to repeat himself? 3. Simon uses two words to make it clear to George that he means “XV.” What are the two words?
