Telephone language

Common phrases to help you speak politely on the telephone in English.

Answering the phone

Good morning/afternoon/evening, York Enterprises, Elizabeth Jones speaking.

Asking for the callers name

Whos calling, please? Could I take your name, please?

Introducing yourself
This is Paul Smith speaking. Hello, this is Paul Smith from Smith Brothers Ltd.

Asking for someone

Could I speak to John Martin, please? Id like to speak to John Martin, please. Could you put me through to John Martin, please? Could I speak to someone who

Explaining absence
Im afraid Mr Martin isnt in at the moment. Im sorry, hes in a meeting at the moment. Im afraid hes on another line at the moment.

Putting someone on hold

Just a moment, please. Could you hold the line, please? Hold the line, please.

Problems
Im sorry, I dont understand. Could you repeat that, please? Im sorry, I cant hear you very well. Could you speak up a little, please? Im afraid youve got the wrong number. Ive tried to get through several times but its always engaged. Could you spell that, please?

Putting someone through (connecting someone)

One moment, please. Ill see if Mr Jones is available. Ill put you through. Ill connect you. Im connecting you now.

Taking a message
Can I take a message? Would you like to leave a message? Can I give him/her a message? Ill tell Mr Jones that you called. Ill ask him/her to call you as soon as possible.

Phrases during Conference Calls:

Some of the problems you encounter during conference calls are:
Poor sound quality. Background noise. Difficult subject matter or topic. Large number of participants all wanting to have a say. Ineffective leadership during the call i.e. your boss or chairperson doesnt ensure that everyone feels they can participate. Cultural difficulties use of complicated idioms and differing senses of humour. In addition to the added stress of presenting yourself professionally on camera.

BEFORE THE CALL

1. Learn the software youll be using inside out, and practise using it. 2. Make sure youre somewhere quiet to take the call. 3. Prepare thoroughly. Look up some of the vocabulary that you anticipate needing. Make sure that youre absolutely confident with whatever it is youre going to have to talk about, or present during the call. Maybe you can even do some background research so that you feel well qualified to give your opinion. The British Council has some great resources for practising your conference call skills.

4. Practice some key words. Particularly if youre going to be asked to speak, run through some words and phrases with a colleague whos a native speaker. You need to make sure your pronunciation and intonation is really clear, particularly for conference calls when the sound quality might not be perfect. 5. If its available get a copy of the agenda so that you can follow the structure of the call. This will help you to anticipate some of the language youre going to hear. 6. Before you begin ask your boss, or the person leading the call to make pauses between points. You can expect to hear the following phrases before the call gets started properly : Are we all on? (Checking if everyone has joined the conversation) Can everybody hear me? Did everybody get the agenda? Lets keep this short. Well just wait a few minutes. Sorry Im / were late. Some useful sentences: Could you speak more slowly please? Im afraid I didnt get that I dont follow you Could you explain that in another way? Im sorry, I dont understand the word What does it mean? Could you repeat that? [your name] speaking. Can you repeat / that? [your name] speaking. Can we take a break? [your name] speaking. I need to leave for ten minutes. [your name] speaking Im back on line TIP If you use a bit, a little, quite or very well, in your sentences you soften your meaning and sound more polite.

Useful phrases to make yourself noticed: Can I just come in here? and Can I add something quickly? Id just like to add something: Just and quickly tell everyone you will be brief. If someone interrupts you should say Just let me finish. or Can I quickly finish? 5. Help your colleagues by speaking slowly, loudly and clearly. Remember that the Internet connection or call quality may not be great which can lead to confusion and stilted conversation. You can say The line / connection is very bad today if this happens. 6. Anticipate features of spoken conversation: Uh, Right, Uh -huh, Um, Like, and You know i.e. fillers that will disrupt the flow of the conversation. 7. Use names: Try to address everyone by their first or second names. This will make you sound confident and well informed. 8. Use the modal verbs could, can, may, would. This makes your speech sound more formal. For example: Could we dicuss the situation with our buyer in India? May I just point out that there are cheaper options. 9. If you get really stuck, use the Instant Messaging, or Chat service (if available) to try and make yourself clear. 10. Dont forget about eye contact and facial expressions. Youre on camera! 11. And finally: Focus on your knowledge and dont let your insecurities stop you from communicating.

Some vocabulary you might come across during a conference call:

Absent: Adjective, to not be present. A number of the team are absent today. Address: Verb, to formally talk about something. There are a number of issues that we need to address today. Adjourn: Verb, to stop something until a later date. I suggest that we adjourn now and talk about this matter next time. Agenda: Noun, a list or schedule of matters to be dealt with. First on the agenda is whether or not to give everyone a bonus. AOB: Abbreviation, (Any Other Business) an item on the agenda where miscellaneous or random points are dealt with. Well thats everything important covered. Any Other Business, anyone? Hold on: informal, to wait. Hold on, Ive got another call waiting, Ill be right back.

Hang up: informal, refers to literally putting the phone down and means to finish a call. Weve covered everything we needed to talk about so Im going to hang up now. Wrap up: to conclude, or to finish something successfully. Good, thats everything. So to wrap up, Alice will be in charge next week and any complaints should be forwarded to her. Turn over: Verb phrase, to show that its someone elses turn to speak. Id like toturn the conference over to[someones name]now. Log in: Verb phrase, to enter or sign into a system. First log into Skype, then join the group chat.