Survival Tips for Speaking English on the Telephone

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a one-day conference in Ulm, Germany, about teaching English for Specific Purposes. I attended several very interesting seminars, which will probably provide me with ideas for blogposts for weeks to come. 

Today I would like to start with very practical, hands-on, advice on dealing with the stress of speaking English on the phone. Conducting telephone conversations in English - especially with native speakers - regularly comes up as one of the most stressful language situations for a student of English to handle (others being: conducting and participating in meetings, giving presentations, and small talk at work).

This post was inspired by a seminar presented by Ms Kasiane Antona on the subject of ESP and coaching. Complete workshop results are available for download in a PDF form on her website: www.kasiane-antona.com

Prepare first

• If you need to answer the telephone at work, it is always good to have a standard 'script' prepared, so that you can read the greeting and an appropriate standard reply off the page.
• If possible, try practising your telephone skills with an English-speaking friend or your tutor.

During a call

• Remember to speak slowly - especially if the caller speaks fast. People tend to mirror other people's speaking patters; there is a chance that the caller will slow down to adjust to you.
• If you are not sure that you understood the caller correctly, repeat back to them what they said. For example: 
• 'I understand that you would like to postpone the meeting till tomorrow'
• 'You would like to speak to...'
• 'If I understood you correctly....'
• Don't be afraid to ask them to repeat or spell any names, place names, etc.
• Agree to confirm arrangements by email to avoid any misunderstandings

When problems arise

• Put the caller on hold for a short while to collect your thoughts.
• If possible, ask an English-speaking colleague if you can forward 'difficult' calls to them. A native speaker of English will always be better equipped with dealing with a regional accent than a foreigner.

TIP: It is usually a bad idea to tell people that you can't understand their accent. A person's accent is an important part of their identity and they may be very offended by your remark.

When everything fails and you are in absolute panic

• Blame a bad line (or poor reception on the mobile / cell phone)
• 'I'm terribly sorry, but the line is pretty bad; I can hardly hear you. Can I call you back?'
• 'I'm really sorry, but I can hardly hear you. Could you possibly send me an email?'

Want to practice your telephone skills with a tutor? Go to Ad_Lib English website and book a trial lesson. 
You will also be able to do a FREE GRAMMAR test that will tell you how well you know English grammar. 

VOCABULARY:

hands-on advice - practical advice. Someone who has hands-on experience of something has done or used it rather than just read or learned about it

'Many employers consider hands-on experience to be as useful as academic qualifications.' = Many employers think that practical experience (while actually doing the job) is as good as a university degree

small talk - conversation about things which are not important, often between people who do not know each other well.

'My boss came into the office and started asking me about my holidays and what I did during the weekend. I really didn't know what to say - I'm not very good at small talk.' 

standard reply - a typical answer; what you normally say in such situations. For example, if somebody asks you 'How are you?' you reply 'I'm fine, thanks'.

to mirror - to copy, to imitate somebody's behaviour.

'People tend to mirror other people's speaking patters' = When you speak slowly they will imitate you and also speak slowly.

to postpone - to delay something, to put something off till later

'Initially we wanted to get married in November, but then we decided to postpone the wedding. We now are planning to get married next year.'

to forward a call - to put the call through to a different person

to blame (somebody or something) - to say or think that someone or something did something wrong or is responsible for something bad happening

'She blamed her husband for the accident' = She thought that the accident was her husband's fault.

LANGUAGE NOTE:

When we say 'I can hardly hear' we mean that we can hear very little, almost nothing.