This is the ninth part of our series on meetings. Today we’re covering the special kind of meeting from the other side. The interview from an interviewee’s point of view. So far we’ve covered informal, formal meetings, telephone conferences, in-house and supplier meetings.
Once you’re invited to an interview, you’ve successfully managed the first hurdles. Although, you might see the finish line remain focussed and concentrate on your goal. The most important aspect to consider is your preparation for the interview. Last week we focused on possible questions in English at an interview. This week we’re giving you possible answers to those questions. We’ve formatted the answers for you in bold and just like last week, we’ll cover the different phases. Possibly only part of the interview will be in English, however, the whole interview could also be held in English to test your language level and your stress level.
During this phase you should concentrate on the information you’re hearing, as you could ask follow-up questions. d
Here are possible responses you can use to talk about yourself, your education and experience. Be careful, some questions can be tricky! That’s why it’s all about preparation.
At the end you’d finish by asking the interviewee, if he or she has any questions you can answer and informing him or her when you will be in contact again.
That wraps it up for today. In case you’d like some help preparing for a job interview, then please just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and tell me about it. Are you interested in other business English skills? Then check out the post about listening here and about using your voice effectively here.
Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
Take care
Nadia
This is the eighth part of our series on meetings. Today we’re covering a special kind of meeting. So far we’ve covered informal, formal meetings, telephone conferences, in-house and supplier meetings.
Here are a few hints
You’ve probably figured out, we’re not talking about a blind date.
Obviously, there are different perspectives to consider. Today we’re going to focus on the interviewer or interviewers.
Possibly you’ve already done numerous job interviews in German or your native language and you need to add some parts in English or you want to conduct the complete interview in English. Of course the interviewer has to prepare as well for his or her role. Your task is to find the best fit for the job, which is no challenge for you in German or your native language, however, in English it still is.
Basically we’ve decided to provide you with some phrases to help you through the interview procedure.
As in German you start off with an introductory phase, which includes the introductions, creating the right atmosphere, explaining the procedure and answering any initial questions.
After you’ve introduced yourself and any other interviewers you can start off with thanking the interviewee for coming and have some small talk to create a comfortable atmosphere, which will help the interviewee to relax and feel at ease.
Then you can start with explaining the procedure and answering any initial questions
Next you can give information about the job.
As a next step you’d ask questions, giving the interviewee the opportunity to talk about him- or herself and their education and experience and questions to find out if this person has what you are looking for and what you need.
At the end you’d finish by asking the interviewee, if he or she has any questions you can answer and informing him or her when you will be in contact again.
That wraps it up for today. Pass by next week when we focus on the interviewee.
In case you’d like some help preparing for a job interview, then please just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and tell me about it. Are you interested in other business English skills? Then check out the post about listening here and about using your voice effectively here.
Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
Take care
Nadia
This is the seventh part of our series about meetings. For today’s post Yvette and I are sharing our thoughts with you concerning the dos and don’ts of telephone conferences and we’re providing you with some useful phrases.
Believe it or not, telephone conferences or telcos or telephone meetings are still a thing, as not everywhere in the world the Internet is as good as necessary to have a video conference.
Consider these three aspects when planning your virtual meetings:
Now we’ve picked a few points we’re sharing with you here. Some of these points our students have shared with us after facing their challenges.
This is a very common issue for many people. Be it a software or hardware problem or possibly a bad connection, these phrases will get you through:
This aspect can make communication a lot more difficult for many people, however, several different accents will intensify the experience. So concentration and focus are what you need together with these phrases:
Let’s face it and this is true for all of us. You’re a lot more prone to distractions, as the other participants can’t see you, you will start doing other tasks on the side. Please, get rid of these distractions such as responding to a short email quickly, finishing a presentation or just texting dinner arrangements with your loved one. Those tasks can wait as once you’ve started one thing you’ll think of the next one to do. If you’re not ready to listen and participate actively, then why are you taking part? Make sure you’re not going to be distracted by others, by noise or by devices. Putting up a “do not disturb” sign on your door can be very helpful. If you mention on the sign that you’re in a conference call and when the call will possibly be over, it will be even better.
This point is essential for telephone conferences with many participants. One of the main differences to face-to-face meetings is, you need to identify yourself before you start speaking and to mention the person’s name you are addressing. Do not just start talking out of the blue, wait till it’s your turn. This will help immensely with the communication. In case you are like me, a visual person, I can recommend this strategy for you to try: write out the participants names on a sheet of paper with their responsibilities and where they are from. Place this sheet in front of you. If you have a picture of the participants, you can place it above the name. Now every time one of the participants is addressed you can then look at the information you’ve written down and concentrate on what that person is saying and you might have a picture of him or her as well. One final point about taking part in telephone conferences from home. Please make sure your family and pets aren’t going to walk in on you and disturb you.
These are the four points from our and our student’s experience, which you need to consider for telephone conferences. What about you? Do you have any you’d like to add? Then please just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and tell me about it. Are you interested in other business English skills? Then check out the post about listening here and about using your voice effectively here.
Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
Take care
Nadia
This is the fourth part of our series about meetings. For today’s post Yvette and I have decided to focus on the advantages and disadvantages of five aspects concerning the different types of meetings. However, we need to start off with the different types of meetings.
There are
Of course, we’ve all had such meetings before and I’m sure you can relate to many points we’re going to share with you when focussing on the advantages and disadvantages of these types of meetings.
Now obviously for face-to-face meetings everyone needs to be in the same place. Which means you might have extra costs, such as transport, accommodation, venue, catering and possibly for equipment as well. Whereas for virtual meetings you could be anywhere just like the other attendees, being together at the same location or in the same room is not necessary. What you need is a good and stable Internet connection and possibly virtual meeting software, depending on which devices you’re using or just a telephone connection. A further advantage of virtual is it’s environmentally friendly as no travelling is involved.
For face-to-face meetings you need a lot of time, time to get there and time for the meeting and time to get back. Often such meetings take up half of your day or even more. Whereas for virtual meetings, if your software and Internet connection are stable and reliable you only need time for the meeting. Always assuming there are no technical issues and if you are pressed for time, then virtual is the best solution for you.
In last week’s post you can read all about ‘Rules for Successful and Effective Meetings’ and if you follow our meeting rules, there shouldn’t be a problem with distractions. However, please consider in virtual meetings you can be more easily distracted as you are not bodily present at the meeting. Honestly, I find this aspect a challenge in virtual meetings, as you can get easily distracted and other attendees probably won’t even notice.
Normally face-to-face meetings are considered to be easier, because besides the words you also have body language, gestures and facial expressions to communicate. Which results in getting more immediate reactions and misunderstandings are less likely to occur. Of course this depends on your preferences, as some people feel more relaxed communicating when they can use all these means of communication: words, gestures, body language and facial expressions. Some people, however, don’t. They prefer communicating virtually, as they feel more comfortable. Don’t get me wrong, we all communicate virtually, if by phone, video conference, email or even via social media, some more than others.
A big advantage here is the reach you have, you can have a meeting with numerous people at the same time or a follow-up meeting with only one person. Another point to consider, for some people keeping a straight face during negotiations is easier in virtual meetings than in face-to-face meetings.
At face-to-face meetings you have your written minutes or a visual graphic and at virtual meetings you can have a recording of the meeting. Personally, in my opinion, I think it’s easier and faster to go through a written record if you’ve attended the meeting. If you couldn’t attend, then a recording is definitely more convenient. It is the best possibility for you to relive the meeting as well, you just need to invest some time then.
This question comes up a lot. The answer actually depends on your goal. We suggest to do both types of meetings.
People trust people and want to have a live experience with real people and real surroundings, i. e. the physical presence of other attendees in a real room. Let’s say you’re planning to launch a new product or project with a team of international experts. Well in that case, having a face-to-face meeting at the beginning of such project or kick-off would be very advantageous. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to meet each other and build trust and team spirit. Whereas the progress meetings could then be held virtually. Once everyone has met one another, it’s a lot easier to follow the other person’s train of thought and possibly understand them, if they have an accent or different language levels.
We’ve covered five important aspects and their advantages and disadvantages concerning face-to-face and virtual meetings. Of course we’re speaking from our experience. What about you? Is there something you’d like to add? Then please just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and tell me about it. Are you interested in other business English skills? Then check out the post about listening here and about using your voice effectively here.
We’d like to thank you for tuning in and downloading our podcast. We’d love to hear more from you. Most importantly you can help us by rating us on iTunes and if you like leave a review. By doing that you’ll help us get a bigger reach. We know that rating us takes up your time and that’s why we’ve decided to raffle three books among all of you who rate us on iTunes.
All you have to do to take part is to rate us and leave a comment. Make a screenshot of your rating and comment and send it to us either by email or as a DM on Instagram.
These are the books you can win: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Denglish for Better Knowers by Adam Fletcher and Paul Hawkins and Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker. We’ve been told to prolong the raffle. You can participate till April 12. 2019. We will make the draw on 3 May 2019. Good luck!
Take care
Nadia
PS Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
In the past two weeks I’ve focussed on and told you about different perspectives concerning meetings. The post focussing on the inviter’s point of view you can find here and the post focussing on the invitee’s or attendee’s point of view you can check out here. Today I’m concentrating on what makes meetings effective and successful for all participants. You’ve surely guessed it already, as the title says it all: rules.
Let’s assume you have a weekly or monthly team meeting or you work in a closed environment within a company then you need a framework. Now rules are a great strategy to help you work effectively and achieve your goals.
Time is a very valuable asset. Surely you’ve heard of the expression ‘time is money’, it means you shouldn’t waste time as you could use the time in a different way and earn money. Although this trait is looked at differently in many cultures, it is a sign of respect. By being on time you convey your respect to all attendees and their time.
‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’ this quote by Benjamin Franklin says it all.
You should get rid of distractions from your devices such as your phone, your laptop, your tablet or your wearable. At least mute them or put them on airplane mode. There is hardly anything more annoying, then someone checking his or her messages in a meeting.
Meetings can sometimes drift away from the actual points of the agenda. This rule will help everyone attending to stay on point and on time as well.
Only by using the superhero skill of listening actively, will you benefit most from meetings and be able to contribute to making them successful and effective.
Every person is entitled to his or her own opinion or point of view. If you don’t agree with someone’s idea, don’t attack the person. We often tend to forget that critical or diverse views can help us grow immensely and see the bigger picture.
Please don’t be an assassin and kill an idea by saying no immediately if you disagree. Instead try coming up with a different solution or compromise.
By doing this you can help others come up with new ideas or views and find a solution. Don’t remain silent, dare to speak your thoughts. They might just be what you’ve all been looking for or they will trigger the right thoughts in someone else.
As the chair you need to make sure everyone participates and has the opportunity to speak, this my involve interrupting others. As a participant you can raise your hand if you’d like to add some information or ask a question. Don’t just interrupt the person speaking.
Don’t use jargon or abbreviations which could be misunderstood. Use words every attendee will understand.
Say what you’ve decided on and who’s responsible for what. Mention what hasn’t been decided on yet and why, possibly more information is needed, then arrange a follow-up and define who is responsible for getting the needed information.
In virtual meetings you can send out a video to all participants. In ‘old school’ or face-to-face meetings you’ll have someone taking the minutes or making a visual or graphic recording. This needs to be made available to all participants.
How do you make sure everyone will agree to the rules or even follow them? Do you need a meeting police? Well, no, you don’t. Although, some companies have a fines or penalty jar. That means every time someone does not stick to the rules, he or she has to pay a fine or penalty. This payment is put in the jar. For some companies it works yet again for some it doesn’t. As it depends on the individuals and the company culture.
A successful way of letting your team or meeting members accept and abide by the rules is to
let everyone come up with what they consider most important for an effective meeting. This isn’t only a good team building activity. It binds the people to the rules because they will identify themselves with them.
However, please consider as soon as you leave your environment and work with clients, suppliers, or external consultants, do not force these rules onto others. If you use these rules for yourself, you will ensure that you’re doing your best to have a successful and effective meeting.
From my experience the above mentioned rules are what you need to lead, participate in or have successful and effective meetings. Is there something you’d like to add, which did not make my list?Then please let me know and drop me a line or just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and tell me about it. Are you interested in other business English skills? Then check out the post about listening here and about using your voice effectively here.
We’d like to thank you for tuning in and downloading our podcast. We’d love to hear more from you. Most importantly you can help us by rating us on iTunes and if you like leave a review. By doing that you’ll help us get a bigger reach. We know that rating us takes up your time and that’s why we’ve decided to raffle three books among all of you who rate us on iTunes.
All you have to do to take part is to rate us and leave a comment. Make a screenshot of your rating and comment and send it to us either by email or as a DM on Instagram.
These are the books you can win: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Denglish for Better Knowers by Adam Fletcher and Paul Hawkins and Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker. We’ve been told to prolong the raffle. You can participate till April 12. 2019. We will make the draw on 3 May 2019. Good luck!
Take care
Nadia
PS Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
Last week I told you about the first steps to successful meetings and starting from scratch, you can read it here. I was focusing on the meeting organiser or inviter. Today I’m changing the perspective and focusing on the invitee or attendee of a meeting. First of all, you are an invitee, as you receive an invitation to a meeting. Once you’ve accepted the invitation and go to the meeting you become an attendee.
The answers to these questions clearly depend on your time, the reason for the meeting, and whether you can contribute or not. Those three aspects can transform you from an invitee to an attendee. Let’s assume you’ve just received an invitation to a meeting. It’s from someone you’ve met before at a different meeting. Your first should be whether the invitation includes all necessary information, e.g. does it include an agenda, does it say what your role is in this meeting or why it is important that you take part.
If the invitation does include the information needed, then you can accept the invitation. Depending on your role for this meeting, your preparations will differ. Have you been asked to be a contributor, a minute taker or a visual or graphic recorder or possibly a decision maker? Once your role is clear you can start your meeting preparations.
Assuming you’re a contributor, depending on the topic you might need to gather all kind of bits of information to give an update or an informed point of view to help the the other attendees with their task. It’s important to focus on how you want to communicate your task so the others will understand you from two points of view:
Here are three simple yet effective strategies you can use to get your point across and understand other attendees:
If and when possible use visuals to explain your point. As you know, a picture says more than a thousand words.
Ask questions to help you understand and the other attendee to explain his or her point of view.
Rephrase what you’ve understood. Sometimes when we don’t understand what someone has said we just ask them to repeat their message. This isn’t always helpful, as they might just use the same words. Instead, take control and say what you’ve understood with your own words like this you can clarify any vague assumptions.
In case you haven’t met the other invitees or attendees before, find out who they are, what they do and what their role is in this meeting. Look at it as an opportunity to make new contacts. Possibly you have worked together with a few of them before and can tell if there might be any language or mindset challenges.
Remember at the beginning we assumed, you had all the necessary information to accept the invitation. Well, if that was’t the case then let’s talk about the fastest and best way to clarify why you should attend, what the meeting is about and what role you should be playing in it. Please do not hit the reply to all button asking these questions. Instead pick up the phone and call the person, who has invited you in the first place or if you work in the same building then go and visit him or her at their desk or cubicle. Thank them for the invitation, tell them you’d be happy to contribute to the meeting’s success and find out why they invited you. Possibly you’re not the right person, however, you know who is and you can make a suggestion.
In my opinion, those are the aspects to focus on when you’re an invitee or attendee. What’s your opinion? Drop me a line or just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and tell me about it. Are you interested in other business English skills? Then check out the post about listening here and about using your voice effectively here.
We’d like to thank you for tuning in and downloading our podcast. We’d love to hear more from you. Most importantly you can help us by rating us on iTunes and if you like leave a review. By doing that you’ll help us get a bigger reach. We know that rating us takes up your time and that’s why we’ve decided to raffle three books among all of you who rate us on iTunes.
All you have to do to take part is to rate us and leave a comment. Make a screenshot of your rating and comment and send it to us either by email or as a DM on Instagram.
These are the books you can win: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Denglish for Better Knowers by Adam Fletcher and Paul Hawkins and Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker. We’ve been told to prolong the raffle. You can participate till April 12. 2019. We will make the draw on 3 May 2019. Good luck!
Take care
Nadia
PS Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
“I’ve been to three meetings so far today and still don’t know why I’ve been invited to attend them.” or ” I didn’t manage to get any work done or have a break because the meeting lasted all day.” Does this sound familiar to you? We’ve probably all been there. I often ask my students to tell me about their best and worst experiences concerning meetings. You’d be surprised of the stories I could tell you. For this reason, Yvette and I have decided to start a new series about meetings and this is the first part covering which steps you need to follow to have successful meetings. We’ve come up with five points you need to look into when organising meetings.
Let’s assume you organise meetings. They can be online or offline meetings, which kind doesn’t make any difference. The questions to help you achieve successful meetings are usable for both possibilities.
There are many reasons for having meetings, e.g. your meetings could include a presentation for a product, the can be held for pitching an idea or brainstorming. Of course there are project meetings, creative meetings, kick-off meetings, problem solving meetings and meetings for giving project updates / status.
Usually you start off with the topics, which are then put together into an agenda. The topic will influence who needs to participate. Only invite people who can contribute and add value to your meetings. It’s important to keep the people’s language levels in mind, as this can influence how successful and effective your meetings are.
The items on the agenda need to be specific enough, so that the people you are inviting will know what the meetings are about and which outcomes the meetings will have.
Who do you invite and why are they the right people? As already mentioned, it’s essential to invite the right people, who are involved in your project or who can contribute to your topic and help you reach your next step. For example you need a decision on a project, then make sure to invite the person who can make that decision. Once again consider the different language levels each person could have. Be prepared to rephrase complex content into shorter and easier sentences. In meetings many people contribute to the topics on the agenda, so think about who will add value and why this person can do this. In case you’re not the chair or facilitator, make sure to choose someone who can handle the task and help make your meetings successful.
We were assuming you’re the person organising the meeting. Here is a list of what needs to be organised:
So, when is the best time for a meeting? I’ve heard different views on this point and honestly it really depends on the type of meeting.
However, please consider these thoughts, not …
How long can / should a meeting last? There are meetings which last all day, however, they have breaks, which are necessary to reach an outcome at the end of the day.
Keep these thoughts in mind and your good to go:
Choosing the right venue is crucial to make the participants feel comfortable and at ease. The room size depends on the number of people taking part. I remember feeling lost in a huge room, which could accommodate 80 people easily, however we were only three. Booking a room which is too small is just as bad. If it’s not a stand-up meeting then please make sure there are enough seats available. Have you thought about the seating arrangements? Will the participants be sitting around a table or is it a bigger meeting and you need a different arrangement. Let’s say your attendees will be sitting around a table, then think about next to whom each could be sitting. Will your participants need equipment and are there possibilities to hook it up? If it is a virtual meeting, make sure the connection is stable and everything is working accordingly. Do all participants have the same software? Do the links you’ve sent them in the invitation to the virtual meeting room work?
These are the five points you have to look into when organising meetings. Remember I ask people about their worst and best experiences concerning meetings? Well, I’m curious, please tell me your worst and best experiences. Drop me a line or just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and tell me all about it. Are you interested in other business English skills? Then check out the post about listening here and about using your voice effectively here.
We’d like to thank you for tuning in and downloading our podcast. We’d love to hear more from you. Most importantly you can help us by rating us on iTunes and if you like leave a review. By doing that you’ll help us get a bigger reach. We know that rating us takes up your time and that’s why we’ve decided to raffle three books among all of you who rate us on iTunes.
All you have to do to take part is to rate us and leave a comment. Make a screenshot of your rating and comment and send it to us either by email or as a DM on Instagram.
These are the books you can win: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Denglish for Better Knowers by Adam Fletcher and Paul Hawkins and Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker. We’ve been told to prolong the raffle. You can participate till April 12. 2019. We will make the draw on 3 May 2019. Good luck!
Take care
Nadia
PS Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
Now last time I covered ‘Starting Off with Small Talk’ and I gave you two strategies for starting off: useful phrases and asking questions. This is the final part of a 5-week training course on small talk. You can download the free pdf workbook for the 5-week training course here. If you’ve just started reading then I recommend you start with this post first, there I’ve explained why small talk is important. Today I’m focussing on two categories I encounter very often, the BUT categories. During the past few weeks, you’ve been given the basics, the topics, the phrases for starting off and a strategy for asking questions, right? Okay, but …
Well, honestly some of you might be and some of you aren’t just quite there yet.
Let me explain what I’m talking about. From my experience I know there are many people, who have everything, e.g. topic-based vocabulary, phrases, they can ask questions, they listen actively and they are observant. Sounds great, doesn’t it? So where’s the catch? Here comes the big BUT.
This BUT has two categories:
First BUT category – you get stuck in the middle of the conversation. All of a sudden you don’t know what to say anymore.
Second BUT category – you don’t even start a conversation, because you are scared silly of reaching this point.
In both cases it’s essential to have a strategy or road map. Let’s look at each category and see what you could do.
If you get stuck in the middle of the conversation and don’t know what to say anymore. A common problem here is, that you get stuck because you’re focussing on ‘not knowing the correct expression’. That’s when you start to panic. Your brain goes blank and nothing sensible comes to mind. Don’t worry if this has happened to you, here are three useful tips to help you in such a situation:
Not sure how to ask for help? Here are three phrases you can use to ask for help:
1. ‘I forgot what it’s called’ or just ‘What’s it called?’
2. ‘It’s slipped my mind’
3. ‘It’s on the tip of my tongue’
Oh and by the way, there is no shame in asking for help. It’s not a sign of weakness. By doing so you are taking control of the situation and playing the ball to your counterpart.
If you don’t even start a conversation, because you are scared silly of reaching this point then you actually only have one choice. You have to take the plunge or walk through that door and overcome this obstacle. To do so here are seven tips to help you reach your goal.
Finally just do it!
Now for both categories I’ve given you a road map. In case that’s not enough, just feel free to contact me or you can just schedule a call with me click here to schedule a call and together we will come up with a solution to help you get your point across.
Remember I told you, that everyone has his or her own style of communicating and we’re all unique. Yvette and I will help you find and manifest your unique style of communicating successfully in English.
We’d like to thank you for tuning in and downloading the podcast. We’d love to hear more from you. Most importantly you can help us by rating us on iTunes and if you like leave a review. By doing that you’ll help us get a bigger reach. We know that rating us takes up your time and that’s why we’ve decided to raffle three books among all of you who rate us on iTunes.
All you have to do to take part is to rate us and leave a comment. Make a screenshot of your rating and comment and send it to us either by email or as a DM on Instagram.
These are the books you can win: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Denglish for Better Knowers by Adam Fletcher and Paul Hawkins and Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker. We’ve been told to prolong the raffle. You can participate till April 12. 2019. We will make the draw on 3 May 2019. Good luck!
Take care
Nadia
PS Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
Are you on social media? Let’s connect on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
Last time I told you about small talk topics and what makes them good or bad. This week I’m giving you some help for starting off with small talk. From my experience I know this is what many people struggle with. This is the fourth part of a 5-week training course on small talk. You can download the free pdf workbook for the 5-week training course here.
Before we dive in, let’s recap the last few weeks.
In the first part of this training I told you talked about the why behind small talk and why you should make small talk, you can check out the blog post here.
A week later in the second part I informed you about when and with whom you have small talk, here is the link to that post.
Then last week in the third part of the training I introduced you to 16 common topics for small talk and told you what makes the topic good or bad, in case you’d like to check it out, click here.
Today, after having given you the basics, let’s focus on starting off with small talk.
Don’t forget to download the workbook for this training, even if you’ve only just started with the training, you can still grab it and use it. There is an exercise for this post as well. You can download the free pdf workbook for the 5-week training course here.
Now form my experience I know for a fact that this is what very many people struggle with as they consider it to be the most difficult part. It’s like you technically know how to do something but you just don’t dare do it. Well, I’ve provided you with the basics in the past weeks now it’s time to take the plunge and overcome your self-doubts, believe in yourself and go for it! Don’t worry I’m standing at the finish line and cheering for you the whole time.
If your job involves dealing with people every day you will need social skills, here are a few more phrases to help you out:
Welcome to (company name or city or event) Do not say welcome in, that is incorrect in English.
How was your journey/trip?
Can I help you with you luggage?
These questions are a great way of making conversation and getting feedback at the same time:
Did you have difficulties finding us?
Is everything ok with the hotel?
Have you ever been here before?
A: How are things?
B: Great, I was in New York last week.
A: New York, wow, what did you do there? Was it your first time in New York? Did you do any sightseeing? Where did you stay?
Here we have four questions, two open and two closed questions.
Let’s have a look at the closed questions:
Was it your first time in New York? & Did you do any sightseeing?
You use them to check information and the information you get is limited. This does not get your counterpart talking or aa conversation going. It’s like playing ball against a wall but the ball doesn’t bounce back as it’s not firm enough, it needs more air pressure.
Whereas the open questions
What did you do there? & Where did you stay?
They get your partner talking as he or she has to tell you more than yes or no. Then you have more to ask about and more to get a conversation going.
C: Have you ever been here before?
D: Yes, three months ago.
C: Then you know about our security procedures, don’t you? (don’t you is the question tag)
If they are too complicated for you, just remember to not use the word ‘or’ at the end. Instead use the word ‘right’, e.g. ‘Then you know about our security procedures, right?’
Now you can use such question tags or short questions at the end of a sentence to ask a question or to check information you already know. Most importantly to keep the conversation going, e. g. at the buffet:
The food is good here, isn’t it? If the sentence is positive, the question tag is negative.
The food isn’t vegan, is it? If the sentence is negative, the question tag is positive.
In the workbook you’ll find an exercise where you have to come up with follow-up questions. So to help you out, we’ll walk you through and give you some examples to start you off.
Statement: We’re going on holiday to Italy this year.
Follow-up questions: Which part are you going to? How are you travelling?
Statement: I live in …
Follow-up questions: Depending if it’s a small village or somewhere well known you can ask different questions.
Small village: Sorry, where is that exactly?
Somewhere well known: Oh, there are a lot of events there, which one would you recommend?
Statement: I haven’t been to this trade fair before.
Follow-up questions: Did you attend the other fair at the end of last year? Which hotel are you staying at?
Statement: My job involves a lot of travelling.
Follow-up questions: Where are you going to next? Have you been there before? We’ve picked these questions to demonstrate that there can be a sequence to asking the questions.
Statement: I’m a freelance trainer.
Follow-up questions: Which languages do you give your seminars in? How often do you have to travel?
So, there you have two follow-up questions for each statement already. Which ones do you come up with? Let me know your thoughts.
Of course, you can just schedule a call with me and tell me . Click here to schedule a call now!
Or connect with me on social media like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
We’d like to thank you for tuning in and downloading the podcast. We’d love to hear more from you. Most importantly you can help us by rating us on iTunes and if you like leave a review. By doing that you’ll help us get a bigger reach. We know that rating us takes up your time and that’s why we’ve decided to raffle three books among all of you who rate us on iTunes.
All you have to do to take part is to rate us and leave a comment. Make a screenshot of your rating and comment and send it to us either by email or as a DM on Instagram.
These are the books you can win: Atomic Habits by James Clear, Denglish for Better Knowers by Adam Fletcher and Paul Hawkins and Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker. You can participate throughout February 2019. We will make the draw on 5 March 2019.
Take care
Nadia
PS Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.
A few weeks ago, one student in an in-company course came to me after class and apologised for his English. I asked him why he thought he had to be sorry for his English. I’ve had this situation quite often, when students express their apologies for their English because they consider it to be bad. I never understood why they apologised. After all, if they were already perfect, they wouldn’t be in the course, would they?
Here are just a few reasons I’ve heard:
‘My grammar is terrible, I always mix up the tenses.’
‘I use the same and simple vocabulary.’
‘My pronunciation is influenced by my accent.’
‘My English sounds so Denglish.’
Most people I teach are German and they have to deal with English speakers from all over the world be it by email or during a conference call. What shocked me was when during a lesson someone suggested to a colleague to just apologise in the email for her English. As that always works for her. The whole class turned to me when they heard my cry ‘What do you do? Why?‘
She told the whole class when she apologises for her English:
Hearing the above-mentioned situations and reasons, I still asked ‘Why? Why do you apologise?’
Is it because you think when you apologise your listeners will …
Honestly, I am not apologising for breaking the truth to you now.
Turn the situation around, someone else and not you is continually apologising for his or her bad English.
Which impressions do you have about that person? ‘The person seems unconfident and weak.‘
What are you concentrating on now? ‘The mistakes.’
How do you feel about hearing these apologies? ‘Annoyed and wishing the person would finally take action to improve instead of whining.‘
These are the replies I got from the course members, who were slightly embarrassed by their views. You all want to fit in and be admired by apologising for your mistakes and you hope you will still be liked. However, you don’t realise that you are digging your own grave. You start to concentrate on your mistakes as well and thus prevent your English from flowing. It’s crucial that you break the cycle.
Well, depending on the language level you are at and what you actually want to achieve, these measures can help some learners of English because you’ll feel more confident when you’ve done something to improve. It’s like when you watch a workout video on YouTube, you feel like you’ve been active yourself. You’ve guessed it, these measures alone will not change the way you communicate.
Forget about using sophisticated vocabulary and complex grammar structures. Use language your listeners will understand instead. Your words will be remembered because your audience understood them immediately and didn’t have to look them up. Believe me, they will love you for it. For some reason we tend to overcomplicate many things in life. Especially our communication. Possibly, because we believe it has to sound like legal code to be taken seriously. That’s not true and that’s the reason why many people apologise and do not improve.
In that case, follow these steps:
Your best option is to schedule a free 20 minute call. At the end of the call, you will find out how we will work together on improving your English communication skills. Yvette, my business partner, and I have helped many other learners of English get their point across. Let us help you do the same and bring your English communication skills to the next level.
Take care
Nadia
Click here to schedule a call now!
PS If you like what I’ve shared with you and you want to share it, then please do! You can connect with me on social media like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing and Twitter.
Yvette and I have a podcast called “Your English Podcast”. You can find it on iTunes and on Spotify sign up for it, so you don’t miss the next episode.