Learn English: How to talk like the boss

Hello. My name is Benjamin, and I'm here to teach you on EngVid today some really good

vocabulary for asking people to do what you want them to do in a work environment, helping

you to be the boss.

Okay. So first thing, I want you to imagine, to think, of one thing you want someone you

work with to do, okay? What could it be? Think of the person -- you want to do -- okay, yeah.

I want them to do that. Yeah. Good. So here are some different uses. We're going to talk

through some different kinds of instructions, some different ways of asking people to do

something, okay? Good.

So first one: "aim at" or "aim to". So we could say, "Bob, I'd like you to aim at producing

that presentation by Tuesday morning." Okay? So when we use "by", we introduce a deadline

that they have to finish it by. Okay? So "I'd" -- obviously that's short for "I would" -- like

you to do this. Okay? Now, in terms of the pronunciation, "I'd like you to aim", so we

shorten -- we don't pronounce the O, and it becomes "t' aim at". Okay? So this kind of

all goes into one word. "Bob, I'd like you to aim at finishing that presentation by Tuesday morning."

Now, Bob asked me what the presentation needs to be. So I say to him, "Aim to have a beginning,

a middle, an end with some graphs and some evidence." Okay? "Aim to". "Aim to do

this, this, and this." Great.

Now, "count on" and "rely on" are ways of checking, of asking if Bob can definitely

do this. If he can do this. Okay? So I say to him, "Bob, can I count on you to do that?"

He either says yes or no. If he says yes, I know that Bob can do the presentation. I

could say it another way. "Can I rely on you to do that?" Okay? Again, the pronunciation

-- you don't really need to pronounce the "to". It just goes "t' do that". Right? So

rely on, "Can I rely on Bob to do this?" If I rely on Bob to do my presentation, Bob is

doing the presentation, and I can do other work. I know Bob will do it. I rely on him.

Okay? "Rely on. Count on." Okay, so "count", it's the same word as counting money -- one,

two, three, four, five, six, seven pounds. Here, I'm counting on him. Good.

To "fit something in". Okay? So "fit". It's a word we use with clothes. Do these clothes

fit? Do I fit into them? Do I fit in? Yeah, I fit. They fit me." "Is that something you

can fit in? Can you fit this presentation into your day? Can you find time in your day

to do the presentation?" "Is that" -- okay, meaning the work, the presentation -- "a thing

you can fit in?" Okay? "Is that something you can fit in?"

Now, another way of saying this, "Do you think you'll be able to squeeze it in?" So "squeeze",

here, that's more informal, okay? So I say, "Do you think you'll" -- so that's obviously

short for "you will" be able -- future tense. "You will be able to squeeze it in." And the

answer would be, "Yeah. Sure, Benjamin. I can fit it in. No problem." Okay? Are you

with me so far?

Now, if I have doubts, if I have questions about Bob doing my presentation, I might need

to follow up. Okay? It's a good idea to follow up. That means to check. "Bob are you doing

the presentation? Bob, how's the presentation going? Bob, any news with the presentation?"

These are all ways of following up. Now, we can use "follow up" with a noun. "Bob, we

will need to plan a followup." "A" or "the" -- remember: There are articles with the followup,

which is our noun. Okay? A "followup", working there as a noun. We can also use it as a verb,

okay? I say to Bob, "I will be following up on this." Okay? Future tense with "will".

Or another way of saying it, again in the future, "Bob, I am going to follow up on this.

I am going to follow up on this." So "follow" -- you might know the verb "follow". If I

follow someone, I walk around on them. So if I'm following Bob, I'm making sure he's

doing the work. Great.

Now, Bob is getting a bit annoyed because I'm asking questions, questions, questions.

So he just says to me, "Benjamin, no problem, sir. I can pull this off." Okay? "Pull off."

That means "can do". Okay? "Pull off" means "can do". Now, let's have a little picture.

This is where we are now. This is where we want to get to. And Bob is going to pull is

the target off. He's going to do it so easily. He's going to "pull it off". Okay? Now, I'm

just going to go and check to see if Bob is doing his work.

Okay. So the good news is Bob has done the presentation really well. So I've just got

a few more little phrases to throw in there when we need to conclude something. So maybe

you've been having a very long conversation, maybe over Skype, kind of a conference call.

You could say, "Right. We're going to need to wind things up there. We're going to have

to wind things up." Okay? So "wind up". Imagine you're fishing; you're bringing in the line.

You're winding in the line. Okay? You're coming to an end. You could say, "We're going to

have to finish up." Again, you could say, "We're going to have to finish up there. At

this point. Now. We're going to have to finish up there." Okay? Imagine Formula One racing

cars. When the cars finish, you wave the flag. "We're going to have to finish up there."

And one other way of saying it, "We're going to have to draw to a close." Okay? Close.

Open, close, "We're going to draw to a full stop" -- when the shop is shut. Okay?

So today, we've done lots of ways of asking people to do things. Why don't you have a

go, now, at doing the quiz? It's on www.engvid.com. You're very welcome to subscribe to my YouTube

channel. I'd love to share some more things with you. And if you really like my work,

you can check out -- it's gone. It's disappeared. You're going to check out my Facebook page,

which is Exquisite English. There should be a link below. See you next time. All the best. Bye.