Telephone English: Speak English clearly on the phone and understand everything!

Hello and welcome back to English with Lucy.

Today, I'm going to teach you English for

the telephone.

I know, I hate speaking on the phone too,

but it is an essential part of feeling completely comfortable with your English

speaking and fluency.

To help you further, I've also created a

digital telephone English guide.

This contains everything we cover in the

lesson today, alongside  audios and extra exercises.

You can get this for free.

If you'd like to download it, just click on the link in the description box, you

enter your name and your email address, you sign up for my mailing list and the

PDF guide will arrive directly in your inbox.

After that, you will automatically

receive my free weekly PDFs alongside my news, course updates and offers.

It's a free service, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Today, you are going to listen to 3 telephone conversations and we're going

to talk about some of the language used in each.

From making plans with friends to making reservations and navigating professional

calls, we're going to cover it all.

Let's jump into our first scenario.

Hello?

Hey, Jesse, how are you?

I'm sorry, who is this?

What, you don't have my number saved?

It's me, Drew!

Oh, of course!

Sorry about that, Drew!

Yeah, I just got a new phone.

How's it going?

Great, thanks.

I was calling coz I was thinking, why

don't we organise a reunion with our uni friends?

It's been ages!

I'd love that!

Let me call that old pub we used to go to

and see if I can book a table.

How about Friday night?

Brilliant!

Friday night is perfect.

Let me know how it goes.

Call me at my office, the number is 0344317963.

OK, sounds like a plan.

Chat soon.

Bye!

Bye!

Jesse used the most common of phrases to answer the phone.

Hello, hello.

Adding that slightly raised O at the end

makes this greeting more of a question, signifying that Jesse doesn't recognise

the number and was not expecting the call.

It's almost like saying, who are you and

why are you calling me?

Maybe not that extreme, but you get the point.

If she had been more animated in her tone , like hello!

Or hey there!

we would assume

that she knew who was on the other end of the line.

Of course, you can answer the phone in numerous ways, and all of that is detailed

in the PDF guide.

After Jesse answers the phone, Drew

attempts to start a conversation, but Jesse isn't sure who she's speaking to.

She says, I'm sorry, who is this?

This is a great question to try to get

information from an unknown caller without being rude and saying, who are you?

Consider using some of these other polite questions when you want to politely ask

about the identity of a caller.

You can say, sorry, I didn't catch your

name.

Who is this?

Or may I ask who's calling, please?

That one's quite formal and would be great to use in a professional setting.

Okay, let's talk about let me.

Drew says, let me know how it goes, let

me know how it goes.

The structure is usually, let me +

verb.

Let me check, let me get back to you.

Right, moving on, we also heard Drew give

his phone number when he told Jesse to call him at his office.

Did you notice anything unique about how he gave that number?

Let's listen to that again.

The number is 0344 431 7963.

In the UK, it's common to replace zero with O when giving a phone number or any

string of numbers over the phone.

There's also another unique aspect of

giving numbers over the phone.

If we have 2 of the same number in a

row, we often say double the number, double 3, double 9, double O,

7, double O 7.

We also say each number on its own, like

the ending portion of Drew's phone number, 7963, not 7963.

This way, it's super clear, and nobody gets confused.

And now, let's look at one more important

aspect of a phone conversation, the closing.

How you end your phone call can vary

greatly depending on who you're talking to.

In Drew and Jesse's conversation, the

end was quite informal, chat soon, bye!

That's a colloquial way of saying let's

talk again soon.

You would probably only be that casual if

you were talking to close friends or family.

I've got a few more common phrases in the

PDF guide, but here are some important tips to keep in mind when ending a phone call.

Ensure that the closing phrase clearly indicates that the conversation is ending.

Match your tone to the context of the conversation, professional or casual.

In professional calls, a quick recap of key points or action items can be helpful

and always end on a polite note to leave a positive impression.

Okay, I think it's time to move on and listen to Jesse's conversation with the pub.

Thanks for calling the Royal Tavern;

this is Billy speaking.

How can I help you?

Good afternoon.

I'd like to book a table for 7 PM on Friday, the 21st.

Certainly,

for how many people?

There'll be a group of 10.

Excellent.

Can I have your name, please?

It's Jesse Potter.

Sorry, I didn't quite catch that.

Did you say ‘Jenny’ Potter?

No, it's Jesse -

J as in Juliett, E as in Echo, S for

Sierra, S for Sierra, E as in Echo.

Thank you for the clarification.

You're all booked in for Friday at 7 PM.

Brilliant,

see you then!

Okay, we've got some great phrases here and some very important phone etiquette

to talk about.

Let's start by looking at this slightly

more formal greeting from the gentleman at the pub.

Thanks for calling the Royal Tavern.

How can I help you?

The way we answer the phone in a business setting is different from how we would

answer the phone normally.

It's common to state the company name so

that callers know they've reached the correct place of business.

But did you notice how Billy gave his name?

He didn't say I am Billy or my name is Billy.

He said, this is Billy.

We hardly ever say I am name or my name

is over the phone except in specific situations.

Saying this is name on the phone is very

common because making a clear and direct introduction is necessary.

We can't see each other.

It also answers the question we saw at

the start.

Who is this?

Even if the question wasn't asked, you're making it clear who is speaking when you

use this is.

It establishes the speaker's identity and

it's suitable for professional and more formal situations.

You will most likely hear its name in casual conversations, which is an

informal version of this is.

Hi, it's Lucy, for example.

When calling to make reservations, book a hotel or request information, it's

important that you know the specifics of your request or inquiry and have all the

necessary information close to hand.

This will help you feel more comfortable

when you're on the phone, and it will make the process faster.

You should start with a polite greeting and clearly explain your purpose for calling.

Then provide all of the relevant details as clearly as possible.

Now, Billie used a wonderful phrase after Jesse gave her name, saying sorry, I

didn't quite catch that.

You can use this phrase when you don't

understand what someone has said or if they are speaking too quickly.

Maybe you didn't hear it because of the quality of the phone call.

Here are some other phrases you can use.

Sorry, can you speak more slowly?

Or would you mind saying that again, please?

There are lots more examples in the guide.

We also heard Jesse spell her  name in a very specific way.

Let's listen to that again.

J as in Juliet, E as in Echo, S for

Sierra, S for Sierra, E as in Echo.

We need to talk about the NATO phonetic alphabet.

The NATO phonetic alphabet assigns specific words to letters, for example,

alpha for A or Bravo for B, in order to avoid misunderstandings when spelling a

word, especially over the phone.

While you don't have to use it and you

can choose your own words, like E for elephant, for example, the NATO phonetic

alphabet is standardised to ensure precise communication across different

languages and accents.

I've put the full NATO phonetic alphabet

in the PDF.

You don't have to memorise it, but if

you're going to work on the telephone a lot, it will help.

Okay, let's have a look at the closing of our conversation.

Billy did a great job of wrapping up this conversation by giving a quick recap of

the key points discussed.

He said you're all set for Friday at 7 PM.

Jesse made it clear that the information was correct by saying, brilliant, see you

then. Shall we move on to the final part?

Good afternoon, thank you for calling

Urban Enterprises.

Who can I put you through to?

Hello, may I speak to Drew Lancaster, please?

I believe he works in advertising.

May I ask who's calling?

This is Jesse Potter.

Could you hold for one moment, please?

I'll see if Mr Lancaster is available.

I'm sorry, but Mr Lancaster is in a meeting right now.

Would you like to call back later, or can I take a message?

Yes, if you can.

Just let him know that we're all set for Friday.

Of course, I'll pass on the message.

Have a lovely day.

Thank you very much.

Bye!

Here, the language was quite formal.

The receptionist, the person responsible for handling a business' incoming phone

calls, answered the phone with a classic business greeting.

Jesse does a great job at matching the receptionist's level of formality.

We heard the modal verbs can, may and could, and these modal verbs are used to

make polite requests.

Could and may are more formal than can.

The receptionist also asked an important question, who can I put you through to?

To put somebody through to somebody means to connect somebody to another person by phone.

After Jesse requests to speak to Drew, the receptionist asks if he can put her

on hold.

To put somebody on hold means to

temporarily pause a telephone conversation, typically to retrieve

information or to transfer the call to somebody else.

There are also other phrases you can use depending on the formality of the

situation, and you will find those in the PDF guide.

We also heard the receptionist give 2 options, would you like to call back

later, or can I take a message?

I'm sure you don't need me to explain the

phrasal verb to call back later.

However, I should mention that phrasal

verbs are often considered informal, but this one is so common that it is used

quite frequently in relatively formal exchanges too.

We also heard can I take a message?

To take a message means to write down or

otherwise, record information from a caller to pass it on to someone else.

Finally, the receptionist gave Jesse a very polite farewell to end the call

after he said he would pass on the message.

Of course, there are also loads of other

phrases and important vocabulary that you can use in this type of business

situation, and where can you find those?

In the PDF guide.

And there you have it, 3 different scenarios to help you navigate telephone

conversations in English with ease.

Remember, practice makes progress, don't

be afraid to use these phrases in your next phone call and just calmly repeat

yourself if someone doesn't understand you.

Don't be afraid to ask someone else to

repeat themselves if you need it to.

I will mention one other thing and this

is quite exciting.

We're currently working on some business

English courses, courses designed for students who have the goal of speaking

English in their profession or at work.

If you are learning English because you

have the goal of one day working in English, join the waiting list for my

courses, they are going to be released soon.

I've left the link for that in the

description box too.

I can't say too much about it, but they're

going to be awesome.

I will see you soon for another lesson.

Bye!