42 Business English Expressions for Fluent English in 40 minutes

By the end of this lesson, you're going  to fill your vocabulary with Advanced  

Expressions to sound fluent and natural in  the workplace. Today. You're going to learn  

42 business English Expressions. Welcome back to  Jforrest English. Of course, I'm Jennifer now,  

let's get started first. Let's review a group of  10 must know business English expressions. And  

at the end of this group. I'm going to quiz  you. So make sure you pay close attention.  

Let's talk about do diligence due diligence.  Have you heard this before due diligence is  

the concept of doing very thorough research  or investigation before making a decision,  

for example before signing the contract  make sure you do your due diligence.

And remember due diligence that simply the  research and investigation before signing  

the contract. So that's the decision. You're about  to make the decision to sign the contract. Do your  

due diligence now don't be confused here because  the verb I just used is due you do do diligence.

Do is the Casual verb you can also use  a more formal verb such as conduct due  

diligence. For example, before you accept  the job offer. You should conduct extensive  

due diligence on the company. So you  should research the company. You should  

investigate the company and you should  do that thoroughly to make sure you're  

making the right decision so you can do due  diligence or you can conduct due diligence.

Now let's talk about a win-win situation. This  is a situation in which all parties benefit you  

win. I win it's a win-win for example subscribing  to this YouTube channel is a win-win situation  

you win because you get to watch all of this  amazing content to help you improve your English  

for free and I win because by subscribing that  tells YouTube that this is a popular Channel a  

popular video and YouTube will recommend it  to more people so it's a win-win situation.  

So make sure you subscribe comment like share this  video with your friends for that win-win situation  

in a business context. You should also be asking  yourself the question, how can I make this a win?

Win-win you don't have to add the word situation  native speakers will commonly drop it. How can I  

make this a win-win if I asked my boss for a  promotion, how can I make that a win-win if  

you can make it a win-win and you can explain the  reasons why your boss will win and you will win  

well, then they're more likely to give you the  promotion and if you think it's a win-win then  

put that in the comments Jennifer it's a win-win  subscribing to this YouTube channel is a win-win  

Jennifer. It's a win-win put that in the comments.  Let's talk about to break the ice. When you break  

the ice you initiate a conversation and you  do that for the first time. This is used in  

both social settings like a party or a business  setting like before a meeting or a conference.

And when you break the ice is so you can have  that initial conversation and get rid of that.  

Awkwardness when you're at a party or a meeting  and you don't really know everyone there. So  

that's why at the beginning of a meeting or a  conference. They'll often have some activities  

planned simply to help you break the ice or  your boss might say make sure you break the  

ice before you pitch them the product so you  don't want to start the meeting by saying this  

is my product. You should buy it. You want to  have some conversation first you want to break  

the ice. Our next expression is to close the  deal. This is when you finalize and secure a  

business agreement, so it means everything  is complete. It's a done deal. So you're

Basket ask you. Did you close the deal they want  to know if they've signed the contract and they're  

officially a customer but maybe you reply and  say not yet. They're still doing their due  

diligence. Remember you do do diligence and then  you can question how can we make this a win-win  

situation? So they'll want to close the deal.  Now, let's talk about Cutting Edge. This is an  

adjective that's often used to describe products  or entire companies. If something's Cutting Edge,  

it means is at the Forefront of technology and  Innovation. You might say I love working for a  

Cutting Edge company a company that's always  at the Forefront the very top of technology  

and Innovation, or you could say the research  team is known for developing Cutting Edge.

technology

So they develop technology, but it's Cutting  Edge. It's at the Forefront of innovation and  

Technology. Our next expression is in the  pipeline when something is in the pipeline,  

it means it's being developed or planned. So you  might ask a company or a team or even a person.  

Do you have any projects in the pipeline and  you're asking them if they have anything that's  

currently being developed or planned. Are you  working on anything new? Do you have anything  

in the pipeline or you might say let's  meet tomorrow to discuss how to finalize  

everything in the pipeline because  remember the things that are in the  

pipeline they're in progress. They're  currently being developed. They're not  

final yet and when they are hopefully they're  cutting edge. I love this next expression.

To hit the ground running. This is when you  start a project or task with a lot of energy  

and enthusiasm and I personally always hit  the ground running with new projects and  

tasks. I also love when my students  hit the ground running. For example,  

Sherry just joined the finally fluent Academy.  This is my premium program. She just joined the  

finally fluent Academy and she hit the ground  running. So she started the program with a lot  

of energy and enthusiasm. She already started  reviewing the lesson. She joined our private  

Community. She's submitting exercises for  feedback. She's interacting with the other  

students. She hit the ground running. Now,  let's talk about the idiom to put all your  

eggs in 1 basket. Have you heard this  before? This is when you rely on only

Only 1 strategy or 1 idea. So if your eggs  are in 1 basket and you drop that basket all  

your eggs will break right because of that we  commonly use this expression in the negative.  

You shouldn't put all your eggs in 1 basket. So  if a friend tells you they want to invest all  

their money not just some of their money all their  money in 1 single stock or investment strategy.  

You might say you shouldn't put all your  eggs in 1 basket or you could say it's  

always good to have multiple projects in the  pipeline. So you don't have all your eggs in  

1 basket because if 1 of those ideas  in the pipeline fails you have other

Other ideas, so that's always a great idea. Let's  talk about to be a team player. This describes  

someone who works well with others in a group.  What about you? Are you a team player put it in  

the comments. If you are, I know many people have  difficulty with this they have difficulty working  

with others in a group. So be honest. Are you  a team player? I could say I love working with  

Julio. He's such a team player or I could say  Michelle's extremely smart and well-qualified,  

but she's not a team player. So I don't  think she's ready for a management position.

Because if you're in a management position, you  need to be a team player. So don't forget this  

very valuable skill. Let's talk about to raise  the bar when you raise the bar, you take your  

standards or your expectations and you raise them.  So you have higher standards higher expectations.  

I could say that Apple raised the bar on what a  cell phone can do before Apple. Our expectations  

for cell phones was about here now our standards  and expectations are up here. And that's because  

of Apple in my opinion or you could say their  products are Cutting Edge. They've really raised  

the bar when it comes to home security equipment.  So they've raised the expectation or standards  

but specific to home security equipment.  So are you ready for your quiz to see how

Well, you know these business Expressions  here are the questions. Hey Paul,  

let's take as much time as you need and when  you're ready to see the answers hit play.

How did you do on that quiz? Well, let's  find out here are the answers hit pause  

take as much time as you need to review them  and when you're ready to continue hit play.

Amazing job. Let's keep expanding your vocabulary.  Let's review another group of 10 business English  

expressions. And then again, I'm going to quiz  you. So pay close attention the expression  

to get down to business means that you start  focusing on the main topic or the main task.

Now when you learn Expressions, you need to pay  attention to the individual words. So here we  

have get down to business. You need to make sure  that you use the correct words and you conjugate  

your verb in this case get so let's talk about  how you would use this expression at work. Well  

when you're having a business meeting, it's very  common to start with some small talk small talk is

Conversation about the weather what you did  last night The Weeknd current events. It's not  

about the main topic. So maybe you have some  small talk for 5 minutes. And then whoever's  

leading the meeting can say, all right, everyone.  Let's get down to business today. We're going to

And then you will start discussing the main  purpose of that meeting or the main topic  

of that meeting. This is a must know expression  because you can hear it and use it at almost every  

business meeting you go to our next expression is  to touch base when you touch base with someone it  

means you briefly connect or communicate with  someone and you do that to share or receive  

updates or to schedule a longer conversation  or meeting. For example, have you touched base  

with the client yet? So notice our verb is touch  so, of course, you need to conjugate that verb,  

what's the verb tense in this example?  Have you touched base with the client yet?

It's the present perfect in question form.  So you have to conjugate that verb now if  

someone asks you that have you touched  base with the client yet with someone?

They're asking if you have connected with  that client or if you've had a conversation,  

even if it was only a 2-minute conversation with  that person now an important note is that native  

speakers love turning verbs into nouns and we do  that with this verb to touch base. We turn it into  

a noun and I could say let's have a quick touch  base tomorrow to discuss the conference notice  

here. It's a touch base a quick touch base  a touch base is a quick meeting or a quick  

conversation with someone so you can use this as  a verb to touch base or as a noun to sound more  

like a native speaker a touch base. Now, let's  talk about the idiom to be on the same page.

As someone this is an idiom that means you  have a shared agreement or understanding  

about something. So if you're on  the same page as someone it means  

you both agree or you both disagree, but  your understanding is the same whether that's  

positive or negative. This is very commonly used  in business meetings where you might be discussing  

a plan of action or a proposal or an idea and  then someone says are we on the same page?

And that person is asking if everyone agrees  that you should do something or shouldn't do  

something or should buy something or shouldn't  buy something. It simply means that everyone  

agrees. So maybe at the conference someone  suggested that you should cancel the conference.

And this person explained why?

And then later this person could say thankfully.  

We were on the same page about  canceling the conference.

So this person suggested canceling  the conference and everyone agreed.

So

everyone was on the same page notice the verb  is the verb to be so you need to conjugate that  

verb. Now, let's talk about 2 brain. Do you  know this 1 2 brainstorm? This is the concept  

of generating creative ideas through group  discussion. I personally love brainstorming.  

I love the creativity of just sharing ideas  trying to solve problems trying to think of  

something new with other people. Now, this is  another verb that native speakers love using  

as a noun a brainstorming session notice how you  have to add session it wouldn't sound right to say

All brainstorm a brainstorm session  that's acceptable but its more common  

to say a brainstorming session. So to add ing to  brainstorm a brainstorming session with the verb  

you could say we brainstormed a lot of great  ideas yesterday. So as the verb it's in the  

past simple Ed we brainstormed or you could  say we had a very productive brainstorming  

session. So here the verb is have to have a  brainstorming session. So you conjugate the verb,  

we had a very productive brainstorming session.  Our next expression is to think outside the box.  

Have you heard this 1 when you think outside  the box it means that you think creatively

and you also consider unconventional ideas.  It doesn't necessarily mean that you will do  

something unconventional but you'll consider it  and brainstorming sessions can be a lot more fun  

when you think outside the box. So let's say you  have an ambitious goal like doubling your sales.

You might be at a brainstorming session.

And someone could say if we're going to  double our sales we need to think outside  

the box. So you need to think creatively and  consider unconventional ways to double your  

sales and thankfully a lot of students are  thinking outside the box when it comes to  

ways to improve their English. The more  traditional way was to study a textbook  

memorize grammar rules memorize vocabulary  lists and study this textbook for hours.

but now

You can have a more unconventional approach.  You can think outside the box and do things  

like watch a YouTube video or study a  native speaker on TV or in movies and  

use that to improve your listening  skills and add Expressions to your  

speech. So you sound exactly like the native  speaker. And actually that's exactly what my  

students do is in the finally fluent account  Academy and I really thought outside the box  

when I designed this program because I  know that traditional language programs  

don't get results and they take a very long  time to get any results. So that's why it's very  

important to think outside the box. Let's talk  about the bottom line. This is the most important

Result or outcome or topic? For example,  the report had 33 recommendations, but  

the bottom line is we need to  reduce our operating costs.

So the bottom line that's the most important topic  

or recommendation. We need to  reduce our operating costs.

So let's say you're very busy. But when  of your colleagues or employees comes  

to you and says do you want to hear about the  meeting yesterday and you could say just give  

me the bottom line. So you're asking that  employee to just give you the main result  

the main outcome or the main topic our  next expression is a great 1 to call it a  

day to call it a day and this is used to say  that you decide to finish work for the day.

So let's say you're scheduled to finish  work at 5:00 p.m. That's the scheduled  

end of your workday. And let's say today you have  a brainstorming session scheduled from 9:00 a.m.  

To 5:00 p.m. So and all day brainstorming  session now around 3:30 p.m. Maybe your  

boss could say we generated a lot of Amazing  Ideas today. I know everyone's exhausted. So  

let's call it a day your boss just gave  you permission to end working at 3:30,  

even though your scheduled day ends  at 5:00. And that's why this is an  

amazing expression to call it a day. This next  expression will help you sound very natural.

To keep someone in the loop. This is when  you keep someone informed about something  

specific or you include someone in communication.  This is commonly used in email and you'll see  

someone write. Please keep me in the loop.  If your boss sends you an email and says,  

please keep me in the loop. It means that your  boss wants you to inform them about what whatever  

that specific topic is. So perhaps is  please keep me in the loop on the status  

of the report notice. We use the preposition  on and then the something on the status of the  

report. We also use this to inform someone that  we will share information with them. For example,  

I'm having a touch base with the client  today notice a touch base as the noun.

I'm having a touch base with  the client today about the  

marketing proposal. I'll keep you in the loop.

So I'm volunteering to keep you informed.  So when I have more information about the  

marketing proposal, I will share it with you.  Let's talk about how to use to bring someone  

up to speed a very important expression. When  you bring someone up to speed. It means you  

inform that person about recent updates or  developments. So let's say someone was sick.

And they were off work for 2 days. So that  

person's knowledge is 2 days old.  They don't know what has happened.

For the last 2 days, so when they  get back to work after they recover,  

they might ask you to bring them up to speed.  I was off sick for 2 days. Can you bring me up  

to speed to do that? You will give that person  all the information updates developments from  

the last 2 days specifically so their knowledge  is at the same level as everyone else. And after  

you update that person they can say thanks for  bringing me up to speed. Let's talk about the  

phrasal verb to follow up and you follow up  with someone on something. This is when you  

continue communication after an  initial conversation, for example,  

I sent the client The Proposal last week,  but I haven't heard back all follow up.

today

so you had an initial conversation  with that client about the proposal  

this happened last week. So now  you can follow up with that client  

on the marketing proposal. You  can have another conversation.

In order to continue discussing what you  previously discussed the marketing proposal.  

So the client gets your follow-up message there.  I just used it as a noun remember native speakers  

love doing that. I'll follow up message.  So the client gets your follow-up message  

and could say thanks for following up. Let's  touch base on this tomorrow. Let's touch base.  

So the verb form to touch base. Let's touch  base on this the marketing proposal tomorrow.  

Now you are going to sound very Advanced very  fluent very natural and very professional  

at your next business meeting, but I'm going  to quiz you to make sure you really know all  

of these expressions and can use them in your  speech. So here are the questions. Hey Paul,

Take as much time as you need and when  you're ready to see the answers hit play.

So, how do you do with that quiz? Well, let's  find out here are the answers hit pause take as  

much time as you need to review them and  when you're ready to continue hit play.

You have already learned so much. Let's keep  going and you'll learn 22 more business English  

expressions. And there's a free lesson PDF. You  can find the link in the description our first  

idiom to see eye to eye to see eye to eye this  means that you agree with someone or that there is  

agreement. You could say it's important that the  team sees eye to eye on the projects objective.  

You can commonly use this in the negative to  say we didn't see eye to eye on the project  

objectives. Which means you didn't agree. Yeah.  We don't see eye to eye our next idiom is very  

similar. It's to be on the same page. This is when  you have a shared understanding or agreement so to  

see eye to eye is always with agreement, but to  be on the same page is when you have the same.

Understanding so similar but  slightly different. For example,  

we need to be on the same page  regarding the timeline for the  

project. We commonly use this with get  we need to get the team on the same page.

So this sounds like right now the team  isn't on the same page and that is used  

for that transition. So we need to get the  team on the same page go from not a general  

understanding to a general understanding  we on the same page. I love this 1 to hit  

the nail on the head. This means that  you describe exactly what is causing a  

problem or a situation. So we simply your  description is 100% Correct? For example,  

you really hit the nail on the head with your  analysis. Your analysis was 100% Correct?  

You could also use the something as the  subject and say your analysis hit the  

nail on the head. Your analysis was 100%  Correct. Now don't worry about writing all  

of these idioms down because I summarize  everything in a free lesson PDF so you can

Can look for the link in the description our  next idiom to have a lot on 1 plate this likely  

describes you it describes everyone. I have  a lot of my plate this means your very busy  

or you have a lot of tasks to complete you might  say I can't take on any more projects right now.  

I already have a lot on my plate. You could also  say I have a lot on my plate with the conference  

so you could specify a specific task and then  say you have many individual tasks for that 1  

item the conference you have many different  things to do. I have a lot on my plate with  

the conference to get the hang of this  will make you sound very natural. This is  

when you become skilled with or familiar with  something you could say it took a while but I

I finally got the hang of the new software.  So now you're familiar with the software  

your skilled at using the software or you  could say using idioms was tricky at first,  

but I got the hang of them and hopefully my  videos are helping you do that. So put in the  

comments. I got the hang of idioms. I got the hang  of idioms because I'm sure you'll get the hang of  

them very quickly next to cut Corners. This is  a negative 1 when you cut Corners it means you  

do something in the quickest or the easiest  way possible, but you sacrifice quality now,  

hopefully your company says we can't afford to  cut Corners with our safety measures and that  

means your company is going to do things properly,  even if it takes longer, even if it's more EXP

Expensive because they're not willing to  sacrifice quality. And if your company  

doesn't say that they'll get a bad reputation  and someone might say don't use that company  

they cut Corners which is not a positive thing.  You can't cut Corners in life a ballpark figure.  

This is a sports reference, but it's extremely  common in business. You need to know this 1 a  

ballpark figure is an approximation or  a rough estimate so someone might ask,  

can you give me a ballpark figure for the  budget of the project? They're asking you  

for an estimate so not a specific number just an  estimate the person could reply and say we don't  

have the budget yet. But if I had to Ballpark  it if I had to give you a ballpark figure if  

I had to Ballpark it that's what a native  speaker would say if I had to Ballpark it.

I'd say 100,000 dollars. So  that's my estimate of the budget,  

but it's not the exact number. It's just a  ballpark figure take a guess ballpark figure.

Our next 1 maybe you know this to be in the same  boat. Have you heard this 1 this is when you're  

in the same difficult situation as someone else.  We're in the same boat when it comes to global  

warming. We're all in the same situation.  It doesn't matter if it happens in India or  

Africa or New York. It affects us all we're  all in the same boat. I'm in the same boat.

Back to the drawing board. This 1  is frequently used. This is when you  

have to start a task or project again  because your previous attempt failed,  

for example, the marketing campaign didn't work  as expected. So it's back to the drawing board

to

pull strings. Ooh, I love this 1 this is  when you use your influence to manipulate or  

control a situation, for example, she  managed to pull some strings and get  

the project approved. So this sounds like  the project wasn't approved but she had  

influence. Maybe she knew someone on the  board that was approving the project. So  

she used her relationship with that person  to get the project approved. She pulled some  

strings to get the project approved. Someone  might ask you. How did you get VIP tickets?

To Taylor Swift and you  can reply back and say hmm.

I pulled some strings. I pulled some strings  our next 8 a.m. To cross 1's fingers. This  

is used to hope for good luck or a positive  outcome. For example, I'm crossing my fingers  

that the client likes our proposal and notice  that I'm doing the gesture. We commonly do  

the gesture in North America when we use this  expression. We also use this as a reply to say,  

I hope so so someone might say you'll do  a great job on the presentation and you  

can simply say fingers crossed but it's very  common to do the gesture. Does this gesture  

exist in your culture? Let us know in the  comments say yes it does or no. It doesn't  

I'm really curious to know fingers crossed. How  about this idiom to be on the ball? Do you know  

this 1 this means that your alert and quick to  understand or respond? So this is a positive.

Positive 1 your boss might say our team needs  to be on the ball to meet the tight deadlines.  

So the team needs to be very quick very alert.  They need to be on the ball our next idiom to  

throw in the towel. I hope you never do this.  This means to give up or Surrender. So if you  

say English idioms are so confusing. I'm throwing  in the towel. It means you're closing this video.  

You're unsubscribing from my channel and you're  quitting. So, please don't throw in the towel.

Thrown in the tower. So put in the comments,  

I won't throw in the towel. I won't  throw in the towel because sometimes

Seem difficult, but keep at it.

You'll get the

number 14 to have 1's hands tied. This means  you're unable to take action because of external  

circumstances. So maybe you ask your boss for  an extra day of vacation and your boss says I'd  

like to help but my hands are tied due to company  policy. So the external situation or circumstance  

is the company policy. It forbids additional  vacation days. So your boss can't do anything  

your bosses hands are tied. So to deliver bad  news a native speaker will commonly say sorry. My  

hands are tied. My hands are tied next to burn the  Midnight Oil something I never do this is when you  

work late into the night. For example, we had to  burn the Midnight Oil in order to meet the Dead.

Headline so I said this is something I never  do and that's because I believe that I'm more  

productive if I sleep for 8 hours. So I would  rather sleep for 8 hours. And then the next day  

I'll be very productive. If I burn the Midnight  Oil. I'm going to waste an entire day because  

I'm not going to be productive. That's just my  personal opinion next to throw someone under the  

bus. Oh, this is a good 1. This is when you  blame someone else or sacrifice someone for  

personal gain or to avoid being blamed. So let's  say 2 co-workers worked on a project together,  

but then 1 co-worker publicly said the other  co-worker is the reason why the project failed  

even though they made all decisions together  that co-worker is going to be upset and they can

Say I can't believe she threw me under the bus  at the meeting Sheldon threw us all under the  

bus number 17 to be on thin ice. This is when  you're in a risky or dangerous situation. So  

let's say your boss says to you. This is the  third time you're late. You're on thin ice.

That's not a good position to  be because it means that you're  

in a riskier dangerous situation in this case.

You're at risk of losing your job. You're on thin  

ice. So management will say this to you  to let you know that you're in trouble.

You're on thin ice next to hit a snag. This  probably happens to people every single day.  

This is when you encounter unexpected  problems challenges or difficulties.  

So let's say you're about to launch a new  product and everything is going perfectly  

but then we hit a snag when the supplier  couldn't deliver the materials on time,  

but don't throw in the towel because I'm sure  you can work through it number 19 to keep 1's  

eyes peeled. This is when you stay alert and  watchful for something specific your co-worker  

could say keep your eyes peeled for any updates on  the project deadline. So your co-worker is telling  

you to watch carefully for those updates keep your  eyes peeled number 20 1 that your boss is going  

to love to cut a deal. This is when you reach an  agreement, so an agreement is a positive thing.

Your boss will be happy but this  usually happens after a period of  

negotiation. You could say it took us  a while, but we finally cut a deal.

Cut a new deal.

Number 21 to be up in the air. This is when  things are uncertain undecided or unresolved.  

For example, the conference is up in the air.  So it's uncertain if you're even going to have  

a conference or the status of it. The planning of  it. Everything is uncertain undecided unresolved.  

It's up in the air or you could say our plans  are up in the air. Nothing has been decided.

That's up in the air and finally number  22 in the works in the works. This means  

in progress So currently being developed or  finalized the conference is in the works.  

We're working on it. We're developing  it. We're finalizing it our plans are  

in the works. So they're not up in the air  anymore. They're in the works. Amazing job  

42 business English Expressions to help you  communicate your ideas fluently naturally  

and confidently. Do you want me to teach  you more Expressions? If you do then put  

more more more more more more more more more  more more in the comments below and of course,  

make sure you like this video share with your  friends and subscribe. So you're notified  

every time I post a new lesson and you can keep  improving your English with this lesson right now.