Must Know Business English Expressions For Fluent English (with Quiz)

In this lesson, you're going to  learn advanced business expressions  

that will help you sound professional,  fluent and natural in the workplace.

And you need to know these expressions.

And at the end, I'm going to quiz you.

So make sure you watch right to the end.

Of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Now let's get started.

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 weekend, 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 no 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 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 to brainstorm.

Do you know this one to 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 a  brainstorm A brainstorm session.

That's acceptable.

But it's 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 one?

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 list, 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 in the finally Fluent 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 one 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 one  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 PM.

That's the scheduled end of your work day.

And let's say today you have a brainstorming  session scheduled from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

So an all day brainstorming  session now around 3:30 PM.

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.

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 e-mail  and you'll see someone right.

Please keep me in the loop.

If your boss sends you an e-mail  and says please keep me in the loop,  

it means that your boss wants you to inform  them about 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 two days.

So that person's knowledge is 2 days old.

They don't know what has happened for the  last two 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 two days.

Can you bring me up to speed?

To do that?

You will give that person  all the information updates,  

developments from the last two 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.

I'll 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.

Hit, pause.

Take as much time as you need.

And when you're ready to  see the answers, hit play.

So how'd 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.

So how'd you do with that quiz?

Share your score in the comments and leave an  

example with your favorite  expression from the list.

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