12 useful phrasal verbs for Business English

We have 11 useful phrasal verbs for you. They're verbs you'll hear in lots of  

different situations, but they're  particularly useful for business.  

So if you're learning English for your job or  career, this is a video you need to watch.  

These phrasal verbs are all  frequent in English conversation.  

Particularly business conversations, so let's  jump straight in and see them in action.  

This project's awful, Craig. I hate it. The  director and the client want different things  

and I can't satisfy them both. Can't you get someone else to do it?  

I've asked lots of people but  they've all turned me down.  

Nobody wants to take it on  because it's so difficult.  

Yeah, exactly!  

But there is one person. You've  given me an idea. Thanks.  

Bye. Bye.  

Hi! Hey! How's it going?  

Not bad. Actually I've written the  script for a television commercial.  

Oh, wow! I'm working with a director from the BBC.  

That's amazing. I'm supposed to meet the actors next week.  

Oh I'd love to work with actors. Yeah. My problem is I'm snowed under  

at the moment. I should really hand  the project over to someone else.  

Could I do it? Well, I'd have to ask Kathy and if I can. I  

don't know if she'll let me back out of it. Oh please ask her! Tell her I can take over.  

But it's such a fun project. Oh let me do it!  

OK. I'll go and ask Kathy if  you can take over from me.  

Thank you so much. I don't think I should trust you.  

You're right. But let's go  through the phrasal verbs.  

The first one you heard was turn someone down. I've asked Tom and Dick and Harry to do it,  

and they all turned me down. If you make a request and someone says no,  

they turn you down. We can also turn down offers,  

and again it means reject them. OK, next verb: take on.  

Nobody wants to take the project  on because it's so difficult.  

Here take on means to accept extra  work or extra responsibility.  

I'd love to take on a new project.  Especially a television commercial.  

Now if you take on too much work, you might  get snowed under. That's the next verb.  

Vicki would love to work on this project. The  problem is she's snowed under at the moment.  

If you're snowed under, you have more  things to do than you can manage.  

We use this verb to talk about too much work.  

And if we're snowed under, we might 'hand a  project over' to someone else - give it away.  

Perhaps I can hand the project over  to Jay. That would solve my problem.  

When you 'hand over' a project, you give  someone else your power and responsibility.  

I don't know if I want to give  you my power and responsibility.  

J: Hand it over to me! OK. Next verb, back out.  

I don't know if I can back out of the  project because I said I'd do it.  

When we back out we decide NOT to do  something that we earlier agreed to do.  

So it's when we promised to do something,  but then we decide not to do it.  

And the last verb you heard:  take over from somebody.  

OK. I'll go and ask Kathy if  you can take over from me.  

Thank you! When someone takes over,  

they begin to take control from someone else. We also talk about business takeovers,  

when one company buys the shares of another.  And that's about taking control as well.  

If Kathy says yes, Jay can take over from me and  become the project manager. That would be great!  

OK, I think it's time for the  second part of this story now.  

I have a BAD feeling about this. You don't trust me.  

No, I don't. You're very wise. Let's see what happens.  

What did Kathy say? She said... Yes! Congratulations.  

You're now the official project manager. Oh that's great. Thank you so much.  

You're welcome. So let me fill you  in. The files are all on the network,  

and here's the first draft of the script. Great!  

I ran it by the client and the  director and here's their feedback.  

Did they like it? Yes. They have a few suggestions, of course,  

so you'll need to make some changes. No problem.  

The client wants the script to be  longer and they want you to zero in  

on the product specifications. OK.  

And the director wants some cuts.  She'd like the script to be shorter.  

So longer but shorter? I'm sure you'll figure it out.  

Anything else? Yes, the director  

pushed back on the idea of product specs. She  wants you to cut them and add some humour.  

So add some jokes? That could be fun. But not too many because the client wants  

it to be more serious. I don't understand.  

Just read their feedback. They've spelled out  what they want. Now I need to get going.  

Wait a minute. What's the schedule? Oh there's no rush. You can take your time.  

But Kathy wants the new script  on her desk in half an hour.  

What? I was right. That didn't go well for me!  

True. When did you start to  suspect there was a problem?  

As soon as you started to fill me in. And that was the first verb.  

Let me fill you in on what's happened so far. OK.  

When we fill someone in on something  we bring them up to date. We tell them  

about recent events and what's been happening. For example, if someone's been away on holiday,  

we might have to fill them in on what's  been happening when they get back.  

The next verb was run by. We can run things by  people or past people. It means the same thing.  

It's when we tell them about a plan  so they can give their opinion.  

I ran the script past the client and the  director in order to get their feedback.  

And their feedback was very different.  They wanted completely different things.  

Yes. The client wanted to zero in on the  product specifications but the director didn't.  

Zero in on is the next phrasal verb. The director wants you to cut the product  

specifications, but the client  wants you to zero in on them.  

If we zero in on something we focus on  it and fix all our attention on it.  

And that wasn't your only problem. The client wants the script to be longer  

but the director wants it to be shorter. I'm sure you'll figure it out.  

Figure out. If there's a problem, we have to think  and find an answer. We have to figure it out.  

I don't think anyone can figure out  a solution to this problem though.  

Yeah, it's probably impossible!  OK, next verb, push back on.  

If someone doesn't like an idea or  a plan, they might push back on it.  

It means they resist it and don't accept it.  

The director pushed back on the  idea of product specifications.  

We use this verb in British English too,  but it's more common in American English.  

You can use pushback as a noun as well, to  talk about resistance to an idea or plan.  

And the last verb you heard  is spell something out.  

Just read their feedback. They've  spelled everything out for you there.  

When we spell something out,  we explain it in detail.  

So it's very simple, clear,  and easy to understand.  

Except I don't think their feedback's going to be  easy to understand. Or easy to put into action.  

But we hope all the phrasal verbs  will now be easy to understand.  

And that you never have to take on projects  where your clients want different things.  

We have lots more videos on phrasal verbs I'll put some links at the end and if you've  

enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs up  and make sure you're subscribed to our channel.  

Bye-bye Bye