UPM-CALC/SEM2/2019-20/CEL2105/CM 2

CEL 2105
SPOKEN COMMUNICATION FOR THE WORKPLACE
SEMESTER 2, 2019/2020
CLASS MATERIAL 2 (WEEK 2)

Activity 1
Complete the table below by adding other examples of language expression used in making
conference calls.

Useful Language Expressions for Conference Calls

Pre-meeting conference call

 Setting a meeting
 “I’m scheduling a meeting on .... (Day/date/time). Can you attend?”
 “I’d like to set a meeting on the ..... (Day/date/time)”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

 Confirming a meeting
 I’m calling to confirm your attendance for the meeting on the ....”
 “Could you please confirm that you can attend the meeting on the....?”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

 Postponing a meeting

 I’m afraid I cannot make it to the meeting this Friday. Could we postpone the meeting to
next Friday?
 [Someone’s name] is presently in London. It is best that we postpone our weekly
meeting to a later date.

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Beginning a conference call

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 “Are we all on?”

 “Can I ask that we all state our names, please?”

 I’m here. It’s [your name] in [your city].”

 “Can everybody hear me?”

Introducing oneself

 “Welcome everybody, my name is [your name] and I am the designer for GPLZ Video.”
 “Hi, I’m [your name] and I’m the designer for GPLZ Video.”


Stating the purpose of the conference call

 “Today I’m here to talk to you about…”

 “I’m delighted to be here today to tell you about…”
 “Firstly I’ll talk about…” or “I’ll start with some general information on…”
 “Then I will look at…” or “then we’ll go over…”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Giving apologies for someone who is absent

 “I’m afraid that [ absentee’s name] can’t be with us today. He /She is .....”
 “Unfortunately [absentee’s name] will not be with us today because he/she .....”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Clarifying things during a conference call

• “Could you speak more slowly, please?”

• “Could you repeat that, please?”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Taking a break from the conversation

 “I need to leave for ten minutes. Is that okay with everyone?”

 “Hold on, I’ve got another call waiting, I’ll be right back.”

 ______________________________________________________________________

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 ______________________________________________________________________

Returning after a break

 “[Your name] here. I’m back on the line again.”

 “[Your name] just coming back in here, thanks everyone.”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Accidentally speaking over somebody and asking them to continue speaking

 “Sorry, I interrupted you. You were saying…?”

 “Please go on…”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Signal phrases for when you have a question.

• “Am I to understand that…”

• “Sorry, but just to clarify…”

• ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Agreeing with people.

• “That’s an excellent point [person’s name], I totally agree with you on that.”
• “Okay, I think we are all on the same page here…”

• ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Disagreeing with people.

 “I’m sorry but I think you may have that slightly wrong…”
 “From our perspective, it’s a little different. Let me explain.”

 ______________________________________________________________________

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 ______________________________________________________________________

Negotiating successfully

 “I understand that we can’t do that, but can we discuss some other alternatives?”

 “I hear what you’re saying, but our bottom line is very clear on this one.”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Ending the conference call

 “Well, that brings us to the end of the meeting, thanks so much for listening.”
 “It was a real pleasure being here today. Goodbye and thank you.”

 ______________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Planning for Future Meetings

 “Are you free to talk again next week?”

 “When can we talk about this again?”
 “How does 2:30 p.m. Thursday sound?”
 “Does Thursday at 2:30 p.m. suit you?”
 “Thursday at 2:30 p.m. then, that would be fine.”
 “Okay, I look forward to seeing you then.”
 “Thursday at 2.30 p.m. Looking forward to it, see you then.”
 “Thursday at 2.30 p.m., bye for now.”

 _____________________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________

Source: http://www.fluentu.com/english/business/blog/how-to-speak-business-english/
https://www.englishtrackers.com/english-blog/conference-calling-in-english/

Activity 2
Role-play the following situation (conference call).

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Situation:

 You are the sales manager of DHL.

 You want to arrange a meeting regarding last year’s poor sales performance.
 You decide to make a conference call to two other sales executives in Singapore to set
up the meeting.
 You are required to discuss the following in the conference call:-
 purpose of the call
 agenda
 time, venue and date
 expected participants
 related documents
 equipment required
 food and beverage

Task:

 Form a group of 3 members.

 Assign the role of the sales manager and the two sales executives.
 In your group, discuss and write out the dialogue for the conference call in the space
given.
 Use the language expressions in Activity 1.
 Role-play the dialogue.

Dialogue for Role-Play

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Dialogue for Role-Play

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Activity 3
Scattergories is a board game by Milton Bradley in which players need to fill out their

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category list with answers that start with the same letter. Below are some Scattergories lists
for the workplace. Students can compete individually or in teams.

Scattergories List 1

reason to cancel a meeting  ____________________________________________

excuse for being late for work _____________________________________________

positive adjective for a manager ________________________________________

negative adjective for a manager _______________________________________

well-known person in your field (first or last name) __________________________

something people keep on their desks ___________________________________

department in a company _____________________________________________

Scattergories List 2

something you do at work every day _____________________________________

job title _____________________________________________________

reason to quit your job ___________________________________________

perks or benefits ________________________________________________

cause of stress _____________________________________________________

common workplace complaint _________________________________________

reason to ignore a phone call ___________________________________________

Source: http://www.businessenglishresources.com

Activity 4
In each pair of sentences below one should be Present Simple (e.g. verb + s) and one
should be Present Continuous (am/ is/ are + verb + ing). Put the verbs into the correct
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tenses each time.

Your job

1. I work (work) for the finance department. I am working (work) with the planning
department on next year’s financial plan.

2. I work (work) in a branch office just north of Tokyo. I’m a consultant so I work in
different clients’ offices. I _________________________________ (presently work)
in this building, on the 13th floor.

3. Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2015 I attend (attend) this conference
in order to find new suppliers. I am attending (attend) trade fairs three or four times a
year.
4. I often visit (visit) clients in cities around Japan. I’m in Tokyo today because I am
visiting(I visit) our head office here.

Your company

5. We help (help) companies design improved workspaces such as offices. Right now,
we are designing(design) the new IBM Japan HQ.

6. We do (do) business in 23 countries. We are doing (do) much better this year than
last year.

7. We look (look) for premises in this area. We mainly are dealing (deal with) local
governments and NPOs.

8. We offer (offer) a 20% discount until the end of this month. We are operating
(operate) franchise coffee shops, usually in shopping centres.

9. We are currently setup (currently set up) a subsidiary in Belgium. We are servicing
(service) office equipment such as photocopiers.

10. We deliver (deliver) all orders within three days. We are organizing (organize) the
2015 Tokyo Car Show.

11. We try (try) to cut costs by moving more production abroad. We are providing
(provide) language training to big and small companies in 34 countries around the
world.

12. We make (make) electronics for athletes such as pedometers. We are making
(make) plans to launch health insurance for people working abroad for up to a year.

13. We manufacture (manufacture) electric sports cars. We are manufacturing

(manufacture) a special edition to celebrate our 50th anniversary this year.

Source: http://www.businessenglishresources.com

Activity 5
Write the simple past form of the verbs in parentheses.

Example: Proton lost (lose) to competitor Perodua in the launch of its first electric car.
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1. Most of us woke (wake) up early this morning to prepare for our CEO’s visit.

2. Who wrote (write) this press release?

3. I thinked (think) it was a pretty good idea.

4. Unfortunately, management laid (lay) off several people last month.

5. I got (get) some good advice from some of my older coworkers.

6. We flied (fly) from London to Tokyo in 12 hours.

7. It took (take) several weeks for the application to be approved.

8. Many people choosed (choose) not to participate in the event.

9. Our owner bought (buy) new furniture for the lobby.

10. Most of our funding come (come) from private donations.

11. Mark was offended by the comment. He stood(stand) up and walked out of the room.

12. We understood (understand) that it was a difficult task.

13. She beat (beat) the other candidates in the presidential election.

14. It was difficult, but I eventually forgave (forgive) him for what he did.

15. Our client gave (give) us some guidelines to follow.

Source: http://www.businessenglishresources.com

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