Business English Lessons1: Adam Shuaibu Course outline Greetings

Business English Lessons1: Adam Shuaibu

Course outline Greetings and Introductions Words of Appreciation

What are they doing? How are they doing? What are they saying? Introductions and greetings shake hands, smile, make eye-contact, bend body, exchange business card Glad to meet you Introducing yourself and other people

Greetings in English Speaker A: --- Hello/ Hi! (greeting) My name is/ I am Anna. ( presenting one’s name) Nice to meet you. (showing willingness for the meeting) Speaker B: ---Nice to meet you, too! (responding with showing happiness) My name is/ I am Lena. ( presenting one’s name )

Ways to greet each other Hello, …/ Hi, … Good morning! (afternoon, evening) How do you do? /How are you? Good/Nice/Glad/Pleased to see/meet you! What a pleasant surprise! How are you? - Fine, thanks. And you? How have you been? - Very well. And you?

Responses to greetings Fine, thank you. And you? Very well, thanks. And you? Not too bad, thanks. All right, thanks. Same as usual. Not very well，I’m afraid. Can’t complain.

Introducing oneself May I introduce myself? My name’s….. Let me introduce myself. My name’s … . I’d like to introduce myself. I’m … . I don’t think we’ve met. I’m … .

Introducing someone else May I introduce…..? This is … . Have you met … ? I’d like you to meet … . I want you to meet … .

Example: Mr Bean, I don't think you have met Mrs Smith. Mr Bean, I don't think you know Mrs Smith Mr Bean, May I introduce you to Mrs Smith Mrs Smith, do you know Mr Bean? Mr Bean, I'd like you to meet Mrs Smith

Words of Appreciation Thanks. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much. Thank you very much indeed. It was very kind of you. I appreciate your help. You’ve been very helpful.

Thanking someone who tries to help Thanks anyway. Thank you for (looking). Thanks for (trying). It doesn’t matter. Thanks. Never mind. Thanks

Responding to thanks You’re welcome. (US) Not at all. (formal, UK) Don’t mention it. (It’s) my pleasure. It was nothing. That’s alright/OK. No problem. Any time.

Good-byes Good bye/ Bye/ I’ll say good bye/ See you later/ See you soon. I must/(have to) go now. I (really) must be going. I’m afraid I’ve got to go. It’s getting (very/ rather) late. They’re calling my flight. I’ve got some things to prepare for … . I want to get away before the traffic gets too bad. I’ve enjoyed talking to you. It’s been (most) interesting talking to you. It’s been a very useful meeting/ nice afternoon. Thanks for everything. Thank you for (all) your help. Thank you for coming.

Have a good/ safe trip/ flight. - Thank you … (same to you). Have a good weekend. - Same to you. Enjoy the rest of your stay. - Same to you. It was nice meeting you. - I really enjoyed meeting you, too. I hope to see you again. - I hope so, too. See you on the 13th. - See you. I look forward to our next meeting. I look forward to seeing you again. I look forward to seeing you when you’re next in Moscow.

Making contact Mind if I join you? Excuse me, you must be … . Excuse me, have we met? I really enjoyed your talk this morning. Are you giving a talk? Excuse me, are you Mrs … ? - Yes, that’s right. Hello, you must be Mrs … . You are Mrs …, aren’t you?

Keeping the conversation going What do you do, by the way? What do you do for a living? What line of business are you in? How are you enjoying the conference? Do you know many people here? Where are you from? Do you often travel to ……? Have you been here before? Is this your first visit to ……? How long are you going to stay? Can I get you a drink? So, where are you staying?

Where do you work? I work at…(name of the Company): KFC I work for… (company/famous person): Mr. … I work in…(place): in an office, school, factory I work in…(city/country): in Moscow, in France I work in…(department/general area): in sales, human resources/finance, consulting, etc. I work with…(computers, children, etc) I’m responsible for…

If there are people who are different in ages, sex, positions and etc, you Introduce the visited one to the visiting one first. Introduce the junior positioned one to the senior one first. Introduce the younger one to the elder one first. Introduce the male to the female first. After conducting introduction, the introducer usually should find an excuse as to leave the new acquaintances to chat.

Getting away If you’ll excuse me, I have to make a phone call. If you’ll excuse me, I must just go and say hello to someone. Would you excuse me a moment? I’ll be right back.

Practice with partners as you are at a business meeting, where you are strangers to each other.

Task 1: Situation one: Suppose you are Mrs Anna from England. You have never been to ABC conference before. Introduce yourself formally to the receptionist. Situation two: Suppose you are Mrs Lena from Chicago. You came to the annual conference of ABC Company last year and met many friends at this year’s meeting. Greet the receptionist.

Task 2 Situation : Introduce Ms/Mr Smith to your sales manager, Ms/Mr Richards who is from Sydney. Ms/Mr Smith is from HongKong and works for the Shanghai Bank.

Steps: greeting---responding to greeting---introducing other people---giving information about other people---the other two introducing each other

Invitations. I was wondering if you would like to join us for a meal. Perhaps you would like to have dinner at my home. Perhaps you would like to come round for a meal. We wanted to invite you to dinner. I thought you might like to try some of our local cuisine. There’s a really nice place just a few minutes from here/ round the corner/ down the road. There’s a pretty good place you might like which specializes in fish. There’s a great new place with a fantastic view of the city.

Accepting That’s very kind of you. Thank you for inviting me. I’d like that very much. I’d be delighted to come. Thank you. That’d be very nice. I’ll look forward to it. Yes, please. Thanks. That’s/ What a good idea. That sounds good/ fun.

Setting the details What time should I come? Where shall we meet? Shall I pick you up? What time/ Where shall I pick you up? Shall we meet at half past seven? Say at half past seven.

Declining Thank you very much, but I’m afraid I can’t come. That’s very kind of you,: Unfortunately, I have arranged something else. but I won’t be here tomorrow. unfortunately I’m busy on Tuesday. Thanks, but I won’t be able to make it then.

LESSON 2 Telephoning and Voice message

Telephone conversation. Introducing yourself Good morning, Anna. (How can I help you?) Hello, the ABC company. Anna Vladmirovna speaking. (What can I do for you?) Hello, this is … from … . Hello, my name’s … . I’m calling from … .

Asking for the caller’s name Who’s calling, please? Can I have your name, please?

Saying who you want Can I have the accounts department? I’d like to speak to … . Could I speak to …, please? Is … there, please? I’m calling about … .

Responding I’ll put you through/ connect you. Hold the line, please. I’m sorry he/ she is not available. I’m afraid he/ she’s busy at the moment. I’m afraid he/ she’s away/ not in at the moment/ in a meeting.

Reason for calling I’m calling/ringing to … . I’d like to … . I need some information about … .

Leaving and taking a message Can I leave a message? Can I take a message? Would you like to leave a message? Please tell him/ her … . Could you ask him/ her to call me? Could you tell him/ her I called?

Asking for repetition I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your name/ your number. Sorry, I didn’t hear that. Could you repeat it, please? Could you say it again? I’m afraid I didn’t understand. Could you spell that, please? Could you speak up?

TELEPHONE NUMBERS 543 476 706- five four three four seven six seven oh (zero) six 234 226 589- two three four two two (double two) six five eight nine

Important phrasal verbs call back/ ring back cut off get through speak up hang up hold on pick up put through

Leaving Voice message. Have you ever left a message on a voice mail in English? Are you able to receive messages? Do you know how to leave a message? What are the things that you say when you leave a message?

Voice message steps Who is calling? Hello/good day Mr. …this is/I’m/my name is…. From….(place of work) Why are you calling? I’m calling about/with regards to/in relations to….. When can they call you back?.... You can call/reach me any day after 5pm How can they reach you?... You can call/reach me at (802)555-5555 Look forward to talking to you Bye.

Business voicemail greetings Hi, you’ve reached [your name] of [your business]. I’m sorry that I’m not available to answer your call at the present time. Please leave your name, number and a quick message at the tone and I’ll forward your message to the appropriate person. Hi this is [your name], I’m either away from my desk or on the phone, please leave your name and number along with a short message and I’ll be sure to get back to you. Hello, you have reached the office of [your name]; I will be out of my office starting on [date] and will be returning on [date]. You can call me when I return or leave a brief message. If this is an emergency I can be reached on my cell, which is [your number].