Do you avoid certain business situations in English?
You know, maybe you know you could just pick up the phone and call your business contact or colleague. And it would clear up a miscommunication. Or maybe help you both move forward on important business.
But you sit at your desk and stare at your phone.
And instead you send an email. Because…well, then you don’t have to speak English on the phone.
I know exactly what that feels like because I avoided making phone calls in French for my own business for 12 years.
Do you know what else I know from personal experience?
Avoiding a situation doesn’t help you progress.
In fact, if you keep avoiding an uncomfortable situation, it just seems more terrifying. More impossible to manage–or change.
So why do we do it?
- Because we’re scared. We don’t want to feel embarrassed.
- And because we definitely don’t want to miss opportunities because of our struggles with a language.
But there’s another reason we don’t solve our language problems:
We have no idea what concrete steps we can take right now to find confidence.
We just don’t know where to start or what would be effective.
And because of this, we imagine that we will only be able to do business in English with confidence when
- we have perfect grammar,
- or once we’re ‘fluent’
- or when we have achieved some other vague and impossible goal.
Here’s what I also know from experience:
Knowing where to start, taking small steps that work, and focusing on a few key business English situations will change the way you feel about doing business in English.
So let’s get started right away!
I’ve picked out 4 key business situations for you today, and I have lessons for you with strategies and tips that will help you start improving your Business English today.
You can do this.
Index:
1. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: Do you need to include a greeting in your emails?
2. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: Expressions you need if you lead meetings in English.
3. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: How to introduce yourself in English.
4. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: How to answer the phone in English without feeling nervous.
1. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: Do you need to include a greeting in your emails?
If you use English in a business setting, you probably write emails!
And one of the fastest ways you can start feeling more confident when you send emails is to clear up confusion. You know, those little doubts you have before you end the email:
- Am I doing this right?
- Is there a rule I can follow? My native-speaking colleagues sometimes say “hi” but sometimes they skip it!
- What if I offend someone?
And there’s another problem. Even if you’re surrounded by English-speaking colleagues, you might not feel comfortable asking them how it works.
But once you understand how it works, you can clear up your confusion and start having more confidence in your emails. Let’s take a look together.
Check out my lesson, No “Hi” on Emails: What’s the Deal About Email Greetings?
2. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: Expressions you need if you lead meetings in English.
Has this ever happened to you?
You have a meeting to run. You are in charge. But this time…the meeting is in English.
You know exactly what you want to say–in your native language.
But in English, you are having difficulty finding your words. You’re getting the idea across, but you’re unsure. Are you making mistakes? Did you say that right?
It’s stressful wondering if you’re doing it right in front of your colleagues, your clients…your boss.
But I bet you also know that every meeting has certain key situations that happen every time.
You’re probably always going to have the chance to greet everyone and introduce yourself, for example.
And you can start feeling a lot better in your Business English meetings simply by learning the key phrases you need to know.
You could pick the most relevant expressions and practice them for a week before trying them out in your next meeting.
Feeling a lot more confident in your business meeting takes a little work. But you can do it.
Let’s get started!
Check out my lesson, How to smoothly start a meeting (when you’re in charge).
3. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: How to introduce yourself in English.
If you need to introduce yourself in English, that’s great news!
Introducing yourself the right way can create many new opportunities:
- You can make a great first impression at your new job or in your new role.
- You can start to form relationships with clients or other business contacts.
Really, whenever you introduce yourself to someone new, you have no idea what opportunities it will create. And it’s something we need to do often in Business English.
So don’t rely on improvisation and find yourself wondering what to say, or searching for your words.
Instead, give yourself what you need to feel confident in this essential situation. I think you can see how it will make a big impact on your confidence and possibly create new opportunities for you later.
To learn exactly how to introduce yourself in a few essential Business English situations and how to continue the conversation a bit too, check out my lesson How to introduce yourself in English.
4. Feel confident in 4 key Business English situations: How to answer the phone in English without feeling nervous.
You’re working, going about your business when the phone rings.
And you get that familiar feeling in your stomach–like you’re in a car driving too fast on the highway. Ugh!
We all know what it feels like to wish you could escape and not answer the phone.
Because we’re afraid we won’t be able to understand, or it will be confusing and awkward.
But just imagine how being able to pick up the phone with confidence would make your life easier.
And remember this:
You can prepare yourself for Business English conversations. And preparing will make you feel more confident.
If you prepare just a little in advance you’ll:
- feel less nervous–and be less likely to get confused or make mistakes.
- start the conversation knowing what to say!
It’s incredible how small improvements in your English can add up to big changes in your ability to handle business situations. Just feeling more confident can help you stop worrying about your English and do your job so much better.
The key is to learn the key expressions and phrases that will change these conversations for you. These are not hard to learn–they just take a bit of work and consistency on your part. Once you know where to start there’s no secret to it.
It is absolutely something you can do.
Give yourself the gift of being able to pick up the telephone in English with confidence.
Check out my lesson: How to answer the phone in English.
Take the next step: Improve your English in the comments
The best way to become more confident using Business English is to practice!
Here’s your weekly challenge for this week:
- Tell me which of the lessons in today’s video was the most useful for you
- And if you still have a question about other business English situations, put your question in the comments. Then, I can make a video just for you!
If you learned something from this lesson, please share it with your coworkers & friends. You can send your message to them in English for more practice!
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Stop struggling to learn & use phrasal verbs in English
If you would like to master 30 phrasal verbs in 30 days, take the 30-Day Phrasal Verb Challenge!
I’ll send you one short exercise per day for 30 days. In 5 minutes per day, you’ll effortlessly add 30 new phrasal verbs to your English vocabulary!
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To start the 30-Day Challenge today, go to https://christinarebuffetcourses.com/30-day-phrasal-verb-challenge-join-now
Can’t wait to see you in the Challenge,
Christina
