BEP 89c – Telephone English: Making Arrangements

You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English Podcast for professionals on the move. Hello and welcome back to Business English Pod for today's lesson on making arrangements on the telephone.

Before we get started, a quick reminder that a PDF transcript for this lesson, along with hundreds of others, is available on the BEP website. Premium members can also access extra resources for every lesson. To take a free trial, just head over to www.businessenglishpod.com. Communication can be hard enough with a person who's right in front of you.

It gets even harder when you're on the telephone and you can't see the person. And if it's all in a language other than your native language, well, let's just say things aren't easy. When talking on the telephone, clarity is critical. You can see how important it is to be clear when you make arrangements.

If you're talking about times and places and making plans, confusion could lead to missed appointments, missed flights, or missed opportunities. Some skills are useful in all phone conversations, like asking if someone is busy when you call them. Other skills are especially useful for making arrangements, like interrupting someone to confirm information and asking about preferences. You might also have to reassure people and show flexibility when making arrangements.

In today's dialogue, we'll join a telephone conversation between Marco and Adriana. Marco works for an Italian fashion company called Viva. Adriana works for Foxtrot, Viva's distributor in the U.S. Marco is calling to make arrangements for a visit to the U.S. for an expo or trade show.

As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions. 1. What does Marco ask Adriana before he begins discussing their travel arrangements? 2. When Marco begins telling Adriana about his flight plans, how does she interrupt him? 3. How does Marco respond to Adriana's question about the kind of food they want to eat?

Hello, Foxtrot Fashion. This is Adriana. How can I help you? Hello, this is Marco speaking from Viva in Italy. Marco, how are you doing? Just fine, thanks. How about you?

Very well. Good. I'm just calling about the expo in Las Vegas. Are you in the middle of anything? No, that's fine. This is perfect timing.

That's great. Okay, we've already booked our flight. Uh-huh. When are you getting in? It's flight UA5918 from Los Angeles. Oh, wait a sec. Let me write this down.

UA5918? That's right. Arriving at 5.15 p.m. on Saturday, March 8th. Great. Got that. We'll arrange for somebody to pick you up. Perfect.

And what about a hotel? Can we help you book something? Yes, that would be great. What are you looking for? Well, we don't need anything special. Just close to the exhibition center would be great.

I know. Just the place. Could you make sure they have internet access and a business center? Of course. Don't worry about a thing. We'll take care of everything. Great. And one last thing.

We'd love to take you out on Sunday evening for a good meal. Sounds lovely. We're looking forward to finally meeting you. So are we.

What kind of food were you thinking of? Italian. Just kidding. It doesn't matter. Whatever you guys prefer. We're up for anything. Well, I know a great place. You'll love it.

Wonderful. So we look forward to seeing you here on the 8th. Yes. Looking forward to it. Any questions, just send me an email.

Of course. I'll do that. Bye. Bye. Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and techniques Marco and Adriana used to make arrangements. Notice how both Adriana and Marco clearly identify themselves at the start of the call.

Hello, Foxtrot Fashion. This is Adriana. How can I help you? Hello, this is Marco speaking from Viva in Italy. Marco, how are you doing?

Just fine, thanks. How about you? Very well. Good. I'm just calling about the expo in Las Vegas. Are you in the middle of anything?

Marco and Adriana have a bit of small talk at the start of the conversation, but Marco wants to get into his reason for calling. Before giving details, he asks Adriana if she's in the middle of anything. It means, is she busy doing something?

Some calls are simple and short. But if you need to discuss something in detail, it's polite to ask the person you're calling if they're busy. This tells them you've got some questions or things to discuss that might need a bit of

time. If they are in the middle of something, you can simply arrange a better time. What are some other ways we can ask if someone's busy when we call them on the phone? Let's practice some more examples.

Is now a good time, or are you busy? Do you have a second to chat? Can we talk now, or is it best to call you back? Are you busy at the moment?

So is Adriana in the middle of something when Marco calls? No, that's fine. This is perfect timing. That's great.

Okay, we've already booked our flight. Uh-huh. When are you getting in? As you can hear, Marco is talking about his travel plans and mentions that he has

reserved or booked a flight. And Adriana wants to know what time the flight arrives, or as she says, what time it gets in. What happens next?

It's flight UA5918 from Los Angeles. Oh, wait a sec. Let me write this down. UA5918. Marco begins by telling Adriana the flight number,

and Adriana immediately sees that there will be some detailed information for her to remember. She doesn't want to miss anything or try simply to remember it all. So what does she do? She interrupts Marco to confirm what he has just said and write down the details.

To interrupt someone, you just need a short phrase like wait a sec or hold on, and then you can confirm the information. Let's run through some more ways of interrupting to confirm information. Just a moment. Did you say 4 p.m. or 3? Can I just stop you there and make sure I've got that right?

Hold on a sec, please. You said you're at 114 Fulton Plaza, right? I'm sorry, but let me just write this down. You said we'll leave on the 18th?

Now that Adriana has confirmed the flight number, Marco will tell her when it arrives. Let's listen.