Workplace English: phone calls without the panic

Xin chào! Week three of the Workplace English series. We have done emails and meetings. This week is the one most of my students say they dread: the phone call.

It is harder than a meeting for a simple reason. In a meeting you have faces, slides and a whiteboard. On the phone you have only sound, and often bad sound. Remember from the TOEIC series that listening is the first skill to fade; the phone is where you notice.

The good news: phone calls follow a script more than any other workplace conversation. Learn the script and most of the panic goes away.

Open with three things

The first ten seconds should answer: who you are, where you are from, and why you are calling.

Hi, this is Lan from ABC Logistics. I'm calling about the delivery scheduled for Thursday.

Saying the reason early helps the other person switch into the right topic, and it means the rest of the call is answers to a question they already understand.

If you are receiving the call, the same idea in reverse: "Lan speaking. How can I help?"

Slow the call down

You are allowed to control the speed. Fluent speakers do it all the time:

• Sorry, the line isn't very clear. Could you speak a little more slowly?
• Could you hold on a moment? Let me get a pen.
• Let me just check that and call you back in ten minutes.

The last one is the most useful sentence in this post. You never have to answer a hard question live.

Numbers, names and dates: always repeat them back

This is where phone calls go wrong, because fifteen and fifty sound alike, and so do B and D. Repeat every important detail:

• So that's fifteen, one five, units. Is that right?
• Could you spell your surname for me? Then read it back: N, G, U, Y, E, N.
• Just to confirm: Thursday the 30th, at 2 p.m.?

Saying a number digit by digit (one five, not fifteen) is normal on the phone and nobody will think it strange.

Close the call clearly

End with a summary and the next step, the same shape as a good email:

Great, so you'll send the new invoice today, and I'll confirm the delivery tomorrow morning. Thanks for your help.

Then follow up in writing. A two-line email after an important call protects both of you from a misheard number.

This week's practice

Write your own three opening lines: one for calling a supplier, one for calling a colleague in another office, one for answering an unknown number. Say each one out loud until it comes out without thinking. Then, on your next real call, repeat back every number you hear.

Next Wednesday: small talk, the five minutes before the meeting starts. Hẹn gặp lại! 🌸