This lesson will help you to be confident in speaking up during conference calls.
Have you done conference calls in English before?
If so, how was it? Did you speak much?
Teleconference meetings aren't like face-to-face conversations because consultants have to recognise when I can jump in.
Also, someone might be a little upset, but you have to gauge it just by their tone of voice. If you offend someone (maybe you say your thought too directly) it's hard to tell.
Furthermore, consultants can't use visuals like a whiteboard to explain their ideas.
If not, then can you imagine doing them in the future?
Note
Many consultants do expert interviews with several people on the line, but it's not exactly the same because often the team is in the room together, and there are set people in charge of asking for questions.
Litmus test for confident students
- What are a few phrases used to interrupt, and what are the nuances?
- Nice: Sorry, can I jump in here? (Note this is a rhetorical question, not a real question)
- Bit stronger: Sorry, mind if I cut in?
- Very strong: Can I interrupt here?
- Read the dialog and identify
Note: This lesson leans mostly on the dialog. The language section is short.
Read the conference call below. You will be all the men: Ken, Tim and Allen. Your teacher will be the women: Monica, Kirsten and Anika. Discuss the language and style used.
Everyone except Ken makes a relatively minor etiquette mistake. Can you spot all the mistakes?
Ken: Hello everyone, this is Ken in New York. Are we all here?
Monica: Hi everyone, I’m with Ken and Tim here in NYC.
Tim: That was Monica.
Monica: Sorry haha! Yea, this is Monica.
Tim: This is Tim here, hello.
Kirsten: Hello, this is Kirsten in the Sao Paulo office.
Allen: Allen here. I’m client-side in Brazil. I'm at the factory.
Anika: Hi, Anika here.
Ken: Okay, thanks for taking the time to meet. So as you know, we just had the first steering committee meeting. I’m sure you all saw the email. It went well, so you can all pat yourselves on the back, especially everyone in Brazil. Good job. The CEO did give us some feedback, though. I want to take the next 30 minutes to make sure we are on the same page. We’re going to go over the email, talk about the feedback and go through the reallocation of resources. So—
Kirsten: Sorry! Kirsten here. Which email?
Ken: It's the one from this morning. It's called, "XYZ steering committee recap".
Kirsten: Oh. Yes. That one. Thanks.
Ken: Let’s look at the request. The CEO is happy with our IoT findings. In fact, he’s so happy, he wants to roll out the process through as much of the factory as possible.
Kirsten: Kirsten again. This... honestly sounds like scope creep to me. What’s happening at the factory exactly?
[long pause]
Tim: Don’t worry, we’re just reallocating resources. It’s all zero-sum for our working hours.
Kirsten: Sorry, Tim, was that? So the scope is completely unchanged? Is that right, Ken?
Ken: Yea, basically. So here's the plan. We are going to take the focus off the supply chain. We're just going to work more deeply on the manufacturing process. That means we can sell the supply chain process down the line.
Anika: Hi, hello, sorry, so um... Anika here... yea, just to be clear, we're going to just focus on IoT at the factories? And also other aspects of human-centered design?
Allen: Yea, Allen here. I was just at the factories this morning. I find this really exciting. It looks like we’re going to be able to roll out more of the human-computer interaction, this is going to be one of the more integrated factories in the world, and we can use it for best-case practices—
Ken: Sorry, let me jump in here, Allen. That’s right, but I want to go through the exact request the CEO made and why he made it...
Language: Here's what your student might ask about:
- you can all pat yourselves on the back — idiom, meaning well done.
- make sure we are on the same page.— idiom, meaning we understand it the same.
- roll out — begin and impliment
- scope creep — when the project gets bigger (due to client requests) but the budget and deadlines stay the same.
- zero-sum — we add and take away the same amount
- down the line — later
Mistakes:
- "Monica: Hi everyone, I’m with Ken and Tim here in NYC." > Monica forgets to say her name.
- "Kirsten: Kirsten again. This...honestly sounds like scope creep to me. What’s happening over at the factory? ..." > Kirsten doesn't address that question to anyone, so it's not clear who should answer it. Is she asking about the factory itself, or the future of the project?
- "Tim: Don’t worry, we’re just reallocating resources. It’s all zero-sum for man-hours." > Tim jumps in but also forgets to say his name.
- "Anika: Hi, hello, sorry, so um... Anika here... yea, just to be clear, we're going to just focus on IoT at the factories? And also other aspects of human-centered design?" > Akika cuts in awkwardly and doesn't have a question or a comment ready.
Also: "Anika: Hi, Anika here, in Brazil too." — Anika doesn't say if she's in the office or in the factory. - "Allen: Allen here. I was just at the factories this morning. This is exciting, we’re going to be able to roll out more of the human-computer interaction, this is going to be one of the more integrated factories in the world, and we can use it for best-case practices." > Allen gets a bit excited and waffles on and needs to be interrupted.
Ken did a great job! Here are a few things he did.
- Ken's introduction is short and sweet. He started with "Ken from the Tokyo office", which is the pattern of introduction the others followed.
- Ken also interrupted nicely at the end to keep the meeting on track:
- Ken: Sorry, let me jump in here, Allen. That’s right,
- Apology: Sorry,
- Interruption phrase: let me jump in here, Allen
- Agreement: That’s right,
- Ken: Sorry, let me jump in here, Allen. That’s right,
A. When introducing yourself, pay attention to your tone and pacing—don't speak too fast. Introduce yourself after these people, and use the same flow of information that they use.
- Hi, this is Jim Smith—I'm a team leader in the New York City office.
- Hey, Stan in Seattle here.
- Hello, Jon Scovel here. So, I'm a manager at the London office. My focus is human-centred design, especially bringing design thinking to manufacturing and supply chain.
B. In a conference, it can be a good idea to direct questions at specific people so everyone knows who will speak next. You can put the person's name at the beginning or end of your question. This may seem easy, but it's easy to forget if you aren't used to it. Practice directing questions at specific people.
You want to know:
- If Cindy's team has finished the client interviews.
- If John's team and Cindy's team are on track.
- If John or Emma have any input on the IoT implementation plan.
A. Your student should give versions of self-introduction that mirror the style of the speakers in A.
The student should not say exactly the same thing. That would be weird. Just use the same flow of information and level of formality
1. [greeting, name, position, office]. Eg: "Hello --- here, I'm also team leader and I'm in Tokyo"
2. [informal greeting, name, city] Eg: "Hey, this is --- in Tokyo."
3. [formal greeting, full name, position, office, amount of time worked, industry focus.] Eg: "Hello, --- speaking, I'm a team leader in Tokyo. My practice area is -----."
Note that many consultants don't have an industry focus, particularly if they are below the partner level. In this case, either allow them to make something up, mention their background, or their tasks:
- I have a background in ---.
- I mainly take care of interviews and analysis. (It doesn't sound impressive, but if you want to share that, you can)
B. This should be relatively easy.
1. So, how are you going with those client interviews, Cindy?
If you have questions for two people, it's probably better to ask them one at a time. This is so that the person answering doesn't have to introduce themselves and everyone knows who is expected to speak next.
2. Have you had any delays, John? ...[John answers]. And Cindy, how about your team?
3. So, let's talk about the implementation of the IoT. John, what are your thoughts? ... "How about you Emma?"
Read the following situation with your teacher. You will be You, and your teacher will be all the other roles.
Situation: Anne is a senior partner; she is conducting the weekly meeting for a major global project. You are lead in your office.
- You received an email from the client CEO this morning congratulating you on your progress so far, and giving some requests for the next phase.
- Your team's interviews are finished, and you've also already finished analyzing the research. You are on track for the next phase.
Sam—Introduces himself.
Greg—Introduces himself.
You—Introduce yourself.
Anne—Introduces herself and sets the agenda.
Roman—Asks a general question.
Mark—Asks a question that you can help with.
You—Offer help.
Mark—Thanks you, and asks for further detail.
You—Give a little detail.
Sam—Has further input about the detail.
Stanley—Has a general follow-up and seems frustrated.
Anne—Gets the meeting back on track by asking you a specific question.
You—Answer the question.