When I first came to Germany I worked in an office organizing exchanges between my home town Derby and the city of Osnabrück – a great job, but pretty challenging. Especially when it came to answering the phone (this was long before the email, so a lot of enquiries came by phone). People spoke so fast! I often felt completely lost after the first couple of sentences.
The biggest problem was that callers fired off their telephone numbers in a format which was unfamiliar and – in my opinion – completely unnatural: I heard “fünfundsiebzig, dreiundvierzig, zwoundachtzig”. As I desperately tried to write that down, the thoughts shooting through my head were: “Is that seventy-five or fifty-seven? Does he mean forty-three or thirty-four? Oh no, what the hell is zwo?”
Times were also a major source of confusion “fünf vor/nach halb” and the 24-hour format were logical enough, but I needed a little longer to process them, to translate them into the system I was familiar with.
I felt so stupid having to ask people to slow down, repeat themselves, let me check that I’d got all the details down correctly again and again. Of course, I see now that needing a little more time and help was nothing to be ashamed of.
A really challenging situation
Exchanging information over the phone is extremely challenging – all the visual clues we usually rely on to see whether we’ve been understood or show that we’re not quite sure what is meant are missing. The worst thing you can do in this situation is remain passive – you have to take charge and manage the conversation so that you can be sure that you’ve got your message across and that you obtain the information you need. And it’s important not to wait too long before asking for clarification – the longer you wait, the more embarrassing it becomes. And what is agreed in the call probably determines what you have to do next – if you’re not sure, you can’t do your work!
Take control
The key is to take an active role in managing the conversation. Of course you won’t always be able to manage the entire conversation – in a conference call with a dozen participants, for example, you’ll probably only ask for clarification regarding questions directed at you. But in a one-to-one call or a conference call with just a couple of colleagues you have a lot more influence.
There are three steps you can take to get the most out of the virtual meeting.
Step 1: Try to control speed and volume
Native speakers of English who don’t speak any other languages themselves often aren’t aware of the challenges of working in a foreign language. They are probably impressed by your English and assume that it’s no problem at all for you to understand them. They don’t realize that they’re speaking too fast or mumbling. So it’s certainly a good idea to ask them to speak more slowly or loudly. Whether they actually remember to do this for more than a few sentences is another matter. 😉
I’m sure you’re familiar with these phrases:
Too fast?
Could you slow down a little, please?
Could you speak a bit more slowly, please?
Too quiet?
Could you speak up a bit, please?
Could you speak a little louder, please?
Step 2: Aim for as much clarity as possible
Make sure that you understand everything as you go along and ask if you don’t. If you feel uncomfortable asking for clarification repeatedly, varying the way you do it can help.
It can also be helpful to say what you understood and ask the other person to confirm the facts or correct them.
Even when you have little or no difficulty understanding the other person, it can be very useful to summarize what has been agreed at regular intervals. This ensures that the conversation stays on track.
Here are some phrases you can use for each of these three points:
To say that you didn’t understand:
I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.
Could you repeat that, please?
Sorry, did you say … or …?
To make sure you understood correctly:
So that’s …
Could I read that back to you?
Let me just check that. Your number is …
To summarize what has been agreed so far
Can I just recap on what we’ve said so far?
OK, so we’ve agreed that …
Before we move on, let me just summarize what we’ve decided on this point.
Step 3: Keep the other person in the picture
In a face-to-face meeting the other person can see that you’re making notes or looking for the information they’ve asked for. On the phone they can’t and so may carry on talking or be puzzled about your silence. So keep them in the picture by explaining what you’re doing. That way you also take the pressure off yourself a little, gaining the time to finish what you need to do.
To say you need more time:
Sorry to hold things up, but I just need to write that down.
Can you just bear with me a moment while I make a note of that.
To explain that you’re looking for something:
Just a second …
Let me see …
Sorry about this, I’m just opening the file.
Bear with me for a moment, please.
When you find what you were looking for:
Yes, here it is.
Right, here they are.
Sorry to keep you waiting, I’ve got it now.
And if in doubt follow up with an email
Still not absolutely sure what you need to do at the end of an important call? Why not send a brief email summarizing what you have understood and ask the others involved to confirm?
