Useful phrases for Conference Calls.

1) Introducing yourself on the call

 Hello, Luis here.
 Hello, it’s Luis speaking.
 It’s useful to say ‘Hello’ first as the first word is often lost. If you say your name
first, other participants may miss your name.

2) Checking others are on the call

 Is Luis on the line?
 Do we have Luis on the call?
 Do we have Luis yet?
 Are we waiting for anyone else?

3) Starting the call

 Welcome to the conference call…
 Is everyone ready to start?
 Shall we start?
 As you know, today we are discussing X…
 Did everyone receive the agenda? / Has everyone received the agenda?

4) Overcoming sound issues

 If you are not speaking, please put yourself on mute.
 Eric, I can hear background noises, please can you put yourself on mute when
you are not talking?
 The sound quality is not good, please can everyone speak up?
 I can’t hear Jane, can everyone else hear Jane?
 Sorry can you say that again, I can’t hear you clearly?
 Sorry can you repeat that, the sound quality is poor?

5) Sharing your screen

 I’m sharing my screen, can everyone see it?
 I’m uploading the document now, can you see it?

6) Finishing the call

 So the agreed action points are X, Y, Z.
 Is there anything else to discuss?
 I’ll confirm our discussion by email.
 Let’s finish / close the call, thank you everyone.
 Thank you for your contribution/participation/ideas, let’s speak again next week.
 We’ve run out of time so let’s wrap up and close the call.
 TIPS

To help things run more smoothly than in that video, follow these 5 simple steps before the call.
They may sound simple but they will increase the chance of having an effective meeting:

1. Make sure you have a copy of the agenda and understand the topics to be covered.
2. Do you know who is attending the call? Which nationalities will be represented and have you
experienced difficulty with their accents in the past?

If so, learn a few useful phrases so you can ask the person to speak more slowly or repeat the
sentence (see below). Be careful not to refer to the accent directly, as this may offend.

3. Are you required to speak? Know what is expected of you and prepare your presentation,
report etc. in advance. Practise as much as possible before the meeting. The more you practise
the more confident you will be.
You could also think of questions you may be asked during the meeting. Prepare possible
answers in advance so you are less nervous on the day. (If making presentations makes you
nervous, why not take a look at our guide to public speaking.)
4. Practise your listening skills regularly. Try to listen to a range of accents – British, American,
Australian etc.. It may sound obvious but the more you listen to English the easier it becomes.
You will naturally become more confident and less likely to panic when you don’t understand 1 or
2 words.
Why not try the following websites to practise your listening skills – the BBC’s Learning English, or
for an American accent, or speaking more slowly.
5. Technology can always present challenges, but we can minimise any panic with a little
preparation:

 Before the call locate the conference room, test the equipment and verify the PIN number and
access code.

 Know the right buttons to press – where is the mute button / volume button/ speaker button?

Part 2: Useful phrases

Now you’re ready to start.

A conference call can be divided into clear parts, for example: starting the meeting, finishing the
meeting, dealing with audio problems, etc..

Below you will find useful phrases for each of these sections, to help you start, finish and
navigate a successful call.

In the left column you will see the call divided into sections. In the right column you will see
typical expressions that you can use in each section.

Starting the meeting

Each participant should announce their Greetings:
presence.
If you are running the meeting each
– Good morning. This is Alex from the Paris office.- Good
participant should be welcomed
afternoon. Rachel speaking.
individually.
– Good afternoon Rachel. Thank you for joining us today.
Make sure all invitees are present.
Check the pronunciation of difficult
names. Attendance:
New members should be introduced to
other participants.
– Before we start, please could you introduce yourselves?
– I’m afraid Vladimir is absent today. We will have to proceed
without him

Checking names:

– Ralph speaking. The correct pronunciation is RAYF.

– Ralph, please could you correct my pronunciation before we
begin?
– Today we have two Rachels. Please could we add surnames
when speaking: Rachel Smith and Rachel Taylor.

Introducing new members:

– I’d like to introduce Paul. He’s in charge of Sales in the Paris

office.

Maximising understanding:

– We have 3 nationalities here today. Please speak clearly and

slowly so that everyone understands.
– Please could you speak one at a time?
– May I remind you to speak one at a time?

Setting ground rules Technology:

Remind participants to speak clearly right
from the start.
– Could you check your microphone please?
Avoid too many people speaking at the
– Remember to switch off the mute button when you are
same time.
speaking. Switch it on when you’re not speaking.
Remind participants how to use the
technology.

Checking the volume:

Dealing with problems
Make sure all participants can hear well.
– Can you hear me ok?
Let the other attendees know when you
– Could you check your microphone please?.
are experiencing problems with sound.
Politely ask the caller to repeat if you have
difficulty understanding. Problems with sound:
 – I can’t hear very well.
– I’m sorry. I have a problem with my microphone.
– There’s a lot of noise in the background. Could you check your
microphone please?
– John, you need to switch off the mute button if you want to
speak.

Understanding accents:

– I’m sorry John, but I’m afraid I didn’t understand. Please could
you repeat that?
– I’m afraid I didn’t understand, Mr Chopra. Please could you
speak more slowly?

Understanding part of a sentence:

– I’m sorry Mr McKay but I didn’t catch that. Could you repeat
that please?
– I’m afraid I didn’t understand Mr McKay. Please could you say
that again?
– I’m sorry Mr McKay. Please could you clarify what you mean
by…?

Multiple voices:

– There are two people speaking. Mr Chopra, can you continue?

John, we’ll come back to you in a moment.

Examples:

– The purpose of today’s meeting is to review last month’s sales.

– The objective of this meeting is to make a decision about the
Setting objectives
advertising campaign.
Clearly state the purpose of the meeting at
the beginning of the call.

Examples:

– You should have a green document in front of you entitled

‘European Customer Satisfaction’
– The main points are highlighted in bold.
Referring to documents
– Please turn to page 14
Participants can’t see you so you have to
be able to describe them clearly.

Sharing opinions Asking for an opinion:

– Shall we go round the table and hear everyone’s opinion?
– Alex, what do you think?
– Rachel, what are your thoughts?

Expressing an opinion:

– In my opinion, we are performing well under the

circumstances.
– I think that…

Agreeing:

– I agree
– I completely agree
– I agree to a certain extent.

Disagreeing:

– I’m sorry but I’m afraid I disagree.

– I see your point but I’m afraid I disagree.
– I tend to disagree.
– I see things from a different perspective.

Checking for understanding:

– So what you’re saying is, we need to increase sales.

– Could you repeat that please?
– So if I understood correctly, you want us to increase the
budget?

Compromising:

– Let’s try to find a middle ground.

– Why don’t we try to reach a compromise?
– Would you be willing to compromise?
– If you could increase our budget, then we could spend more on
advertising.

Making a suggestion:

– Maybe we could increase the budget.

– Why don’t we focus on online advertising?

Agreeing with a suggestion:

 – That’s a good idea.
– I like that idea.

Showing understanding:

– I understand.
– I see your point.

Interrupting someone:

– I’m sorry to interrupt. It’s Susan here.

– Alex here. Could I just jump in here.

Clarifying who is speaking:

– Sorry. Who’s speaking please?

– Please could you say your name before speaking?

Inviting participants to speak:

Managing speakers
Tell callers to clearly state their name
– Pauline, what are your thoughts?
before speaking.
– Let’s ask everyone their opinion.
Make sure everyone has a chance to
speak.

Respecting the schedule:

– May I remind everyone that we have to finish by 4pm.

– Please be brief as we only have 30 minutes.
– I think we’re getting side-tracked. Let’s try to keep to the
agenda.

Bringing the discussion to an end:

– I’m afraid we’re running out of time.

– Would anyone like to add anything before we finish the call?
Managing time
– We’re running out of time. Let’s try to wrap things up.
Be aware of the time restrictions and
make sure everyone else knows too.

Closing the meeting

Summarise the key decisions and action
points.
Make sure everyone knows the next steps, Summarising:
individual actions to be taken, and
relevant deadlines.
– So, let’s go over the main points.
– So, to summarise we have decided to focus on online sales.

Highlighting action points:

– So Alex, you’re going to send out the minutes. Rachel, you’re

going to speak to the regional Manager.

Refer to a future call:

– Shall we schedule a follow-up call in 2 weeks?

– Let’s speak again next month.

Try to learn some of the phrases before your next conference call – it will help boost your
confidence.

You can also download a PDF copy of the complete list of useful phrases:

Part 3: Participating in a conference call

So you have a list of commonly used English expressions. Now let’s see how they come together
in a real conference call.

Below you will find a simulation in which the attendees use the above phrases.

Four people are talking about customer service, and they are calling from Paris, Milan and
London.

Can you find the useful expressions from the list above in the dialogue below? Note how these
phrases are used to start the meeting, set ground rules, deal with problems, manage time, and
finish the meeting.

Introductions
Chairman: Good morning. This is Alex, Customer Service Manager from the Paris office. Before
we start, please could you introduce yourselves.
Milan: Good morning. This is Ralph speaking, but the correct pronunciation is Rayf. I’m the
Customer Service Manager in Milan.
London: Good morning everyone. This is John, Finance Manager, London.
London 2: Good morning. John speaking. I’m the Customer Service Manager in the London
office.
Chairman: Welcome everyone and thank you for attending. I’m afraid Vladimir is unable to attend
today so we will have to proceed without him. As you may have noticed we have two Johns with
us today. Please could we add surnames when speaking – John Smith and John Taylor?
London: Good idea.
London 2: Agreed!
Setting ground rules
Chairman: Before we address the points on the agenda, please remember to switch off the mute
button when you are speaking. Switch it on when you’re not speaking. I should highlight that we
have three nationalities here today and not everyone is a native English speaker. Please speak
clearly and slowly so that everyone understands. Furthermore, please speak one at a time to
avoid confusion.
Dealing with sound issues
London: John Taylor here. I can’t hear you very well Alex. Please could you check your
microphone?
Chairman: Yes of course. I’ve increased the volume. Can you hear me now?
London: Yes that’s much better.
Setting objectives and referring to documents
Chairman: So, as agreed, Ralph will be taking notes throughout today’s meeting. The purpose of
today’s meeting is to review the level of customer satisfaction across Europe and propose
changes moving forward. You should have a green document in front of you entitled European
Customer Satisfaction. John Smith is going to present the main highlights.
London 2: Thank you Alex. Please could you all turn to Page 2. You will see that the main points
are highlighted in bold in paragraph 3 and 4. Clearly customer satisfaction has decreased
dramatically over the past year. There was a drop during the Christmas period followed by a
slight decrease in Spring… Thank you for listening.
(For more advice on making a presentation in English see our guide here.)
Sharing opinions
Chairman: Thank you John. Shall we go round the table and hear everyone’s opinion on the
results? Let’s start with Ralph.
Milan: Well, in my opinion we’re performing well under the circumstances. There is a lot of work
and we are understaffed. We need a bigger budget in order to hire more staff.
London: John Taylor here. I’m sorry to interrupt but I completely disagree. I don’t think you need a
bigger budget. That’s out of the question. In my opinion we need better training.
Dealing with sound issues
Chairman: What do you think John Smith?….John? John can you hear me? John you need to
switch off the mute button if you want to speak.
Sharing opinions and finding a compromise
London 2: Ah yes! John here. As I was saying, I agree with Ralph to a certain extent but we have
to keep costs down due to the current economic climate. We need to think creatively and try to
find a compromise.
Milan: Ralph here. I see your point John. Let’s try to find a middle ground. Maybe we could
increase staff training for a trial period of, say 6 months, and then test the impact on customer
service. If necessary we could return to the topic of a bigger budget after 6 months. What do
think?
London: John Taylor here. I think that’s a good idea.
London 2: John Smith here. I completely agree.
Managing time
Chairman: Would anyone like to add anything before we finish the call? Unfortunately time has
run out for today.
Milan: Ralph here. I think we’ve covered everything. We’ve reached a good compromise.
Closing the meeting
Chairman: Before we close the meeting, let’s go over the main points. Firstly, we reviewed the
customer service results, then we discussed options…
Chairman: So John Smith you’re going to speak to the HR Department regarding further staff
training. John Taylor you’re going to let us know how much money is available for further training
 over the next 6 months. Ralph you’ll circulate the minutes to everyone within 48 hours. Shall we
schedule a follow-up call next month? Thank you all for coming.

This dialogue shows you how the list of useful expressions above come together. So how many
expressions from the previous list did they use?

If you counted 20, well done!

If you found a different number, why not download the list of useful phrases, place it side by side,
and re-read the dialogue above again.

Conclusion
Using simple, effective phrases will be appreciated both by your colleagues and by management
– clear, simple phrases are much easier to understand for everyone, and in Anglo-Saxon
business culture it is a sign of intelligence, empathy and understanding a topic well.

So to reduce the stress and anxiety of conference calls follow these steps:

 Have the agenda and prepare any presentations in advance

 Test the technology and access codes in advance

 Learn and review the common English expressions above

Now we would love to hear from you.

Do you have any other tips about conference calls that you would like to share, or useful
expressions that have helped you in the past?

How many expressions did you find in the dialogue above? Did you have difficulty understanding
any of the expressions? Let us know in the comments box below!

QUESTION?
Taking into account that it is not allowed to go with electronic device to the evaluation
room, my question is whether we could go with same papers to take same notes, etc,
highlighter pens, pencils, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh5Qyb0f4LA