Shadowing Practice: 334. Business English Native Speakers Use (Explained Simply) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.

200 sentences

If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.

As a senior manager, have you ever been in a business meeting with native speakers and thought, I don't know what they're talking about?

In this episode today, I hope to help you feel more confident by breaking down some difficult business expressions

so you can finally understand what they mean.

Let's crack on.

Hello and welcome to Confident Business English.

If you're a senior manager and you already use English but you really want to build your confidence, you are in exactly the right place.

My name is Anna, I'm a Neural Language Coach

and I've been working with professionals for over eight years on their English communication.

This podcast then I'd like you to think about as a

weekly training program where I touch on some of the most challenging parts

that you tell me you face on a day-to-day basis with English.

Each episode, which is its own little unit, I hope helps move you a little bit closer towards your overall goal, which is to build more confidence.

And at the end of the day, really a lot of the time, more confidence in your English communication is more freedom.

Freedom from the things that are holding you back, the stress, the anxiety, the mental energy with English, and also the freedom to do whatever you want.

So let's dive in and look at the problem we're tackling today.

And this is something I hear all the time from clients, and I bet that you experience something similar too.

Anna, I can follow more or less in the meetings, and then a native speaker comes along and suddenly I've lost everything.

Isn't it ironic that actually sometimes native speakers can be the worst communicators?

Not because they're trying to make life difficult for you.

Often it's just simply a lack of awareness, a lack of understanding that actually, you know, communicating in another language is quite challenging.

I do want to challenge you here though on something that I've seen can really knock professionals' confidence.

Often what I find with clients is it's almost as

if they give native speakers a level of authority or superiority just because they're a native speaker.

If this is a belief that you feel you have, I'd really encourage you to try to look at it differently.

You're both in the same room.

You're both trying to solve the same problem.

You both have a role to play.

Having said that, even if you can't necessarily control how they speak, and unless you want to bring it up with them and talk about perhaps how you could communicate better,

which I know could be a little bit awkward in some situations,

what is within your control is to learn some of the most common business phrases so that you don't have,

or at least you increase the likelihood of having that really horrible feeling where you can't really follow what's being said.

maybe you get that kind of fight or flight situation.

You're just trying to catch up your survival mode, let's say.

The challenge for you as well as a senior manager is

you're often not in a meeting in a passive role just to listen and take notes.

That would be great.

You're there to add value, influence the discussion, ask questions, make decisions.

So of course, if you're not following what's being said, that's an issue.

And I totally understand that that could leave you feeling very anxious and frustrated.

But let's try and take some practical steps to address that today.

I've cherry-picked my list of difficult business phrases and for each one I'm going to explain what it means, the simple version, the origin,

if that's interesting and relevant, and any tricks about how to remember it and nuances when you use it.

And stick around for the last one because it's a little bit of a funny one, might be a little bit rude, but I think you'll find it quite entertaining.

Here we go.

First one, we're in the world of implementation.

Have you ever heard somebody say something like,

we need to roll out our new software across all the regions. To roll out.

This is literally just a fancy way of saying introduce gradually.

You could imagine it like rolling out a carpet.

Or when you drop a rock in water and there's a ripple and the ripple gradually goes out.

The change doesn't happen everywhere at once it gradually spreads.

Moving on to talk about preparation.

Imagine somebody in the room is talking about the final two quarters of the year and they say,

you know, we're really gearing up for a busy final two quarters.

Gearing up for, G-E-A-R, up and for, three-part phrasal verb.

This is just a fancy way of saying, get ready for.

As this is a weird phrasal verb that basically makes no sense, the origin here is important.

And it actually comes from putting on your gear before doing something difficult.

Now here, automatically, I go to the military, your gear, your trousers, your jacket, your equipment, your protective clothing.

We call that gear.

If you go hiking and go to the mountain, you may be familiar with that term, right?

You need the right gear.

You need the boots.

You need the jacket.

You need the waterproof.

Imagine soldiers putting on all their equipment before heading into battle to gear up for something, to get ready for something.

The nuance here is that it needs to be something larger scale.

For example, if I was going to say, I'm just gearing up for the meeting, it would sound a little bit out of context because it's not large scale, right?

We're gearing up for the final two quarters.

Ah, now we're talking.

Next, let's move on to problem solving.

You're sitting around the table, you're in a meeting and somebody says, you know, we're just ironing out a few operational issues.

Ironing out.

This is just a fancy way of saying resolving or fixing.

The key word here is iron.

And if you're familiar with that, I-R-O-N, this is the appliance that you use to remove the creases from your clothes.

That horrible linen shirt that no matter how many times you seem to iron it, the creases never come out.

You're making something that's creased smooth.

Problems resolved.

iron out.

Next, let's move into the world of developing ideas.

Imagine you're writing a proposal or a tender and somebody in the room says, we need to flesh this out a bit more.

We need to flesh it out.

And you're like, okay, great.

Would you mind just, you know, just giving me a bit of background?

What does that actually mean?

well it is just a fancy way of saying to add more substance

or detail flesh is on your body it's your muscles imagine

your report is just a skeleton that's the basic structure

when you flesh it out you're putting the muscles the skin the detail the things

that bring it to life so to flesh something out is to add more substance.

Definitely in the world of reports, documents, that's where you're going to hear this type of thing, or maybe a presentation that you're preparing for a client, for example.

Staying with reports this time.

Imagine another colleague in the room says, yeah, I think we should definitely flesh out this section, but let's not add too much.

Otherwise, I think it's going to be a little bit of overkill.

It's going to be a little bit of overkill noun.

This is just a more complex way of saying more than necessary.

The origin here is it used to be referred also in a military context to using more force than necessary

and it just kind of evolved and now it means doing much more than is needed.

100

Just too much.

101

Definitely in the context of writing and also maybe perhaps

102

if you're presenting something as well like

103

if you're going to go into too much detail

104

and somebody might be like oh I just think a bit of overkill to be honest.

105

Next, let's move to budgets.

106

You're talking about the budget next year and one of your native colleagues from London, let's say, says, you know,

107

I really think we need to earmark some of these funds for next year's expansion.

108

And in your head you're like, okay, ear, great, got that, something on the head.

109

So yeah, I'm not quite putting two and two together there?

110

Well, it is just a fancy way of saying to assign for a specific purpose.

111

The origin here is really important because it explains it and it makes perfect sense.

112

Historically, farmers used to mark animals by cutting a very small notch in their ears to show ownership.

113

As time has gone on, what it means is just marking and assigning something for a specific purpose, in this case, to earmark money for something.

114

We need to earmark some money for the Christmas party, or we need to earmark these funds for training next year.

115

Assign money.

116

Here's a quick one.

117

New context, task management.

118

One of your colleagues say, how should we divvy up the tasks?

119

Well, it's actually much more straightforward.

120

It just means divide.

121

Divvy up.

122

It's definitely informal.

123

It's definitely casual, but you might hear somebody say that.

124

How should we divvy up the tasks here?

125

Just means to divide.

126

Next, let's move on and have a look at expression.

127

Very common in business when we want to talk about understanding, which is to gauge.

128

G-A-U-G-E.

129

A difficult one, right?

130

If you don't know what it means.

131

Let's imagine a situation where you as a business

132

or a company are deciding what changes you need to make to improve the culture at the office, for example.

133

One of your HR colleagues might say, well, you know, before we make any changes, we really need to gauge how people are feeling.

134

This just very simply means we need to understand how people are feeling.

135

But there is a little bit of a nuance here.

136

A gauge is an instrument we use to measure something.

137

Probably one of the most common gauges that you will see on a daily basis is in your car.

138

In fact, maybe right now you are listening to this driving to

139

or from work and you're going to see

140

that gauge telling you how much fuel you have or battery left in your car.

141

That is a gauge.

142

In which case then, gauge means when we're trying to understand the level of something.

143

employee engagement, customer satisfaction, market interest, to gauge how the team is feeling.

144

It's not simply we need to understand the problem.

145

Does that make sense?

146

So yes, it's understand, but with the nuance of understanding the level of something.

147

Next, let's think about difficult conversations.

148

You might hear somebody in a meeting say, I don't really know how to broach this with the client.

149

B-R-O-A-C-H.

150

Broach this.

151

This is essentially just a fancy way of saying bring up or raise.

152

I don't know how to raise this sensitive topic.

153

The origin here is really interesting because it comes from a French word, an old French word, which is for a sharp tool that pierces something.

154

The idea being that you're kind of carefully opening or piercing a difficult topic.

155

So to broach, think about it like you're just gently kind of opening the door to the difficult conversation or issue.

156

I don't know how to broach it with the client.

157

I don't know how to bring it up.

158

Last but not least, I want to talk about something that native speakers might say when everything goes wrong.

159

Heads up.

160

The next expression does contain a swear word, and I'm mentioning it purely for educational purposes.

161

You may hear it in the workplace.

162

These things happen.

163

Sometimes people talk like that, especially when they're in casual, colloquial conversations, which is why I want to share it with you,

164

because these sorts of things are also important so you can really get the nuance of what people are trying to say.

165

So imagine it's Friday afternoon.

166

Your client has cancelled the contract.

167

Great.

168

Your supplier has also gone bankrupt.

169

Perfect.

170

And the CEO wants to have an emergency meeting.

171

Wonderful.

172

What else could you want on a Friday afternoon before the weekend?

173

Your colleague might say, my goodness, shit has really hit the fan.

174

Shit has really hit the fan.

175

What does this mean?

176

Well, you can probably tell if you've got that visual in your mind, everything has suddenly gone very badly wrong.

177

I think this is quite memorable,

178

actually, because imagine throwing some type of excrement into spinning blades and watching it then spread out all over a space.

179

You know, that would be kind of a bad situation.

180

So I think it's pretty easy to remember that one.

181

Now, you would hear this, of course, in a very colloquial, casual conversation between trusted colleagues.

182

This is not something that you're going to blurt out in the middle of a meeting, but there you go.

183

I just thought you might like that one.

184

All right, that brings us to the end of the episode today.

185

I hope that there was something that you could take away.

186

Perhaps it's a phrase that you've heard before and you're like, ah, okay, right.

187

I get it now.

188

Often it's a case of just, these are some of the fancy ways of saying it that you might hear from a native speaker, but the concept really isn't that challenging once you break it down.

189

Once you build up a repertoire of these phrases, meetings become easier to follow,

190

conversations become a little bit less stressful and you start to feel more confident when you're going into that.

191

As an action for you this week, remember that the podcast is a great first step, but if you really want to learn this and take it forward,

192

I'd encourage you to see if you can go out there, observe, see if you can listen out for some of these phrases, notice when somebody uses them.

193

And you never know if the opportunity comes up, you could have a go at using it yourself.

194

small little improvements like

195

that repeated consistently over time this is what is going to

196

build up your confidence in the long term thank you

197

so much as always for squeezing in some time in your

198

busy schedule to get your confident business english in this week

199

if you found that episode really useful don't forget to subscribe like

200

and follow wherever you get your podcasts and i will see you same time same place next week bye

Download App

Everything you need to speak fluently

AI PronunciationScore every sentence

IPA PracticeMaster every sound

VocabularyBuild your word bank

Vocab GameLearn while playing

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Same Channel

335. Anna's Key Takeaways: Professional Etiquette, Giving Recommendations & Hard to Pronounce Name!

Business EnglishWorking Adults

309. Communicating Effectively with Executives: Little Snippet #19

Business EnglishWorking Adults

290. Let's Wrap it Up! My Final Key Takeaways for This Season

Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

FOR YOU

Recommend Video

248 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “334. Business English Native Speakers Use”. This video has 200 sentences and 2496 words to shadow. The speech runs for 15:22. The speaker talks at a natural 162 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
gauge noun	/ˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/	A measure; a standard of measure; an instrument to determine dimensions, distance, or capacity; a standard
colleague noun	/ˈkɒliːɡ/	A fellow member of a profession, staff, academic faculty or other organization; an associate, a workmate.
flesh noun	/flɛʃ/	The soft tissue of the body, especially muscle and fat.
nuance noun	/ˈnjuː.ɑːns/	A minor distinction.
brooch noun	/bɹoʊt͡ʃ/	A piece of ornamental jewellery having a pin allowing it to be fixed to garments worn on the upper body.
earmark verb	/ˈɪ(ə)ɹˌmɑɹk/	To make a mark or attach a tag to the ear of (an animal, chiefly a livestock animal), generally to identify or indicate something about the animal, such as…
crease noun	/kɹiːs/	A line or mark made by folding or doubling any pliable substance; hence, a similar mark, however produced.
overkill noun	/ˈoʊ.vɚˌkɪl/	A destructive capacity that exceeds that needed to destroy an enemy; especially with nuclear weapons.
assign verb	/əˈsaɪn/	To designate or set apart (something) for some purpose.
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
colloquial adjective	/kəˈloʊ.kwi.əl/	Characteristic of familiar conversation, of common parlance; informal.
phrasal adjective	/ˈfɹeɪzəl/	Relating to, or used in the manner of, a phrase.
ripple noun	/ˈɹɪp(ə)l/	A moving disturbance, or undulation, in the surface of a fluid.
verb noun	/vɝb/	A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being.
pierce verb	/pɪɹs/	To puncture; to break through.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
roll out verb		To deploy or release (a new film or software, etc.); to launch (a product or service), especially in a gradual fashion across multiple regions.
build up verb		To erect; to construct.
go out verb		To leave, especially a building.
break down verb		To stop functioning.
bring up verb		To mention.
catch up verb		To pick up suddenly.
come along verb		To accompany.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

You're both in the same room.
You're both trying to solve the same problem.
First one, we're in the world of implementation.
We're gearing up for the final two quarters.
How should we divvy up the tasks here?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to be · used to mark
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've lost · I've seen · Have you ever heard
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	being said · be referred · is needed
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	episode, which is · understanding, which is · word, which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 65 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: flesh /flɛʃ/, anxious /ˈæŋkʃəs/, satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: colloquial /kəˈloʊ.kwi.əl/, communicator /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪtə/, superiority /sʊˌpɪə(ɹ).iˈɒ.ɹɪ.ti/, historically /hɪˈstɔɹɪkli/, satisfaction /sætɪsˈfækʃən/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like gauge, colleague, flesh.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: 334. Business English Native Speakers Use (Explained Simply) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Choose a practice mode

Download App

335. Anna's Key Takeaways: Professional Etiquette, Giving Recommendations & Hard to Pronounce Name!

309. Communicating Effectively with Executives: Little Snippet #19

290. Let's Wrap it Up! My Final Key Takeaways for This Season

Why Experienced Professionals Still Hesitate In English

How to Explain Complex Accounting Problems to Anyone!

10 Words: Change Your Basic English to Business English

How to Handle International Client Calls Smoothly in English | Client Calls

03.e Solve a Problem Commentary - Effortless Business English

Business English: Participating in meetings 2.

English for Problems at Work — Raise Issues Without Sounding Negative

Real Business English Conversations Every Professional Should Know

Speaking Like This Gives You An Unfair Advantage On Youtube

Kind, Polite English for Work [Professional English Skills]

Talking About Financial issues | Business English Conversation (B1–B2)