Shadowing Practice: Business English for Meetings and Emails | Speak Professionally at Work - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hello, welcome back to Daily English Talk, the channel where you practice real English every single day.
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Hey everyone, I'm Tom, and I'm so glad you're here with us today.
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I'm Lily, and if this is your first time here, welcome!
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You just found your new favorite English channel.
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We upload every single day, so make sure you hit that subscribe button.
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Don't miss a single lesson.
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Fair enough.
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Okay, so today's episode is a big one.
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We are talking about how to speak better at work in English.
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Yes, this is the episode I personally needed three years ago.
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Oh, same.
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We are going to teach you professional vocabulary, real phrases you can use in meetings, in emails, with your boss, with your colleagues.
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And these are not boring textbook sentences.
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These are real expressions that actual professionals use every single day.
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And they work.
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If you use these, people will notice.
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They will think, "Wow, this person sounds very professional." And that is exactly what you want.
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Now, before we dive in, if you have not subscribed yet, please hit that subscribe button right now.
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We upload every single day, and trust me, you do not want to miss tomorrow's episode.
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Also, hit the notification bell.
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That little bell is your best friend.
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Okay, are you ready?
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Let's get into it.
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But first, I have a question for you.
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A real story happened to Tom recently.
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At work, in a meeting.
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Oh no, are we doing this?
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We are absolutely doing this.
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Fine.
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So here's your question for today.
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Tom was in an important meeting.
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His boss asked him a direct question in front of everyone.
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And Tom said something, something he thought was totally normal.
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But everyone in the room went quiet.
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It was so bad.
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What did Tom say?
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Was it rude?
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Was it too casual?
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Was it just completely wrong for a professional setting?
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Keep watching.
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You will find out at the end.
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Watch until the end and we will tell you exactly what happened.
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Okay, let's start the lesson.
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Okay Tom, so we're talking about speaking better at work.
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Can I ask you something personal?
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Sure, go ahead.
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in normal life, but then at work it was suddenly different?
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Oh, completely.
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I remember my first week.
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I was in a team meeting and my manager said, "Tom, can you walk us through your progress?" And what did you say?
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I said, "Okay, sure.
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I will explain my things." I will explain my things?
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I know, I know.
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My things.
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Like, what are my things?
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To be fair, everyone understood you.
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Oh, yes, they understood me.
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They understood that I had no idea how to speak in a professional meeting.
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That is not true.
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It is a little bit true.
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And then there was the email situation.
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Oh, tell me.
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I sent an email to a client, a very important client, and I started the email with, "Hey, A tom.
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I know.
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I thought it was friendly.
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In a text message to a friend, yes, to a client, no, no, no. It's the client replied very formally,
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very coldly, and my manager came to my desk and said, Tom, we need to talk about email etiquette.
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Oh no!
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It was fine.
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But that is when I really started studying professional English, because I realized there's a big difference between casual English and professional English.
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And that difference is exactly what we are teaching today.
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And by the way, that is also connected to our question today, what I said in that meeting later, which you will find out at the end.
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Such a tease!
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Okay, before we get into the vocabulary, let's do a quick grammar point, because grammar is also part of speaking professionally.
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And this one is super useful.
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Today, we are looking at modal verbs for making professional requests and suggestions, specifically could, would, and may.
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you know when to use each one at work?
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Let me give you an example.
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Imagine you need your colleague to send you a report.
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You could say three things: one, Send me the report.
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That sounds like a command.
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Exactly.
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Very direct.
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Maybe too direct.
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Option two, Can you send me the report?
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That is more polite, more casual.
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And option three: Could you send me the report when you have a moment?
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Much better.
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That sounds professional and respectful.
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Could is softer than can.
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It shows more politeness and when you have a moment shows you respect the other person's time.
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And would is similar.
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Would you be able to join the meeting tomorrow?
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That is very professional.
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You are giving the person a choice.
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You are not demanding.
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And may is the most formal.
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May I ask a question? question?
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May I have a moment of your time?
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You would use may with senior managers, with clients, in formal presentations.
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Chrissy, so to summarize, can is casual, could is polite and professional, may is formal and very respectful.
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Exactly.
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And when you're at work, could and would are your best friends.
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Unlike hey in an email to a client.
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Unlike that, yes.
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All right, now it is time for our main vocabulary section.
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We have eight powerful words and phrases for you today.
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These are all things professionals say in real workplaces.
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Let's do it.
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Our first phrase is to follow up.
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Follow up.
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Say it with me.
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Follow up.
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Follow up.
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Good!
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One more time.
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Follow up.
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And now you try.
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Pause the video.
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Say it out loud.
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Follow up.
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To follow up means to contact someone again after a first conversation or email, to check on something, to make sure something is done.
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For example, I sent an email to a supplier last week but they did not reply so I need to follow up.
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You can use it as a verb, "I will follow up with the client tomorrow." Or as a noun, "Did you get my follow -up email?" Tom,
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have you ever forgotten to follow up on something important?
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Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Oh, no!
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It was a big lesson.
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Always follow up, people.
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Let's practice.
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Repeat after me.
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I will follow up with you by Friday.
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I will follow up with you by Friday.
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I will follow up with you by Friday.
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your turn say it number two to clarify clarify say it with me Clarify.
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Clarify.
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One more time, clarify.
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Your turn, pause and say it, clarify.
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To clarify means to make something clearer, to explain something more specifically so there is no confusion.
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This is extremely useful in meetings.
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If you do not understand something, do not stay quiet, ask.
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For example, could you clarify what you mean by that?
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Or, just to clarify, you need this report by Monday, correct?
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See how professional that sounds?
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You are not saying "I don't understand." You are saying "Let me clarify this." It sounds confident.
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I wish I had known this word in my early meetings.
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I used to just nod, even when I had no idea what was happening.
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You were nodding at things you did not understand?
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Yes, for months.
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I looked very confident.
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I understood nothing.
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Okay, lesson for everyone: use clarify.
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Do not just nod.
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Repeat after me.
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Just to clarify, could you explain that again?
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Now you try.
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Number three: to prioritize prioritize prioritize prioritize one more time prioritize your turn to prioritize means to decide
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which tasks are most important
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and do those first every workplace uses this word your boss might say we need to prioritize this project
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or a colleague might ask what are you prioritizing this week and you can use it to explain your work plan.
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I am prioritizing the client proposal right now, but I will get to the report this afternoon.
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Lily, what is something you always prioritize at work?
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Good question!
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I always prioritize communication.
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If someone sends me a message, I reply quickly, because slow replies can cause problems.
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Same.
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And I learn to prioritize my emails by importance, not just answering in order.
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Great habit.
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Sentence practice.
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We need to prioritize the deadline.
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We need to prioritize the deadline.
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Now you say it.
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Oh, this one is so British and so professional.
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Number 4: To take something on board.
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This one confused me so much when I first heard it.
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To take something on board means to accept and consider feedback, advice, or new information.
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For example, your manager gives you feedback.
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Instead of just saying, OK, or I understand, you say, thank you, I will definitely take that on board.
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It shows maturity.
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It shows you are open to learning.
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Managers love this phrase.
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made the changes.
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Very professional.
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Tom, has someone ever given you feedback that was hard to take on board?
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Yes.
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Early in my job, a manager told me my presentations were too long and people were losing attention.
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Aww.
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At first, I was a little defensive, but I took it on board.
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I shortened my presentations, and they actually became much better.
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See?
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Feedback is a gift.
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Let's practice.
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Thank you, I will take that on board.
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Thank you.
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I will take that on board.
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Say it with us.
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Number five, to delegate delegate delegate one more time delegate And now you.
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To delegate means to give a task or responsibility to someone else, usually someone on your team.
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This word is very important for managers and team leaders.
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A good manager knows how to delegate.
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Not everything has to be done by one person.
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For example, "I'm going to delegate the social media posts to Sarah this week,"
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or "My manager delegated the project to our team." You know, I am terrible at delegating.
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I always think I should do everything myself.
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That is a very common problem.
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A lot of people feel that way.
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But it is not efficient, and I learned that the hard way
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when I had three deadlines in one week and tried to do all of it alone.
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How did that go?
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Not well.
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Not well at all.
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Delegate people, delegate!
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Practice time.
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I will delegate this task to my assistant.
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I will delegate this task to my assistant.
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Now you try.
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Number six, and oh, this one is so important, to meet a deadline.
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Meet a deadline.
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Meet a deadline.
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Meet a deadline.
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Your turn.
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A deadline is the final date or time when something must be finished.
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To meet a deadline means to finish the work on time.
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And the opposite, of course, is to miss a deadline, which you do not want to do.
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Definitely not.
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In professional English, you will hear this constantly.
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Can we meet this deadline?
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We need to make sure we meet the deadline.
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And there are some great expressions around this, too.
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If a deadline is very difficult, you can say, this is a tight deadline.
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more time, you say, "Could we push the deadline back by two days?" Push the deadline back is a very natural, professional way to ask for more time.
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I have had to use that phrase more than I would like to admit.
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We all have.
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Sentence practice.
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We need to meet the deadline by Thursday.
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We need to meet the deadline by Thursday.
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We need to meet the deadline by Thursday.
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Say it now!
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Number 7: To reach out.
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Reach out.
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Reach out.
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Reach out.
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One more time: Reach out.
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To reach out means to contact someone.
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It is a friendly, professional way to say contact or get in touch.
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You will see this in emails all the time.
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Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
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Or, I wanted to reach out and introduce myself.
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It is softer than contact me.
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It feels more more approachable and you can use it in different ways.
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I reached out to the client.
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Let's reach out to the team.
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I will reach out to you next week.
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Tom, when was the last time you were really glad you reached out to someone?
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Actually, recently.
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I reached out to an old colleague I had not spoken to in two years, just to say hello and catch up, and it turned into a really good professional opportunity.
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Practice.
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Please reach out if you need any help.
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Your turn.
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And our last one, number 8, to be on the same page.
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On the same page.
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On the same page on the same page.
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One more time, on the same page.
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Now you.
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To be on the same page means that everyone in a group understands the same thing.
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Everyone agrees.
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Everyone has the same information.
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This is a very common expression in meetings.
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Before we start, I just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
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Or, are we on the same page about the project goals?
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It is also great when there is a misunderstanding.
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You can say, "I just want to get us on the same page here." I use this one all the time,
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especially in team meetings when people have different ideas about what we are doing.
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Yes, meetings can get very chaotic without this.
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I once sat in a one -hour meeting where half the team thought we were discussing one project,
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and the other half thought we were discussing a completely different project.
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The whole meeting?
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The whole meeting.
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Nobody was on the same page.
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At the end, our manager said, "I think we need to start over." Oh no!
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Okay, sentence practice.
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I just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
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I just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
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I just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
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Say it with confidence.
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Now it is time for your challenge.
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I want you to write a sentence in the comments using one of today's phrases.
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For example, I will follow up with my colleague tomorrow.
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Or, could you clarify the meeting time?
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Any sentence, any phrase from today, just write it down.
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Writing helps you remember, and we read every single comment.
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Every single one.
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So go ahead, write your sentence, we are waiting.
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today's episode you did amazing seriously
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if you made it to the end you are already more
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dedicated than most people we covered eight professional phrases modal verbs for polite requests
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and you heard Tom's legendary yeah it's fine I guess story
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a story for the ages please forget it do not forget to subscribe
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if you have not already we upload every single day so come back
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Share this episode with someone who is learning English or someone who just started a new job.
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It will genuinely help them.
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You are doing something amazing by learning English every day.
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Keep going!
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You are getting better with every single video.
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We will see you tomorrow.
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Take care everyone!
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Bye bye!
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Context & Background
This lesson focuses on enhancing your professional English speaking skills, particularly in meetings and emails. The hosts, Tom and Lily, emphasize the importance of using real-world phrases instead of textbook expressions, enabling learners to communicate more effectively in a professional setting. Tom shares a personal experience where a casual response in a meeting led to an awkward silence, illustrating the significance of understanding the context and appropriateness of language in the workplace.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
To help you navigate professional conversations effortlessly, here are five essential phrases you can start using right away:
- "Can you walk us through your progress?" – A common request in meetings to ask for detailed updates.
- "I appreciate your input on this matter." – A great way to acknowledge contributions from colleagues.
- "Let’s take this offline." – Use this phrase when a discussion needs to continue but not in the current meeting.
- "I’d like to hear your thoughts on this." – An inviting way to solicit feedback or opinions.
- "Could we table this discussion for now?" – A professional way to postpone a topic while acknowledging its importance.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively improve your English pronunciation and gain confidence in speaking, consider using the shadowing technique with the phrases mentioned. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Step 1: Choose one of the key phrases from the list above.
- Step 2: Listen carefully to how the phrase is pronounced in the video. Pay attention to the intonation and rhythm.
- Step 3: Repeat the phrase out loud while mimicking the speaker. Focus on matching their tone and pace.
- Step 4: Record yourself speaking the phrase and compare it to the original. This will help you improve your pronunciation and fluency.
- Step 5: Practice using the phrase in your own sentences. Try incorporating it into your daily conversations or emails to solidify your learning.
Engaging in this type of practice can significantly enhance your communication skills in a professional environment. Utilizing the shadow speech technique regularly will not only help you improve your English pronunciation but also build your confidence to speak professionally at work.
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.