 In this unit you will find examples of different types

of conversation that may take place in the office or on

the phone.

 Objectives
 To talk to new people in the office

 To talk to clients on the phone

 To spell out words

 To make polite requests

 Introduce the unit by asking the class the following
questions
 Do you like talking on the telephone?

 How do you feel about talking to people you don’t

know?
 How do you feel about meeting new people?

 Do you make friends easily?

 Look at the dialogues.
 V: Visitor, R: Receptionist C: Client

 A

 V: Good Morning. My name is Paul Phillips. May I speak to

Mr. William Smith?
 R: I’m sorry. Mr. Smith isn’t in. What can I do for you?

 B

 R:Collins Electronics. Good afternoon.

 C: Good afternoon. Mrs. Doris Robinson, please.

 R: Name, please?

 C:Henry Higgins. I’m her lawyer.

 R: Hold on a moment, Mr. Higgins. I’ll put you through.

 C
 C: Good morning. May I speak to the Personal Manager?

 R: Who’s calling, please?

 C: It’s Tim Harrison from K & S Co.

 R: Just a moment, please. I’ll see if he’s available at the

moment.
 D

 V: Excuse me, could I see Mr. Johnson?

 R: May I have your name, please? (May I have your order,

please?)
 V: Tom Balckburn, from New Instant Technology.

 R: Please sit down. He’ll see you in a minute.(in just a minute)

FOCUS ON GRAMMAR
 «Will» is often used in these types of business situations:
 a) resulting decisions: It’s hot in here. I’ll turn on the
air-conditioner.
 b) promises: I’ll call you next week.

 c) offering/asking for help: Will you give this to Mr.

Stevens, please?
 Read these sentences:

 I’ll put you through. (I will put you through to his office)

 I’ll call back latter

 He’ll see you in a minute

FOCUS ON LANGUAGE
 Polite requests:
 Can I see Mr….?

 Will you call…?

 Can you spell…?

 Take a seat, please.

 Wait a moment.

 Hold on a moment.

 More formal

 Could you wait……?

 May I speak to Mr…?

 Would you like to…?

Ask someone to do something. Be polite as in examples:
 Could you come back later, please?

 Could you repeat that, please?

 Would you call back later, please?

 Can you call tomorrow morning, please?

 Could you spell that again, please?

 Could you wait a few seconds, please?

 Would you speak a little louder, please?

Look at the following conversations
1. May I speak to Mr. William Johnson?
 I’m sorry,sir. He isn’t in.

2. Excuse me, could I talk to Miss Robinson?

 I’m afraid she’s busy right now.

3. Good morning. Can I see Mr. Harrison?

 I’m sorry. He’s abroad on business..

4. Excuse me. I’d like to talk to Mrs. Hamilton.

 Wait a moment , please. I’ll see if she’s in.

5. Good afternoon. May I speak to Mr. Johnson?

 Just a moment, please. He’ll see you in a minute.

6. This is Mary Smith. May I speak to Mrs. Hills?

 Hold on a moment, please. I’ll see if she’s available now.
COMPREHENSİON
 What is the name of the company?
 Who’s calling?

 Is Miss Johnson available?

 Why?

 Example:

 Receiver: X Company. Good Morning

 Caller: Is Miss Johnson available?

 Receiver: I’m afraid she’s busy at this moment, sir. Any

message?
 Caller: I’ll call her later.
When a person is not available
 She’s out for lunch.

 He’s away on a business trip.

 He’s busy.

 He’s not available at the moment.

 She’s on holiday/vacation.

 He’s at/in a meeting.

Example:
 Receiver: Hello, X Company. Good morning.

 Caller: Hello, I’d like to speak to Mr. Walter Halls,

please.
 Receiver: Who’s calling?

 Caller: Mr. Willis.

 Receiver: Would you mind spelling your name , please?

 Caller: No madam. Mr Willis. W I L L I S

FOCUS ON GRAMMAR
 Modal verbs are used for polite requests: can, will, or
more formal could, would or may.
 For example: Can I see you for a moment?

 The imperative. We can use the imperative for polite

requests in English, but we need to «soften» the
language by adding please.
 For example: Have a seat, please. (Come in and have a
seat)
FOCUS ON GRAMMAR
 A common phrase erroneously used by second language
learner is Could you repeat that, please?
For example:
 Could you spell your boss’ surname please?

 I’m afraid I don’t understand the name of the place.

Could you spell it for me, please?
 When answering the phone or receiving a message, the
secretary or office worker may frequently have
problems understanding the name of a person, place
or date.
 In English, spelling out a word is very common practice
for solving this problem.
 For example:
 A)

 The meeting is in Bangladesh.

 Where? Could you spell that, please?

 B)

 Mr. Jentzend is arriving next Monday.

 Who? Can you spell it, pleasae?

 C)

 I’ll be there on Thusday.

 When? Can you spell that, please?

 D)

 Did you get the jpeg files?

 The What? Can you spell that, please?

 When names, addresses or other information is not clear
when talking face to face or on the phone, ask the
person to spell out the word.
You can use the following expressions:
 Polite

 Spell it, please.

 Spell that, please.

 Can you spell that?

 More formal

 Could you spell that, please?

 Could you spell that again, please?

LET’S FOCUS ON GRAMMAR
To be

Full form Short form

I am (not) I’m(not)
You are (not) You’re(not)
Weare(not) We’re(ot)
They are (not) They’re(not)

He is (not) He’s (not)/ He isn’t

She is (not) She’s (not)/ She isn’t
It is (not) It is (not)/ It isn’t
ACRONYMS
 USA: The United States of America
 WWW: World Wide Web

 UK: The United Kingdom

For example
 Spain joined the EC over twenty years ago.

 AIDS is a very serious disease.

 NAFTA is an association of American countries.

PERSONAL TİTLES
 Mr  Erkek kişiler için kullanılır. Bekar veya evli olması fark etmez.
Soyadı önüne getirilmelidir.
 Nick Jonson adlı kişiye, Mr. Jonson şeklinde hitap etmemiz gerekir.

 Mrs  Evli bayanlar için kullanılır. Soyadlarının önüne getirilir.

 Zooey Deschanel  adlı evli kadına, Mrs. Deschanel diye hitap etmeliyiz.

 Miss – Bekar bayanlar için, yine soyadının önüne getirerek kullanılır.

 Amanda Schull  adli kişiye, Miss. Schul diye hitap etmeliyiz.

 Ms – Bayanlar için, bekar veya evli farkı gözetmeden kullanılabilir. Bu

unvan genellikle karşımızdaki kişinin evli olup olmadığını kesin olarak
bilmediğimizde kullandığımız bir unvandır.
 Mesela Isla Fisher ile konuşuyoruz ve evli mi bekâr mı bilmiyoruz. O
zaman, ona hitap ederken güvenli yolu seçip, Ms. Fisher diye hitap
etmemiz kendimizi garantiye almamız açısından daha iyi olacaktır.
DON’T FORGET
 Polite requests: Can I take a message?
 Spelling: Could you spell that, please?

 Simple future: He’ll see you in a minute. I’ll call

tomorrow.
 Social titles:

 Mrs. (married woman using her husband’s name)

 Miss(young girl or single woman)

 Ms. (adult woman)

REFERENCE
 Toselli, Marisela and Ana Maria Millan «English for
Secretaries and Administrative Personal», McGrawHill.