English for personal assistants - part 7 doc

4. You: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CL: I’ve got a bit of a problem as I said. Do you think you would have the time to just
check my charts for me?
5. You: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CL: That would be great. Thank you so much, I’ll email them through to you and I’m
really looking forward to seeing you again.
6. You: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CL: Thank you once again and goodbye.
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Task 9
When you get to the office on Monday morning, you find that you received this
voicemail from a US PA the previous Friday evening.
Hi, this is Claire speaking from XYZ company in Seattle. About the meeting in Munich
next week, do you think we could kick off at 10 instead of 8? And could you push lunch
back to 1.30? The reason is that Mr A is taking a different flight which will arrive pretty
late in the evening and he’d therefore like to start a bit later in the morning so that he
can get some shuteye. Can you let me know asap please?
This is going to be difficult for you to arrange as there are several other meeting
participants. However, Mr A is an important participant so you’d like to help him.
The best you can do, without upsetting others’ schedules, is to change the start of the
meeting to 9 am and break for lunch at 12.30. You pick up the phone to leave her a
message but before you do, reflect on what you know of the preferred communication
style of Americans.
Here’s how you can order your voicemail:
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ask her how she is
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get down to business
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suggest a compromise solution
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sign off
Here are some expressions you can use:
Maintaining the relationship
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Hi, how are you?
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How nice to hear from you
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How are things your end?
30 Best-practice emails and working in multi-cultural teams
Getting down to business
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I’m returning your call about
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I gather there’s a problem with
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I understand is going to be
Suggesting a compromise
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What if we
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How about if we
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If we , would that help?
Signing off
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It’d be good to hear from you soon
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It’d be nice to talk to you so that we can
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Let me know if there’s anything else I can do
Now write down what you’d say:
Next time you have to deal with someone from a different culture whether on the
phone, face-to-face, or by email, it’s a good idea to reflect on what you know about
that culture. Therefore, don’t be surprised if your Italian counterpart likes to chat a
bit before getting down to business or if your Dutch colleague gets straight to the
point. Neither style is better – they’re just different!
Raising awareness of different communication styles 31
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3 Building business relationships
Striking up a conversation with someone you don’t know very well can be difficult as
you’re not always sure what topics are appropriate to talk about. But building rapport
is an essential part of establishing and maintaining relationships, which, in turn, are
essential elements of doing business successfully in a global environment.
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Task 1
Read the article ‘Small Talk – Big Problem’ and find words or phrases which mean:
1. a person who takes part in a conversation, dialogue or discussion
2. makes easier
3. to start immediately
4. carry out successfully
5. promotes/builds
6. bounces
7. to widen
8. rejecting

9. involved in
10. instrument
Small Talk – Big Problem
Small talk is a vitally important function of the English language because it helps you
to build a relationship with your interlocutor. It facilitates international relations at
every level. Look, for example, at the level of understanding the Blairs had with the
Clintons – they certainly didn’t just speak about politics.
Why is small talk a big problem? Germans are a low-context culture which means they
are task-oriented and not used to small talk, preferring to get straight down to
business. To other nationalities this can make them seem unfriendly, particularly
those from higher context cultures such as the British and the Latins. These cultures
are relationship-oriented and they like and expect to exchange a few words before
they get down to business.
Why make small talk at all?
You may ask, ‘what is the point of small talk?’ – you don’t achieve anything and it
wastes time. On the contrary – small talk enables you to build a bridge with your
interlocutor and to move quickly from ‘I’ and ‘they’ to a feeling of ‘we’. Finding
common ground fosters trust and enables you to build relationships with people from
other cultures.
Of course you can’t just talk about anything – you should avoid personal and hot
topics such as sex, politics, religion, and money. These topics, as in any other cultures,
you reserve for close friends.
Be an active listener
Making small talk is a bit like playing table tennis – the conversational ball pingpongs
back and forth. You also mustn’t forget that to build rapport you need to be a
sympathetic listener. Although ‘mm mm’ and ‘yes’ are acceptable, try to broaden your
range of active listening devices as too much use of ‘mm mm’ can sound dismissive
and as if you’re really bored. Experiment with using ‘oh really?’, ‘that’s interesting’, ‘I
see’ etc. and sound as though you really mean it. This shows your partner that you’re
engaged in the dialogue and really listening to what they’re saying.

Small talk is a bridge to building a relationship and is just another tool in your
linguistic toolbox, like grammar or vocabulary. Language is about communicating but
don’t forget that you will always be communicating with a person and not a robot.
This is why small talk is very important as it shows your interlocutor that you are
interested in them as a person.
Making small talk
When you meet someone for the first time, you need to introduce yourself.
Introducing yourself
A: I’m Elke Schmidt. How do you do?
B: I’m Ramona Braun. How do you do?
A: Pleased to meet you.
B: Nice to meet you too.
This is a standard formulaic exchange. If you’ve met the person before, you can say:
A: How nice to see you again/How are you?/ How are things?
B: Good to see you too?/Very well and you?/Great and what about you?
Small Talk – Big Problem 33
When you meet someone in a social situation, it’s useful to have communication
techniques that move quickly from a sense of “us and them” to a feeling of “we.”
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Task 2
Look at the following exchanges to establish common interest and classify them
according to:
a) likes/dislikes
b) opinions
c) experience
1. A: I think the Harry Potter books are overrated.
B: I think so too.
2. A: I’ve visited the USA a number of times.
B: Really? So have I? Where did you go?.
3. A: I really like modern art.

B: Yes, I do too.
4. A: I can’t stand in-flight food.
B: I can’t either.
5. A: Creativity is the key word.
B: I couldn’t agree more.
6. A: I worked in marketing for a number of years.
B: That’s interesting. So did I. What did you do exactly?
Building on small talk
As you will usually get an answer linked to what you’ve said, you can then build on it
to establish rapport.
34 Building business relationships
For example:
A: So what do you think of Frankfurt?
B: Well, I don’t know Frankfurt so well but I like big cities in general.
A: Me too. Well, I was actually born here so I guess it’s in my blood. Where do you
come from originally?
B: I’m from New York originally. Have you ever been there?
A: Yes, I’ve been there many times and I really like it. It’s got this buzz to it.