15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English fo(2)

it’s better to play it safe

if you are not sure.

15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English for Students

15 ways to improve communication in business English

Copyright by Andrew D. Miles and English for Business

7. WORD ORDER

Classic word order:

Adverb of time subject auxiliary verb frequency adverb verb direct object indirect object

adverb of manner adverb of place adverb of time

S AMPLES

Politicians will sometimes block deals during election times .

Yesterday , our director asked Mary to finish her letter by hand at her own desk .

The lawyer wrote the contracts at his office in the morning .

15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English for Students

15 ways to improve communication in business English Copyright by Andrew D. Miles and English for Business

8. REGARD REGISTER

When you learn a new word, always ask your teacher for the context in which it can be used. Is it formal? Informal? Can I use it with friends? What about writing?

Do not use slang, ironical expressions or foul language, even if others

do. This could confuse

listeners because your speech will unexpectedly change register.

15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English for Students

15 ways to improve communication in business English

Copyright by Andrew D. Miles and English for Business

9. FILLERS

Resort to fillers for those seconds you spend looking for words you can’t find.

Sometimes, you cannot afford to stay quiet while you plan what you’re going to say next, so use fillers to gain time.

F ILLERS

Really Clearly Well OK Of course Undoubtedly I believe Certainly Surely

Fine

15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English for Students

15 ways to improve communication in business English

Copyright by Andrew D. Miles and English for Business

10. PRONUNCIATION

Memorise difficult words and practise them often. When in doubt with names, ask how to pronounce them correctly. Don’t hide your accent by speaking with your mouth closed or increasing your speed, because people will find it harder to follow you.

Talk slowly, look at listeners and don’t try to compete with outside noises. If there’s a noise, wait until it subsides.

15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English for Students

15 ways to improve communication in business English

Copyright by Andrew D. Miles and English for Business

10. PRONUNCIATION

Dow Jones (dou j ½nz)

bush

(b ?sh)

Finance

(f …-n ²ns “, f º“n ²ns ”)

NYSE

(µn) (w º) (µs) (¶)

Samuelson

(s ²m “y ?-…l-s …n)

factorage

(f ²k “t …r-¹j)

Keynesian

(k ³n “z ¶-…n)

leverage

(l µv “…r-¹j)

liability (l º”…-b ¹l “¹-t ¶)

15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English for Students

15 ways to improve communication in business English

Copyright by Andrew D. Miles and English for Business

11.

QUESTION TAGS

Apply tail phrases

on leading questions, since they are a legitimate way to make listeners assert to your proposals.

Question tags ending with negative tail phrases elicit affirmative answers.

Question tags ending with positive tail phrases elicit negative answers.

S AMPLES

This sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

(It elicits an affirmative reply.)

You won’t let a client escape, will you? (It elicits a negative reply.)

15 Ways to Improve Oral Communication in Business English for Students

15 ways to improve communication in business English

Copyright by Andrew D. Miles and English for Business

12. FALSE FRIENDS

Be careful with false friends, because expressions that seem straightforward to you can end up messing up your speech.

Don’t assume that terms which look like words in your native tongue mean the same. Sometimes, there are surprises!

Also, some English words that become part of another language’s colloquial vocabulary (think of slip in Spanish) lose their original sense and end up meaning something else.