Telephone or Face to Face?

Telephone/ Face to Face/ Both

Without looking at the below, hold up the “Telephone” card or “Face to Face” card that your teacher has given you depending on when they sentence you hear could be used.

Label the sections below with T for telephoning, F for face to face or B for both.

• “(Is there) anything else?”
• “(Please) go ahead.”
• “(Please) help yourself.”
• “Alex Case speaking”
• “As you can see here…”
• “Can I ask who is calling?”
• “Can I call you back (in a minute/ in a second)?”
• “Can I check that back?”
• “Can I speak to…?”
• “Can you find out and call me back?”
• “Can you try again later?”
• “Can you write it down for me?”
• “Do you have a copy of this application form?”
• “Do you need any help?”
• “Don’t hang up, I’ll be back in just a second.”
• “He’s in a meeting at the moment. Can I help you at all?”
• “Hello?”
• “Here is our prospectus.”
• “Here’s my business card.”
• “How can/ may I help you?”/ “How may I be of assistance?”
• “I can't see any way out of this”/ “I don't know what to suggest.”
• “I have a call on another line”
• “I have the information on the screen now.”
• “I hope that’s okay.”
• “I regret to tell you that…”
• “I think that’s all, thanks”
• “I’ll ask my colleague to come over and speak to you.”
• “I’ll email it to you now.”/ “I’m emailing it to you now”
• “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
• “I’ll put you through to him now.”
• “I’m calling because I need to know…”
• “I’m just checking on the computer system now.”
• “I’m phoning to ask…”
• “I’ve got your 2011 prospectus here in front of me.”
• “If you can give me some contact details, I’ll find out and get back to you as soon as I can”
• “If you could hold on just a moment.”
• “If you give me your email address, I’ll ask someone with more knowledge to contact you.”
• “If you look at the stack of brochures next to you/ this page/ the section I am pointing at…”
• “I'll see what I can do”
• “Is this the student affairs department?”
• “Is this what you are looking for?”
• “Just a moment, I’ll get a pen.”
• “Just let me know if you can’t find the right information”
• “My colleague knows more about this. I’ll give you his/ her phone number/ email address”
• “OK, I’ll pass that message onto him”
• “Please come back any time if you need more help.”
• “Please fill in this form.”
• “Please hold (the line).”/ “I’m putting you on hold.”
• “Please let me know if you have any questions/ need any help.”
• “Please take a seat and I’ll call you in a minute.”
• “Sean Smith’s phone/ office/ desk”
• “So, as I said I’ll email you an up-to-date prospectus this afternoon.”
• “Sorry to keep you waiting”
• “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
• “Speaking”
• “Thank you for your call.”/ “Thanks for calling.”
• “Thanks anyway”
• “Thanks for your time.”
• “Thanks for your understanding.”
• “That’s okay. I’ll try again later.”
• “The information should be in here.”
• “This is a bit too complicated to deal with over the phone.”
• “This is my colleague…”
• “Unfortunately I don’t have that information (to hand)”
• “Was there anything else?”
• “What exactly would you like to know?”
• “Who’s next?”

Test each other on the phrases with the same holding up cards game.

Try to remember or think of phrases for these functions:

Asking people to wait/

 

 

Checking/ Clarifying

 

 

Dealing with calls that are for someone else

 

 

Compare with the phrases in italics.

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Cards to hold up

Face to face	Telephone
Face to face	Telephone
Face to face	Telephone
Face to face	Telephone
Face to face	Telephone
Face to face	Telephone