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Business English- Video & Teleconference Roleplay Phrases

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Roleplaying teleconferences and video conferences, and brainstorming suitable language

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Lesson Plan Content:


Teleconferences and video conferences roleplays and useful phrases

The teacher will divide you into pairs of teams. One team produce a product in the UK. The other side have an exclusive agreement to sell that product to retailers in Japan. (Decide what kind of product it is before you start). The UK side are not very happy with the present arrangement, even though the contract they have signed runs until the end of next year. Hold a teleconference to discuss what to do.

You will be given some problem roleplay cards. The person or team with the fewest cards left at the end of the teleconference will win the game, so if you manage to use all your cards you should try to bring the meeting to a successful close as quickly as possible. You cannot discard the card if you don’t do the thing written on it successfully, e.g. if you wait till someone stops speaking when you should be interrupting them.

 

The video has some problems

 

 

 

You have problems hearing

 

You can’t identify who is speaking

 

You don’t understand something

You need something repeated three times before you understand it

 

 

You need to temporarily hang up

 

Someone needs to step outside

 

You want to talk about something among just your side

 

There is an interruption your side

 

 

Use a word that you are sure the other side won’t understand

Get a contribution from someone who hasn’t spoken (for a while or at all)

 

You need to adjust your equipment

Someone takes a long time coming back from their break

 

Tell the other side they need to adjust their equipment

 

 

You need to email a document

Talk about a particular part of a document you all have copies of

You have a technical problem that takes you three attempts to solve

 

Someone leaves from your side and someone new comes in to take their place

Insist that people use their own names every time they speak

 

 

Interrupt someone

 

 

Go off topic

 

 

 

Take the conversation back to a previous topic

 

 

Suggest a break

 

Strongly but politely disagree

After finishing the video conference, brainstorm suitable phrases to do all the things written on the cards.

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Suggested phrases

The video has some problems “You’re (very/ rather) jerky.” “I can’t see people at the edge of the room.” “Your image has frozen.” “The image has disappeared.” “The image and sound are out of synch.”

You have problems hearing “You’re quite quiet.” “Just a second, I’m going to turn the volume up.” “Can you try moving the microphone?”

You can’t identify who is speaking “Was that John?” “Sorry. Who was that just now?”

You don’t understand something “I didn’t catch…” “

You need something repeated three times before you understand it “Sorry, I still don’t get it.” “Could you just say that one last time?”

You need to temporarily hang up “Maybe if we hang up and try again it will sort out the problem.” “Sorry, I need to speak to this person for just two minutes. I’ll connect you again when I finish.”

Someone needs to step outside “I have to take this, if you don’t mind.” “I’ll just go and get the documents. I’ll be back in a second.”

You want to talk about something among just your side “Can you give us a moment?” “We need to discuss this, if you don’t mind. I’ll just turn off our mic for a second.”

There is an interruption your side “Sorry, someone has just come in.” “Sorry, there’s a lot of noise outside. Someone will go out and see what it is.”

Use a word that you are sure the other side won’t understand “Can you explain what… means?” “I haven’t come across the term… before.” (for the response)

Get a contribution from someone who hasn’t spoken (for a while or at all) “John, did you want to comment on this?” “We haven’t heard what Jill has to say yet.”

You need to adjust your equipment “Just a second, I’ll move it.” “If I just change this, hopefully…”

Someone takes a long time coming back from their break “I’m afraid John hasn’t come back yet. I’m sure he’ll be back soon, but shall we start without him?”

Tell the other side they need to adjust their equipment “The camera seems to be pointing in the wrong direction.” “Can you try moving/ adjusting…?

You need to email a document “I’ll send it to you now.” “Just a second, I’ll find the document on my laptop and email it to you now.”

Talk about a particular part of a document you all have copies of “In the first section/ paragraph/ sentence/ bullet point…”

You have a technical problem that takes you three attempts to solve “Let me try one last time.” “There is one more thing we could try.” “Third time lucky, I hope.”

Someone leaves from your side and someone new comes in to take their place “John has to go to another meaning, so Jill will take his place.” “John had to rush off, but Jill has come in instead.”

Insist that people use their own names every time they speak “Sorry. Can people identify themselves before they speak?” “It might be easier if people said their names each time they speak.”

Interrupt someone “Can I come in here?” “Sorry to butt in, but…”

Go off topic “By the way,…” “That reminds me,…”

Take the conversation back to a previous topic “Can we speak a little bit more about…?” “This brings us back to…”

Suggest a break “Shall we take a breather?” “Does anyone else need a fag break?”

Strongly but politely disagree “I’m afraid I can’t agree with you there.”

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