Valerie: Oh I see, interesting… ok… so while the contractor and his team were building the café, you met with the coffee supplier. You said she was recommended to you by some friends?

Mira: Yes, exactly. I wanted to get quality coffee, but I wasn’t sure who to talk to. I asked around and, eventually, some friends of mine recommended Leanna. At first it was difficult to get in touch with her. She's sort of a… freelancer, I guess you could say. So we met at the café to discuss doing business together.

Mira: Leanna, welcome, nice to see you.

Leanna: Hello, Mira. Nice to meet you in person.

Mira: Likewise! Please, come in. It’s cold outside. Would you like some tea?

Leanna: That would be lovely, thank you.

Mira: So let’s talk coffee. Obviously, it’s very important. I am opening a café, after all! I want to serve it the traditional way, black like back home, so quality is essential. But I also want to appeal to all tastes. We’ll offer coffee with cardamom, and of course lattés, cappuccinos, tea… So I was thinking -

Mia: So I think we should -

Mia: So I think we should discuss what you have to offer in terms of products and price, as well as timelines. How often do you deliver?

Leanna: Delivery can be arranged weekly or bi-weekly, depending on your needs. I have connections with a few different coffee farmers in Brasil who all grow very high-quality, organic beans. They are roasted -

Leanna: They are roasted locally, so the beans will be fresh when they are delivered, and I can -

Conor: Hello, dear listener, and welcome to today’s episode of Talking on the Job. I’m your host and English language mentor, Conor, back again to help you navigate the world of English in business and at work. I’m calling today’s episode Speaking Out Loud. Mira and Leanna are trying to do business at the café, but all that noise is getting in their way! And they can’t afford to miss out on any information. Now, let’s go back to their conversation. Pay special attention to the techniques that Mira and Leanna use to make sure they understand one another, even with all that noise!

Leanna: They are roasted locally, so the beans will be fresh when they are delivered, and I can -

Mira: I'm so sorry about the noise. Mmmm, could you repeat that, please?

Leanna: Of course. As I was saying, the beans are roasted locally, so they are always fresh when delivered. Actually, I can offer you a discount if you buy a lot at once… in bulk, and we can also set up a regular delivery schedule.

Mira: Sorry… What was that again?

Leanna: Well, I was saying that I can offer you a discount if you buy in bulk… and we can set up a regular delivery schedule. It all depends on what your needs are.

Mira: Ok… that sounds good. Before I place any orders, though, I’d like to try some samples. You have an excellent reputation, but I want to taste a few different varieties of the coffee before I commit to -

Leanna: Ok, so what you’re saying is that you’ll likely require regular delivery, but you’d like to set up a tasting first?

Conor: Did you catch that? Both Mira and Leanna used some great strategies to make sure they understood each other in this noisy environment. Let’s review them one at a time.

Conor: First, Mira asked -

Mira: Could you repeat that, please?

Conor: Using “could” instead of “can” made her request more formal, and more polite. And, well, she’s a new business owner… she doesn’t want to miss anything that comes after the phrase “I can offer you a discount”. So, she requested that Leanna repeat herself a second time by asking -

Mira: Sorry… What was that again?

Conor: Adding “sorry” makes this an extra polite way to ask someone to repeat themselves. Maybe you also picked up on something clever that Leanna did there. She said -

Leanna: Ok, so what you’re saying is -

Conor: And then she summarized what Mira told her. This gave her the chance to correct Mira, in case she missed any information due to all that background noise. 
Let’s go back to the café and see what other techniques Leanna and Mira use to communicate clearly in this noisy environment.

Mira: Yes, I’d like to set up a tasting first, and I want to get some more details about this potential discount and the delivery options. Could you send me an email with all of this information, please?

Leanna: Of course. I’ll send you an email and we can take it from there.

Mira: Perfect. Thank you.

Conor: Now there’s a handy strategy for you! Did you notice? Mira asked Leanna to send her an email with the information they discussed. That way, in case she missed anything, she’ll have all the information she needs right in her inbox. You can do this too! After a meeting or a phone call, for example, or even after making an appointment. If you aren’t sure you understood the details correctly, try asking for a follow-up email! Now, maybe you’re wondering, what’s all that construction noise about? I bet Mira can weigh in on this one…

Valerie: Well, Leanna certainly delivered some top-quality coffee! And it sounds like you were able to continue doing business, even while your café was under construction. Speaking of which, how did that go? Did the team run into any problems?

Mira: It started off really well, but then, yes, we did run into some pretty big problems. There was an issue with the electricity… and especially with the electrician, who…

Conor: I don’t know about you, dear listener, but I am glad to get out of that noisy construction site! Remember, though, that the techniques you learned today can work anywhere. Maybe you have a meeting at a busy restaurant, a video call with unreliable internet, or you’re talking on the phone with bad reception. Follow Mira and Leanna’s example, and you can be confident that you’ll understand all of the important information in your conversations at work. Let me know how it goes by sending me an email at podcasting@babbel.com. Just be sure to write Talking on the Job in the subject line.

For a review of the techniques you’ve heard, check out the transcript from today’s episode. There you’ll also find information about some of the vocabulary Mira and Leanna used, like "bi-weekly" and "in bulk". If you’d like to practice your meeting skills, check out our course about meetings in the Babbel app! And come back for the next episode to find out what caused those big construction problems that Mira mentioned. I’ll see you there!

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Useful questions and phrases for checking if you understand someone:
- Could you repeat that, please?
- Sorry... What was that again?
- So what you're saying is…


Key vocabulary:
- Bi-weekly: happening every two weeks
- Regular delivery: delivery on a set schedule
- In bulk: in large amounts
- To take it from there: to continue from a certain point
 

Key strategies:
Asking for a follow-up email: if you had a meeting, a phone call, or made an appointment, and you aren’t sure you understood all the information correctly, ask for a follow-up email. Then you’ll have all the details in writing.