Useful Language — Holding Your Own on the Call

The phrases that get you into the conversation and keep you there.

Tap the speaker to hear each phrase. Then listen to the full conversation below.

Getting into the conversation

Can I come in on that?
Sorry, could I add something quickly?
Before we move on, can I check one thing?
I would like to come back to what David said earlier.

When you did not catch it

Sorry, could you say that again a little more slowly?
I did not catch the last part.
Just so I am clear, you are saying that the deadline moves to June?
Can you spell that for me?

Chairing and keeping time

Let us take the agenda in order.
We have twenty minutes, so I will keep us moving.
Let us park that and come back to it at the end.
Elena, we have not heard from you yet, what do you think?

Closing with actions

So, to summarise what we have agreed.
Marco owns that one, by the fifteenth.
I will send round the notes this afternoon.
If I have got any of that wrong, tell me before Friday.

Listen: a call with head office

Nadia: David, before we move on, can I come in on the hiring freeze?

David: Go ahead, but quickly, I have got another call in ten.

Nadia: Sorry, could you say that again a little more slowly? I did not catch the last part.

David: Of course. I said we are up against it this quarter, so I want to push the freeze from March to June.

Nadia: Just so I am clear, you are saying no hiring at all until June?

David: That is the proposal, yes.

Nadia: Then I need to put one thing on the table. We have two open roles in support. If they stay open until June, we miss the renewal season, and that is a real number, not a feeling.

David: Hmm. All right. What if I release one of them in April and we hold the other?

Nadia: That works. So, to summarise what we have agreed: the freeze extends to June, one support role is released in April, and the second stays on hold.

David: Correct. Send that round and I will confirm in writing.

Notice that Nadia asks David to slow down without apologising, and that she is the one who summarises the decision at the end. Notice too how the summary uses reported speech.