How to ask for LESS or MORE DETAIL - Business English communication lesson

Telling your colleagues, clients, and customers, in English that you need more detail, or maybe less detail can be difficult. Especially if you're a non-native English speaker and you use English at work as a second language. In this podcast I give you some great vocabulary that you can use to ask someone elaborate on something, or maybe to be a little more concise. So, if you want to sound more native and natural when speaking English at work, then I hope today's podcast is useful for you!

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Also, if you're studying for the IELTS, TOEFL, or Cambridge English tests and exams then you might find some of the vocabulary in this episode really useful.

This podcast is all about helping you to communicate better, in English, at work. I work with international English speakers from around the world who use English, at work, as a second or third language and I hope that I can bring some of the ideas, vocabulary, and grammar, from those sessions, to you in this podcast.

Don’t forget that my full time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. So, if you need English to do your job but don’t speak it natively then maybe we can work together to help you to achieve your language goals. 

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Today's examples:

I know we don’t have much time so I’ll keep it short and sweet.

This is just a succinct summary of the work we’ve been doing.

If you could be a little more concise I’d really appreciate it.

Could you elaborate on that a little for us please

I think you’ve got the bones of a good presentation there but you really need to flesh it out a little.

You mentioned that you had an idea for us earlier, could you expand on that a little please?

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Transcript

Welcome back to the breakout business English podcast. My name is Chris. I'm a business English and communication coach, and I've personally worked with over 1000 international professionals likely just like you to improve the way that they communicate at work, In English. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. I, of course, know how valuable that is. And our topic today is asking people to give you more. Or maybe less. Detail. There's a phrase in English that we use when someone is speaking for too long. When someone keeps going on and you just want them to give you the most important idea that they're trying to communicate. You might tell them to get to the point. However, being told to get to the point can feel a little aggressive. We often hear people use this when they're frustrated with someone. Maybe your friend just came back from a vacation where they met one of your favourite actors on the beach. And you want to hear the story. But when they start telling it, they begin in the hotel the night before and you realise that it's going to be at least 15 minutes before they actually get to the point, they get to the part of the story that you're interested in. At work this can be even more important. Maybe you need to communicate to someone in a meeting that you need them to take up less time when offering their suggestion. Or reduce a presentation from eight minutes down to three. In today's podcast, we're going to hear lots of fantastic examples of these ideas, how we can ask people to add more information, and how we can ask people to include less information and, well, get to the point. And as always, we'll be analysing these examples and talking about how we can use them, at work to communicate better with our colleagues, our clients and our customers. Let's listen now. To some native and natural examples of people asking their colleagues for less detail in what they're saying. I know we don't have much time, so I'll keep it short and sweet. I know we don't have much time, so I'll keep it short and sweet. This is just a succinct summary of the work we've been doing. This is just a succinct summary of the work we've been doing. If you could be a little more concise, I'd really appreciate it. If you could be a little more concise, I'd really appreciate it. "Good things come in small packages" is an old saying that you might say when giving a gift. Sure, a big box is more exciting to open, but a small box might hold a beautiful piece of jewellery. Maybe a couple of plane tickets. Or the keys to a brand new car.So, short and sweet. Is a phrase that we can use to express this idea that a presentation, or a story Might be short. But It's particularly good. In the first example, we heard: I'll keep it short and sweet. I'll keep it short and sweet. That's a really common verb to use with this phrase, keep. As in, keep it short and sweet. We often hear this used when people are reacting to things. I recently went to a concert, for instance, with my friends and we all thought the band was going to play for around two hours. However, we realized when we arrived that we'd booked tickets for a special album launch show, so they only played for around 40 minutes. Of course, we would have liked them to play for longer, but The show was great.So we could definitely describe it as short and sweet. Even if compared to a normal two-hour rock show, it was a little shorter than we might have liked. Equally. If you need to stay late after work for your boss to give you a presentation about some changes at the company, and it only takes them a few minutes. Then you might say to a colleague, at least it was short and sweet. I was worried we were going to be here for hours. At least it was short and sweet. I was worried we were going to be here for hours. Do you ever wish that people would just stop talking and give you the gist, give you the information that you need, the main idea? To strip away all of the extra information and give you what you're actually waiting to hear. There are lots of ways to communicate this. However, from a vocabulary point of view, two of the most natural and native but professional words to use are succinct. And concise. Succinct, and concise. These words both have essentially the same meaning. They're both adjectives that mean to give the relevant and necessary information clearly and using few words. In the second example, we heard, This is just a succinct summary. This is just a succinct summary. And in the third example, we heard... If you could be a little more concise. I'd really appreciate it. If you could be a little more concise I would really appreciate it. You can often find concise versions of textbooks or reference books. These are often a lot shorter than the original full versions.So if your manager asks you for a succinct presentation or a concise report then you know to keep it as short as possible, or maybe even keep it short and sweet. And if you sometimes find it difficult to get to the point, you sometimes find it difficult to be concise, succinct and to communicate as clearly as possible when you're using English at work, then maybe we can work together. My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. Ciao. If you need English to do your job, but you don't speak it natively, then I would love to meet you. If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one-to-one video calls, just you and me, then you can go to breakoutbusinessenglish.com That's the title of the podcast, BreakoutBusinessEnglish.com and find out more. Starting on our very first call. We can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and communication skills. And the mistakes that you make most often are cause the biggest problems with your communication. And right now, you can use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking of 30, 45 or 60 minutes.Sometimes my calendar gets a little busy, so if you have trouble finding a time that works for you, then you can always send me a message through the contact page on the website and ask if I have any time to fit you in. I have worked with over 1,000 non-native English speaking professionals from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders from all over the world to help them achieve their goals and I look forward to meeting you. Okay, that's enough of being short and sweet. Let's get into the details. Let's get into the weeds, even. And talk about some vocabulary that we might use when we want someone to give more detail. To get into the weeds is a phrase that we can use when someone gives away A lot of detail. But often when it's unwanted, Maybe people are going into too much detail. Maybe two colleagues both agree that they need to hire someone for the team. Then they start discussing the exact salary they'll offer. Which desk they'll sit at. And when their lunch breaks will be. Another colleague might interrupt and say that we're getting into the weeds now. Which means that we're going into more detail than is necessary. You've both agreed that you need to hire someone. We can discuss the details later. There's no reason to get into the weeds right now. However, very often more detail is a good idea. It's required and welcomed. Let's listen now. To some native and natural ways to talk about adding more detail to what you have said. Could you elaborate on that a little for us please? Could you elaborate on that a little for us please? I think you've got the bones of a good presentation there, but you really need to flesh it out a little. I think you've got the bones of a good presentation there. But you really need to flesh it out a little. You mentioned that you had an idea for us earlier. Could you expand on that a little please? You mentioned that you had an idea for us earlier. Could you expand on that a little, please?So Halloween is almost here. And this is about as close as I'm going to get to a scary piece of vocabulary for you today. What do I mean if I ask you to flesh something out? To flesh something out. That's the phrasal verb. To flesh out.Well, you've probably guessed from the context of this episode of the podcast, but I mean that I want you to add more. Detail. To give more information. In the second example, we heard... You really need to flesh it out. You really need to flesh it out. Flesh is really any part of your body that isn't Bone. It's the general word that we use for all the muscle and fat and everything else that really makes up your body. Other than The bone.So. We can use this word to talk about humans or animals. And if you've ever seen a scary skeleton walking around in a movie or a cartoon, then you are looking at something or someone with no flesh on them. And there we go. That is your Halloween reference, your scary reference for Halloween this year.So, if I tell you that you've got the bones of something, then I mean that it is the foundations. The basic parts. You've got what you need to get started, maybe a basic structure. However, when you add more information, you are fleshing it out. I might tell you, for instance... That I'm going to Italy on vacation. I know when I arrive, I know when I leave, and I know that I want to spend a little time in Rome and a little time in Milan. But I haven't fleshed out my plans yet. I think I need to sit down at my computer and really flesh out an itinerary so that I can start booking hotels and maybe some tickets for places I want to visit.So that's the phrasal verb to flesh out. And as with all phrasal verbs, technically it is informal.So if you're doing A language test like IELTS for instance or TOEFL, this would be considered informal. However, it's definitely professional and definitely something that I have heard many people use in offices that I've worked in the past. There was a TV show a couple of years ago called The Expanse. The Expanse. Maybe you've seen it. I think it's on Amazon Prime Video these days.So maybe you've come across it. But this was a science fiction show. In which humans have started living all over our solar system, on most of the planets and on a handful of different space stations. From what I've heard, it's actually a pretty good show. But my question for you is, why did they call the show The Expanse.Well, an expanse is something that is really big. Especially in the area that it covers. We often talk about a great expanse of forest. Or we might say that the vast expanse of the oceans is difficult to really understand. Whereas 'expanse' is a noun, What is far more common to hear people use is the verb to expand. To expand. In our third example, we heard: Could you expand on that a little, please? Could you expand on that a little, please? If you expand something, then you make it bigger. This could be your sofa that expands to be a full bed for maybe if you have guests coming over. Or your backpack that expands to fit more things in it. Maybe all these souvenirs you picked up On that vacation to Italy that you just fleshed out. The preposition on is important here. It's how we connect the verb to the object of the sentence.So. We say that we listen to things We are interested in things. We focus on things. And we expand on things. This is definitely a more formal way to express this idea.So we might hear this in a job interview. Maybe in a sentence like, you mentioned earlier that you've done some work in the public sector. Would you mind expanding on that for us, please? You mentioned earlier that you've done some work in the public sector. Would you mind expanding on that for us, please? Don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary or grammar, etc. In today's episode, Or if you'd like to generally work on your English or your communication skills, then you can book a session with me to work together in one-to-one sessions by going to www.sales.com. Breakoutbusinessenglish.com That's breakoutbusinessenglish.com. And use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. I've worked with over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them achieve their goals, and I look forward to hopefully working with you. Between episodes of the podcast, you can get videos every couple of days on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Just search for Breakout Business English. Although I should say I'm far more active on YouTube these days than Instagram or TikTok. If there's a topic that you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I would be excited to hear your ideas. Leave me a message or a comment on one of my YouTube videos and I look forward to hearing from you. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, then I invite you to leave a review. Every review really helps me out and helps to push the podcast to new listeners and to grow the show. If you found this podcast useful, and you think there are some valuable things in here, then feel free to write a couple of kind words, and I thank you for that in advance. That's another great place to request a topic for a future podcast. That is it for today. Thank you so much for listening and as always for your time. I know how valuable it is and I really appreciate and respect your choice to spend some of your time with me and with this podcast. I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you again next time on the Breakout Business English podcast.