How to SPEAK MORE CLEARLY | Business communication class

If you want to communicate more clearly when speaking in English and ensure that your colleagues understand exactly what you're trying to communicate then the ideas in this podcast should help. This week we're talking about frameworks, specifically how to apply the 321 framework to your spoken English and use it to communicate more effectively at work. We'll also take a look at some useful vocabulary that you can use to help you to communicate with more clarity. 

If you speak English at work and want to sound more native and natural when talking to colleagues, customers, or clients, then I hope that the vocabulary, grammar, and communication tips in today's episode will be useful for you. 

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https://youtu.be/CpkSqdI1JAU?si=YNzbpTQy899L5D9G

Also, if you're studying for the IELTS, TOEFL, ICAO 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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📺 Watch English speaking analysis on the Breakout Business English YouTube channel

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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 have personally worked with over 1,000 international professionals 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 it is. And our topic today is speaking clearly. Specifically by applying frameworks. This is the first of a short series that I'm going to run based on the idea of speaking more clearly and applying frameworks to our speaking.
So many of the clients I coach, They tell me that they want to communicate more clearly. They want to speak more fluently and make sure that their colleagues understand them when they speak.
So we definitely know the goal, where we want to get and what we want to achieve. But what not many people know is how to achieve that goal, which I guess is why they book my time. Good grammar and vocabulary are definitely important parts of this and improving your English in these ways is going to give you the tools to reach these targets. However, The other thing that I coach people on is communication. This is when we put all of your English knowledge together and talk about how we package it and present it. Interestingly, these communication skills can be really useful when communicating in your first language. Today, we're going to talk about one of the most important and useful communication strategies that I know, and that is adding structure to your speaking. Specifically, we're going to talk about frameworks. As I mentioned, this is going to be a series.
So today we're going to focus on the 3-2-1 framework. This is a great tool for when you've got lots of ideas, lots of information in your head, and you're not quite sure how to put them all together. The danger in this situation is that you just start talking. Without having a clear goal. And your listener doesn't know which part of what you said is important. In fact, communicating big ideas without structure can make it really difficult for your listener to understand your points.
So what is the 3-2-1 framework? When you're preparing to answer a question, to give a presentation or to train a colleague or any number of other communication tasks. I want you to ask yourself, what is the one thing that's most important for me to communicate right now. What is the key idea? That I need this person to understand. And that will deliver value. Asking yourself this question, is going to help you to sort through all of that information. And all of those ideas and focus on communication. It's important not to put too much pressure on yourself to find that one thing. Maybe two hours after your conversation, you realize that something else is more important. And that's fine. But the focus here is on communicating clearly. And by choosing just one very important thing, and not worrying too much about other things you are absolutely achieving that.
So, we've got our one key idea. What next?
Well, next we need to break your one idea down into two types or maybe two categories. We've communicated to the other person what the one most important thing is, and now we're going to get more specific. Stage one allows us to filter out the noise and focus the conversation to a sharp point. And now you're exploring that point further You're expanding the concept and building on it.
So that your listener can develop their sense and understanding of what you're talking about. Then we move on to part three. And that is three things. Now, the way this framework generally works is that these three things should be really ...pardonable items. They should be steps that your listener can take to move forwards and make progress on the thing that you were presenting. Or the question they were asking. However, I'm here to give you permission. To think about these in a slightly broader and more general way. The important thing about the 3-2-1 framework is that you focus on a single key and vital idea.
And then you build slowly from that. At each level adding enough information to deliver maximum value without overwhelming your listener or bombarding them with ideas. And that's a nice piece of vocabulary to take a look at here before we move on to an example of how this framework operates in practice. What do I mean when I talk about bombarding someone with ideas or information?
Well, I'm guessing that you've likely heard of a bomb. That's B-O-M-B. That's the explosive weapon that you don't want to be anywhere near when it goes off or when it detonates. That word, bomb. Is actually related to the verb to bombard. It's originally a military word. That means to fire a lot of explosives and well, bombs at your enemy in a short period of time. However, this is one of those pieces of vocabulary that has made the transition from the battlefield into the boardroom, as we say. If I bombard someone with something, then I give them a lot of it in a very short period of time.
So. When your CEO visits the office for the first time in years, you might bombard her with questions. Or when you're learning how to use a new piece of software. You might feel like you're being bombarded with instructions. There's just so many instructions coming towards you. I should say that this is usually a word that we use to show disapproval. It's rarely a good thing to bombard someone with questions or information. However, if you do want me to bombard you with new vocabulary, grammar and communication ideas, then maybe we can work together. 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 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 we focus on the mistakes that you make most often. Or 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. Of your first booking of 30, 45, or 60 minutes, whichever is best for you.
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've worked with well 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 meeting you. Okay, let's take a look at this system in action now. Let's take another question that I'm asked a lot during coaching sessions, and that is, how can I apply... The ideas from our coaching sessions to my real-life communications.
So this is a question that a lot of people ask me. They want to know, I've got these sessions with you. I'm getting all of these new ideas, this new vocabulary, these grammar corrections, but how do I actually implement that and build it into my everyday real life working English? Ciao. Let's listen now to how I might apply the 3-2-1 method to answer this. Here we go. Ultimately, the most important thing is to get specific with what you implement in your real-life working English. You can't apply everything, so I would encourage you to boil things down. To what you think is most valuable from each session and implement that. Now, there are two types of English language tips that you're going to get from our sessions. Those are grammar and vocabulary skills. I would suggest that you choose one of each. To start implementing. Balance is important in communication and in life. And if we're developing both areas of your communication, then we're going to be making good progress. And the communication tips outside of grammar and vocabulary, think about them as being in addition to those grammar and vocabulary tips. Next, here are the three steps. That you can follow. To make sure that you're really building your real-world spoken English. The first is before an English interaction. I want you to remind yourself of the very specific piece of English that you're working on. Remember to be as specific as you can. And what we're aiming to do here is look for opportunities to use the solution, not to avoid the problem.
So let's say for instance you're trying to get better at using the word 'since' in the present perfect tense. I might say, look for more opportunities to use the word since. Then step two is during an English interaction, look for opportunities to use that practice point. Look for opportunities to use the word since. Try to use your target vocabulary or grammar more than you usually would. The more often you can use it, the more you will improve your ability to use it. And third, after an English interaction. Review what happened. You can ask yourself, did you use it correctly whenever you had the chance to? Did you miss any opportunities to use it? Doing this little review with yourself after each English interaction can really accelerate your improvement.
So, what do you think? Was that clear? I think the thing that I like most about this system is the first part. Getting focused on one very specific point. Is a great foundation to build on top of. At the beginning of the example, I used the word ultimately. This is a great word for really focusing on important things. It has a similar meaning to basically. Basically. Which is a word that you'll likely hear a lot in English language workplaces. Or maybe the idiom in the end. For instance, I might say that international politics can be complicated, but ultimately It's all about relationships between people. Or maybe I'm talking about why I chose to work for one company over another. Why I chose one job offer instead of another. I could use a sentence like, ultimately, I opted for the company that offered me the most money.
So, ultimately can mean simply the most important thing You're identifying the most important point that you want to speak about. But it can mean after a long, process after a lot of discussion and debate and consideration of options. For instance, we thought about holding the conference in Paris or maybe Berlin, maybe even Rome, but ultimately we settled on France. Milan, for instance. I think there's a lot of conferences in Milan. Ha. I used the phrasal verb to boil down. This is a very common phrase. That we use when we want to make a complicated situation or a piece of information that is particularly long simpler. We want to simplify information. Think about cooking a large pot of soup. Or stew for a long time until only the strongest flavours are left. That is exactly what we're doing with our ideas here. When you have a meeting that lasts for two hours, But there is only one main decision. You can say that the whole meeting boils down to that one choice. In a professional setting, you might use this when you're giving a presentation. And you want to summarize your main point for the audience. For example, you could say, "If we boil down all the data from this month, The main problem is our shipping speed. If we boil down all the data from this month, The main problem is our shipping speed. It's a great way to show your colleagues that you understand the most important part of a difficult topic. It helps everyone to focus on what really matters instead of getting lost in the details that are not as important.
So don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary or grammar, etc. In today's episode, or work on your ability to speak more clearly in general, then you can book a session with me. At breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's breakoutbusinessenglish.com. Or click the link down in the show notes and we can get to work making you a more effective communicator. And you can use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. I've worked with well 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 meeting 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. If there's a topic that you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I'd 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.
So if you found this podcast useful and you think that there are some valuable things in here, then feel free to write a couple of kind words and I thank you in advance. That's a 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 really do know how valuable it is. And I appreciate and respect your choice to spend some of your time 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. Thanks a lot, everyone. Talk to you soon.