Handle Meetings like a PRO

A look into some of the most common phrases and verbs you can use at work to sound like you know what you're talking about 😉. To circle back, to touch base, to sync up and more.

+ Dane's new immersion project right here in Madrid.

Transcript

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Hey, what's up? Welcome to English with Dane, a podcast designed to help you enjoy the process of perfecting your English. As always, I'm your host Dane, and you can find me on Instagram and TikTok at EnglishwithDane. Today's episode is all about verbs and phrases that you can use at work. These are things that I hear being used over and over again in meetings, presentations, and just corporate life in general. And I'm sure they'll be useful to you if you find yourself in these situations. But before we start, I have some pretty exciting news to tell you. I'm starting an immersion program, an in-person immersion program. The plan is to have a small group of people and do a two-day full immersion outdoor retreat. This is something I've been thinking about for a while. And with the help of my good friend Max, who is not only one of my oldest friends, but an experienced mountain guide and educator, we're going to be launching a program where we spend a few days together, not just connecting with nature and doing some hiking, but where you'll also have the chance to really live in English for a few days. No Spanish at all. We're not going to be sleeping outside and all that. It's not a hardcore wilderness experience. It does have a nature component, a light hiking component, but most importantly, it will be a full language immersion. My friend Max is also a native English speaker, so you'll have no choice but to live in English for a few days and break through those barriers you might be experiencing. This program will take place late February, early March of 2026, but I just wanted to let you know in case you want to participate. I'll give you more information soon, but in the meantime, give it some thought. As you know, we're based here in Madrid, so it will be around here, not too far. If it's something you'd be interested in, you can write to me on Instagram or send me an email at EnglishwithDane at gmail.com. It'll be a small group, roughly 10 people, as we get started. I'll give people a chance to sign up in the near future. I just wanted to let you know what we're working on. So now that I've told you, let's get into the episode. You are listening to episode 31 of season two of English with Dane. Hit it. Okay, there's the music, so you know we have officially started the show. So let's talk about things like these verbs and phrases that you can use at work. I've prepared a list of the things I hear come up the most, whether that be in meetings I'm involved in or the little chunks of meetings I overhear my partner having. To overhear, by the way, means to hear something by accident. So let's go with the first one, to circle back. I posted a video about this on social media, so you might already be familiar with it, but I think it's one of the most useful ones. It sounds really professional, and it also has the power to make you blend in with native speakers. This one comes from the world of aviation, and it is used when a plane has to take a lap, that una vuelta, it has to take a lap or go around again because it wasn't able to land on its first attempt. It's pretty visual too, which you know I like. To circle back means to return to a topic, task, or a question later, usually when more information is available or when it's a better moment to address it. This is a classic one when someone asks you about something and it's something you don't want to talk about right now, whether it be because you need more information, because it's not super relevant to what you're talking about, or maybe because it's just not the right time. Whatever the case may be, you want to be able to table that topic and address it later. To table something, by the way, means kind of the same thing. To talk about something at a later date. So let's look at a few examples with to circle back. You can say, let's circle back to that once the whole team joins because they have a more complete vision. Or I'd love to circle back once I have all the data. Maybe you can say, can you circle back to me once you've had a chance to look at the document? It's a great way to remain polite while telling someone it's not the right time to talk about a certain topic. You can also use to circle back to talk about something that was brought up earlier, by the way. It's not just to say you're going to talk about something later, it also works in the inverse. It's like saying, Me gustaría comentar algo sobre lo de antes. You can say things like, Let's circle back to what you said about pricing. Or circling back to what we spoke about yesterday, and then whatever you want to say about that. Or maybe this is a good moment to circle back to what we mentioned during this morning's catch-up. Aquí usamos catch-up as a noun, not a verb. Ojo con eso. I think a lot of companies have catch-ups, which are meetings to kind of review how things are going and make sure that everyone is on the same page. Let's go to the next one. To touch base. Base spelled B-A-S-E, as in base. To touch base means to briefly check in with someone, usually to confirm information or maybe get a quick update. This one comes from the world of baseball, actually, which I think is cool. In baseball, you literally touch the base to be safe, uh to complete a play, or to reset your position before advancing. So you can see how this came to be used in the business world. It's a physical action turned into a metaphor. It's kind of like a mix of ponernos al día, comprobar, hablar un minuto. You can say things like, That sounds good. Or can we touch base before the client call? Or I just wanted to touch base on the deliverables before we move forward. So we're not talking about the effort nor the process, but the actual finished output. So again, I just wanted to touch base on the deliverables before we move forward. Love it. Next up is to move the needle, to move the needle, and again, a really visual metaphor. To move the needle means to make a noticeable impact or create real progress on something. You can imagine an analog meter, like unapparato analógico, like a speedometer on an older car, or the volume on an older stereo system. When something moves that needle, it's because there is a noticeable change. If you barely turn up the volume, the needle doesn't really move much. Just like if you barely apply pressure on the gas pedal of your car, the needle barely moves. But if you really push it, that needle jumps up. So again, another really visual metaphor. It's like saying the Nero Impacto, or maybe marcar la diferencia. You can say things like, I really want this campaign to move the needle. I don't want it to just be more noise in the sector. Or maybe these small changes won't really move the needle. Or we need ideas that will really move the needle on these key metrics. Next up is bandwidth. Ojo a queena silent D between the I and the T bandwidth. We use this one in Spanish too, right? Ancho de banda. We use it to talk about the limited mental capacity to do something. Maybe it's used to refer to how much your staff can handle. Not as visual as the others, but a great metaphor, too. You can't download or upload that because you don't have the bandwidth, right? You don't have enough time, you don't have enough resources or capacity to deal with everything. So you can say things like, Who has the bandwidth to take this on para lidiar con esto, or to put it on his or her plate? Who has the bandwidth to take this on? You can also say, I don't have the bandwidth for that today. Maybe you can say, I don't think we should be concerned with this right now, considering our bandwidth. This means to include someone in a discussion and give them the necessary information, maybe so they can help you, maybe so they're aware of something that is happening, or to help you make a decision. It's like saying involucrar, meter en copia, etc. You can say stuff like, I'll loop Maria in so she's aware of the changes, or could you loop me in? Or maybe let's loop in the design team before we move forward. I think it's a great alternative to just involve. To me, it sounds less like you're burdening with someone and more like you're keeping them informed, or maybe seeking guidance. I feel like these expressions are just ways to make people feel better about giving other people more work, but that's the point, right? To soften these things and contribute towards an environment of participation, let's say. Next up, we have to sync up, to sync up, sync spelled S-Y N C. To sync up means to align with someone, to share updates, to coordinate plans, and make sure you're on the same page. It's like saying to align with someone, like to make sure you have the same priorities and that you are coordinated. You can also use align, but to me, and maybe it's just my perspective, but to align sounds more like you're talking about goals, while sync up sounds more like a collaborative effort to be on the same page about something operational. But again, that's just my perspective. You can say things like, hey, let's have a call to sync up before tomorrow's client meeting. Or let's sync up later today to make sure we're aligned on the presentation. You know, ahí tienes los dos. Let's sync up later today to make sure we're aligned on the presentation. Or maybe now that we have the new numbers, let's sync up this afternoon. I can't say this one and not think of NSYNC the band, but that's just my millennial brain. So that's my list of the ones that I hear come up the most, and maybe the ones that you can most easily just incorporate right away into your day-to-day office life. It's always important to note that you don't need to learn all of these. Write a few of these down, maybe the ones that sound like you, and just incorporate them slowly into your vocabulary. I'm sure that if your job has a big English component, you've heard some of these and have adopted others, but it's about slowly starting to phase them in. It's about slowly starting to phase them in and make them feel natural to you. If you want to internalize these, make sure to write down some sentences that you would actually use and just start practicing them by saying them out loud around your house or in your car or whatever. But important that they have to be in context. Don't just say sync up by yourself. Say the whole sentence like I was doing. Now that we have the new numbers, let's sync up later this afternoon. That's really important. I can't stress that enough. You don't want the first time you actually use these to be in a live meeting. Say them a few times as soon as you stop listening to this episode, and you'll see how in no time you're using them avidly or with enthusiasm. Avidly, also a great word. All right, that's it for this episode of English with Dane. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you got something from it. If you haven't, make sure you're following the show on Spotify or wherever you listen. And I'd really appreciate it if you could give it a five-star rating. We're almost at 1,000 ratings. So let's see if we can break through that barrier, if we can surpass that line. Let me know what you think of the show. And as always, any feedback is greatly appreciated. I'll give you guys more information about the immersion program as it develops. And if you just are curious or want to know a little bit more, or if you want to guarantee a slot in the first one, or whatever, write to me at Englishwithdain on Instagram or send me an email at EnglishwithDane at gmail.com. I'm really excited about this project, and I know it's going to be a really valuable experience. All right. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk soon. Have a good week. Later