BE 623: Couldn't Help But Overhear? What to Do Now!

This is the Business English Podcast, episode 623. Couldn't help but over here, what to do now. Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Years English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business. For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Aubrey and Michelle, coming to you from Arizona and New York City, USA. This episode is sponsored by Vintage. When it comes to clothing, we all have our own style. Are there clothes you keep saying you'll wear but never do? That's definitely true for me. I don't shop much, but when I do, I'll buy four new shirts and wear only one of them, while the other three sit unworn in my closet. If you have this problem too, or if you just want to make some space in your closet, I'd recommend that you try Vintage. Vintage is a second hand clothing marketplace app that makes it easy for everyday sellers, people like you and me, to sell pre-loved fashion and earn some extra money. It's super easy to list your clothes on Vintage. You just snap some quick photos of your item and list it. Once your item sells, Vintage creates the shipping label for you. It couldn't be easier and you have nothing to lose. Now that I know I can use Vintage, I'm thinking differently about what I buy. And I know I have options to make space for new things on a regular basis. Ready to free up some space in your closet and earn some extra cash? Download the Vintage app for free and start listing at vinted.com/app. With no seller fees, you keep every dollar you earn. One more time, go to vinted.com/app. Hey, Michelle, how are you? Hey, Aubrey, I'm good. How are you? I am excellent. Come, a question for you. Are you an eavesdropper? Do you eavesdrop on people's conversations? It depends if they're talking loud enough. Sure, you can't help it. Do you, if you're at the grocery store or a cafe, do you find yourself trying to listen sometimes? If I hear a buzz word, if I hear something that peaks my interest, yeah, I might try, but what about you? Yeah, I do. I can't help it. And here's what I'm really curious about because I do this and I know it's strange. That sometimes I will jump in. Like, I'll want to make a comment on what they're saying. If it's a table that's close enough or people like in a line near me talking, if they mentioned something, if I either know the answer, I have a recommendation. I'll insert myself and it drives my husband crazy. He's like, can you not do that? Like, I'm sorry, I'm just a very friendly person. What about you? Do you ever jump in to conversation? I'm sure that I have and I would, again, it just all depends on like, also how friendly the people seem for someone. I do, they seem like they're like having a good time. Like, they seem kind of casual. Do they, you know, make it awkward accidentally, right? If you jump into a conversation, they're like, who are you? We don't know you. Right. So if they seem open, like, close off, like, their body, like, you know, if they're assertive, but like, I would. So, yeah, it just, it just really depends. We got a great question about this and so, yeah, do you want to share with us this YouTube question from Sophia? All right. Yes, we love you, Sophia. So this is from, yeah, from YouTube. So, hey guys, I'm Sophia and I have to say I'm a huge fan of the show. Your energy is absolutely contagious and it always makes my day. Thank you, Sophia. That's very nice. I've got a question about a situation that pops up for me every now and then. Sometimes I can't help but over here a bit of someone's conversation and I feel like I actually have something super helpful to share. But here's the thing. I really don't want to come across as rude or like I was eavesdropping. What's a natural way to jump in without making it awkward? I want to make that connection without overstepping. Thanks so much for everything you do. Love you guys. Well, we love you too. And I, the way that you write these questions is unbelievable. Like, I love the vocabulary, right? I'm overstepping. Over here. That's such a great phrase. Yes. Yeah, amazing. So, well done. So, we were always impressed and this is a fantastic question. This is tricky even in someone's native language. Let alone in a second language, right? And I'm right there with Sophia. So, I'm the same way where I'm like, I feel like I have something that would help some advice or a recommendation. I'm like, they need to know, they want to know. They'll start to know what to say. If I, if I, if something speaks my interest, like I would, but again, it's mixed in with, you know, like, what's the tone of the room? So, but yeah, sometimes we might hear a conversation at work. So, it could be in the break room or before meeting and we want to join in. So, it could be, like I said, because we're interested in the topic or like you said, Aubrey, you know, the answer to their question or you have relevant information. You want to share with them. So, yeah, today we're going to get into it. We're going to share phrases that you can use to jump into other people's conversations at work. So, but it's important to do it politely, of course, right? And we have quite a few of these that we use at work. So, be sure to hit follow. This will be a two-part series. So, follow right here the business English podcast so that you don't miss either episode in this really fun series. Yes, exactly. All right. So, first of all, it's not always appropriate to join a conversation. So, like we were saying, you can have to read the room. So, the tone and intention matters, right? So, you want to keep it friendly and light. And you also don't want to sound like you're showing off when you're giving some sort of answer or a piece of advice, right? You want to be actually helpful or supportive. So, that's really important. And I mean, Aubrey, when is it appropriate to jump into someone's conversation? Yeah, if you have useful and relevant information. So, my example off the top of my head is a couple of moms were talking about movie theater prices. And they were venting. They're like, we would love to take our kids to a movie, but it's $15 for a ticket. And I was standing right by them. I was like, did you know fat cats has a $5 Tuesday movie? They were like, what? And they were so excited to find out about that. So, that was a good scenario, right? And yes, situations like that come up often where like you know that they would be happy to hear this. But then it's, you know, that did you know was like one way to do it, but there are phrases we can use to jump in, right? So, yes, if you have useful, relevant information. And if it's casual or semi-semi-casual situation, right? We were in line at a grocery store in a break room before a meeting on a slack thread, right? Those really casual situations, it's pretty easy to jump in. And if the topic is work related or not, if you're in a break room or at a happy hour and it's not work related, that's when this might happen even more often. Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, you can add useful information. And then you can also like, it doesn't have to be that now you've taken over the conversation. You shouldn't, right? Because they're having a conversation. I mean, it is possible then you'll kind of naturally find yourself really in the conversation. But, you know, don't go in with that intention. Yeah, right? So, you should just share your tidbit and then you back away or just say, yeah, thought you'd want to know. And you physically move back a little. And unless they open and ask you more questions, you can let them carry on the conversation. That's for the real skill. Because imagine you jump in the conversation and now you're part of it and they're like, who are you? Exactly. So, you know, now let's talk about when would you avoid it? So, giving unsolicited criticism, right? Suggesting that what someone is doing is wrong. If you were to say like, oh, that's not the right way to do it or you should do it like this. No, no one is looking for a stranger to do that, right? Let them their friends or their family correct them or their co-workers. Right. Or it would not be okay to be, you know, just correct people publicly or you could embarrass them. And that's never good, right? That's terrible for connection. That's the thing is if people are in conversation, even if you know them, your co-workers, if they say something that they're doing wrong, something, you would want to wait until that conversation is over, find them alone sometime to let them know, oh, I heard this. Maybe if you're going to offer a correction, you would never want to do it in front of other people. That would be embarrassed, at least not in the States. We try to avoid correcting someone in front of others. We don't want to embarrass them. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, and also personal topics, right? If it's health, relationships, finances, you know, people might feel very strange. Also, if they hear you eavesdropping about those kinds of things and just talking about them, it's just going to make the whole situation awkward and uncomfortable or even private or sensitive, right? Yes. If you accidentally overhear something that you weren't meant to hear, they might not want you to hear. Just walk away, I just pretend you didn't care. - Don't comment. - Yeah, exactly. As we get into the busy fall, I need a few solid clothing pieces that I can quickly pull out of my closet and I need to know they will fit right every time. Those are the pieces that earn a permanent spot in my wardrobe and many of them are from Quince. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials like Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton and washable silk. The designs are timeless, thoughtfully crafted and made to be worn again and again. These days, it's my blue jeans. They are fashionable yet affordable. They make me feel hip and young and most importantly, they wear well even after multiple washes and are simply comfortable. I even have the same pair in black. Find the fall pieces you'll reach for most at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com/bae-e. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That's q-u-i-n-c-e.com/bae-e. All right, so what can we say to jump in to offer this tidbit? There are a few phrases, right? - Yeah, so yeah, you could say sorry, I couldn't help but over here. And then you immediately follow that with your thought or your suggestion. So this is good for when you're physically nearby and it can be business-related or everyday topics. So like food, shopping recommendations, cheaper movies, right, Aubrey? - Exactly, you just happen to over here and you know they want your advice. Exactly, let's give another scenario. If I was having a conversation with someone else at work, let's do a little role play here, ready? - Okay. - All right, we're still looking for a project management tool. - I'm sorry, I couldn't help but over here. Have you tried Asana? We used it on my last team and it worked really well. - Oh, interesting, tell me more. (laughs) Yes, exactly, so this is just like the movie ticket, but at work, often someone might be talking about needing a tool, needing a stri- if you happen to have discovered something that works, you should share it, right? - Yeah, definitely. - Or here's another scenario. So you are on your way to a client meeting and you are looking at the fastest route. - All right, I'm trying to figure out the best way to get to the client's office. Sorry, I couldn't help but over here. The train is usually faster during rush hour. - I love this. This reminds me of living in New York City. I feel like this happened a few times that I would over here, maybe they even had a map or they're looking at their GPS and they're trying to figure out. Now is that north which way is the, or they'd be looking for something specific and I would jump in and be like, "Oh, you want to head that way, right?" Then you see someone needing help but hasn't asked for it. - Yeah, exactly. All right, so let's do the second thing you could say. So it's sorry to interrupt. Did I just hear and then say the topic or detail? - So this is good for when you want to confirm or you're not 100% sure of what you heard but also it can be used even if you heard clearly and you want to sound polite. - Right, I absolutely could have say like, "Oh, sorry to interrupt." Did I just hear you say you're looking for, you know, inexpensive movies, right? And then it's interesting how this is a little less intrusive than I couldn't help but over here because that does sort of imply that they were speaking loudly enough that you couldn't help but hear their conversation whereas this removes that, right? - Yeah, right. So and again, this could be business related or about everyday topping. - Toppings. - Why do we say everyday toppings? - You want ice cream with toppings or pizza. - Yeah, it's exactly, yeah. So here, let's do a couple scenario role play. So here I'm chatting with another coworker about a project. All right, so we might move the deadline. - Oh, sorry to interrupt. Did I just hear the deadline might change? I'm working on that project too. - Okay, yeah. So this is important information and it's good also that you explain why you're interrupting. So I'm working on the project too. - Work, right? - We are, whether it's on online calls or if you're in an office scenario where people maybe haven't filled everyone in yet or not every, maybe you missed a meeting and it doesn't hurt to jump in and be like, "Oh, hang on, I think this is something I need to know." Sorry to interrupt. - Right. So or here, should we do another scenario? - Yeah, let's do another scenario. - Okay, so here I'm also talking with another coworker and we're discussing where to have our business launch. - Okay, so here we go. I'm not sure where to go. Our usual spot is closed today. - Sorry to interrupt. Did I just hear you're looking for a good restaurant? - Yes. - The new Italian place next door is delicious and really quiet, perfect for a lunch meeting. - Ooh, great, thank you. - Nice, I have definitely jumped into a conversation to recommend restaurants before. I've had people have been wondering if there's a good Mexican place nearby and there's this little really unassuming place tucked in that a lot of people don't realize is there. So I'd be like, "Have you been to Isabel's yet?" (laughing) And there it's true, most people welcome that little interaction, that little connection even with a stranger, especially if you're good about making a quick recommendation and then backing away. - Yes, yeah, and move on. But yeah, I agree. One is something, I mean, who doesn't want a good recommendation if you're looking for something or help getting somewhere, you know, a tip, you know. So as long as it's pretty neutral topics, you know, I think that it would be okay. So, but we are going to do another phrase on part two of the series. So, and we're gonna talk about other chunks and with the, can we say what it's gonna be about? - Yes, I think we should, a little sneak peek here. - Here are the teas that we're talking about. We also say mind if I jump in and then there are other chunks we use with mind if, right? Mind if I cut in, mind if I have some of that. It's interesting how often we'll use that chunk. So part two will be about that. Hit follow so you don't miss it right here on the Business English Podcast. - Yes, and also check out episode 622 of the Business English Podcast. That was, can you call a man's shirt of blouse? - Very interesting. - Ooh, and the answer is spoiler alert. - No, you can't. - That's really fun episode, Lindsay and I recorded with also some other gender neutral clothing terminology. But it was interesting to think about how much of business attire is gendered. Like one word will be for like men's clothing or women's clothing. So if you missed that, scroll up, check it out. - Very fun. All right, so take away for today. Say your tip, move on. Read the room is very important. And don't make it about something too personal. - Awesome, great episode. Thanks for joining me, Michelle, and I will see you next time. - Thank you. - Bye, guys. - All right, see you, bye. (upbeat music) - Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional. Want more from all ears English? Don't miss our biggest and best podcasts with eight million monthly downloads. Just search for the all ears English podcast and hit follow to get four new episodes per week on fluency American culture grammar and so much more. Or tap the link in the show notes. Remember, we believe in connection, not perfection, when it comes to learning English. Follow the all ears English podcast now. (upbeat music) - At Edward Jones, we believe Rich is about taking care of what gives your life meaning. That's why your financial advisor personalizes your plan to help you preserve your progress and create something that lasts. Let's find your Rich. Edward Jones, member SIPC. (upbeat music) - Van Duel is now available everywhere in the U.S. ♪ I'll live everywhere, man ♪ ♪ Do I live everywhere, man ♪ - So you can get in on the sports action no matter where you are, including these places. ♪ And Georgia is using Cleveland, Minnesota, Buffalo, Lincoln ♪ ♪ I found Arizona today ♪ - May this year, most rewarding season ever with Van Duel. Age and location restrictions apply. Product availability varies by market. CFANDuel.com for eligibility. Gambling problem called 1-800-Gemlor.