Business English- Video & Teleconference Roleplay Phrases

Teleconferences and video conferences roleplays and useful phrases

The teacher will divide you into pairs of teams. One team produce a product in the UK. The other side have an exclusive agreement to sell that product to retailers in Japan. (Decide what kind of product it is before you start). The UK side are not very happy with the present arrangement, even though the contract they have signed runs until the end of next year. Hold a teleconference to discuss what to do.

You will be given some problem roleplay cards. The person or team with the fewest cards left at the end of the teleconference will win the game, so if you manage to use all your cards you should try to bring the meeting to a successful close as quickly as possible. You cannot discard the card if you don’t do the thing written on it successfully, e.g. if you wait till someone stops speaking when you should be interrupting them.

The video has some problems	You have problems hearing	You can’t identify who is speaking	You don’t understand something
You need something repeated three times before you understand it	You need to temporarily hang up	Someone needs to step outside	You want to talk about something among just your side
There is an interruption your side	Use a word that you are sure the other side won’t understand	Get a contribution from someone who hasn’t spoken (for a while or at all)	You need to adjust your equipment
Someone takes a long time coming back from their break	Tell the other side they need to adjust their equipment	You need to email a document	Talk about a particular part of a document you all have copies of
You have a technical problem that takes you three attempts to solve	Someone leaves from your side and someone new comes in to take their place	Insist that people use their own names every time they speak	Interrupt someone
Go off topic	Take the conversation back to a previous topic	Suggest a break	Strongly but politely disagree

After finishing the video conference, brainstorm suitable phrases to do all the things written on the cards.

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Suggested phrases

The video has some problems “You’re (very/ rather) jerky.” “I can’t see people at the edge of the room.” “Your image has frozen.” “The image has disappeared.” “The image and sound are out of synch.”

You have problems hearing “You’re quite quiet.” “Just a second, I’m going to turn the volume up.” “Can you try moving the microphone?”

You can’t identify who is speaking “Was that John?” “Sorry. Who was that just now?”

You don’t understand something “I didn’t catch…” “

You need something repeated three times before you understand it “Sorry, I still don’t get it.” “Could you just say that one last time?”

You need to temporarily hang up “Maybe if we hang up and try again it will sort out the problem.” “Sorry, I need to speak to this person for just two minutes. I’ll connect you again when I finish.”

Someone needs to step outside “I have to take this, if you don’t mind.” “I’ll just go and get the documents. I’ll be back in a second.”

You want to talk about something among just your side “Can you give us a moment?” “We need to discuss this, if you don’t mind. I’ll just turn off our mic for a second.”

There is an interruption your side “Sorry, someone has just come in.” “Sorry, there’s a lot of noise outside. Someone will go out and see what it is.”

Use a word that you are sure the other side won’t understand “Can you explain what… means?” “I haven’t come across the term… before.” (for the response)

Get a contribution from someone who hasn’t spoken (for a while or at all) “John, did you want to comment on this?” “We haven’t heard what Jill has to say yet.”

You need to adjust your equipment “Just a second, I’ll move it.” “If I just change this, hopefully…”

Someone takes a long time coming back from their break “I’m afraid John hasn’t come back yet. I’m sure he’ll be back soon, but shall we start without him?”

Tell the other side they need to adjust their equipment “The camera seems to be pointing in the wrong direction.” “Can you try moving/ adjusting…?

You need to email a document “I’ll send it to you now.” “Just a second, I’ll find the document on my laptop and email it to you now.”

Talk about a particular part of a document you all have copies of “In the first section/ paragraph/ sentence/ bullet point…”

You have a technical problem that takes you three attempts to solve “Let me try one last time.” “There is one more thing we could try.” “Third time lucky, I hope.”

Someone leaves from your side and someone new comes in to take their place “John has to go to another meaning, so Jill will take his place.” “John had to rush off, but Jill has come in instead.”

Insist that people use their own names every time they speak “Sorry. Can people identify themselves before they speak?” “It might be easier if people said their names each time they speak.”

Interrupt someone “Can I come in here?” “Sorry to butt in, but…”

Go off topic “By the way,…” “That reminds me,…”

Take the conversation back to a previous topic “Can we speak a little bit more about…?” “This brings us back to…”

Suggest a break “Shall we take a breather?” “Does anyone else need a fag break?”

Strongly but politely disagree “I’m afraid I can’t agree with you there.”