Telephone Coaching: Ideas for getting the most out of your sessions

Telephone Coaching sessions can be incredibly useful, as long as you use them well.

Of course, you can always use them to have a chat with one of our team, which works on improving your comfort and fluency when speaking. However, if you are also a member of The English Works Club, our TalkTime sessions are really the best place for a chat!

If you always book a TC with the same person, you might want to take a look at our team’s profiles. Each of us comes from somewhere different…we have very different backgrounds, both professionally and culturally, which means that you can learn something different from each of us!

If you are working on something over a few TC sessions with one of our team, speaking to the same person can be a plus. However, speaking to the same person can also give us a false sense of security. The more people you speak to, the easier it will be for your brain and ears to adjust to a new voice the next time you pick up the phone or go to a meeting.

Some of you have mentioned that you weren’t sure what to do in your TC sessions, so we’d like to share a few ideas. TCs are a great way to work on:

Your work –

If you need to send an email, why don’t you work on it with one of our team in a session? Go over that article you would like to read but haven’t had time to, or the corporate communiqué that you have a couple of doubts about….the possibilities are endless. Use your TCs to get some of your own work done.

Vocabulary –

Have you tried doing a Babelcom exercise called ‘Cover Your Own Vocabulary Gaps’? It’s a great exercise to:

1. Identify gaps in vocabulary by focussing on a specific topic and thinking how you would express it in your own language.
2. Learn vocabulary that is actually useful to you, and closest to the way you express yourself naturally.

If you would like a copy of the exercise, log in to the Members’ Area, go to Documents, then Search Documents and search for ‘LL001 Cover Your Own Vocabulary Gaps’.

Specific scenarios or competencies –

Have you taken a look at some of the Telephone Coaching tasks yet? Our TC tasks offer role-plays and other exercises to work on something specific. Some focus on the language, while others focus on communication…some have a ‘serious’ tone, while others you can have a lot of fun with; the topic is up to you. Telephone Coaching tasks are a perfect way to focus on improving one thing at a time.

To search for the tasks, first download the list of searchable keywords. The keywords doc can be found by logging in to the Members’ Area, go to Documents, then Search Documents and search for ‘Keyword List’.

We really do have a lot of tasks…in fact, it may seem like too many at first. If you would like some help selecting a few, feel free to send a message to Karla (karla@babelcom.com) and she’d be happy to help you make a selection.

Clarifying doubts –

Did you hear something the other day that you didn’t quite understand? Have you always wondered what some expression meant? Jot it down and bring it to your TC session. If our team can’t give you an answer there and then, they’d be happy to find it and get back to you.

Developing or searching for resources –

Do you have resources to support you while you are working? (e.g. a Personal Phrase Bank for written communication) Do you have a list of reliable dictionaries, thesauri, etc. handy?

Not everything has to be learned…sometimes having a good resource can save you time, and you will learn just by using it. Our team are already a virtual resource, but let us help you find or develop your own so that you are comfortable and efficient when working in English.

Follow up to a webinar –

Was there something you weren’t sure you understood in one of our webinars? Our team can share the materials from our webinars in a TC, so feel free to mention it in your TC and our team would be happy to clarify any of your doubts.

(NB: Club members, our team are not meant to do the actual webinar in a TC. Please do go to the webinar. However, if you are not a Club member and are interested in our webinars, please mention it to our team and we can go over them in the TC sessions.)

As you have seen from the ideas, your TC time is your time. Please do use it well.

If you would like some help getting started, feel free to send Leah a message (leah@babelcom.com), and she’d be happy to help.