How to do a good Zoom call in Natural British English
I think you will all agree that communication etiquette has evolved due to the popularity of online video call platforms like Zoom. Have you noticed that words and phrases, such as ‘please unmute yourself’ or ‘is that a legacy hand’ weren’t in existence even 10 years ago but are now used daily by millions of remote communicators all around the world? Is this the new normal? It looks that way. So, to help natural British English learners like yourselves to navigate the online landscape with confidence, fluency and eloquence, I’ve put together the most commonly used words and phrases, from log in to goodbye, so you can become well-versed in the language of online communication.
(1) Checking Attendance
- Who else are we expecting? (neutral)
- Let me check the participants list. (neutral)
- Send him / her the link. (neutral)
- Can you add (name) as a participant? (neutral)
- (Name) sends their apologies (neutral) – ‘told me they are unable to attend’
(2) Joining a Zoom Meeting
- There are two invites and I was in the other meeting room. Sorry about that. (neutral)
- Sorry, I had some technical problems. (neutral)
- I need to log out and rejoin on another device. (neutral)
- I’m just logging on. (informal)
- Does anyone mind if we record the meeting? (neutral)
(3) Technical Problems
- My computer crashed so I’m joining with my mobile phone. (neutral)
- We can’t hear you. (neutral)
- You’re on mute. (neutral) – ‘your online microphone is switched off’
- Please unmute yourself. (neutral) – ‘turn your online microphone on’
- Switch to ‘gallery view’. (neutral)
- Switch to ‘speaker view’. (neutral)
(4) Viewing Visual Content
- Switch to ‘focus on content’. (neutral)
- Please share the screen. (neutral)
- Can everybody read that? (neutral)
- It’s too small. (neutral)
- Can you zoom in on the content? (neutral) – phrasal verb ‘to zoom in on something’ = to make the visuals larger
(5) Contributing to the Meeting
- (Name) will be monitoring the chat. (neutral)
- Please use the raised hand function. (neutral) – ‘put your virtual hand up’
- (Name) you have your hand up. (neutral)
- (Name) would you like to go next? (neutral)
- Is that a new hand or a legacy hand? (neutral) ‘new hand’ = a new point you want to discuss; ‘legacy hand’ = a point you have already discussed
- When you have finished please lower your hand. (neutral) – ‘put your virtual hand down’
- You can put any questions in the chat. (neutral)
- Please can you all mute yourselves? (neutral)
(6) Formal Zoom Meetings
- (Name) will be minuting this meeting. (neutral) ‘minute’ = take formal notes to capture all discussions that take place, including the agreed actions.
- For the purposes of the minutes, please can you repeat that? (formal)
- Would anyone who wishes to unmute like to join us in (e.g. singing happy birthday to (name) / reading the text on the screen / giving a big round of applause to / congratulating (name) on their achievement.) (neutral)
(7) Organising the Next Meeting
- The next meeting will be on (date) and the meeting invite will follow. (neutral)
- For the next meeting, you should use the same meeting link as now because it’s a recurring meeting. (neutral) ‘recurring meeting’ = online meeting set up to be at the same time, using the same log in details, every week
(8) Staying In the Meeting Room After the Meeting Ends
- (Name) can you stay on after the meeting? (neutral) – phrasal verb ‘to stay on’ = to remain
- (Name), could I speak to you after the meeting? (neutral)
- (Name) are you OK to stay on the call after the meeting? (neutral)
If any of these phrases help you in your online meetings in natural British English, let us know!
We love to hear your success stories here at PS English!
Take care,
Emma
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