How to APOLOGISE and SAY SORRY at work - Business English lesson + DISCOUNT coaching call!

Apologising at work and saying you're sorry in English can be difficult, especially if you speak English as a second language. If you want to sound more native and natural when speaking English at work then this podcast can help. Today's episode is about apologising to your colleagues and offering apologies. You'll hear some natural and native vocabulary, for both formal and informal situations, as well as some great grammar structures to help you communicate better in English. So, if you need to apologise to a colleague at work, I hope you find this episode useful.

Also, if you're studying for the IELTS, TOEFL, or Cambridge English tests and exams then you might find some of the vocabulary in this episode really useful.

Book a session with me: https://www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com

This podcast is all about helping you to communicate better, in English, at work. I work with international English speakers from around the world who use English, at work, as a second or third language and I hope that I can bring some of the ideas, vocabulary, and grammar, from those sessions, to you in this podcast.

Don’t forget that my full time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. So, if you need English to do your job but don’t speak it natively then maybe we can work together to help you to achieve your language goals. 

Book a session with me: https://www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com

Transcript

Welcome to the Breakout Business English podcast, where I help you to communicate better and at work in English. Hi everyone, my name is Chris and I'm a business English coach and tutor. Thank you so much for listening. And today's topic: is How to apply. Apologize. Work and say that you are sorry in a professional way.Sometimes things go wrong. We all make mistakes at some point. And we all need to apologize from time to time. In today's podcast... We're going to be listening to some natural and native sounding examples of how to apologize at work. We'll be hearing some great ways to accept someone's apology. We'll look at some vocabulary that we can use to sound more formal and natural in our apologies. And we'll look at some informal and casual vocabulary that's still appropriate for use at work in these kind of professional contexts.So let's get started. First, let's get started with apologizing. We're going to follow a simple system today that we can call the four A's of an apology.So, in order, the first A is to admit to the mistake. Or agree with the facts of the situation. Starting by making sure that you're talking about the same thing as the other person is definitely important. Miscommunication happens frequently At work? And we definitely want to avoid it. When we're giving. Apologies. The second A is for... Knowledge. You Here, we need to show the other person that we understand the impact that our actions have had. The third A stands for Apologise. This is the point in your statement in what you say? Where you can use words like sorry, and apologise. Although it's a key part of any apology, however, it can be quite weak on its own. Our final E stands for This is where we need to talk. About what we're going to do. To correct the situation. That we're going to take and how we're going to act moving forwards. And we make sure that the consequences are as few or as small as possible. We mitigate the consequences. And I should say that the four A's here can really be treated like building blocks, like Lego blocks. Yes, you definitely need the third A to apologize, and I would probably suggest that the closer you get to the full four A's, the more serious the situation is. If it's a particularly bad, particularly serious apology, then go with all four A's. But if it's a simple, shorter apology, maybe you only use two or even one of these component parts.So with that said, Let's take a listen. To some natural and native sounding apologies. I'm aware that my KPIs have been below target for the past month, and I understand that as my manager this puts you in a difficult position. I want to offer you my sincere apologies for this and I'd like to work with you to manage my performance going forward. I'm aware that my KPIs have been below target for the past month and I understand that as my manager this puts you in a difficult position. I want to offer you my sincere apologies for this and I'd like to work with you to manage my performance going forward. I agree, absolutely, this should not have become an issue for the customer, and I should not have let this happen. I recognise that this doesn't paint the company in the best light and I sincerely apologise for putting us in this position. Would it be possible for me to reach out to the customer and try to remedy this? I agree, this should not have become an issue for the customer and I should not have let this happen. I recognise that this doesn't paint the company in the best light and I sincerely apologise for putting us in this position. Would it be possible for me to reach out to the customer and try to remedy this? I admit that this wasn't the best way to handle the issue and in hindsight I probably should have dealt with this differently. I'm really sorry for how things turned out and I'd like to try and make this right. I admit that this wasn't the best way to handle the issue. And in hindsight, I probably should have dealt with this differently. I'm really sorry for how things turned out and I'd like to try and make this right.So we've definitely got some more complicated apologies there with these four part apologies. But I think if you find yourself in a particularly bad situation at work, hopefully I can provide you with some good ideas for how to fix things, including both structure and vocabulary. And as I was reading those, I realized how or sad and maybe slightly upsetting or depressing all of these situations sound. This is a very... A very low mood, bad atmosphere in this podcast episode. I usually try and keep episodes a bit lighter, but yeah, I guess this is a dark one today. Okay, so let's start here with the two forms of the word to apologize. In the second example, we heard: I sincerely apologize. I sincerely apologize. Which is the verb, Form. However, in the first example we heard: I want to offer you my sincere apologies. Both have the same meaning. However, if you want to be more "PALMEL" then We generally use the noun form. And offer someone our apologies. Can I offer you my apologies please? Or indeed, we can offer someone The singular, an apology. I'd like to offer you an apology. I'd like to offer you an apology. Both the singular and the plural are really common ways to use this word. Of course, the adjective "sorry" As in the third example: I'm really sorry for how things turned out. I'm really sorry for how things turned out. I'm sorry for this. Is still a useful and common way to express this. However, it is considered slightly less formal. You might notice that in two of those three apologies, I used the word Sincere... Sincerely, that.Something that is sincere is something that you really honestly believe. It comes from your heart. You're not pretending, you're not faking it or doing it to just try to get past a situation. It's something that you really do think and you really do believe.So, if you are trying to emphasize your Honesty. And how strongly you believe in what you're saying, then you can say you are sincerely sorry That you sincerely apologize or you can offer someone a sincere apology. Apology. While we're here, I should say that you will often hear the noun Apologies, the plural noun in more formal and structured meetings. Often as one of the first items on an agenda, I actually think this might have been a vocabulary point in the very first podcast that I made, which must be two or three years ago now.So what do we mean if someone sends their Apologies. What does it mean to send your apologies? To send your apologies means that you were supposed to be in a meeting. People were expecting you to be that, but you were unable to attend So if you need to tell everyone in a meeting that a colleague is very sorry that they can't attend, but they had something else they needed to do, then you can say that this person sends their apologies. For instance, our general manager sends their apologies. We heard the phrase 'to paint something in the best light'. This was in the second example. I recognise that this doesn't paint the company in the best light. I recognize that this doesn't paint the company in the best light. If we paint Joe or portray someone or something in the best light. Then we try to make people think about it in the best way possible. We try to give people a positive opinion of it. If you ask me for my review of a new product for instance, I could tell you lots of good things about it and show it in a positive light. Or I could tell you all of the bad things about it and paint it in a negative light.So. In this example, we're saying that the actions of the person apologizing didn't give people the best impression. Of the company or the brand. This is an idiom.So, As always, this is an informal way to speak. Let's talk about the word 'hindsight'. Eindsight. In our third example, we heard: In hindsight, I should probably have dealt with this differently. In hindsight, I should probably have dealt with this differently. Let's start by breaking this word down into two halves to try to understand it. And let's start with Behind. H. I N. D. Behind. You probably use this as part of another word, And that is behind. Behind.So if something is the opposite of in front of you, then we can say that it is behind you. You have your back to it. It's behind you. Another place that we see this is when talking about an animal's legs. If an animal like a horse or a dog has four legs, then we often call the two legs at the back. The hind legs. The hind legs. Ciao! we can see that we often use 'hind' to talk about things that are at the back all behind us. Sight, of course, refers to our ability to see things.So, Hindsight literally means our ability to see things that are behind us. More specifically, behind us in terms of I'm. We can hear this in contexts like talking about a miscommunication with a client, for instance. We might say, with hindsight, I should have ensured that the client fully understood the agreement. With hindsight, I should have ensured that the client fully understood the agreement. Or maybe regretting your life choices made as a young adult? In hindsight, I should have studied harder at university. In hindsight, I should have studied harder at university. I always wonder about that. I did okay at university. I didn't do really well. I did perfectly fine. And I think if I'd studied harder I might have ended up on a different career track. And I might have been more successful or differently successful, but I might not have been as happy.So I always wonder whether I should have actually studied harder at university or not. So, if you're wondering, there is an opposite to the word hindsight. Let's do a little quiz. And you answer this question. What do we call the part of your face between your eyes and where your hair starts at the top and the front of your head. Usually where your fringe is. I'll give you that question one more time. What do we call the large empty space on your head just above your eyes? This space is called your forehead. Your forehead. 'For' as in the word forward.So we can use... For sight. Borsight. To talk about. Predicting What will happen? All right. What will be needed in the future. For instance: My boss knew that the client would ask about these statistics, so she had the foresight to research them before the meeting. My boss knew that the client would ask about these statistics.So, she had the foresight to research them before the meeting. Or maybe criticizing someone's decisions. With a little foresight we could have avoided most of these problems. With a little foresight, we could have avoided most of these problems. And if your English and your communication skills are not painting you in the best light, then maybe we can work together. My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills.So, if you need English to do your job, but don't speak it natively, then maybe we can work together. To help you to achieve your language goals. If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one-to-one video calls, just you and me, then you can go to breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's the title of the podcast, breakoutbusinessenglish.com and find out more. And right now you can use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, all one word, at the checkout to get 30% off, a 30% discount off your first booking of 30, 45 or 60 minutes so that we can meet. Get to know each other and take a look at some of your biggest opportunities to improve your English.Sometimes my calendar gets a little busy, so if you have trouble finding a time that works for you, then you can always send me a message through the contact page on the website and ask if I have any time to fit you in. I've worked with over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Let's talk now about the other side of the conversation, and that is accepting an apology. It can take a lot of courage and strength to admit that you're wrong and apologise at work.So, if someone is apologizing to you, then it's great to know exactly what to say next. Let's take a listen now. To some natural and native ways to respond and accept a colleague's apology. I accept your apology. Thanks for clearing the air. I accept your apology. Thanks for clearing the air. I think we can just consider this water under the bridge and move on. I think we can just consider this water under the bridge and move on. I'm happy to accept your apology. I know how much effort it can take to apologize and I'm glad we can put this behind us. I'm happy to accept your apology. I know how much effort it can take to apologize and I'm glad we can put this behind us.There were a couple of idioms in these examples, so let's start there. In the first example, we heard, "Thanks for clearing the air." Thanks for clearing the air. Maybe you've heard someone say that there's something in the air. If we say that something is in the air, then we mean that it's about to happen. For instance, if an election is happening, then we might say that change is in the air. Or We often say that love is in the air if we think that two people might just start a relationship. However, if we say that we need to clear the app, then we're suggesting that there is an atmosphere of tension. People are worried about something. We're saying that things feel a little awkward and people know that someone, or maybe the whole group, is upset. To clear the app, means to deal with this situation and make everything right again. An apology. Could clear the air of a disagreement for instance. Or maybe people are worried that big changes are going to happen at a company. A manager could call a meeting and explain exactly what is happening. In order to clear the act. In the second example, we heard the phrase 'water under the bridge'. 'water under the bridge', as in we can just consider this water under the bridge. We use the idiom water under the bridge to show that events in the past cannot be changed, and therefore there's no real sense in talking about them or worrying about them. If you're standing on a bridge watching water come towards you, or maybe something on the water coming towards you, then there's something that you can do. You can stop it or pick it up, influence it or change it. However, once it has passed you and passed under the bridge, there's nothing that can be done about it. The next time you want to tell someone not to worry about something negative that they did in the past or that happened in the past, you can refer to it as water under the bridge. Don't forget that you can book a session with me to work on your English communication skills by going to www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's breakoutbusinessenglish.com, the name of the podcast. Or clicking on the link in the show notes. And as I mentioned earlier, you can use the code PODCAST30, that's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-3-0, at the checkout to get an additional 30% off your first booking of 30 or 60 or 45 minutes. I've worked with over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them to achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Don't forget that between episodes of the podcast, you can get videos, usually every couple of days on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Just search for Breakout Business English. If there's a topic that you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I'd be excited to hear your ideas. Leave me a message or a comment on one of my YouTube videos. That's usually the best place for me to see it. And I look forward to hearing from you. Finally, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, then I invite you to leave a review. Every review really helps me out and helps to push the podcast to new listeners and grow the show and really helps me sustain my business and keep doing this full time.So. If you found this podcast useful, And you think there are some valuable things in here. Then feel free to write a couple of kind words and I thank you in advance. A review is another great place to request a topic for a future podcast. That is everything for today. Thank you so much for listening and I'll talk to you again next time. On the Breakout Business English podcast.