How to MAKE SUGGESTIONS clearly at work | Business Communication lesson

If you want to make suggestions and give opinions clearly at work, when speaking English, then today's podcast will help. For non-native English speakers, communicating clearly can be worrying and you might not have the confidence to offer your ideas in case you're misunderstood. Today we're talking about the PREP framework and how you can use it to make sure that your managers, colleagues, clients, and customers, always understand your ideas and suggestions when you're speaking English at work. I hope you find it useful!

If you speak English at work and want to sound more native and natural when talking to colleagues, customers, or clients, then I hope that the vocabulary, grammar, and communication tips in today's episode will be useful for you. 

- Book a one-to-one coaching session with me at breakoutbusinessenglish.com
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https://youtu.be/CpkSqdI1JAU?si=YNzbpTQy899L5D9G

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

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. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to the Breakout Business English podcast. My name is Chris. I'm a business English and communication coach, and I have personally worked with over 1,000 international professionals, likely just like you, to improve the way that they communicate and at work in English. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. I really do know how valuable it is. And today's podcast is the second episode in our short series on speaking more clearly by applying frameworks To your communication. If you haven't listened to the first episode yet, I'd really encourage you to go back and listen to it after this one. Right now, you're in a good place. You can listen to this one. We talked about the 3-2-1 framework last week, which is a really brilliant tool for organizing lots of ideas around a single key point. Today's framework is a little different, and I think it's going to be very useful. For a specific situation that most of my clients find quite challenging. And that is making recommendations and putting forward your opinion. In a clear and convincing way. That last part, very important. We're trying to do this in a clear and convincing way and that's what this framework is going to help you to deliver.
So the framework we're going to talk about today is called PREP. P-R-E-P. And I love this one because the name itself is a reminder of what good communication requires. Preparation. When you use the PREP framework, you are essentially preparing your listener to receive and understand your idea in the most efficient and effective way possible. Now, let me start with the problem that we're trying to solve here, because I think it really helps to understand why a framework like this exists before we look at what it actually is.
So, many of the professionals I work with tell me that they struggle to sound confident when they share an opinion or make a suggestion in English. They worry about how to begin. They're not sure how much evidence to share. And by the time they get to that actual point, their listener has sometimes already moved on. Or maybe fallen asleep or just stopped paying attention. Does that familiar. The issue here isn't their English. It's the order in which they present their ideas. In many cultures and education systems, people are taught to build up to their conclusion. Present all the context first and then reveal the answer at the end. Almost like a mystery novel. And France, Italy, Germany, I'm definitely looking at you when I'm saying this. This is definitely a common way to communicate in these countries. And while it can work very well in written English and in these countries, it can be really challenging to follow in spoken communication. Especially in a busy professional environment where your colleagues have a lot of things competing for their attention. Equally, in most English language environments, you're either talking to native speakers who aren't used to this kind of communication style, Or you're speaking to a group of different speakers of different languages and we need to be very clear in our communication because of this.
So PrEP turns this approach on its head. Or we might say that it flips this approach upside down. And I think once you understand it, you will see why. Now, what does PREP stand for? The P, the first P, stands for point. This is your main idea, your recommendation, your conclusion, the crux of what you want to say. And crucially, you deliver it first. Before the context, before the evidence, before anything else, you start with your answer. This is sometimes known as top-down communication. The R stands for reason. Once you've stated your point, you explain why. What the logic or the evidence is that supports your conclusion. This is where you build the case for the idea that you've put forward. And we can keep the native French speakers, the native German speakers, maybe even the native Italian speakers happy by providing our evidence at this point. The E stands for example. Here you make your reason concrete by giving a specific illustration. A real situation, a piece of data, a story, something that your listener can visualize and connect to. This kind of thing is the most common way to communicate in those native English-speaking countries, the US, Australia, the UK, etc.
And then we're back to the final P. And this is to bring us back to the initial point again. You close by returning to the crux of what you're saying. You restate your main idea one more time to make sure it lands with your listener.
So one more time. That's point. Reason. Example.
And then back to the point once more. Let's do a little bit of vocabulary here, because a few moments ago, I used the word crux. That's C-R-U-X. And it's a fun word to say, crocs. I said that you close by returning to the crux of what you're saying. Once again, you close by returning to the crux of what you're saying.
So what is the crux of something? This word essentially means the most important, our key point of Something of your communications. The core issue that everything else depends on. It comes from the Latin word for cross. And over time, it evolved to represent the place where all other ideas, points, and evidence come together. For example, imagine you're in a meeting. Debating why a product launch failed.
Someone might say, we can argue about the marketing budget and the timeline all day. But the crux of the problem is that we never properly validated the product with our target audience before going to market. In other words, the crux cuts through all the noise and gets straight to the heart of the matter. Now. I think some of you might be thinking, "Isn't it a bit strange or even a bit rude to jump straight to your conclusion without supporting your ideas with evidence first?" This is actually a common question I get when I introduce this framework to clients. I need to justify my point before I state what it is. And the answer is that in most professional settings, especially international ones, getting to the point quickly is not rude. It's respectful. It shows that you value your listeners' time. It shows that you've thought clearly about the issue. And that you have a well-formed view. These are things that will help you to appear confident and credible at work.
Some professional cultures, as I mentioned earlier, tend to offer supporting evidence first, whereas some are more likely to start with the conclusion. It's definitely important to know your audience in this sense. However, if you're unsure then the advice, the research on this tends to push us towards working with this top-down approach and suggest that this is generally the best way to communicate when in doubt. I should say that this research comes from a book called The Culture Map that I've probably referenced a hundred times before on this podcast, written by an author called Erin Mayer. It is a fantastic book if you need to communicate across cultures. And often if I'm talking about how different cultures communicate, it's that book that I'm referring to. There is a great word connected to this idea that I wanted to look at before we move on. That word is credibility. If you have credibility. It means that people trust and believe what you say. They see you as reliable and knowledgeable. Credibility is not something you declare. Nobody walks into a meeting and says, by the way, I'm very credible. Although I'm sure some people might think that's a good way to start a meeting. Instead, it's something that others give you. Others decide that you have. Based on how you communicate and behave over time. Using a clear structure like prep. Is one of the fastest ways to build credibility in the workplace because it shows that you think in an organized way and that you can communicate that thinking clearly. You'll often hear people talk about someone having credibility in a particular area. Meaning that they are trusted on that specific topic. For example: If you've been working in finance for 15 years, you have a lot of credibility when it comes to budget decisions. What you think about budget decisions is very credible. I should say that this word is closely related to a word that you probably know, that is incredible. We usually use the word incredible to say that something is awesome, wonderful or fantastic. But technically, What it means is not credible. If I tell you that I just won 5 million euros, you might say, "Wow, that's incredible!" You might ask me to buy you lunch. But the reason that we use incredible in this situation is because it's so fantastic, so wonderful that it doesn't sound great. Credible. It doesn't sound like it has credibility. Although the two words are directly connected, the meaning of incredible has become slightly separated from the concept of credibility. Over time. And if you want to sound more credible when communicating with your colleagues, 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 you don't speak it natively. Then I'd really love to meet you. 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. Starting on our very first call, we can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and your communication skills. And we focus on the mistakes that you make most often. Or the ones that cause the biggest problems with your communication. And right now, you can use the code PODCAST30 at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. Of 30, 45, or 60 minutes, whichever is best for you.
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 well over 1,000 non-native English speaking professionals from all over the world, from almost every continent. Haven't had anyone from Antarctica yet, but other than that, every single continent from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders to help them achieve their goals. And I look forward to meeting you.
Yeah, I haven't worked with anyone from Antarctica. Maybe that's a missed opportunity. That's a problem with my marketing, I think. Okay, let's see the prep framework in action now. Let's take it for a test drive. I'm going to use a situation that comes up. From time to time in the coaching sessions that I do. Let's imagine that someone wants to suggest a new approach to their manager. But that person isn't sure how to structure what they're going to say. And the situation is this. You've noticed that your team's weekly progress meeting is taking a little too long. And people are leaving without a clear sense of what they need to do next. And you want to suggest a change. You want to suggest a new way of working and of organizing and structuring your weekly meetings. Here's how you might use prep. Listen to the example: and see if you can hear me moving through the four stages of the framework.
So I think we could restructure our weekly team meeting so that it's maybe even 30 minutes shorter. And it would be more effective if we could aim to end with a clear list of action items for everyone. At the moment, the meeting often runs over. And a lot of the discussion is quite general. When I've spoken to a few colleagues afterwards, several of them have said that they weren't always sure what they were supposed to do next. And I think a shorter, more focused meeting with a clear action list at the end would save everyone time and make sure we all leave knowing exactly what's expected of us. I actually tried something similar with a project that I was coordinating last quarter. We switched from an open discussion format to a structured agenda with a 10-minute action review at the end. And the team said they felt much more organized. We reduced the time people spent following up on tasks by email afterwards because everything had already been agreed in the room.
So overall, I really think a structured meeting would make our team more efficient and help everyone feel clearer about their priorities going into the week. So what do you think? Could you hear the four stages of the framework there? Notice how the listener knew the recommendation immediately. Right at the start, right at the outset of the idea, right at the outset of the communication. They didn't have to wait and wonder where the conversation was going. The reason then gave them the logic behind it. And the example made it real and believable. We might even say that the example gave it Readability.
And then that final restatement of the point tied everything neatly together. I used a phrase in that example that I'd like to look at more carefully. And that's the phrase to run. Over. To run over. When a meeting Aww. Maybe a piece of work runs over. It means that it goes beyond the time that was planned or expected.
So. If your meeting was supposed to finish at 3 o'clock, but it's now 3:30 and people are still talking, the meeting has run over. That definitely sounds like I think most of the meetings I've ever had, certainly during my professional career before I became a communication coach and an English teacher. You'll sometimes hear people say, we're running over during a meeting. As a signal to start bringing the meeting to an end. You can use run over when talking about a budget that has exceeded its limit.
Though, in that case, you might more commonly hear gone over budget. Either way. Running over, whether in terms of time or money, is generally something that people want to avoid in a professional setting. I want to highlight the phrase "in the room" that you heard in the example. In the room is often meant figuratively in business English. We don't always literally mean in the room. We mean More in the meeting. And this is used to refer to the people who are present in a meeting or discussion.
So when I say that everything had already been agreed in the room, and meant that the decisions and action points were settled during the meeting itself. Rather than being discussed and finalized through emails or additional conversations afterwards. You'll sometimes hear people say the decision was made in the room. Let's settle this in the room. As a way of encouraging people to reach a conclusion during the meeting. Rather than doing this later or maybe doing it before the meeting. One last thing I want to say about prep before we close is this.
Like any framework, this is a tool Not a rule. There will be occasions and situations where it doesn't quite fit. Brainstorming sessions where you are genuinely exploring ideas together, for example. All very informal conversations with a colleague you know well in those situations you might not need to rely on a framework like this. The goal is never to sound robotic or like you're following a formula. And these frameworks that I'm suggesting in this series, these are tools for when you're not sure what to say, when you don't know how to communicate an idea or you're not confident. The goal is always to communicate clearly. And to make things easy for your listener, to make your listener's life just a little bit easier. Prep is a simple and reliable way to do that. And the more you practice it, well, the more natural it will feel. Don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary, or even grammar in today's episode, or work on your ability to communicate ideas at work, then you can book a session with me to work on your English communication skills by going to www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's breakoutbusinessenglish.com. Or click on the link in the show notes. And use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. I've worked with well over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders from all over the world, from companies and indeed governments that you've likely heard of. And I've helped them achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you and helping you achieve yours. Between episodes of the podcast, you can get videos 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 and I look forward to hearing from you. If you are listening on Apple Podcasts, then I invite you to leave a review. Thank you.
So if you found this podcast useful and you think that there are some valuable things in here, then I encourage you to write a couple of kind words or maybe just leave a three or four or maybe even five star review. And I thank you for that in advance. That's another great place to request a topic for a future podcast. That is everything for today. Thank you so much for listening and for your valuable time. I really do respect and appreciate your choice to spend some of your time with this podcast. I hope you have a great rest of the week and I'll talk to you again next time. On the Breakout Business English podcast. Thanks a lot, everyone. Talk to you soon.