BE 617: Stick With Us for Business English Success

This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 617. Stick with us for business English success. Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business.

For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Aubrey and Michelle, coming to you from Arizona and New York City, USA.

Hello, Michelle. How are you? I'm doing well, Aubrey. How are you? Excellent. I have a question for you. What is something you started but didn't stick with?

This happens to me a lot. I was going to say, oh my gosh, how long do you have? I will say, I'm embarrassed to say this, but I will say learning Spanish. I did start and I was really excited about doing it.

And then um because a lot of my students uh were spanish speakers at the time and i was really excited to just learn and communicate a little bit and then um i switched jobs and my students were from many different places that were you know different languages all of those languages yeah and don't you have time for that

Yeah. And then I guess I got so busy and then I just didn't stick with it. But I always wish that I knew more of another language. I hear you. And I have a feeling a lot of listeners out there, you're probably hearing this and there may be a language you tried to start, you tried to pick up and didn't stick with it.

We're talking about this phrasal verb to stick with something. And a couple of related things here. I'm excited to dive into it. This is actually part two of a two-part series.

You can listen to these out of order. Stay to the end. We'll share details about part one. But this is such a great connection topic to find out what the people you know...

stuck with and what they didn't. I want to ask everyone I know this question. The funniest thing for me is my son started learning... You saying this about learning Spanish reminded me of this. He started learning Klingon from Star Trek.

If anyone out there watches the TV show Star Trek, there's a language for this people who only exist within this TV show, but you can learn it on Duolingo, Klingon. And they had to choose a language to learn this summer and he chose Klingon. Oh, And I didn't specify that it had to be a language that is actually spoken somewhere.

And it was so funny because he learned these phrases and he would be going around the house saying to knock neck. And I'd be like, what does that mean? And it would be like, it means where are your weapons or something crazy. There's always something really violent.

That's funny. But he didn't stick with it. I'm not that sad about it. I would rather he learned Spanish or a language he could learn or use a lot more.

Right. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That is too funny. Yeah. So, guys, this is part two of a two-part series. So, you know, listen out of order, listen in order.

But we are going to share details about part one. If you stay till the end, you'll hear those. And make sure you hit the follow button wherever you're listening. Yes, follow right here on the Business English Podcast so you don't miss any of our amazing episodes.

Let's dive in with stick with here. This means to continue with something instead of quitting or changing it up. So this can be about a lot of different things. Commitment, loyalty, persistence, sticking with a job, sticking with a person, right?

Yes, exactly. A decision, a plan, so many different things. And it's not about physical location, like stick around, right? This is different. And it's also not as much about rules or obeying, like stick to.

Exactly. We talked about stick around and stick to in part one. But now stick with is a little different, right? So here's some examples. I'm going to stick with my current position for another year.

That means I'm going to stay there. I'm going to stay with that job. I'm going to stick with it. Yes. Or we decided to stick with the original strategy.

Maybe at work, you have a strategy and you could change it up. You could try something else. But if you want to stick with it, you're going to give it a little more time to see if it could work out.

Stick with it. Yes. So sorry, which I lost my spot just a little bit. No problem. So she's stuck with the company during difficult times is another example.

So sometimes this will happen. You may have a job, a company where things aren't going perfectly. Maybe you're not sure about the future of the company. If you decide to stick with it, you're going to stay in that role to try and make it work.

Yes, exactly. So let's do some common sayings with stick with. So the first one, I love it. Stick with it. So that means don't give up. So here's an example sentence.

If you stick with it, your fluency will improve, right? So referencing learning English, or perhaps if I had continued with learning Spanish. Exactly right. Or stick with what you know.

This means, you know, doing work that you're already familiar with or tasks. For example, I tried to change the oil in my car and it was a disaster. I should probably stick with what I know. Oh, God.

And that is not true. I did not. But I was talking recently on the podcast with Lindsay. I can't remember if this came up on Allers English or Business English, but there are jobs that I often will assume that my partner will do.

And I was like, I should be willing to do them, like change the oil in the car, clean the pool filter. But a lot of them, like maybe I should stick with what I know because I probably would just end up breaking something.

We talk about strengths a lot, right? Aubrey, stick with your strengths. That's so funny. Well, and then the next one is a stick with me. And this one actually has three different meanings.

So the first one is to actually stay close physically, like stick with me so I don't lose you. It's really crowded here. Like you might say that to a child or a friend or, you know, you're going through a concert and you end up holding hands with your friend and you're going through the crowd. Yeah, or maybe you're training a new employee at work.

And if it's somewhere where, you know, I'm imagining like manufacturing or somewhere where it could be dangerous for them to wander off, you're like, stick with me. And you mean physically stay close to me while we go through here, right? Mm hmm. But it could also mean to remain attentive or just pay attention.

So, for example, I know this is confusing, but stick with me. I promise it will make sense by the end. So this is more saying instead of physically stick with me, it's like, keep your brain, like, trust me and keep paying attention. Yes, like during a presentation, there might be a lot of...

data and charts where someone is first giving you all of this information. They might say that like, I know this is a lot. Stick with me. We're going to dive into details after, right?

Yes, exactly. Or what's the third one, Aubrey? Is to be remembered, right? So an idea, feeling, or lesson that has made a lasting impact on you and stays in your memory.

For example, you might say that advice really stuck with me over the years. And again, at work, if you are given advice or training, if you learn it well, you'll be like, okay, that's going to stick with me or that really stuck with me how important that was.

Yes. The Gentleman, Staffel 2, jetzt ansehen. Nur auf Netflix. All right, let's do a role play, Michelle. You and I are at a business conference here.

I'll start us out. This is your first leadership conference, right? Yep, I'm excited, but it's a little overwhelming. No worries. Stick with me this morning.

I'll introduce you to some people from our partner companies. Oh, good idea. By the way, how's the new project management software going? Honestly, I'm still struggling with some of the features.

That's completely normal. Stick with it. A few people on our team felt that same way at first, but now they use it without thinking. Okay. Okay, good.

I won't give up on it yet. Yeah. I'm curious, is there anything about that last speaker that stuck with you? Oh, yes. I really loved when she said, "'The companies that succeed are the ones that stay consistent when things get difficult.'"

Nice. I love that. The companies that stick with it, right? Ah, yes. Awesome. Let's go through this. It's so interesting how we say it the same, right?

Stick with me, stick with it. But because they have such different meanings in a conversation like this, it wouldn't be abnormal to hear it these different ways. It wouldn't even sound strange. Right.

That's not true. Okay. So first, you said, stick with me this morning and I'll introduce you to some people from our partner company. So this one is more physical, right?

You're saying stay, you know, stay nearby. I'm going to actually introduce you so you can't just being in another room all the time exactly so the other way we can say this is stay with me you know stay with me i'll introduce you but we also will say this stick with me it's a little more i do too it's a little more friendly yeah but not so informal you wouldn't use it in this a business setting yeah yeah it's friendly

It's very friendly. And then I said, you know, that's completely normal. Stick with it. A few people on our team felt the same way. So I'm just telling you, like, don't give up.

Right. Stick with it. Keep trying. And this is very encouraging. This is a great connection skill as well. If someone's struggling with something to just be like, stick with it.

I also had a hard time. That solidarity can be helpful. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. Definitely. And then you asked me, is there anything about that last speaker that stuck with you?

So something that was memorable, something that really resonated with you so that you didn't forget. And I love this as a way to ask this. We're often wanting to ask after a meeting, after a presentation, whatever it might be, instead of like, what did you like about that? Or what was your takeaway, which is so much more informal and unfriendly?

This is so much better. What stuck with you, right? You're giving it a little more emotion, a little more friendliness. Yeah. Yeah. It's really great.

So this, yeah, that concludes the role play section. But yeah, then I think we have a little poll for our listeners, don't we? Yes. Don't miss our Spotify polls.

Come and listen. Ours today is, are you good at sticking with things? So that means do you give up easily or do you stick with it even when it's difficult? Let us know.

Yes, exactly. And also, I think we wanted to, do we have the episode number for the other? Oh, yes. Give us a takeaway, Michelle, and I'll let us know.

All right, let's do the takeaway and then you're going to let us know so everyone can listen. So, yeah, I mean, in this series, guys, you learned about stick around, stick to and stick with.

These all have slightly different meanings, but they are really great for connecting about goals or habits and just really what you value. So, yeah. So, let me give you part one. here was Business English 613.

Want to learn phrasal verbs? Stick around. So we talked about stick to and stick around there. So with this series, you have so many great ways to connect about the goals people stick to or stick with.

And also, it's just interesting how much we care about what is important to us, what we stuck to instead of giving up on. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love it. All right.

Well, guys, thank you so much for listening to this series and thanks, Aubrey, for chatting with me today. Yes. Awesome. See you guys next time. Bye. Bye.

Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional. Want more from All Ears English? Don't miss our biggest and best podcast with 8 million monthly downloads. Just search for the All Ears English podcast and hit follow to get four new episodes per week on fluency, American culture, grammar, and so much more.

Or tap the link in the show notes. Remember, we believe in connection, not perfection when it comes to learning English. Follow the All Ears English podcast now.