BE 623: Couldn't Help But Overhear? What to Do Now!

This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 623. Couldn't help but overhear what to do now. 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.

Has this ever happened to you? You're mid-sentence and you hear yourself slow down. You simplify. You avoid the word you actually want. That moment adds up in meetings, interviews, and everyday conversations.

It weighs on you and makes you feel isolated. It becomes harder to make real connections. Our free two-minute fluency quiz helps you identify what interrupts your flow and your connections and how to fix it. You'll get your English level, B1, B2, or C1, and you'll figure out where to go from here.

Start now at allearsenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allearsenglish.com slash f-l-u-e-n-c-y-s-c-o-r-e. Hey, Michelle, how are you? Hey, Aubrey. I'm good.

How are you? I am excellent. A question for you. Are you an eavesdropper? Do you eavesdrop on people's conversations? It depends. If they're talking loud enough, sure.

Sometimes you can't help it, right? Yeah, sometimes you can't. If you're at the grocery store or a cafe, do you find yourself trying to listen sometimes? Yeah.

If I hear like a buzzword, right? If there's something that piques my interest, yeah, I might try. But yeah, what about you? Yeah, I do. I can't help it.

And here's what I'm really curious about because I do this and I know it's strange that sometimes I will... jump in. Like I'll want to make a comment on what they're saying. If it's a table that's close enough or people like in a line near me talking, if they mentioned something, if I either know the answer, I have a recommendation, I'll insert myself.

And it drives my husband crazy. He's like, can you not do that? I'm like, I'm sorry. I'm just a very friendly person. What about you? Do you ever jump in?

I think, I mean, I'm sure that I have and I would. Again, it just all depends on like also how friendly the people seem um do they seem yeah like they're like having a good time like they seem kind of casual do they you know make it awkward accidentally right if you jump into a camera and they're like who are you we don't know you Right.

So if they seem open, like not like closed off, like their body, like, you know, there are certain, but like I would. So yeah, it just, it just really depends. We got a great question about this. And so yeah, do you want to share with us this YouTube question from Sophia?

All right. Yes, we love you, Sophia. So this is from yeah, from YouTube. So hey, guys, I'm Sophia. And I have to say I'm a huge fan of the show. Your energy is absolutely contagious.

And it always makes my day. Thank you, Sophia. That's very nice. I've got a question about a situation that pops up for me every now and then. Yeah. I want to make that connection without overstepping.

Thanks so much for everything you do. Love you guys. Well, we love you too. And the way that you write these questions is unbelievable. Like I love the vocabulary, right?

Overstepping over here. That's such a great phrase. Yeah. You're amazing. So well done, Sophia. We're always impressed. And this is a fantastic question.

This is tricky, even in someone's native language, let alone in a second language, right? And I'm right there with Sophia. I'm the same way where I'm like, I feel like I have something that would help, some advice or a recommendation. I'm like, they need to know, they want to know.

It's hard to know what to say. If I if I if something piques my interest, like I would, but again, it's mixed in with, you know, like, what's the tone of the room? So but yeah, sometimes we might hear a conversation at work. So it could be in the break room or before meeting and we want to join in.

So it could be like I said, because we're interested in the topic. Or like you said, Aubrey, you know the answer to their question or you have relevant information you want to share with them. So yeah, today we're going to get into it. We're going to share phrases that you can use to jump into other people's conversations at work.

But it's important to do it politely, of course. Right. And we have quite a few of these that we use at work. So be sure to hit follow. This will be a two-part series.

So follow right here, the Business English Podcast, so that you don't miss either episode in this really fun series. Yes, exactly. All right. So first of all, it's not always appropriate to join a conversation.

So like we were saying, you kind of have to read the room. So the tone and intention matters, right? So you want to keep it friendly and light. Yeah. And you also don't want to sound like you're showing off when you're giving some sort of answer or a piece of advice, right?

You want to be actually helpful or supportive. So that's really important. And I mean, Aubrey, when is it appropriate to jump into someone's conversation? Yeah.

Yeah, if you have useful and relevant information. So the example off the top of my head is a couple of moms were talking about movie theater prices, and they were venting. They're like, we would love to take our kids to a movie, but it's $15 for a ticket. And I was standing right by them.

I was like, did you know Fat Cats has a $5 Tuesday movie? They were like, what? And they were so excited to find out about that. So that was a good scenario, right?

Yes. situations like that come up often where like, you know that they would be happy to hear this, but then it's, you know, the did you know was like one way to do it, but there are phrases we can use to jump in, right? So yes, if you have useful, relevant information, and if it's casual or semi-casual, situation, right?

We were in line at a grocery store, in a break room before a meeting on a Slack thread, right? Those really casual situations, it's pretty easy to jump in.

And if the topic is work related or not, if you're in a break room or at a happy hour and it's not work related, that's when this might happen even more often.

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So you can add useful information and then you can also like, it doesn't have to be that now you've taken over the conversation. You shouldn't, right?

Because they're having a conversation. I mean, it is possible then you'll kind of naturally find yourself really in the conversation, but you know, don't go in with that intention. Yeah. Right.

So you should just share your tidbit and then you back away or just say, yeah, thought you'd want to know and you physically move back a little. And unless they open and ask you more questions, you can let them carry on the conversation. That's the real skill.

Because imagine you jump in the conversation and now you're part of and they're like, who are you? Exactly. So, you know, now let's talk about when would you avoid it?

Hmm. So giving unsolicited criticism, right? Suggesting that what someone is doing is wrong. If you were to say like, oh, that's not the right way to do it, or you should do it like this.

No one is looking for a stranger to do that, right? Let their friends or their family correct them or their coworkers. Right. Or it would not be okay to just correct people publicly.

You could embarrass them. And that's never good, right? That's terrible for connection. That's the thing is if people are in conversation, even if you know them, your coworkers, if they say something that they're doing wrong, something, you would want to wait until that conversation is over.

Find them alone sometime to let them know, oh, I heard this. Maybe if you're going to offer a correction, you would never want to do it in front of other people. That would be embarrassing, at least not in the States. We try to avoid correcting someone in front of others.

We don't want to embarrass them. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And also personal topics, right? If it's health, relationships, finances, you know, people might feel very strange also if they hear you eavesdropping about those kinds of things and just talking about them.

It's just going to make the whole situation awkward and uncomfortable. Or anything private or sensitive, right? Yes. If you accidentally overhear something that you weren't meant to hear, they might not want you to hear, just walk away or just pretend you didn't hear it.

Yeah, pretend you didn't. Don't comment. Yeah. Exactly. Do you ever start speaking English and suddenly the words disappear? You pause too much. You hesitate.

You know what you want to say, but only later, not in the moment when it matters. This is where your fluency is breaking down and it's fixable. That's why we created our two-minute fluency quiz. It shows you your exact English level right now, so you know what to work on next.

Are you B1, B2, or C1? Find out. Go now to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score and get clarity on your English level and how you can improve this year, starting today. One more time, go to allearsenglish.com slash F-L-U-E-N-C-Y-S-C-O-R-E. Alright, so what can we say to jump in to offer this tidbit?

There are a few phrases, right? Yeah. So yeah, you could say, sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. And then you immediately follow that with your thought or your suggestion.

So this is good for when you're physically nearby. And it can be business related or everyday topics. So like food, shopping, recommendations, food. Cheaper movies, right, Aubrey?

Exactly. You just happen to overhear and you know they want your advice. Exactly. Let's give another scenario. If I was having a conversation with someone else at work, let's do a little role play here.

Ready? Okay. All right. We're still looking for a project management tool. Oh, sorry. I couldn't help but overhear. Have you tried Asana? We used it on my last team and it worked really well.

Oh, interesting. Tell me more. Yes, exactly. So this is just like the movie ticket, but at work, often someone might be talking about needing a tool, needing a...

If you happen to have discovered something that works, you should share it, right? Yeah, definitely. Or here's another scenario. So you are on your way to a client meeting and you are looking at the fastest route.

All right. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get to the client's office. Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. The train is usually faster during rush hour.

I love this. This reminds me of living in New York City. I feel like this happened a few times that I would overhear. Maybe they even had a map or they're looking at their GPS and they're trying to figure out, now is that north?

Which way is the... Or they'd be looking for something specific and I would jump in and be like, oh, you want to head that way, right? Then you see someone needing help but hasn't asked for it. Yeah, exactly.

All right. So let's do the second thing you could say. So it's sorry to interrupt. Did I just hear and then say the topic or detail? So this is good for when you want to confirm or you're not 100% sure of what you heard.

But also it can be used even if you heard clearly and you want to sound polite. Right. I absolutely could have say like, oh, sorry to interrupt. Did I just hear you say you're looking for, you know, inexpensive movies?

Right. And then it's interesting how this is a little less intrusive than I couldn't help but overhear because that does sort of imply that they were speaking loudly enough that you couldn't help but hear their conversation. This removes that. Right.

Yeah, right. So and again, this could be business related or about everyday toppings. Why do I keep everyday toppings? You want ice cream with toppings?

Yes, exactly. Yeah. So here, let's do a couple scenario role plays. So here I'm chatting with another coworker about a project. All right. So we might move the deadline.

Oh, sorry to interrupt. Did I just hear the deadline might change? I'm working on that project too. Okay, yeah. So this is important information. And it's good also that you explained why you're interrupting.

So I'm working on that project too. This happens a lot at work, right? Whether it's on online calls, or if you're in an office scenario where people maybe haven't filled everyone in yet, or maybe you missed a meeting, and it doesn't hurt to jump in and be like, oh, hang on, I think this is something I need to know. Sorry to interrupt.

right um so or uh here should we do another yeah let's do another scenario okay so here um i'm also talking with another co-worker and we're discussing where to have our business lunch okay so here we go hmm i'm not sure where to go our usual spot is closed today sorry to interrupt did i just hear you're looking for a good restaurant Yes. The new Italian place next door is delicious and really quiet. Perfect for a lunch meeting.

Ooh, great. Thank you. Nice. I have definitely jumped into a conversation to recommend restaurants before. I've had people have been like wondering if there's a good Mexican place nearby and there's this little really unassuming place tucked in that a lot of people don't realize is there.

So I'd be like, have you been to Isabel's yet? Yeah. And it's true. Most people welcome that little interaction, that little connection, even with a stranger, especially if you're good about making their quick recommendation and then backing away.

Yes. And then move on. But yeah, I agree. I mean, who doesn't want a good recommendation if you're looking for something or help getting somewhere, you know, a tip, you know?

So as long as it's pretty neutral topics, you know, I... I think that it would be okay. So but we are going to do another phrase on part two of the series.

So and we're going to talk about other chunks. And with the can we say what it's going to be about? Yes, I think we should. A little sneak peek here. A little teaser, yes.

We're talking about, we also say, mind if I jump in. And then there are other chunks we use with mind if, right? Mind if I cut in, mind if I have some of that. It's interesting how often we'll use that chunk.

So part two will be about that. Hit follow so you don't miss it right here on the Business English Podcast. Yes. And also, check out episode 622 of the Business English podcast.

That was Can You Call a Man's Shirt a Blouse? Very interesting. And the answer is, spoiler alert, no, you can't. That was a really fun episode. Lindsay and I recorded with also some other gender neutral clothing terminology.

But it was interesting to think about how much of business attire is gendered. Like one word will be for like men's clothing or women's clothing. So if you missed that, scroll up, check it out.

Very fun. All right. So takeaway for today, say your tip, move on, read the room is very important. And, you know, don't make it about something too personal.

Awesome. Great episode. Thanks for joining me, Michelle. And I'll see you next time. Bye guys. All right. See you. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.

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