2026-09-16
21 分钟Hi there, this is Harry.
Welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry.
We've recently been focusing on business English and today we're looking
at small talk with your boss, your manager or a client.
Now, perhaps you've prepared for a meeting in English.
You've read the agenda, you've checked your figures and you know what you need to discuss, but you...
Join the call a couple of minutes early and there's just you and your manager.
You say hello and then you wonder what to say until everyone else arrives.
Or a client comes to your office, you're taking them to the meeting room and you'd like to say something friendly.
But what can you ask someone you hardly know?
Many years ago, I was traveling back from New York, from JFK.
And as I was sitting in the business lounge,
out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my boss's boss, the big man.
Now, I hadn't met him many times and he was quite an intense, introverted sort of individual.
So you can imagine how I felt when I discovered
that we were going to be sitting in the same row on the aeroplane for a six hour flight.
English is my first language.
If you're doing this in another language, there's even more to think about.
Of course, people have different preferences, even within the same company.
Some people enjoy a chat.