Listening and passing on messages

  • B1 · Intermediate
  • Topic lesson
  • 60 min

Active listening at work (an article, and a manager who really listens), then a client's voicemail to take down and pass on. Ten words for listening and messages, paraphrasing phrases (So what you're saying is…?), reported statements and questions (She asked if… She wanted to know when…), and a two-part role-play.

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What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
  4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
  5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
  6. 6Useful phrases for listening and messagesVocabulary
  7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
  8. 8Check the conversationListening comprehension
  9. 9Listen: a message for JadeListening comprehension
  10. 10Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
  11. 11What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  12. 12Find the reported questionsGrammar exercise
  13. 13Reported speech: statements and questionsGrammar rule
  14. 14Report itGrammar exercise
  15. 15A message from the driverGrammar exercise
  16. 16Report the questionsGrammar exercise
  17. 17Check and pass it onSpeaking practice
  18. 18Role-play: listen, take a message, pass it onSpeaking practice
  19. 19Let's discussDiscussion
  20. 20Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
  2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
  3. 3Homework: notes from a trade showGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: pass on a messageDiscussion

Words

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about listening at work.

  1. When you are on a call at work, do you take notes? On paper, on your computer or on your phone?
  2. In a normal workday, do you spend more time talking or listening?
  3. At work, who do you pass messages on to, and how: by chat, by email or in person?

Grammar rule

Reported speech: statements and questions

Reporting what someone said

They saidYou report
"I'm at the airport."He said (that) he was at the airport.
"We can't deliver on Monday."They said (that) they couldn't deliver on Monday.
"I'll send the file."She said (that) she'd (would) send the file.
"The package has left the warehouse."He said (that) the package had left the warehouse.
"We lost the key."They said (that) they had lost (or lost) the key.

The tense usually moves one step back, and pronouns change: "I'll call you" → She said she'd call me. When something is still true, or you pass a message on the same day, you can keep the tense: She said she'll call you after lunch. Time words (today, tomorrow) change only when the day has changed: "I'll call tomorrow," passed on the next day, becomes "She said she'd call today."

Reporting questions

They askedYou report
"Is the room ready?"He asked if (or whether) the room was ready.
"When does the conference start?"She wanted to know when the conference started.
"Where do you work?"He asked me where I worked.
  • Yes / no questions: ask + if or whether. Questions with a question word: ask + when, where, how much…
  • After if, whether or the question word, use statement order (subject + verb), with no do, does or did: He asked me where I worked (not where did I work). There is no question mark.
  • Other ways to start: She wanted to know… · He wondered… · They asked me…

say, tell or ask?

  • say (that) + what someone said: She said (that) she was busy. (say something to someone)
  • tell + a person + (that): She told me (that) she was busy. (not She said me)
  • ask for questions: He asked (me) if… (not He said if…)
  • For requests and instructions: ask / tell + a person + to + verb: She asked me to send the file. He told us not to wait.
Messages for colleagues are usually passed on the same day, so keeping the tense is common and correct: "She said she's in meetings until three." Use the past when it is no longer true: "He said he was at the airport" (he isn't there now).

Teach it live with video and a whiteboard, or print it: the PDF has every slide, the homework and the answers.

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