Breakout Business English is all about improving your confidence, vocabulary, grammar and fluency in Business English. If you're not a native English speaker and you use English as a 2nd language to communicate at work then this podcast is definitely for you! You’ll find tips, strategies, and tools to grow your professional communication skills, as well as vocabulary episodes aimed at giving you new, advanced, professional vocabulary around workplace themes. We explore how you can express yourself better and build better professional relationships with your colleagues, customers, and clients. If you’re interested in becoming a better professional tomorrow than you are today, then you're in the right place and I'm excited to have you on the team. Let's get started!
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Chris guides listeners through key Business English terms and etiquette related to taking and discussing vacations with colleagues and managers. The episode clarifies differences between British and American English usage for "holiday" and "vacation," explains phrases like "put in for" and "roll over," and details various types of professional leave, including annual, sick, maternity, paternity, and compassionate leave. It also offers advice on setting out-of-office emails for effective communication.
Send Chris a message If you want to build trust with your colleagues, especially if you're a manager, and you speak English at work as a second language then this episode is for you. We talk about how you can sound more native and natural when speaking or writing English and how you can improve the trust between you and your team when doing this. We discuss the vocabulary, phrases, and idioms that we can use to build trust, we talk about vulnerability, and about making it easier for your direct ...
Send Chris a message Succeeding in your career and at work means many things. Today we're going to look at some natural and native ways to speak about getting a promotion and accepting more responsibility. We're going to hear some vocabulary, phrases, idioms and phrasal verbs that we can use to talk to our colleagues, managers, clients and customers about these things, and analyse the grammar that can make some of these words really confusing to use. So, if you need English at work, but you don'...
Send Chris a message This is our second episode discussing Harvard Professor of Leadership and management and her book on intelligent failure. So if you speak English at work, but aren't a native English speaker, then this episode will help you to think about failure, how to communicate with your colleagues on this topic and give you all of the natural and native sounding vocabulary that you need to do this. 🔗 Book a one-to-one session with Chris at breakoutbusinessenglish.com 🎁 Use code PODCA...
Send Chris a message Today we're talking about how to fail at work the right way. We listen to some native and natural sounding words, vocabulary, and phrases to talk about failure, and the four elements that make a failure intelligent. So, if you speak English at work as a second language and you'd like to fail in a more intelligent way, then this episode is for you. 🔗 Book a one-to-one session with Chris at breakoutbusinessenglish.com 🎁 Use code PODCAST30 for 30% off your first coaching sess...
Send Chris a message In this podcast we continue our deep dive on how great teams work and Google's project Aristotle. If you're a non-native English-speaking professional who wants to sound more native and natural when speaking English at work, this podcast uses real-world vocabulary, Business English phrases, and grammar insights that you can immediately use in the workplace. Today we explore how to talk about "Structure and clarity" and "meaning" when building an effective team. 🔗 Book a one...
Send Chris a message What makes a team truly effective? In this episode of the Breakout Business English podcast, Chris breaks down Google’s Project Aristotle , a research study that reveals the top characteristics of high-performing teams — starting with psychological safety and dependability . If you're a non-native English-speaking professional , this podcast is packed with real-world vocabulary , practical phrases , and grammar insights that you can immediately use in the workplace. Learn ho...
Send Chris a message Are you a professional who uses English as a second language at work? Do you want to feel more confident, fluent, and natural in business conversations? Join Business English Coach Chris in this episode of the Breakout Business English podcast as we explore how to talk about failure, responsibility, and consequences in a professional setting – all in clear, natural English. You'll learn essential workplace vocabulary and phrases like “inevitable,” “in the grand scheme of thi...
Send Chris a message Delegating in English can be challenging for new managers, especially if speaking English is your second language. Today's podcast is full of Business English and professional vocabulary, grammar, and tips, to help you to sound more natural and native when speaking to your colleagues in English at work and delegating tasks to them. Whether you're delegating tasks to your staff and your team, or you're accepting tasks delegated to you from your managers, hopefully you'll find...
Send Chris a message Business trips and traveling for business are an essential part of professional life, but speaking in English and talking about these can be challenging you don't speak English natively. Today's class is full of vocabulary and phrases that you can use to talk about travel for work, including formal and informal words and grammar structures that you can use to sound more native and natural when communicating in English at work. Whether you're speaking to customers, clients, o...
Send Chris a message If you're a leader or need to talk about leadership at work in English, Amazon's leadership principles are a great place to start. If you use English at work, but you're not a native speaker then the vocabulary, phrases, and grammar is today's podcast will help you to talk about leadership and grow professionally. Today we're discussing the leadership themes of innovation and learning. We'll look at some formal, professional vocabulary, and some informal natural and native s...
Send Chris a message Deciding when to quit and when to keep going, when to give up and when to persevere, is a hard topic to discuss, especially if you speak English as a second language. In today's podcast we're talking about how to support and encourage your colleagues when doing difficult tasks, how to talk about quitting strategically, and some natural and native sounding vocabulary, both formal and informal, to do this. We'll also briefly discuss one of the ideas in the book The Dip by Seth...
Send Chris a message Apologising at work and saying you're sorry in English can be difficult, especially if you speak English as a second language. If you want to sound more native and natural when speaking English at work then this podcast can help. Today's episode is about apologising to your colleagues and offering apologies. You'll hear some natural and native vocabulary, for both formal and informal situations, as well as some great grammar structures to help you communicate better in Engli...
Send Chris a message Learn how to confidently accept or politely decline invitations in professional English when speaking or writing. This episode provides essential business English vocabulary and natural phrases for networking and building work relationships . Master the art of professional communication with practical tips and real-world examples. Accepting invitations in English is important for networking and professional development. But speaking English as a second language or communicat...
Send Chris a message Rescheduling events and talking about time in English can be hard when speaking English, especially if you're not a native English speaker. In this podcast we talk about how to schedule and reschedule events, appointments, and meetings, how to sound more polite when doing this in spoken English at work, and pronunciation. We talk about how to ask people about times and their availability. We look at phrasal verbs, idioms, formal, and informal language, and you'll hear some g...
Send Chris a message In this Business English vocabulary lesson we talk about some natural and native sounding phrases, idioms, and words that we can use to motivate our teams and reward their performance. So if your a leader or a manager and you want to sound more native when you speak English and talk to your colleagues then hopefully today's podcast will help. We hear a quote from a past leader and take a brief look at some research on what staff really want from their managers and companies ...
Send Chris a message In this episode Business English coach Chris explores Amazon’s leadership tips to help international professionals improve their speaking and communication skills in English. Whether you’re a manager, team leader, or aspiring professional, you’ll learn how to talk about leadership , ownership , and customer obsession , and confidence and in a natural and native sounding way. We break down key business vocabulary and phrasal verbs like touch on , in the loop , and hold up to ...
Send Chris a message Problem solving is a skill that we all need at work. Speaking about problem solving in English can be particularly hard if English is not your native language. In this podcast we discuss problem solving at work, natural and native sounding vocabulary that we can use to discuss problem solving with our colleagues, and some tips that we can use to help us solve problems more effectively. If you want to speak English in a more natural and native sounding way, at work, then the ...
Send Chris a message Talking about changing jobs can be challenging, especially in job interviews. We all want to sound professional when speaking English at work but there are so many ways to make mistakes when discussing this topic! Let's talk about quitting jobs, getting fired, and being unemployed, and why you should never use this vocabulary in job interviews. We'll also talk about some professional sounding, natural and native ways to communicate about these times in your career. So if you...
Send Chris a message Artificial intelligence is appearing in every English speaking workplace these days and talking about AI with your colleagues and managers is something that is important. Today let's discuss some professional English vocabulary that we can use to sound natural and native when talking about AI at work, including some phrasal verbs and idioms that we can use to discuss our ideas. We talk about how to give your opinions on AI tools like Chat GPT, Microsoft CoPilot, Google Gemin...
Send Chris a message If you need to give presentations at work, in English, and it's not your first language then speaking and communicating with your English speaking colleagues can be difficult. Today we're talking about how to make sure that you're understood, some vocabulary that we can use to check that our colleagues have listened carefully to what we've said, and some tips to ensure that you have communicated your ideas and key points successfully in the most natural and native sounding w...
Send Chris a message Let's discuss some Business English vocabulary and grammar that we can use to lead meetings. Running a meeting or being in charge of an event often means that you have new responsibilities and today's podcast we’re discussing the professional vocabulary and phrases that you can use to talk to your colleagues and managers about what is happening during your meeting. We’ll talk about starting meetings, avoiding delays, staying on track, and also give you some natural and nativ...
Send Chris a message Let's discuss some professional English vocabulary that we can use to resolve conflicts at work. We're talking about how to deal with difficult colleagues and how to solve arguments and disagreements with your team mates and coworkers. We'll hear some idea for what to do in these situations and some natural and native sounding vocabulary so that you know exactly what to say when people start to get angry in the workplace. This is also one of the most common job interview que...
Send Chris a message Do you need to discuss complex or complicated information at work? If English is not your native language and you find it difficult to sound natural when you communicate complex information at work then I have some great Business English vocabulary, grammar structures, and communication ideas for you. We talk about how to simplify the information you're communicating, how to make sure that everyone in the meeting or the presentation understands what you told them, and how to...
Send Chris a message Today's Business English class is about which tasks are important and which tasks are not important. We listen to native and natural English vocabulary and sentence structures that can help us to discuss prioritising our tasks with our colleagues at work. Prioritising our tasks and discussing what's important with our colleagues can be challenging for non native English speakers who use English as a second language, so let's study some ways to help you talk to your colleague...
Send Chris a message How do you know if your English is improving and getting better? Measuring progress is difficult when learning English, especially for intermediate and advanced speakers. Should you take a test or exam like IELTS or TOEFL for instance? Today we talk about 6 methods to measure your progress and track how much better your English is getting. So if you use English as a second language at work, as a non native speaker, and your goal is to sound more native and natural, then hope...
Send Chris a message Do you find it difficult to say no to your managers or colleagues at work? If you want to protect your time and your schedule when people ask you to do things then today Business English vocabulary and tips might help! If you use English at work and want to sound more native and natural when your colleagues ask you to do tasks, take new duties or responsibilities then today's 5 stage system should help. This is a framework for politely but directly explaining to your colleag...
Send Chris a message Answering questions at work in English can be difficult. Today's podcast is about How to Answer Questions at work. We discuss some great, professional vocabulary, some natural and native sounding examples, the grammar that you need to know, and how these phrases change depending on the situation and context. So if you use English as a second language to communicate and answer questions at work then I hope you'll find this podcast useful. This podcast is all about helping you...
Send Chris a message Quitting your job can be really stressful, especially in your second language. If you use English to communicate at work and you're not a native speaker then today's podcast aims to give you the professional vocabulary and Business English communication tips that you need to do this in the most polite, courteous, and professional way possible. To maintain a great relationship with your manager and your colleagues, and to make sure that you ask all the right questions! This p...
Send Chris a message Getting promoted at work is an important part of growing your career and making progress in your professional life. Today we're talking about some tips that can help you to achieve this and some Business English vocabulary that you can use to talk about promotions at work. We'll look at some formal, more professional ways to speak about this topic, and some less formal, more casual ways to discuss this idea. If you use English as a second language at work then improving your...
