Make An Appointment: Practise Speaking on the Phone!

Interesting words and expressions used in this phone conversation:

(to) catch (someone) (verb)

to find someone available to talk by going to or telephoning them at the place where they are

• I’m glad I caught you.

I’m afraid (phrase)

used for politely telling someone something that might make them sad, disappointed, or angry, for example when you cannot do what they want or do not agree with them

• I’m afraid Dr. Williams is sick today.

That’s a shame (phrase)

used when you wish a situation was different, and you feel sad or disappointed

• Oh, that’s a shame.

(to) fit (someone) in (phrasal verb)

to have space for someone or something

• Thank you for fitting me in.

Video Transcript
Section 1
Well hey there I’m Emma from mmmEnglish and if you’re ready to practise your speaking skills with me this is the place to be.

You and I are going to practise a type of conversation that is sometimes unavoidable in any language and it’s one that can definitely be a little bit intimidating if you are doing this conversation in your second language.

A phone call.

We’re so used to texting and using apps and things like that. When you do have to pick up the phone it can be super awkward if you don’t know what to say. In this lesson, we’re going to practise making and rescheduling an appointment over the phone and this is such an important skill.

We’re going to learn some of the really useful, common phrases and the expressions that you need to make this type of phone call successfully.

If making phone calls in English is part of your job then this lesson is going to be super helpful for you. But also if you live in an English-speaking country or maybe you’re travelling and you need to communicate over the phone in English it’s also going to be super helpful for you because you can use the language from this lesson when you’re making or rescheduling any kind of appointment.

Are you ready to practise speaking with me on the phone? Let’s go!

Finding someone genuine and reliable to practise speaking English with regularly is really hard. If you don’t want to pay someone by the hour and you don’t have time to wade through random strangers on the internet then come and check out Hey Lady!

Hey Lady! is an online community created just for women. It’s a safe and supportive space where you can meet friendly speaking partners easily and practise having real conversations about interesting topics in English. As long as your English level is intermediate or above then your English is good enough to join the community.

We offer a 10-day free trial so that you can experience it for yourself and see what you think! The link is down in the description below so that you can start your free trial today.

Answering the phone can be a little bit intimidating because you can’t really prepare for it. It sort of surprises you, right? You don’t know who or what is waiting for you on the other end of the line.

So what you and I are about to do is practise speaking on the phone with a medical receptionist to reschedule a doctor’s appointment that we made and this is how it’s gonna work.

The first time we do it, I’ll be the receptionist so I’ll be a little bit more professional and formal but I’m gonna call you and you’ll answer the phone but then we’re gonna switch places and you are going to call me.

After that, you can listen to me do the whole conversation together and watch the flow and the back and forth of the dialogue.

Hi Alex, this is Emma calling from Dr Williams’ office.
Oh good, I’m glad I caught you.
I’m afraid Dr Williams is sick today. I’m calling to reschedule your appointment.
He won’t be seeing patients until next week I’m afraid.
No problem. Let me just see who’s available.
Dr Jones… Sure! I’ve got one at 3:45 this afternoon or 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.
Excellent! So just to confirm your appointment is today at 3:45pm with Dr Jones.
No problem, see you this afternoon. Bye.

So I’m curious. Did you hear any new, exciting words or phrases in that dialogue? Drop them down in the comments if you did. I didn’t want to take up too much time in this lesson today so I added some of the definitions and explanations about those phrases over on the mmmEnglish website.

So if you’re curious in exploring them a little bit further definitely go and check it out if you’re interested. The link to the mmmEnglish website is down in the description below.

But right now let’s switch places. This time you’re going to call me and we’re going to reschedule that appointment.

Hello, Alex speaking.
Oh hi Emma,
I was just getting ready to leave for my appointment.
Oh, that’s a shame. When will he be back?
It’s actually quite urgent. I don’t think I can wait that long. Would it be possible to book an appointment with a different doctor?
I’ve seen Dr Jones before, are there any appointments with her?
I’ll take this afternoon, please.
I’ll see you this afternoon. Thank you for fitting me in.
Bye.

And now listen to the whole conversation in complete flow with me doing both parts. Ready?

Alex: Hello, Alex speaking.
Emma: Hi Alex, this is Emma calling from Dr Williams’ office.
Alex: Oh hi Emma, I was just getting ready to leave for my appointment.
Emma: Oh good, I’m glad I caught you. I’m afraid Dr Williams is sick today. I’m calling to reschedule your appointment.
Alex: Oh, that’s a shame. When will he be back? It’s actually quite urgent.
Emma: He won’t be seeing patients until next week, I’m afraid.
Alex: I don’t think I can wait that long. Would it be possible to book an appointment with a different doctor?
Emma: No problem. Let me just see who’s available.
Alex: I’ve seen Dr Jones before. Are there any appointments with her?
Emma: Dr Jones… Sure, I’ve got one at 3:45pm this afternoon. or 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.
Alex: I’ll take this afternoon, please.
Emma: Excellent. So just to confirm, your appointment is today at 3:45pm with Dr Jones. I’ll see you this afternoon.
Alex: Thank you for fitting me in.
Emma: No problem. See you this afternoon. Bye!
Alex: Bye.

So there you have it, I hope that this lesson was really useful and that it helped you to feel more confident about picking up the phone and making an appointment in English.

I’ve got a few lessons that are similar to this one where we get to practise a speaking dialogue together so if you’d like to keep practising your speaking and your conversation skills with me then come and check it out over here!