Thursday Morning: Professional Communication

Good morning! Today we focus on Professional Communication — the language you use in meetings, emails, presentations, and when giving or receiving feedback. These are the phrases that make you sound polished and confident at work.

Word of the Day: articulate

IPA (adjective): /ɑːrˈtɪk.jʊ.lət/ IPA (verb): /ɑːrˈtɪk.jʊ.leɪt/

Vietnamese:

  • (adj) rõ ràng, mạch lạc — able to express ideas clearly
  • (verb) diễn đạt rõ ràng — to express something clearly in words

Note the stress pattern: ar-TIC-u-late. Both forms stress the second syllable. The adjective ends in /lət/ (soft), the verb ends in /leɪt/ (hard).

Examples:

  1. (adjective) — “She’s an articulate speaker — her presentations are always clear and well-structured.” (Cô ấy là người diễn đạt rõ ràng — bài thuyết trình của cô ấy luôn rõ ràng và có cấu trúc.)

  2. (verb) — “Can you articulate the main risks of this approach?” (Bạn có thể diễn đạt rõ ràng những rủi ro chính của cách tiếp cận này không?)

  3. (verb) — “He struggled to articulate his concerns during the review meeting.” (Anh ấy gặp khó khăn khi diễn đạt những lo ngại của mình trong cuộc họp đánh giá.)

Pronunciation Guide

Stress pattern: ar - TIC - u - late

Practice these three times aloud:

  1. “She is very ar-TIC-u-late.”
  2. “Please ar-TIC-u-late your concerns.”
  3. “He ar-TIC-u-lated the plan clearly.”

Tip: Don’t stress the first syllable. Many learners say “AR-tic-u-late” — but native speakers say “ar-TIC-u-late”.

Vocabulary: 5 Professional Phrases

PhraseVietnameseExample
touch baseliên lạc nhanh / gặp nhau nhanh”Let’s touch base after the standup.”
action itemviệc cần làm (được giao sau họp)“The action item from today’s meeting is to update the roadmap.”
circle backquay lại vấn đề sau”Let’s circle back to this after the demo.”
bandwidthkhả năng/thời gian rảnh (để làm việc)“I don’t have bandwidth for another project this sprint.”
constructive feedbackphản hồi mang tính xây dựng”She gave constructive feedback on my presentation.”

Exercises

Exercise 1: Fill in the blank

Choose the correct phrase for each sentence: touch base / action item / circle back / bandwidth / constructive feedback

  1. “I’ll ________ with the design team to confirm the timeline.” → (liên lạc với team design)
  2. “The main ________ from this meeting is to write up the requirements doc.” → (việc cần làm)
  3. “That’s a great question — let’s ________ to it at the end of the call.” → (quay lại sau)
  4. “I’d love to help, but I don’t have the ________ right now — I’m deep in a critical bug fix.” → (thời gian rảnh)
  5. “Can you give me some ________ on my proposal before I send it to the CTO?” → (phản hồi xây dựng)
Show Answers
  1. touch base — “I’ll touch base with the design team to confirm the timeline.”
  2. action item — “The main action item from this meeting is to write up the requirements doc.”
  3. circle back — “That’s a great question — let’s circle back to it at the end of the call.”
  4. bandwidth — “I’d love to help, but I don’t have the bandwidth right now…”
  5. constructive feedback — “Can you give me some constructive feedback on my proposal…”

Exercise 2: Translate the email excerpt

Translate this Vietnamese email excerpt into professional English:

“Chào anh/chị, Em muốn liên lạc nhanh về kết quả cuộc họp hôm qua. Việc cần làm của em là cập nhật tài liệu yêu cầu trước thứ Sáu. Nếu anh/chị có phản hồi gì, em rất mong nhận được ý kiến xây dựng.”

Show Answer

“Hi [Name], I wanted to touch base regarding the outcomes from yesterday’s meeting. My action item is to update the requirements document by Friday. If you have any thoughts, I’d really appreciate your constructive feedback.”

Why it works:

  • “touch base” sounds more natural than “contact quickly”
  • “action item” is standard meeting vocabulary
  • “appreciate your constructive feedback” is polite and professional

Idiom of the Day: “get the ball rolling”

Meaning: bắt đầu làm gì đó / kick things off — to start a process or activity

Usage in meetings and work context:

  1. “We’ve been planning this feature for weeks — it’s time to get the ball rolling on development.” (Chúng ta đã lên kế hoạch cho tính năng này nhiều tuần rồi — đã đến lúc bắt đầu phát triển.)

  2. “I’ll send the kickoff email to get the ball rolling on the Q3 roadmap review.” (Tôi sẽ gửi email khởi động để bắt đầu quá trình review roadmap Q3.)

Note: You “get the ball rolling” — you don’t “make” or “do” the ball rolling.

Strengthen your professional English with these:

  1. Business English Pod (businessenglishpod.com) — Free podcast episodes on meetings, negotiations, presentations, and emails. Start with “BEP 1 — Making Introductions.”

  2. TED Talks: Communicate at Work — Search “TED workplace communication” and watch with subtitles. Recommended: “How to speak so that people want to listen” by Julian Treasure (under 10 minutes, highly practical).

  3. BBC Learning English — English at Work (bbc.co.uk/learningenglish) — Short audio episodes following office scenarios. Perfect for learning natural workplace dialogue.

Daily Challenge

Write a 3-sentence professional email using all three phrases below. Post it in the group or write it in your notebook.

  • ✅ circle back
  • ✅ action item
  • ✅ touch base

Starter: “Hi [Name], I wanted to…”

Example structure:

  • Sentence 1: Why you’re writing (touch base about something)
  • Sentence 2: Mention an action item
  • Sentence 3: Propose to circle back later

Great work this morning! Come back at noon for more communication phrases. 🌟

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