BE 385: 4 Ways to Crush Compliments at Work
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 385, Four Ways to Crush Compliments at Work.

Welcome to the Business English podcast from All Ears English. Get the English skills you need to achieve your dreams in global business. For a presentation, a meeting, or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American hosts, Lindsay and Aubrey, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.

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Hey, Aubrey. How's everything? I'm great. How are you, Lindsay? Yeah, I'm doing well. I do have a question for you. Is there anyone in your life that did something well recently?

Yeah, my daughter, Penelope, she's my second. She's 16. She got a job at it's called Salad and Go. It's kind of a fast, casual restaurant. And she was really nervous about this exam she had to take for the training. It was like details about everything they would have to cook and a lot of things they were having to do. But she aced it. She nailed it. And so she came home and was so excited. And I was like, amazing job. Great job. I was so proud of her.

oh that's great you said amazing job great job right yeah we love to give compliments right we love to tell someone they've done a good job people need praise absolutely yeah so for example someone cooked a good meal or gave a great presentation at work um i think it also depends i find this interesting too when i talk with my partner and everything love languages um different people need

Some people need it more than others, I think. Words of affirmation. Yeah, their love language is words of affirmation and they need praise. They need to be told they're doing a good job. Or if they are putting in more effort than usual, that needs to be acknowledged verbally for them. And so, yeah, this is important to know the people you work with.

is one of their love languages words of affirmation. If so, they might feel slighted or hurt if you are not giving them praise. Yes, definitely. And for other people, it's like, are you taking out the garbage at work or something? What you know, acts of service. Right, exactly. It just depends on the person. So there that is important to note that we need to know who we're working with and what do they need to feel supported. But first, go ahead and hit the follow button listeners hit follow. Why should we why should we hit follow?

Yes, you are missing amazing episodes here on Business English if you don't hit follow. It's hard to remember to come back three times a week and see them all. But if they drop right into your queue because you're following the podcast, much easier to find them there.

Exactly. And while you're over there, go ahead and leave us a review. Tell us what you think about the show. We love reading your reviews. All right. Yeah. Speaking of, we got an amazing comment on YouTube from Aislinn Leopoldo 2432. And this sort of inspired today's episode because this was a fun, you know, this was praise for us.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, this is where the idea for today's episode came. And here's the comment. Uh, she said this episode was definitely a big deal. Um, thanks for today's lesson. Uh, for me, it's always a good deal to watch your videos, a kiss from Brazil. And I think, uh,

where she said this was a big deal, it was referring to, it was kind of a word play. It was the episode where we taught deal. A big deal, good deal. Exactly. And I love this. It's a very clever comment. Right. Listeners do this often where they'll use something from the episode in the comment or in the compliment. And I love that not only are you having a chance to practice that vocabulary, but it's very clever.

it's very clever we love that and so we love the compliment and so that got me thinking what else could we say to compliment someone at work when they've done a good job what kinds of situations opry

Yeah, well, imagine your colleague led a meeting that they had been really nervous about, right? Just like my daughter, she had a lot of anxiety about this. When you know someone's nervous and then they do a good job, this absolutely should be mentioned. You should recognize that. Yeah, exactly. It's all about what was their state of mind. If they do it all the time, and you could certainly compliment them, and maybe you should, but maybe it's more important if you've seen the effort and the challenge that someone's gone through.

And the compliment will be different, right? It might be like, great job. You always kill it if they do it a lot and do really well. But if it was more rare and they were nervous, then you will be more emphatic about your compliment. 100%. So maybe, again, like we said, colleague led a meeting that they were nervous about leading. Maybe they delivered a presentation. You knew that they were worried about the audience and what

questions they might get, right? We talk about this a lot. We will in our professional English course coming up soon, answering questions. How do we do that? So what's the pro tip here?

Oh, yeah. So this is important. You always want to complement the action, the performance, not the person, the way they look, their speech, right? It needs to be about their performance because that's really what they're going to be proud of, what they're working hard at. You would never want to complement something they can't change. Exactly. Exactly. That just makes sure that we are getting along with our coworkers and communicating with respect.

And so compliment the action and also the improvement, just how hard they worked on something, right? Right, the effort. Absolutely. Exactly. So there's four ways for today. There's a lot of ways, but for today, there's four ways we can do it. Let's start with the first one, Aubrey. What is it?

Yeah, the first one is to say I was or am impressed by or so impressed by or impressed with. This is a little more formal, right? If I say I was so impressed with the way you synthesize the data in a way that we could all relate.

This is high level. It's formal. You probably are not, you know, super close for it. This could be your boss. This could be a client or coworker you don't know that well because it is a formal way of speaking. Exactly. Exactly. Or I'm impressed by your ability to stay calm even when you get tough questions.

I actually used this compliment this week after I got off the phone with Kate from London, who's going to be in our Professional English course. I just said, "I'm so impressed by your experience and your insight and so much you have to share." She works in the finance industry for JPMorgan. I just had to say that because I just couldn't believe how much insight she had. It was incredible.

I'm very excited to see that interview in the course. It is amazing how some people are so well-spoken and calm, even when they're getting difficult questions that they haven't been able to prepare and they still have this very impressive presence. That's admirable. Sometimes you just... And impressed is a great one to have because it is more formal. And like Aubrey said, clients, your boss, people you're not so close with at work. Okay? Right. Exactly. What else? What's another one?

This next one can be formal or informal to say, "I can't get over how..." Maybe, "I can't get over how well written this report is. Nice work." It means the same as, "I'm very impressed by..." Yes. But I could also see this in a more informal situation. I could say to you, Lindsay, "I can't get over how amazing your hair looks today." Sure. We use this in informal conversations too.

yeah yeah yeah and be careful with the the you know the look comments for sure make sure you know you know that this is a friend right yeah that would be something yes yes for sure don't say that about when someone has a presentation and you compliment their hair that actually would probably be offensive yeah for sure so let's get a little bit more casual now and again we believe that at work we can be casual like our whole idea with business english is that we're not robots walking into work we're human beings so there are moments to be casual

right? And these are a few of them. We can say way to go on X, like way to go on that sales pitch. You should be training the rest of us on your tactics.

Yes. Way to go on that presentation. I could have said this to my daughter. Way to go on that test, right? Just, you know, if you're impressed with the performance, this works great. Yeah. And I love the next one. And I like what you said earlier. You killed it. You always kill it. I wanted to add that. That was on the list and I took it off actually for today because it felt like too much. But a very similar one is you crushed it.

Right? Yes. Right. Maybe I saw your keynote presentation. You crushed it. Great job. Right. These are very synonymous, interchangeable. You killed it. You crushed it. Very informal, but fun. Kind of trendy, kind of newish in our language and fun to say and satisfying to say to you. Very satisfying. I agree. Yeah.

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All right. We are back with a quick role play here. So what is the scenario here, Aubrey? So you and your coworker just delivered a sales presentation to a client that you're trying to win. So Lindsay and I will be these coworkers. I'll start us out. Ready? Yes.

I think that went pretty well. What do you think? Well, it's too soon to know what the client will do, but in my opinion, we crushed it. Yes, I was so impressed with how you clearly explained the value proposition. Way to go. Same. I can't get over how persuasive you were on the close.

i would be shocked if they don't sign by next friday oh we're feeling good feeling good i love this i think it's great right you you want to be positive with co-workers right yes especially when something goes well like this you're excited you want to share this is a great way to bond with someone else yes celebrate the moment right yeah uh celebrate them all you did that together as a team that's huge that will build your relationship very quickly um

So the first, so we use my favorite one here, crushed it. We said, I said, I think that went well. What do you think? You said, sorry, I said, it's too soon to know what the client will do. But in my opinion, we crushed it. And we really emphasize that piece. Right. Which is so much more fun than just, in my opinion, we did really well. We really succeeded, right? This is so much better. We crushed it. Yeah. Crushed it. And then what?

And then I said, yes, I was so impressed with how clearly you explained the value proposition. So here I'm complimenting a specific thing that you did really well in the presentation. And then I follow that up with way to go. Yeah. And you wouldn't have to add that if you don't want to, but it just adds a little extra value to what you're saying. A little extra emphasis. More emphasis. Yeah. Why not? Can't go wrong, right? And then I said same. And what do I mean when I say same? That's important. That could be a whole other episode, Aubrey. Same.

Yeah, this is interesting because sometimes it means like me too or I agree. And then sometimes, you know, you're saying, so let's see if I said, yeah, I was impressed with how clearly you explained the value proposition. Way to go. And you say same. You're saying I was also impressed with how well you did that, right? Yeah, or did something. Right. Yeah, it's a little loose here. But yeah, basically, I'm saying same. I can't what I'm what I'm

expanding on here is I can't get over how persuasive. So it's basically, I was impressed with something that you did, right? Right. I was impressed with you too. And then this is great. I can't get over, meaning I really think you did a great job at being persuasive on the close. Such a solid conversation and hopefully we'll get that sale, right? Yes. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. Aubrey, where else should our listeners go to keep listening?

Yeah, don't miss episode 359 right here on the Business English Podcast. Should you call a business colleague a piece of work? We got a great question about this. These are this and other phrases that you want to avoid at work. So don't miss that episode.

yeah and i think it's always good to err on the side as a takeaway err on the side of praising people you know what i mean yeah you can't go wrong even if they're not someone that needs that maybe it's not their love language or they just don't need that praise or care about it it can't hurt right exactly right a lot of people need positive feedback

And, you know, it can go a long way to both your relationship and their confidence in their role. Yes, I love it. So now our listeners have the tools to do it. This is how we build connection at work right here. This is a huge piece of it. Huge. Absolutely. Awesome. So excited for this vocab, these tips. Thanks, Lindsay. This was really fun. All right, Aubrey. Talk to you soon. Have a good one. See you next time. Bye.

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