BE 386: Can You Walk Me Through This? How to Ask for Extra Help at Work
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 386. Can you walk me through this? How to ask for extra help 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 Michelle, coming to you from New York City and Colorado, USA.

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Hello, Lindsay. How are you? Fantastic, Michelle. How's it going today? I'm happy to be recording with you today. Oh, me too. Me too. It's always fun. So Lindsay, I have a question though. What is a

Is there anything that you're learning that is hard for you to understand? Maybe a concept or a system? Yeah, I mean, I would say the tango has always been hard for me to understand. I tried taking tango lessons when I was living in Buenos Aires in 2008 in Spanish, and I obviously didn't get it.

So I've always thought it was so complicated. But just last week, I went down to my this dance hall is huge, old dance hall, it's in my neighborhood. And

And it's so historical there. It's very cool. And there are two wonderful teachers teaching a beginner tango class every Tuesday in February. And I jumped in and I'm so happy to say I'm starting to really learn the tango. It's very cool. It's a very cool feeling. Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. That's so fun. I love that. Yeah. Something different. Totally different. Dance is...

such an antidote to being on a computer all day and being indoors all day, right? Just using the body and also challenging the mind. Definitely. Dance can be tricky. And I bet you that your teacher has to...

I mean, I shouldn't say that. Maybe you're a pro dancer. Oh, no. But do you ever have to ask your teacher to repeat things several times? I mean, that's what makes a good teacher, right? And these two are really good teachers. They've been teaching for like 20 years and they're pros at dancing. So it's really inspiring watching them dance. But yeah, they have to repeat things all the time and demo and repeat and demo. Yeah. Because it's really about gaining that muscle memory, I think. Yes. Yeah. Like a sport. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect.

for sure so i mean when you're in that situation where you're they're teaching you something do you feel comfortable asking them how to do something that they've taught you several times but you just you still don't get it or do you feel awkward

I feel awkward for sure. I mean, that's a normal human thing, right? A little embarrassed sometimes. Like if they've already taught it two or three times and I can't quite get it, I might feel a little awkward, but I do push through that. And I do ask because it's for me. You know, these lessons are for us as the beginners. It's not for the teachers. That's why they're there. They want us to ultimately learn. Right.

Right? Yeah, exactly. So today we're going to go over what to say in these situations. And, you know, this is also very powerful for business. I mean, you know, like let's say you're working on something and something already went over, somebody already went over something with you and either, you know, whatever it is because you haven't done it that much or lack of repetition or maybe you just didn't understand. You have to ask them again and you just may need some extra handholding. Yeah.

Or also maybe just to throw in another reason you're not getting it is maybe the teacher's not teaching it very well or explaining it very well. People are not, unless people are actual teachers and they study these things, how to teach, people are often not the best at explaining because what we do is if we're really good at something, we assume everyone else knows things that we know and we skip over the assumptions that are not assumptions. They need to be learned, right? Yes. And then, yes, it's

I've definitely been in that situation where somebody's trying to teach me something and they do kind of, you're wondering, why can't I understand this? And it's, when you think about it, you realize exactly it's what you said, Lindsay. They kind of assume that you have some background on something. So they skip over certain things. Yeah. It's the curse of knowledge. I think somewhat, maybe

Maybe Malcolm Gladwell or someone actually wrote about this concept, the curse of knowledge. When we know so much about a concept, we're actually further away from people learning it and it's really hard to teach it and explain it because we haven't been in that learning position in a long time.

Yeah, that's really true. Yeah, definitely. Very interesting. So let's talk about what you can say, though. If you are in this position, maybe you're feeling a little bit uncomfortable and you need somebody to help go over something again. Yeah, I love that. So some things we can do is we can acknowledge that it's not the first time. Right. So we've been told this a few times and we're just putting that out there. Right.

And then you could give an extra background or explanation. Or you could just go ahead and ask. Yeah. And then you go ahead and ask the question, right? Okay. And then you say, thank you. So let's go over how to do that, though. So we're going to go over each step. So the first thing, and I think that the...

First, I mean, the thank you, I think is the easy part, right? So let's go over the knowledge first. So what is something you could say? So we say, I know this isn't the first time you've explained this to me. So yeah, you're just putting it all out there. And that when you name something that feels a little awkward, you just feel better.

Right? Right. Exactly. Exactly. And then you or you could say, I think I need a refresher. So you're not you're not explicitly saying that, oh, you've explained this to me. But saying the word refresher means that you've already been fresh. Yeah, I just made that up.

Yeah, you've already heard it. You need a refresh, right? Yeah, exactly. Or you can, this one's a little, I like this one because it's a little more positive. We have two choices of how we want to see something. This is like glass half full. I'm really close to being able to do this on my own.

- Yeah, so you're showing, okay, I almost got it. I just, can we go over this one more time, right? - Yeah, I like that orientation to the world, right? It's like, we are always voicing the thing and you're saying the same thing. I know you've explained this to me. I need a little more help versus I'm really close to having this. You're saying exactly the same thing, but it's two different orientations on the world, right? - Very interesting, good point, Lindsay.

Give a little bit of an explanation, right? So you could say, I just haven't had enough. You could say, not repetition, repetition, repetition, practice, experience. Yeah, exactly. So you're kind of just giving like a little bit of an explanation for why you might. I mean, Lindsay, do you think you have to explain?

why you need an expla- like explain why you need another explanation, you mean? Yeah. Like you need more help? No, I don't think so. I think what, okay, I think it depends on the scenario. Again, in my Tango classes, I can ask for that all day. I'm paying for the class. I mean, everyone is absolute beginner. It's totally fine. But if you're talking about maybe a coworker,

went out of their way to help teach you how to ask the right prompts to chat GPT or something, then maybe you do want to add a little bit more of an explanation because they're going out of their way to help you. Right. I think, yes, I think that's a really good rule of thumb. You know, how, how,

But are they going out of their way to have to explain this to you again? Do they now have to get up from their desk and hold your hand through this process? And also not doing their own work too. I mean, that's a real thing. When someone's helping you at work, it means that they're not working on their own stuff, which is great. And we want a workplace like that, but they are risking something in terms of getting their own stuff done. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. You could also say, I'm still a little hung up on an ex.

X. So I am still a little hung up on how you put the numbers in. I'm still a little hung up on how you get where your feet, where my feet go after the eight count. Right. Yeah. And I really think maybe we can come back and do another whole episode on the phrase to be hung up on something because there are a lot of meanings to it. Michelle, this could be great for the All Ears English podcast. So guys, go over and find All Ears English, by the way, and hit follow. Get ready for that episode.

But here, the meaning that you're expressing in this case for hung up on is you're stuck on it. You're just not sure yet. Yep. Yep. Definitely stuck. Yes. Good.

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okay so now we're going to pivot into asking right so this first one it's more you've given something a try so this is maybe for that context where you really think you you have it but you're just not so confident to send it off into the world and say I this is all right so you could say would you mind reviewing my work

Nice. I like that. Or would you mind going over this with me one more time and to go over phrasal verb there, review it, go through it. Good one. Yeah. Or would you mind walking me through this again? Oh, another phrasal verb. I really like that one too. Great. And then the

them to thank you. Yeah, we appreciate it. Thank you. We know how to do that. You can never say thank you too much. I think honestly, I think you can say sorry too much. But I don't think you could say thank you too much. Right? Just let people know you appreciate them.

Yeah. That's funny. That's a question for another day. I wonder if you can say thank you too much. I mean, if you're saying it all the time. Yeah. I mean, but yeah, in this situation, you definitely want to say thank you, right? Even if you've thanked them before. Yeah. Let's go into that another day on All Ears English. I like that idea. Yeah, that's interesting. But why is this such an important skill? Oh,

Oh, wow. I think we shouldn't be ashamed to ask someone for help, especially for the things that we really need to learn that are important because the sense of mastery that we get when we do learn something is incredible. It builds self-confidence and that's actually how you get confidence. It's not by sitting in a room and repeating mantras to yourself, right? It's by actually going out and mastering concepts, learning them and becoming good at them.

like speaking or doing something, I don't know, any tools at work or things you need to do. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So should we do a role play? Yes. So here you have taught me how to fill out client forms and I'm still not a hundred percent confident about that skill yet. So I'm going to ask you. Okay. Uh, Michelle. Yeah, Lindsay. So I'm really close to being able to do this on my own, but I'm still a little bit hung up on some of the steps of the form.

oh okay yeah uh yeah would you mind walking me through it again of course let's do one together thank you so much yes all right so the first thing i said was i'm really close to being able to do this on my own so i use that glass half full type perspective right which is really good but i'm still a little hung up on some of the steps of the form it means i'm stuck

I'm stuck on this part of the issue, of the task. And then you asked me, you said, would you mind walking me through it again? And then he said, of course, let's do one together. And I said, thank you so much. Yes.

Excellent. This is great. So what's another episode our listeners could go to right now to keep the vibe going with business? Keep the vibe going with business English on episode 377. That was how to get a genuine response to your email in 2025. I believe that's when you did with Aubrey. Very cool topic. Really cool topic because it's a hot topic, important topic and you know, strategies are changing, right? So go check that one out. Michelle, what's our takeaway for our listeners?

Ultimately, don't be afraid to ask for help, but you have to be smart about it, right? We have to think about how are we going to phrase it. We want to acknowledge that

I think it is important to acknowledge in some way, even you could do it in a humorous way that you need one more time to go over something. Just, you know, for example, in your tango class, you might say, can you go over that one more time? Right. And, you know, the worst thing is to pretend that you know how to do it and just

keep on doing it and it's completely wrong. I mean, yeah, it's good after a certain point, maybe try it on your own, you know, a bit and try and get as close to the, you know what I like to do, write down what it is that I'm stuck on so that I can ask someone all in one go. Oh yeah. You know, oh, here are the, here are the things I'm having trouble with. Right. So it seems a little less intense.

Yeah. Go through it. Try it yourself. And then exactly. I love that. I document exactly where you need help and you're kind of taking ownership of your own learning here. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Smart. I love it. So yeah. Well, definitely give these a try. Next time you are a little stuck on something at work. All right. Good stuff. Guys hit the follow button right here on business English to get three episodes a week dropped right into your queue. All right. All right, Michelle, you have a good week.

Talk to you soon, Lindsay. Bye. Bye. Bye.

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