Words to know
people are saying something, but nobody has confirmed it
learn news unofficially, from other people
make a problem seem much bigger than it is
Step 1 of 5
Listen first
No text yet. Listen for who, where and what goes wrong.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
- OliviaText hidden. Listen first.
- WeiText hidden. Listen first.
Practice · 3 min
Take Wei's part first, then Olivia's. Wei gets more nervous with every line; Olivia stays steady and slightly amused. Stress "Boxes, Olivia. Lots of boxes." word by word, and let "Here it comes" sound like he's bracing for bad news.
- WeiOlivia, have you been up to the fourth floor today?
- OliviaNo, why? Is the coffee machine broken again?
- WeiThere are boxes everywhere. Desks are empty. Someone's taking the plants.
- OliviaThat's strange. Nobody's said anything to us.
- WeiExactly. Rumor has it they're closing the whole Chicago office.
- OliviaWhere did you hear that?
- WeiThrough the grapevine. Someone in sales told someone in finance.
- OliviaWei, the grapevine also said the CEO was moving to Hawaii.
- WeiOkay, but this time there's evidence. Boxes, Olivia. Lots of boxes.
- OliviaBoxes could mean anything. Maybe they're getting new furniture.
- WeiThen why has my manager canceled our meeting twice this week?
- OliviaBecause she's always busy? Let's not blow this out of proportion.
- WeiI've already updated my résumé, just in case.
- OliviaHold on. There's an email from facilities. Subject line: "Big news."
- WeiHere it comes. Read it slowly.
- Olivia"Starting Monday, all teams move to the new tenth floor. More space, better views."
- WeiSo the boxes are for us, too.
- OliviaLooks like it. You might want to start packing your plants.
- WeiFine. But I'm keeping the new résumé. It looks great.
Say it today
Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.