Language Tips

Language Tips For
Communicating With
U.S and U.K Clients

Worried About
the client Call
Well dont be, I am here to help you and
take you through some tips that will make
it easier for you to communite with
international clients

Hello!
I am Abhinav Sabharwal
I am here because I love to give
presentations.
You can find me at:
skyabhinav@gmail.com

Dealing With Clients
Dealing with any clients in services is an art. In the case of
IT, we primarily deal with American and UK clients. It is
useful to know how English language works with them.
Some of us may hesitate to speak to the client, because we
are not confident. ‘Practice makes you confident’
Practice these tips

Indian Context
Do not write "the
same" in an email -
it makes little sense
to them.
Example - I will try
to organize the
project artifacts and
inform you of the
same when it is done
Language Tips For Communicating With International Clients
International Clients
Context
It is better written
simply as:
Example: I will try to
organize the project
artifacts and inform you
when that is done.

Indian Context
Do not write or say,
"I have some doubts
on this issue"
We use this term ‘coz
in Indian context
the word for "doubt“
and a "question" is
the same
Context
The term "Doubt" is used
in the sense of doubting
someone
The correct usage (for
clients) is:
I have few questions on
this issue.

Indian Context
The term "regard" is
not used much in
American English
Context
They usually do not say
"regarding this issue" or
"with regard to this".
Simply use,
"about this issue".

Indian Context
Do not say "Pardon"
when you want
someone to repeat
what they said.
Context
The word "Pardon" is
unusual for them and is
somewhat formal.
Therefore you can use
“kindly repeat”

Indian Context
Americans do not
understand most of
the Indian accent
immediately
Therefore try not to
use shortcut terms
such as "Can't" or
"Don't".
Context
They only understand
75% of what we speak
and then interpret the
rest.
Use the expanded
"Cannot" or "Do not".

Indian Context
Do not use the term
"screwed up“
Liberally. If a situation
is not good,
Do not use words such
as "shucks“ or "pissed
off".
Context
It is better to say "The
situation is messed up".

Indian Context
In email
Communications, use
proper punctuation.
To explain something,
without breaking your
flow use semicolons,
hyphens or parentheses
Context
E.g.:-You have entered
a new bug (the popup
not showing up) in the
defect tracking system;
we could not reproduce
it - although, a
screenshot would help.

Indian Context
When you say,
"I have mailed the
information to you", it
means you’ve sent an
actual letter or package
through the postal
system.
Context
In American English, a
mail is a posted letter.
An email is electronic
mail.
The correct usage is:
"I have emailed the
information to you".

Indian Context
To "prepone" an
appointment is an
Indian usage.
Context
There is no actual word
called prepone.
You can “Reschedule"
an appointment

Indian Context
In the term "N-tier
Architecture" or "3-tier
Architecture", the word
"tier" is NOT pronounced
as "Tyre".
Context
The correct
pronunciation is
"tea-yar".
The "ti" is pronounced
as "tea".

Indian Context
The usages "September
End", "Month End", "Day
End" are not
understood well by
Americans.
Context
They use these as
"End of September",
"End of Month“ or
"End of Day".

Indian Context
For time - when they
say the time is….
Context
"Quarter Of One”…. ….
they mean the time is
1:15. Better to ask them
the exact time and time
zone.

Indian Context
We commonly use the
terms
"Today Evening"
"Today Night"
"Yesterday Night" and
"Yesterday Evening".
Context
These are not correct; "Today"
means "This Day" where the
Day stands for Daytime.
Therefore "Today Night" is
confusing.
The correct usages are:
"This Evening",
"Tonight”
"Last Night" and
"Last Evening".

Indian Context
There is no word called
"Updation". Avoid saying
"Updation".
Context
You “update”
somebody.
E.g.:-You wait for
updates to happen to
the database.

Indian Context
Do not say "Sir". Do not
call women "Madam".
Context
When you talk to
someone for the first
time, refer to them as
they refer to you.
In America, the first
conversation usually
starts by using the first
name. Therefore you
can use the “first name”
of a client.

Indian Context
Avoid using back,
instead of "Back“
Context
Use "ago".
Back is the worst word
for American.
(For Days use "Ago",
For hours use "before")

Indian Context
Avoid using….
“BUT"
"YESTERDAY"
"TOMORROW"
Context
Use…
"However".
"Last day".
"Next day"

As a general matter of form, Indians interrupt
each other constantly
in meetings - DO NOT INTERRUPT a client when
they are speaking over the phone, there could
be delays but wait for a short time before
responding.

When explaining some complex issue,
stop occasionally and ask "Does that
make sense?".
This is preferable than "Did you
understand me?"

It is usual convention in initial emails
(particularly technical) to expand
abbreviations, Eg: We are planning to use the
Java API For Registry (JAXR).
After mentioning the expanded form once,
subsequently you can use the abbreviation.

Make sure you always have a subject in your
emails and that the
“subject is relevant”.
Do not use a subject line such as HI

Read English news papers
Watch English Movies
Watch International English News Channels
Communicate in English to your colleagues
….These medium helps you to improve your
diction as well as confidence

Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at
skyabhinav@gmail.com

Language Tips

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Language Tips