Telephoning in English can be tough. So here is a quick guide that will help you

1. Telephone
conversations
What to say when you are communicating on the
phone

2. Watch and Listen

3. English telephone conversations start in the
same way – by introducing yourself.
Say “Hello, this is (name)” to let people know
who you are.
If you answer the phone and the caller doesn’t
give his name, you can say “May I ask who’s
calling, please?”.

4. More useful phrases
Hello / Good morning / Good afternoon ...
This is John Brown speaking
Could I speak to ......... please?
I'd like to speak to ..... .....
I'm trying to contact ..........

6. Be Polite
When you want to speak to a specific person,
ask to speak to him or her with a polite question
starting with ‘may’ or ‘could’.
For example “May I speak to Rachel Smith,
please?” sounds a lot better than “I want to
speak to Rachel Smith”.
Use polite questions when you are talking about
the reason for your call, too.
For example, if you are calling a hotel, you can
say “Could I talk to someone about booking a
room, please?”.

7. Holding and transferring
When people ask you to ‘hold’ during a call, they
just mean ‘wait’.
When they are ready to the connect you to the
person you want to speak to, they will use the
word ‘transfer’ or ‘put you through’ to talk
about connecting your call to that person.
For example “Please hold… Ok, I’ll put you
through to Rachel Smith”.

8. More useful phrases
Thank you for holding.
The line's free now ... I'll put you through.
I'll connect you now / I'm connecting you now.

9. When it is not possible to
connect
I'm afraid the line's engaged. Could you call back
later?
I'm afraid he's in a meeting at the moment.
I'm sorry. He's out of the office today. /
He isn't in at the moment.
I'm afraid we don't have a Mr./Mrs./Ms/Miss. ... here
I'm sorry. There's nobody here by that name.
Sorry. I think you've dialled the wrong number./
I'm afraid you've got the wrong number.

10. Leaving a message
There are two ways to leave a message when
someone is not available to speak:
you can record a voicemail message
have someone write down a message.
Make sure to clearly state your name, the reason
for your call and a number that you would like the
person to call if you want them to call you back.
Asking the speaker to slow down or repeat something

11. Leaving a message
Even native speakers have to ask people to
repeat thing sometimes – especially on the
phone.
If there is a bad line or the sound is not clear, it’s
natural to ask the person on the other end to
repeat what he or she has said. Don’t be afraid to
ask people to slow down by saying,
“Sorry, I’m having a little trouble hearing.
Could you slow down a little?”
“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Could you
repeat it, please?”.

12. More useful phrases
Can I leave / take a message?
Would you like to leave a message?
Could you give him/her a message?
Could you ask him/her to call me back?
Could you tell him/her that I called?
Could you give me your name please?
Could you spell that please?
What's your number please?