Breakout Business English - Improve your vocabulary and confidence using English at work.
Sep 22, 2026 · 30 min · 11 segments
Send us Fan Mail Small talk is one of the most important communication skills when it comes to building a career in an English speaking company. In…
So, let's start with the A and let's start with a quiz question.
So, imagine that we're on a ship.
And we've stopped.
We want the ship to stay in the same place and not move around.
Maybe we've docked in a harbour for the evening, for the night.
What do we call the large, heavy metal thing that we throw over the side? This is usually attached to a long chain and often traditionally looks like a hook.
As you might have guessed, this begins with the letter A and this is an anchor.
An anchor.
That's A-N-C-H-O-R, anchor.
So, in the same way that an anchor stops a ship from drifting away...
An anchor in conversation is going to help you to connect your words to the context of what is already going on.
To attach your thoughts and sentences to the foundations that have already been laid by, well, the person you're speaking to.
At this stage, I want you to make a comment or observation.
about either the situation that you and your conversation partner are in, or comment on the thing that they've just said.
To be fair, if you want, you can take this anchor further out and comment on something more distant or less related.
The important thing is that you connect what you're going to say to something else.
You give yourself a reason to say it.
This is the part of our system that makes sure that we're not just jumping constantly between new topics, but that our conversation flows naturally.
So, let's listen to some anchoring statements.
You touched on a really interesting topic earlier.
You touched on a really interesting topic earlier.
The speakers at this conference are really great.
That last one is a tough act to follow.
The speakers at this conference are really great.
That last one is a tough act to follow.
So, let's start with the A and let's start with a quiz question.
So, imagine that we're on a ship.
And we've stopped.
We want the ship to stay in the same place and not move around.
Maybe we've docked in a harbour for the evening, for the night.
What do we call the large, heavy metal thing that we throw over the side? This is usually attached to a long chain and often traditionally looks like a hook.
As you might have guessed, this begins with the letter A and this is an anchor.
An anchor.
That's A-N-C-H-O-R, anchor.
So, in the same way that an anchor stops a ship from drifting away...
An anchor in conversation is going to help you to connect your words to the context of what is already going on.
To attach your thoughts and sentences to the foundations that have already been laid by, well, the person you're speaking to.
At this stage, I want you to make a comment or observation.
about either the situation that you and your conversation partner are in, or comment on the thing that they've just said.
To be fair, if you want, you can take this anchor further out and comment on something more distant or less related.
The important thing is that you connect what you're going to say to something else.
You give yourself a reason to say it.
This is the part of our system that makes sure that we're not just jumping constantly between new topics, but that our conversation flows naturally.
So, let's listen to some anchoring statements.
You touched on a really interesting topic earlier.
You touched on a really interesting topic earlier.
The speakers at this conference are really great.
That last one is a tough act to follow.
The speakers at this conference are really great.
That last one is a tough act to follow.
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