Handling Video Call Glitches

Video calls are the primary way global tech teams communicate. But lag, background noise, and "double-talk" can make them frustrating. Here is the English you need to stay professional when the tech fails.

Audio & Video Issues

• Lag/Delay: "There's a bit of a lag on my end. I might be a few seconds behind."
• Choppy Audio: "You're breaking up a bit. Could you repeat that last part?"
• Frozen Video: "Your screen is frozen. I can hear you, but I can't see you."
• Background Noise: "There's some background noise on your end. Could you try muting when you're not speaking?"

The "Double-Talk"

Because of latency, two people often start talking at once.

• The Yield: "Sorry, go ahead."
• The Re-entry: "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. You were saying?"

Screen Sharing

• Starting: "I'm going to share my screen now. Can everyone see it?"
• The "Infinite Mirror": "Wait, I'm sharing the wrong window. Let me stop and restart."
• Ending: "I'll stop sharing now and hand it back to [Name]."

Alex's Tip: If your internet is really bad, say: "I'm going to kill my video to save bandwidth." It's a very common and accepted practice in tech meetings.

Choose your pronoun deliberately.

• We for company-wide actions: We ship every two weeks. We serve 10,000 customers.
• I for your personal contribution: I lead the mobile team. I built the login flow.

A common mistake is using we for everything, which hides your individual contribution. In an interview, the interviewer wants to know what you did. Use I led or I built to claim your work. In a sales pitch, use we to represent the company.

Vague phrases to avoid

These phrases sound empty and unprofessional:

• We are doing business in software. (vague : say what you build)
• We are a company that does things. (says nothing)
• We provide solutions. (every company says this : be specific)
• We are the best. (unproven claim : use a metric instead)

Replace vague claims with concrete facts: We serve 50,000 developers across 40 countries.

Adverbs and tenses for growth

When you talk about growth, get the adverbs and tenses right.

• Fast is an adjective and an adverb. Say growing fast, not growing fastly.
• Since takes the present perfect: We have grown 200% since 2023.
• Quickly and rapidly are also natural: We're expanding rapidly into Europe.

A model company description

We're a SaaS company based in Berlin. We help mid-sized retailers manage their inventory across multiple channels. Our platform connects their online store, warehouse, and physical shops in one place. We're growing quickly; we doubled our revenue last year.

Notice: model (SaaS), customer (mid-sized retailers), value (manage inventory), product (one platform), growth (doubled revenue). A listener understands the whole business in four sentences.

Common mistakes

1. Doing business in. Say what you build, not that you do business in a sector.
2. Fastly. Not a word; use fast or quickly.
3. Overusing we in interviews. Claim your own work with I.

Practice

Describe your company (or one you admire) using the three-part pattern:

1. What you make: _
2. Who buys it: _
3. The model: _

Combine them: We help [who] do [what] through a [model].

In the next lesson, you will learn how to handle phone and video calls, where describing yourself and your company often happens live under time pressure.