What do you say in a 1:1 with your manager?
Five parts are enough. Open with Quick update on … to give your status. If there's bad news, say I want to give you a heads-up early, with the reason and an option. If you're stuck, say I'm blocked on … and ask for help. Keep a minute or two for your own growth. Close with So my action items are …, right? to agree the next steps. Answering How are things going? with just Fine. is the most common and most wasted opening.
What should you cover in a 1:1?
A 1:1 breaks into five parts: give an update, flag bad news early, ask for help, talk about your growth, and agree the next steps. One or two phrases per part are enough to get you talking. These 15 are the 1:1 phrase cards from Before You Speak; in the examples you own an upload service.
| Say this | What it does |
|---|---|
| 01 Open with an updateOne sentence sets the topic and saves your manager guessing | |
| Quick update on the upload service: … | Names the topic straight away |
| We're on track for Friday. | Says which deadline is on schedule |
| The main thing I want to discuss today is … | Puts your most important item first |
| 02 Flag bad news earlyBad news, the reason and an option: the earlier the better | |
| I want to give you a heads-up: … | Warns before it becomes a surprise |
| The release might slip by two days. | Says how big the delay is |
| One option is to ship the core part first. | Brings a way forward with the problem |
| 03 Ask for helpIf you're stuck, ask for what you need | |
| I'm blocked on the storage config. | Says exactly where you're stuck |
| Could you help me get a reply from their team? | Asks for one specific action |
| Would it be possible to push the deadline to Monday? | Asks for more time, politely |
| 04 Talk about your growthNot only status: a minute about you | |
| I'd like to take on more design work. | Says what you want to do more of |
| What would you like to see from me before the next review? | Asks what good looks like before your review |
| Do you have any feedback for me? | Invites feedback |
| 05 CloseIn the last minute, agree who does what | |
| So my action items are …, right? | Confirms your to-dos |
| I'll send you a short summary. | Offers a written follow-up |
| Thanks, this was helpful. | Ends on a thank-you |
What does a 1:1 sound like?
Example: Thursday, your weekly 1:1 with Sarah, your engineering manager. You own the upload service, you need to give an update, and you want to warn her that the release might slip by two days. Sarah is friendly but busy and likes short, clear updates. The highlighted phrases are the ones worth keeping.
Hey! How's it going? What's new on the upload service?
Pretty good! Quick update on the upload service: the retry logic is done. We're on track for the API part.
UpdateI want to give you a heads-up: the release might slip by two days. The main blocker is the storage team's config change.
Bad news + reasonWhat's the risk if we keep the original date?
We might ship without enough testing on large files. One option is to ship without resumable uploads first.
OptionHow confident are you about the new date?
Pretty confident, as long as the config change lands on Monday.
What do you need from me?
Could you help me get a quick reply from the storage team? I can send a revised timeline by Friday. Does that work for you?
Ask for help · Next stepSource: the 1:1 practice pack in Before You Speak (an example situation). The names and the project are made up.
How do you say the same thing more naturally?
For every line where it's your turn, Before You Speak prepares three versions. Clear is a short B1-level sentence that gets you understood. Natural is what a colleague would actually say. Compact packs in more while still sounding spoken. Get the clear version right first, then move up.
Your manager asks “So, how are things going?”
- ClearGood, thanks. I have an update on the upload service.
- NaturalPretty good! Quick update on the upload service first.
- CompactPretty good! Quick update on the upload service: the retry logic is done, and we're on track for the API part.
Warning that the release might slip
- ClearThe release may be two days late. We are waiting for the storage team.
- NaturalI want to give you a heads-up: the release might slip by two days. The main blocker is the storage team's config change.
- CompactQuick heads-up: the release might slip by two days. We're blocked by the storage team's config change, so one option is to ship without resumable uploads first.
Asking your manager for help
- ClearI need your help. The storage team has not replied yet.
- NaturalI'm blocked on the storage config. Could you help me get a reply from their team?
- CompactI'm blocked on the storage config. Could you help me get a quick reply from their team? That would keep us on track for the new date.
The natural version is the original line from the practice pack and phrase cards; the other two are rewritten with the app's three-level rules.
Which slips do Chinese speakers make most in a 1:1?
These ten come from the slip warnings in the Before You Speak practice packs and its Plans and progress unit. The first four aren't grammar at all: they're too vague or too late. The rest are literal translations from Chinese, dropped words and pronunciation.
| Easy to say | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| ✗ Fine. | ✓ Pretty good! Quick update on the upload service first. | Your manager is inviting you to open. A one-word answer wastes the slot. |
| ✗ Everything is OK. | ✓ We're on track for the API part. | Saying which part is on schedule is more useful than “all good”, and your manager doesn't have to ask again. |
| ✗ We have a problem. | ✓ The main blocker is the storage team's config change. | Say where you're stuck and why, not just that there's a problem. |
| ✗ Mentioning the delay the day before the release | ✓ I want to give you a heads-up: the release might slip by two days. | Bad news is better early, with the reason and an option: bad news, reason, option. |
| ✗ We'll catch the deadline. | ✓ We'll meet the deadline. | The Chinese phrase 赶 deadline pulls people toward “catch”. You meet a deadline, or miss it. |
| ✗ It supposed to be ready on Wednesday. | ✓ It was supposed to be ready on Wednesday. | The usual slip is dropping the “be”. Don't write “suppose to” either. |
| ✗ Can we push back it? | ✓ Can we push it back? | A pronoun goes in the middle: push it back. With a noun, both orders work: push back the beta. |
| ✗ My English is not good… | ✓ Sorry, what do you mean by “ballpark”? | Ask about the word you missed. There's no need to apologise for your English first. |
| ✗ I'm going to take care of it. (agreeing on the spot) | ✓ I'll take care of it. | Use “I'll” when you take something on right now; “be going to” sounds as if it was already planned. |
| ✗ blocked said in two syllables /ˈblɑːkɪd/ | ✓ blocked /blɑːkt/ | After a k, -ed sounds like /t/: one syllable. You can hear “be blocked by” in the accents section below. |
What do you say when you're put on the spot?
A fast speaker, a word like “ballpark” (a rough number), a sudden “how long will it take?”: all normal. Catch it with one line first, then think about the content. These lines come from the Before You Speak meeting practice pack, where a manager presses for an estimate in a planning meeting.
| When | Say |
|---|---|
| You didn't hear it | Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Could you say it again? |
| You missed one word | Sorry, what do you mean by “ballpark”? |
| You're caught off guard | Good question. Let me think for a second. |
| You can give a rough number | Off the top of my head, I'd say about three days. |
| It depends on something | That depends on whether we need to support the old app version. |
| You can't answer yet | Let me get back to you on that after I check the code. |
| You want to check you understood | Just to make sure I understand, you mean …? |
How do these phrases sound in different accents?
Your manager and colleagues may not sound American. Press a button to hear the same phrase in a US, UK, Australian or Indian accent. “Schedule”, for example, is often /ˈskedʒuːl/ in the US and /ˈʃedjuːl/ from British colleagues; you'll hear both.
| Phrase | Meaning | Listen: US / UK / AU / IN |
|---|---|---|
| I wanted to give you a heads-up. | I'm telling you in advance | |
| on track | going to plan | |
| be blocked by | held up by | |
| behind schedule | later than planned | |
| meet the deadline | finish on time | |
| I'll take care of it. | I'll handle it | |
| action items | the to-dos agreed in a meeting | |
| I didn't catch that. | I didn't hear that | |
| I'm not sure I follow | I don't quite understand |
The voices are AI-generated, for practice only.
Rehearse your own 1:1 tonight
Reading a phrase isn't the same as saying it. Write down this week's 1:1 in Chinese: what it's about, who it's with, what you want to say, and the facts only you know. Before You Speak turns that into a practice scene in two or three minutes. When it's your turn, the other person stops and waits for you; afterwards you get at most two corrections, they go into your review book, and in review a colleague says the original line again and you answer.
Free sign-up, no card. Your own scenes come with a 7-day free trial, and nothing is charged when it ends. For people living outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The app explains in Chinese; Chrome on a computer works best.
Which scenes can you try first?
These 1:1 scenes are ready to read and hear without signing up. The pages are in Chinese with the full English script alongside.
- Video 1:1: meeting a new manager
- Mid-year 1:1: closing a gap and agreeing targets
- Probation review: results, criticism and next steps
- Annual review: asking for a raise
More guides: rehearsing a difficult talk with your boss, standup updates, all guides.
How was this page written?
- Author
- The maker of Before You Speak, a Chinese engineer working in English in Abu Dhabi.
- Sources
- The 1:1 and meeting practice packs in Before You Speak, the slip warnings in its Plans and progress unit, and its 1:1 phrase cards. The names and the project in the examples are made up.
- Use of AI
- The English examples and explanations were drafted with AI and put together by the author; the audio is AI speech. In the three versions, the natural line is the original and the other two are rewritten with the app's three-level rules.
- Updates
- First published 2026-10-31 as the English version of the Chinese guide (2026-10-21); 2026-11-01 added related scenes and guides. Found a mistake or want to add something? Write to hello@kaikouqian.com.