2 Truths, 1 Lie
Two sentences are the 'truth' & One is a 'lie': Hammer Out
After eleven hours, the two sides finally hammered out a deal on pensions.
We hammered out the last details of the contract on Friday afternoon.
She hammered out that the deadline had already passed.
Would you rather get someone up to speed via email or face-to-face?
become fully informed
Not have the bandwidth & have a lot on your plate
lack time/capacity & overloaded
Nail something down
finalize the details
Touch base & Pencil it in
make brief contact & schedule tentatively
Two sentences are the 'truth' & One is a 'lie': Drum Up Business
They opened a stand at the trade fair to drum up business before the summer.
He's been drumming up business among the local restaurants for months.
The new tax rules drummed up business for three consecutive quarters.
How do you go about getting the ball rolling on something difficult?
Wear many hats & firefighting
hold several roles at once & dealing only with urgent problems
Put out a fire
to resolve problems (usually big)
Circle back & Have a hard stop
return to a topic later & must leave/stop at a fixed time
Two sentences are the 'truth' & One is a 'lie': Iron Out
There are still a few problems to iron out before we go live.
We ironed out our differences over lunch.
I need to iron out my shirt before the client meeting.
Give me an example of low-hanging fruit in your field of work?
easy wins to take first
Ramp up & pull something off
increase quickly and succeed at something difficult
Push back on
politely resist or challenge
Put a pin in it & Take it offline
pause a topic to return to it & discuss privately, not in the group
Two sentences are the 'truth' & One is a 'lie': Pan Out
If the Frankfurt partnership pans out, we'll open a second office.
Their expansion plan didn't pan out the way they'd hoped.
The CEO panned out the strategy to the whole company.
Have you ever dropped the ball?
failed, not to follow through
Wind down & take on
gradually bring to an end & accept new work or staff
Iron out
smooth away the last problems
Play it by ear & give someone a heads-up
decide as you go & warn them in advance
Two sentences are the 'truth' & One is a 'lie': Pull Something Off
I still don't know how she pulled it off with a team of four.
They pulled off the merger in under six weeks.
He pulled off his jacket and sat down at the negotiating table.
When is it most likely to have things fall through the cracks at work or in your personal life?
get forgotten by accident
Drum up business & talk something up
actively work on acquiring new clients/sales & praise something to raise its perceived value
Pull something off
succeed at something difficult
Run something by someone & Push back on something
get their view before acting & politely resist or challenge