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on the same page: meaning and explanation

When two or more people are on the same page, then they are in general agreement about something, or share the same view or outlook about something.

A useful time to use this idiom is when preparing for a situation in which you need to coordinate with a partner or members of a team. Imagine you are pitching your start-up to investors – before the meeting, you and your partner should make sure you’re on the same page regarding the offer that you would be prepared to accept, i.e. make sure that you agree on how you value your company and how much you are prepared to give away.

This idiom can also be used negatively to say that two or more people are not in agreement or do not share the same viewpoint. Using the example in the previous paragraph – imagine an investor makes you an offer. Your partner is keen to accept, but you think that the offer undervalues your company. If this disagreement is clear, the potential investor would probably point out that you and your partner are obviously not on the same page.

Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?

Listening exercises

Dictation #1

Accent: Australia

.
Let’s we’re all before the .
Let’s sure we’re all on the page before go into the .

About the sentence

…Let’s make sure…

to make sure = to be certain of something. e.g. Sorry to bother you Paul, I’m just calling to make sure we’re still on for our meeting tomorrow afternoon?

Dictation #2

Accent: England (RP)

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Dictation #3

Accent: North America

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Extra practice

Here are some questions/links to help you learn the new vocabulary:

  • Can you remember a time when miscommunication or lack of alignment led to challenges because people were not “on the same page.” How could those challenges have been avoided?
  • In dynamic environments, how can individuals and teams “stay on the same page” over time? What challenges may arise as projects progress, and how can they be addressed?
  • What communication strategies or tools are useful to make sure that everyone is “on the same page” in a team or project? How do leaders facilitate this?

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Business EnglishIdioms