Let’s Touch Base—Meaning and Alternatives

“Let’s Touch Base”—What Does It Mean?

I’m just touching base and let’s touch base are two popular and often-used phrases found in the world of professional and formal emails. It’s especially popular in American English. It’s used in one of two ways:

1. When following up on something

I’m just touching base on whether you received the budget reports from Alyssa.

2. When scheduling a (usually brief) discussing or meeting.

Let’s touch base about this on Monday.

There are two issues with using the phrase touch base (or touching base). One, it’s not a phrase that is internationally known. So, if you’re writing to someone who isn’t a native English speaker, they may not know what it means. Two, it’s overused and vague. When writing a professional email, you want to be as direct and clear as possible. We’ve compiled a list of other phrases you can use in place of let’s touch base.

Nine “Touch Base” Synonyms

Touch base is quite versatile and can be used to convey different things, as you’ll see below. Keep an eye out for which alternative you use, as it may require modifying the sentence a bit.

1. Let’s discuss this…

Let’s touch base next week.
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Let’s discuss this next week.

2. Let’s schedule a meeting for…

Let’s touch base on October 6th at 9:30 AM.
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Let’s schedule a meeting for October 6th at 9:30 AM.

3. Let’s have a conversation on…

Let’s touch base about your performance review tomorrow.
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Let’s have a conversation about your performance review tomorrow.

4. Let’s update each other on…

Let’s touch base on our findings by the end of the week.
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Let’s update each other on our findings by the end of the week.

5. Let’s brief each other…

Let’s touch base on our closing arguments before the trial begins.
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Let’s brief each other on our closing arguments before the trial begins.

6. I’ll follow up…

I’ll touch base with you tomorrow about how the presentation went.
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I’ll follow up with you tomorrow about how the presentation went.

7. I’ll contact you…

I’ll touch base with you next week if I need further assistance.
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I’ll contact you next week if I need further assistance.

8. I’m following up on…

I’m just touching base on the email below.
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I’m following up on the email below.

9. I’m circling back on…

I’m just touching base to see if you’ve heard anything back from Julia.
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I’m circling back to see if you’ve heard anything back from Julia.

Perfect Your Email Writing Skills

It’s not uncommon for business professionals to receive hundreds of emails a day. It’s also not unusual for them to gloss over emails that are riddled with overused phrases. So we’d say it’s a good idea to avoid email clichés like touch base and use these alternatives instead.

Another surefire way of your email getting ignored is if it’s full of spelling and grammar errors. LanguageTool can ensure all your emails are in tip-top shape by correcting various types of mistakes. Plus, if you need help writing in a formal tone, LanguageTool can help too by rephrasing your sentences. Pretty cool, right? Try it out today.