Interview & Presentation Language 2

I know all of you reading this have either felt or thought about the stress of speaking publicly or being interviewed. Sometimes when we speak, we get stuck or we don’t flow smoothly. Learning just a few common phrases can reduce your stress and increase the quality of your speaking.

This blog has been divided into a set of two blog series. Link to part 1 can be found below.

Let’s continue looking at that useful language we all need!

Expressing compare, contrast, show surprise or something that you disagree with or do not like

• As it turns out …

• Actually,

• As a matter of fact,

• In actuality …

• To be honest/frank,

• To be direct,

• In fact, …

• The fact is that…

Searching for a way to express something

• How shall I put it?

• What’s the word I’m looking for?

• How do you say that?

• How can I explain this?

• What is the word I am looking for?

Showing you are reluctant to speak for fear of the effect

• What’s the best way to put this?

• How shall I say this?

• What I’m really trying to say is…

• Let’s put it this way…

• Where should I begin?

Some possible introductory phrases for paraphrasing

• So, what I hear you saying is…

• It sounds like you…

• If I understand you correctly…

• You are telling me that…

• So what you mean is …

What do you have to add?

Please feel free to add a comment or a question in our comment box for our teachers and other students to reply to. Also, if you have some other useful language, please also share it with us.

Final remarks

If this was interesting or useful to you, you may also be interested in our Business Course or our Conversational English Course, which both focus on helping you sound more natural.

If you have never learned English online, but you want to try, please do not hesitate to book a free English class with ETO today!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

Interview & Presentation Language 1

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Interview & Presentation Language 1

I know all of you reading this have either felt or thought about the stress of speaking publicly or being interviewed. Sometimes when we speak, we get stuck or we don’t flow smoothly. Learning just a few common phrases can reduce your stress and increase the quality of your speaking.

This blog has been divided into a set of two blog series. Link to part 2 can be found below.

Let’s look at some key phrases that help you speak, discuss and explain things a little more easily.

Filler phrases

• …you see…

• Well …

• That makes me think …

• The point / thing is…

• It’s like this, you see…

• …you know…

Stalling to get some more time

• Let me see …

• OK, well let’s think about this …

• Now, I have to think about that…

• Ahh… just a minute…

• Hang on one second please…

• I’ll be right with you …

• Thank you for your patience

Stalling to get extra time while answering some questions

• That’s a great question…

• That question is very interesting

• Wow, what a tough question

• I’ll have to think about that…

• I have never had that question before …

When we can’t think of the words to describe something

• …like…

• … a type of …

• …kind of…

• …sort of…

What do you have to add?

Please feel free to add a comment or a question in our comment box for our teachers and other students to reply to. Also, if you have some other useful language, please also share it with us.

Final remarks

If this was interesting or useful to you, you may also be interested in our Business Course or our Conversational English Course, which both focus on helping you sound more natural.

If you have never learned English online, but you want to try, please do not hesitate to book a free English class with ETO today!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

Interview & Presentation Language 2

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ESL learning: Active Listening Tips

I know everyone has to participate in situations where active listening skills are very important. Some situations may be job interviews, meetings, lectures, class discussions, group activities, work events and so on. Let’s look at some very useful active listening tips below.

Lean body forward

When we lean our body forward this shows we are interested in what the other people are saying. The body language shows this.

Tilt your head

Tilting your forward shows curiosity. Tilting your head to the side exposes your neck, meaning you are comfortable and not feeling threatened.

Gaze in their eyes

A person who is paying attention can look directly into another’s eyes and hold the look for some time. Eye contact says a lot.

Moving eye brows

When we move our eye brows it shows we are concentrating, processing or understanding language. Nonverbal communication is essential. You can see our teachers doing this a lot in their class demos & introduction videos

Nodding the head

By nodding your head you show agreement and this makes the other person want to keep talking.  It can be used to show understanding as well. Keep the nod slow and consistent.

You can really see Barak Obama use this technique in this video:

Make noises

Saying things like MMmmm, Ahhhh, Yeahhh and Uhhh Huuhhh are all ways to show your interest. This is very encouraging to the person doing the talking.

In Closing:

If this was interesting or useful to you, you may also be interested in our Business Course or our Conversational English Courses, which both focus on many communication techniques. We also invite you to try a free trial class with ETO today and start learning English now!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

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Business Meetings in English part II

This blog has been divided into a set of two blog series. The first part is about Starting a Meeting or Discussion and the language used to manage the meeting or discussion. The 2nd part is about closing and summarizing the meeting or discussion. This is the 2nd part of the blog set series. Link to part 1 can be found below.

Let’s have a look below at some useful language:

Closing an item

I think that covers the first item.
I think that was taken care of pretty well.
Let’s move on to…
If nobody has anything more to add, then we…

Summarizing

Before we are done here, let’s summarize the important points.
We can quickly go over the main points.
To sum up what we talked about .,.
In brief …
Shall I go over the main points?

Finishing up

Great, it seems like we covered the items we wanted to talk about.
Right, if there are no other questions or comments, our meeting is finished.
Are there any other questions?

Thanking participants for attending

Thank you all for attending.
Thanks for your participation.

Your thoughts

Please feel free to add a comment or a question in our comment box if you have some other useful tips or language.

Want to learn more?

If this was useful to you, you may also be interested in our Business Course which has classes on meetings, negotiations, telephone language and many other popular topics. We also invite you to try a free trial class with ETO today and start learning English now!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

Business Meetings in English part I

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Business Meetings in English part I

This blog has been divided into a set of two blog series. The first part is about Starting a Meeting or Discussion and the language used to manage the meeting or discussion. The 2nd part is about closing and summarizing the meeting or discussion. Link to part 2 can be found below.

Let’s have a look below at some useful language:

Opening

Good morning/afternoon, everyone. (Small talk optional)
If we are all ready, let’s get started.

Stating the principal objectives

We’re here today to …
I’d like to make sure that we …
Our main aim today is to…

Introducing the first topic for discussion

So, let’s start with …
I’d like to start with…
Why don’t we begin with…
So, the first thing on the agenda is
Shall we begin the discussion with…

Moving forward (transitions)

So, if there is nothing more we need to talk about, let’s go on to …
Shall we get right down to it?
I’d like to go on to the next topic.

Let’s move to the next item.
Now that we’ve talked about X, let’s move to …
The next point on tonight’s agenda is…
Now we arrive at the question of…

Your thoughts

Please feel free to add a comment or a question in our comment box if you have some other useful tips or language.

Want to learn more?

If this was useful to you, you may also be interested in our Business Course which has classes on meetings, negotiations, telephone language and many other popular topics. We also invite you to try a free trial class with ETO today and start learning English now!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

Business Meetings in English part II

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ESL learning: How to Speak In Public

Slow Down for Public Speaking

Slow Down

Many people speed up when they are nervous. Do not move your body fast & do not start speaking too quickly. It shows a lack of confidence. Keep a slow pace on gestures & speech.

Pauses

Use pauses in movement and speech. Pauses can signal the ending or the beginning of something. This can bring stress or attention to things. And pauses can inspire. Watch this popular video of Martin Luther King to see how he uses pauses:

 

Silence

Use longer periods of silence (extended pauses) to show confidence and to let the audience think about something or to anticipate something that is about to be said.

Your comments

Please feel free to add any tips you have, comments or any questions in our comment box.

Final Remarks

If this was interesting or useful to you, you may also be interested in our Business Course or our other blogs about speaking skills. If you have never learned English online, but would like to try, please sign up for a free English class with ETO today!

In the meantime, please stay subscribed to our Facebook, YouTube & Twitter pages.

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

ETO English teacher

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ESL learning: Humor vs. humour

 

Humor and humour are different spellings of the same word. Humor is preferred in American English, and humour is preferred in all other main varieties of English. The distinction extends to the derivative participles—humored/humoured and humoring/humouring—but in all varieties of English, the ‘u’ in the second-syllable is dropped from the adjective humorous.

Speaking of humour, what makes you laugh? Tell us about it!!

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ESL learning: Homophones (toad, toed & towed)

Homophones are words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spellings.

For example toad (relatives of the frogs), toed (a foot part) & towed (to pull by a rope).

Select the right homophone in the sentences below:

1. Although they are quite slow in trees, three-(toad, toed or towed) sloths are agile swimmers.

2. The bumps on the skin of a (toad, toed or towed) help it blend into its environment by breaking up its outline.

3. Gliders were (toad, toed or towed) behind a powered aircraft during WWII.

Please comment below with your answers..

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10 Good Tips to Confidently Speak English

1. Expect nervousness

Don’t forget that even native speakers get nervous when speaking publicly, at least many native speakers do. Turn your nervousness into positive energy that can help you deliver your presentation more strongly.

2. Prepare in advance

Know in advance what you want to say, how to say it and why you want to say it.

3. Practice, practice & practice

Give speeches to small audiences and then begin working with larger audiences. There is nothing like practicing in front of a real audience.

4. Work on breathing

Just before you speak, take a few deep breaths through your nose and fill your stomach up with air. As you exhale out, say to yourself, “Relax.”

5. Rehearse

Stand up & move around the room practicing out loud. Never try to memorize your presentation or practice it word for word. Talk about it and tell a story, point by point. Think that you’re discussing your ideas with people you know and who like you.

6. Keep focusing on the audience

Most people lose focus on talking to the audience because of self-preoccupation. (“How am I doing?”, “Do they understand me?”) Do not focus on yourself so much. Focus on your audience instead. (“How are you over there?”, “Are you understanding this?”, “Are you able to hear me?”)

7. Keep it simple

Many speakers try to explain everything too much and too perfectly and try to include and remember everything. Remember you have a limited amount of time and do not overdo it. Just say something once and keep going, with reminders here and there about important points.

8. Think about success

Lie or sit down comfortably in a peaceful location. Breathe deeply. Close both eyes. Loosen up any tense muscles. Imagine yourself speaking with confidence and comfort.

9. Make a strong connection with your audience

Become friends with the audience. Talk to members before the presentation and try to learn who they are as people. Speak to each person and make good eye contact with each person if possible. Once your audience is on your side, they make speaking easier for you.

10. Be or act confident

People usually can not see your nervousness as much as you think they can. Never say you are nervous. Smile. Keep your head up and chest out. Appear confident, even if you don’t feel confident.

Parting Words

Please feel free to add a comment or a question in our comment box for our teachers and other students to reply to. Also, if you have some other tips, please also share with us.

If you want to improve your public speaking, please book a free trial class with ETO today!

By: Luke 

ETO American English teacher

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ESL learning: Phrasal verbs

Let’s take some time off and get away!

Confused? “Take some time off” and “get away” are phrasal verbs; a group of words that functions as a verb and is made up of a verb and a preposition, an adverb, or both.

Together these two phrasal verbs mean “stop working and take a trip somewhere”.

Can you guess the correct phrasal verbs in the examples below?

1) The time a train arrives is when it ___.

a) gets away
b) gets in
c) gets over

2) To board (verb) a train is to______.

a) get on the train
b) get near the train
c) get in the train

3) To travel by train is to _________.

a) take the train
b) ride the train
c) drive the train

4) To leave the train is to _________.

a) depart the train
b) deplane the train
c) get off the train
Please comment below with your answers..

Image credit: Mystic~Light~Serenity Photography

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