#key expressions

[leanenglish]

Asking opinions (formal)

Formal phrases for asking for an opinion:

Gentlemen, what do you think ....?

What's you reaction to that, Bruce?

George. What would you like to add?

How do you feel about that, Cecilia?

Could you please share your thoughts on that, Sam?

What's you view on this, Richard?

Terry, what's your feeling on this?

Formal phrases for expressing an opinion:

I tend to feel that ...

Well, from my point of view ....

I wonder if I could say something. 

Well, It seems to me that ...

I have the impression that ...

Don't you think that ...

[leanenglish]

Expression Opinions

Common phrases for giving reasons and offering explanations:

To start with ...

The reason why ...

That's why ...

For this reason ...

That the reason why ...

Many people think ...

Considering ...

Allowing for the fact that ...

When you considering that ...

[leanenglish]

Expressing Opinion

Common phrases to use when disagreeing:

I don't think that ...

Don't you think it would be better ...

I don't agree, I'd prefer ...

Shouldn't we consider ...

But what about ...

I'm afraid I don't agree ...

Frankly, I doubt if ...

Let's face it, the true of the matter is ...

The problem with your point of view is that ...

[leanenglish]

Expression Opinions

Common phrases to use when expressing an opinion or an idea:

I think …

In my opinion …

I’d like to …

I’d rather …

I’d prefer …

The way I see …

As far as I’m concerned …

If it were up to me …

I suppose …

I suspect that …

I’m pretty sure that …

It is fairly certain that …

I’m convinced that …

I honestly feel that …

I strong believe that …

Without a doubt … 

[leanenglish]

Key Expressions: Giving a formal presentation

Outlining a structure:

I've divided my talk up into ...

First of all, I'll ... After that, I'll ...

I'll conclude with ...

Beginning the presentation 

I'd like to start by saying ...

Referring forwards / backwards / sideways

 I'll return to ... later

As I said earlier, ...

I'll say more about ... in a moment.

Just to digress for a second, ...

Signalling the next section

OK, moving on ...

Turning to ...

This brings me to ...

Ensuring understanding of a specialist subject

Just to fill you in on some of the background, ...

By ... I mean ...

Now I don't know if you're familiar with ...

Well, ... refers to ...

This is where ...

And perhaps here I should explain what I mean by ...

That's when ...

So, for example, ...

Ending the presentation

And this is my key point.

To sum up, ....

I'll be happy to take any question now.

[leanenglish]

Key Expressions: Managing the discussion & Sharing ideas

Managing the discussion:

So let's get started.

The purpose of today's meeting is ...

Can I suggest we come back to ...?

Coming back to ...

I'll get on to that in a moment.

Involving people:

Perhaps you'd like to talk us through ...

Did you want to talk about ...?

Asking / giving permission to speak:

Would this be the right moment to mention ...?

Could I just say something?

If I could just come in there ...

Go ahead.

Putting forward unpopular ideas:

I know you're not keen on it, but ...

You probably won't like this idea ...

I'm not sure what your feelings are about this, but ...

Putting forward ideas under consideration:

We were wondering if ...

Something else we've been thinking about is ...

Putting forward ideas your are confident about:

I'm sure you'll understand the need to ...

The obvious solution to this problem must be to ...

Disagreeing / expressing reservation:

It's interesting you should say that, because actually ...

You're absolutely right, but ...

[leanenglish]

Key Expressions: Informal meetings

Reporting a personal observation:

I get the impression that ...

From what I could see, ...

Reporting from another source:

Apparently, it seem that ...

According to ...

I gathered from ...

It was made clear that ...

Expressing doubt:

I'm just not 100% convinced.

I'm a bit wary of ...

I'm a bit reluctant to ...

Avoiding commitment:

I wouldn't like to say.

I can't promise anything.

I wouldn't go so far as to say ...

Being persuasive: 

I've got to say that ...

I'm totally convinced. 

I'm sure you'll agree ...

I'm fully confident ...

We can't go wrong.

Trying to avoid being negative:

To be fair, it could have been worse.

It's more of a ... than a ...

I'm not saying ...

It's not that ..., it's just that ...

Dismissing obstacles:

That's not a reason to (delay).

Stating an advantage:

The major advantage is ...

The pros definitely outweigh the cons.

[leanenglish]

The job interview - Key expressions

be motivated by challenge

manage international projects

deal with outside partners

 motivate others

meet deadline

work under pressure

be part of a well-established company

delegate certain tasks