C1.2 Blog: Empower p 123

- In this task you are going to have a natural conversation with your partner.
- Your examiners will evaluate to what extent you can hold a conversation and collaborate with a partner. Remember to organise your message well. Use a wide range of vocabulary and grammar structures as well as linking devices. Pay attention to your pronunciation and fluency. Avoid mistakes!

-Here are some tips to improve your communicating skills.

Common words and expressions for interaction:

GIVING YOUR OPINION

I think / feel / believe that...
As far as I'm concerned...
As I see it...
To my mind...
In my view / opinion...
From my point of view / perspective...
I tend to think that...
It seems to me that...
To my knowledge...
I have the impression that...
I reckon... (informal)
For my part...
I'm of the mind that...
The way I see it...
I look at it like this...
I'm a firm / big believer in...
Look, here's what I think...
If you ask me...
I hold the view that...
I'd personally say that...
In all honesty, my view is that...
Personally, I feel that...

Note on usage: We use "from my point of view" to express how we see something or how it affects us personally. When expressing beliefs or general opinions, we use "in my opinion" or "in my view". Example 1: From my point of view, driving is not a good option. I get very tired if I drive more than about two hours. Example 2: I spent two months working in England. From my point of view, that was the easiest way to learn English. (How the speaker is personally affected) Example 3: In my opinion / In my view, in 100 years' time people will still be wearing jeans. Example 4: In my view, everyone should stay in school until they are 18.

GIVING A STRONG OPINION

I'm absolutely convinced that...
I'm sure that...
I strongly believe that...
I have no doubt that...
There's no doubt that...
My own view is that...
I'm absolutely certain that...
If you want my honest opinion...
To tell you the truth / to be honest / frank...
I feel very strongly that...

EXPRESSING UNCERTAINTY & SOFTENING OPINIONS

I definitely doubt if that...
I'm uncertain / not sure that...
As far as I know...
It is very doubtful whether...
I don't know about you, but I...
It is questionable whether...
I am inclined to believe that...
I guess on the other side of the coin, you could argue that...
I guess on the other side of that, though, you could argue that if...

GIVING OPINIONS USING IMPERSONAL LANGUAGE

It is vital that more is done to prevent the illegal trade in wild animals. (Compare: We have to do more to stop people trading wild animals illegally.)
Journalists play a vital / crucial / essential role in educating the public.
The ability to write well is essential for any journalist.
The Internet has become an indispensable tool for reporters.
In journalism, accuracy is paramount / is of paramount importance.
It is imperative that journalists maintain the highest possible standards of reporting.
This case emphasizes / highlights the importance of honest communication between managers and employees.
It should be noted that / It is important to remember that / An important point to remember is that...
I would like to draw attention to the role of listening in effective communication.

MAKING AN OPINION SOUND LESS DEFINITE (HEDGING)

Most cybercrime involves traditional crimes, such as theft and fraud, being committed in new ways. Phishing is perhaps / possibly / probably the best-known example of this.
It seems / appears that the more personal data which organizations collect, the more opportunity there is for this data to be lost or stolen.
It seems clear that introducing national ID cards would do little to prevent identity theft.
It could be argued that the introduction of national ID cards might actually make identity theft easier.
It is possible that / It may be that the only way to protect ourselves against DNA identity theft is to avoid the creation of national DNA databases.

PERSONALISING THE TOPIC

As far as I'm concerned...
Speaking from personal experience I'd say that...
In my experience...
I often find that...
In my case...
Speaking for me personally...
From what I've seen...
I can't speak for anyone else, but in my case...
This is a topic that is close to my heart because...
This really resonates with me personally because...

OPINION, SPECULATION AND JUSTIFICATION

Personally I feel that... Let me explain why.
As I see it... The reason is...
It seems to me that... This is because...
This issue appears / seems to be... I would argue that for the following reasons:
It is likely to be...
It might be...
It could be described as...
I am convinced that...
I am of the opinion that...
The reasons why I believe that are as follows:
I think it is true that...
It beggars belief how our world has changed in such a short time.
It happened in such a way that beggars belief. (beggar belief: to be too extreme to believe)
This is really unusual in the sense that...
I am sure / I doubt whether...

BALANCING & CONTRASTING ARGUMENTS

It is true that... On the other hand,...
While nobody can deny that..., I would like to point out that...
At first sight it seemed to be..., but in fact it was...
I agree that... But for all that, it... (for all that: in spite of something just mentioned)
Although it is true that..., we must take into account that...
It could be argued that... However, I would like to point out that...
Despite all the arguments, I still feel that...
Notwithstanding the present circumstances, there is a lot we can still do.
It may be true that... However,...
Surely it is completely unacceptable that...
I am sure you will agree that...
Surely you must agree that...

EMPHASIZING, HIGHLIGHTING & EXPRESSING IMPRESSIONS

I am extremely impressed by...
What is particularly spectacular / interesting is...
What is interesting about this, though, is that...
I would like to stress that...
It should be noted that...
It is worth bearing in mind that...
I was rather disappointed by...
My overall impression was that...
I was less happy with...
Her reaction / behaviour struck me as odd. She struck me as being... (strike somebody as something: to give somebody a particular impression)

GENERALIZING

On the whole, it appears / seems that...
In general...
Generally speaking...
Broadly speaking...
By and large...

ATTITUDE ADVERBS & CONNECTORS

Annoyingly...
Naturally...
Strangely...
Interestingly... (in a way that attracts attention because it is special or unusual. E.g., Interestingly, there are very few recorded cases of such attacks.)
Surprisingly...
Evidently...
Indeed...
In fact...
Admittedly... (used when accepting that something is true. E.g., Admittedly, it was a risky decision.)
Presumably...
I am sure that you would thoroughly enjoy...
While some people will love..., others may feel less happy.
Having said that, though, I would like to add / point out that...
A major problem is that...

REFLECTING WITH HINDSIGHT

On reflection, I think that...
With hindsight it is easy to say that...
What looks obvious in hindsight was not at all obvious at the time.
It's easy to criticize with the benefit of hindsight. (hindsight: understanding a situation only after it has happened)
In retrospect, I think that it was wrong.
The decision seems extremely odd, in retrospect. (in retrospect: thinking about a past event with a different perspective)
It is clear that...
We must take into account the fact that...
It goes without saying that...
Needless to say...
It seemed...
This means that...
This is largely due to the fact that it might have happened...

SHOWING INTEREST & ACTIVE LISTENING

NEUTRAL & PASS-THROUGH RESPONSES (Keeping the conversation flowing)

Uh-huh
Right! / Right, right.
I see!
Gotcha.
Fair enough.
Mm-hmm.
Totally.

SHOWING COMPREHENSION & EMPATHY

I know. / I know (just) what you mean.
I understand that.
I hear you! / I hear what you're saying.
I get you. / I get where you're coming from.
I can relate to that.
That makes complete sense.

PROMPTING FOR MORE INFORMATION

Really?
Why was that?
Tell me more!
What happened next?
How so?
And then what?
What made you say/do that?

POSITIVE & ENTHUSIASTIC REACTIONS

That's interesting!
That's amazing!
That sounds great / amazing!
How wonderful / exciting!
You're so lucky! / Lucky you!
That must have been lovely!
That sounds like so much fun!
That's incredible!
Wow, that's awesome!

SYMPATHETIC & COMPASSIONATE REACTIONS

That's a pity! / That's a shame! / What a pity! / What a shame!
What a nightmare! What an ordeal!
That sounds awful / horrible / depressing / embarrassing.
How terrible / awful / frustrating!
Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that.
That must have been tough / hard.

SURPRISE, DISBELIEF & INTENSE REACTIONS

I can't believe it! / I don't believe it!
No!? / No way!
You're having me on! (informal: to try to make someone believe something untrue, usually as a joke)
Oh my goodness!
How ironic!
Are you serious? / Serious?
You're joking! / You must be joking!
Shut up! (very informal, used to express friendly shock)
You've got to be kidding me!

CONVERSATIONAL ANCHORS (Showing active listening)

As you said before, ... (referring back to what the other speaker said)
Tag questions (e.g., "You like science fiction films, don't you?" / "She didn't, did she?")
Speaking of which, ...
That reminds me of what you were saying about...
Like you mentioned earlier, ...

SEQUENCING & ORDERING POINTS

BEGINNING & INTRODUCING THE FIRST POINT

Firstly, ...
In the first place, ...
To begin with, ...
To start with, I should point out that...
First and foremost, ...
To kick things off, ... (Informal)
For a start, ...
By way of introduction, ...

CONTINUING & ADDING SUBSEQUENT POINTS

Secondly, I would like to say that...
Thirdly, ...
Another point to remember is...
On top of that, ...
Following on from that, ...
Secondary to this is the fact that...
Equal in importance is...

FINAL POINTS IN A SEQUENCE

Last but not least, I would like to add that...
To finish with, I would like to say that...
Finally, ...
As a final point, ...
Last of all, ...

ADDING INFORMATION & BUILDING AN ARGUMENT

FORMAL & ACADEMIC ADDITIONS

In addition, ...
Furthermore, ...
Moreover, ...
What is more, ...
Besides, ...
Not only that, but...
Along with this, ...

USING GERUNDS / PARTICIPIAL STRUCTURES (High-level sentence variety)

In addition to being challenging, it...
As well as being interesting, it...
Apart from being expensive, it...
Besides providing great benefits, it also...
On top of being time-consuming, it...

REINFORCING A PREVIOUS POINT

Crucially, it should also be noted that...
Indeed, ... / In fact, ...
To reinforce this point, ...
Equally important is the fact that...
What makes this even more significant is...

CONCLUDING, SUMMARIZING & WEIGHING UP

WEIGHING UP ARGUMENTS (Balanced conclusions)

On balance, it seems to me that...
All things considered, I believe that...
All in all, I think that...
Weighing up both sides, ...
Taking everything into account, ...

SUMMARIZING & CONCLUDING

To sum up, I believe that...
In conclusion, ...
To conclude, I'd like to mention that...
To put it in a nutshell, ... (Idiomatic/Conversational)
In short, ... / In brief, ...
Ultimately, ...
The takeaway point here is that...

DIRECTING & SHIFTING THE CONVERSATION

INTRODUCING A RELATED TOPIC (Natural Transitions)

Speaking of [topic]...
That reminds me of...
On that note,...
Funny you should mention that, because...
Speaking of which,...
While we're on the subject of [topic]...
That brings to mind...

INTRODUCING A NEW TOPIC OR CHANGING DIRECTION

By the way,...
Incidently,...
Changing the subject slightly,...
On a completely different note,...
Before I forget,...
Oh, while I have you,...
That's interesting, but on a separate point,...

STEERING THE CONVERSATION BACK TO A PREVIOUS TOPIC

As you said before,...
Going back to what you were saying about [topic]...
To get back to what we were talking about earlier,...
As we were saying,...
Coming back to your earlier point,...
To circle back to [topic] for a second,...

DIRECTLY BRINGING UP A SPECIFIC SUBJECT

I wanted to ask you about...
Have you heard about...?
Did you happen to see/read about...?
What are your thoughts on...?
I've been meaning to talk to you about...
On the topic of [topic],...

FILLER EXPRESSIONS & HESITATION STRATEGIES

BUYING TIME & THINKING ALOUD (Gaining a moment to process your thoughts)

So,...
Well,...
Let me see...
Let's see now...
How can I put it? / How shall I put this?
Let me think for a second...
What's the word I'm looking for...?
To be honest,... / Honestly,...
Truth be told,...

CLARIFYING, EXPLAINING & REPHRASING

I mean,...
..., you see, ...
What I'm trying to say is...
What I mean is...
In other words,...
Or rather,...
To put it another way,...
Like,... (Very informal)

CHECKING UNDERSTANDING & ENGAGING THE LISTENER

You know,...
You know what I mean?
Right?
..., if you know what I'm saying.
Mind you,...
Don't get me wrong,...
As you can imagine,...

SOFTENING CLAIMS & HEDGING (Making statements less direct)

Sort of... / Kind of...
Somewhere around...
Pretty much...
More or less...
I guess... / I suppose...
In a way... / In a sense...
Basically,...
Actually,...

RESUMING OR RESETTING YOUR TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Anyway,...
Anyhow,...
At any rate,...
Where was I?
As I was saying,...

KEEPING YOUR LISTENER ENGAGED

RHETORICAL QUESTIONS (Prompting the listener to think without expecting an instant answer)

What do I mean by that?
Is smoking dangerous? Of course it is.
Isn't it extraordinary how / that...?
Doesn't it make you feel more optimistic about your own future?
Wouldn't you agree that...?
Who wouldn't want to...?
Why does this matter? Because...
What's the takeaway here?

INVITING REFLECTION & IMAGINATIVE SCENARIOS

Have you ever wondered why...?
Have you ever wondered...?
Have you ever had a secret ambition?
What would your life be like if...?
What would you do if...?
Are you one of those people who tend to...?
How would you feel if...?
Picture this: ...
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where...?

USING IMPERATIVES (Direct commands to guide attention)

Imagine if / what...
Suppose that...
Let's suppose, for example, that...
Guess what!
Think about it for a second.
Consider this for a moment.
Take a look at...
Don't forget that...
Hear me out on this.
Bear in mind that...

CREATING SUSPENSE & HOOKS (Grabbing immediate focus)

Do you know what happened to me last night?
You'll never guess what happened next.
Here's the crazy part...
Want to know a secret?
You're not going to believe this, but...
The interesting thing about this is...
Here's the thing...

DIRECTLY ADDRESSING THE AUDIENCE OR LISTENER

As you probably know,...
I know what you're thinking...
You might be asking yourself...
If you're anything like me,...
Between you and me,...
Believe it or not,...

How to do the interaction task? Part 1