Hi and welcome back to Love English. I'm Leila and today I want to help you sound
smarter, well the truth is you're learning a second language so you're
already pretty, smart but there are plenty of times where you are struggling
to find the right words the right expressions but in your own language you
would know really well and there is nowhere more important than the
workplace to sound smart to make a good impression to show that you can use the
English language professionally and that you are a great colleague to work with
or employee when we're talking about your boss so the ten expressions that I
have chosen to share with you today are based not just on sharing advanced
vocabulary and expressions but also about choosing expressions that are
going to be most useful in the workplace and that will give a great professional
impression of you as a worker now make sure that you do practice using some of
these expressions you can comment down below and use them imagine that we are
colleagues or that I am your boss and try and use these expressions in a
sentence and then you can try them out at work so ten expressions for the
workplace to help you sound super smart
right now the truth is I don't really need glasses for filming I need them for
reading plus keep getting the ring light in my eyes so it doesn't look great
let's just focus on sounding smart with the language we use looking smart we can
work on later now the first expression I want to share
with you is one that I think is essential to help build good relations
at work credit to give credit and to take credit this means that you are
giving recognition you are showing that you realize when someone has done a good
job I have to give credit to Tom he did a great job in the presentation or you
could use I can't take all the credit I have got a great team working with me so
someone complements you on your work to say that you can't take all the credit
that you've got a good team working with you is showing that you are one of a
team that you work well with others and that you are not just looking to get
recognition for yourself but that you are a team player this can go a very
long way in the workplace and make a fantastic impression on your boss or of
course other colleagues so I can't take all the credit my team have been amazing
I've got to give credit to Tom he did a great job in the presentation number two
don't say I'm confused avoid saying I don't understand this can have quite
negative connotations use this word instead perplexing or I was a bit
perplexed it's an advanced synonym meaning confused that you weren't quite
sure about something you didn't understand 100% so if you say well it's
a rather perplexing issue we're not quite sure what to do next then you're
saying you're confused but in a way that you are thinking about possible
solutions it is just a much better expression at to use I was rather
perplexed by his proposition the situation is rather perplexing number
three and again the is when you might not have understood
everything 100% rather than saying can you explain that to me again sorry I
didn't understand can you explain it again you might feel a little bit
foolish a little bit I don't want to say stupid but you might feel that way
so ask for clarification can you make it a little bit clearer of me saying sorry
would you mind giving me further clarification on that matter sorry could
you clarify what you meant in the meeting when you said using the word
clarify it sounds much better it means you do understand some of what has been
said but you might just need a few things
clarifying being made clearer so would you mind giving me further clarification
on that point could you clarify what you meant when you said there you go simple
robust an adjective meaning strong and healthy so if you came out of the
meeting and said well that was a rather robust discussion it means it was strong
it was healthy it was a good discussion that you had and a lot came from it so
to use robust we had a robust conversation we had a robust meeting can
express that you thought it went well it might have been that quite heated it
could have been a little bit controversial but ultimately a lot of
positive things came out of it so that is a great word and expression to use
when you've been in a meeting or had a discussion with somebody about an issue
the most important one of the most important things we need to do not
really the language you want to be using in the workplace it's quite simple and
general instead of saying the most important you can talk about
prioritizing or what are the priorities so pay attention that it is worth noting
which is the noun and which is the verb the verb we need it to prioritize and
work out our strategy what are our key priorities this month now in the
workplace sometimes people are going to explain how you could do things
better and in actual fact this is called constructive criticism it is a really
positive thing when someone tells you how you could improve for next time they
might tell you something negative that you did or could have done better but if
they explain how you did it wrong and how you could improve it this is really
going to help you be a better employee and a better colleague I'd be grateful
if you could give me some feedback on the presentation
I'd be grateful if you could give me some feedback on my performance in the
meeting this not only shows that you are open to criticism but you are actively
looking to improve that you want to be better
these next two expressions are great when it comes to disagreeing when it
comes to trying to get people to see things from a different perspective now
of course that you've heard the expressions I see your point but on the
one hand on the other hand fine these are great but these are a little
bit more advanced you make a valid point you make a valid point so much better
than saying good point is a valid it means that there is substance to what
you have said that you can back it up and support your opinion it's valid its
relevance to the situation you make a valid point however now much better than
saying but is however but you can say but it's not a problem however next
expression it's worth considering it's worth considering now the verb to
consider is essentially a synonym of think but think is pretty boring and
very general consider implies deeper thinking that you're thinking more
analytically you're really considering different perspectives so I think it's
worth considering you make a valid point however I think it's worth considering
that brexit could be a good thing we'll see and number 10 I think this is
a great expression to use in the workplace and it's some really good
advice to give people I think it would be wise if we took a step back to
reassess the situation I think it would be wise if we took a
step back and reassess the situation to re is to look at something again assess
but to take a step back means to move away from the situation from the problem
that you might be dealing with to look at it from a distance often taking some
distance from a situation from a problem means that you can look at it more
clearly and find better solutions so this is not only a great expression but
it is very good advice to use in the workplace I think you should take a step
back and reconsider what really is the most effective way for you to learn
English there we go ten expressions that will help you sound smarter and
generally be a better colleague and employee in the workplace
now if you have got any expressions you'd like to add to the list comment
below and let us know I'm sure you guys have got some great experience of
speaking English in the workplace tell us and let us know if you would like