Discussion Skills

来源：上海外语出版社《新目标英语听说2》

1Giving Your Opinion and Asking for the Opinion of Others

If you enjoy expressing your ideas, giving your opinion is something you will do regularly. Asking for opinions also constitutes an important part of our daily communication. You can get different perspectives or useful suggestions from others if you do it properly. Here are the most common ways to express and ask for opinions.

Offering Your Opinion

In my opinion / In my view...

Generally speaking, I think...

Personally, I haven’t the faintest idea about / whether...

To my mind...

I’d just like to say...

As far as I’m concerned...

I’m quite convinced that...

To be quite honest / frank...

Asking for the Opinion of Others

How do you feel about...?

What do you think of...?

What do you reckon?

What’s your opinion of...?

What are your views on...?

What would you say to... / if we...?

Where do you stand on...?

Examples:

To be honest, smart technologies have already made an impact on many professions, so we need to acquire relevant technical skills if we want to succeed in the workplace.

As far as I’m concerned, we must constantly adapt and innovate to ensure success for the world is changing so fast.

What are your views on starting a small business after graduation?

What do you think of the current unemployment rate?

2Supporting Your Ideas by Paraphrasing and Quoting Others

In a discussion, a speaker will sometimes support his or her ideas by giving, or citing the source of a piece of information. This is usually done by paraphrasing or quoting another person, such as an expert in the field. The following sentence patterns might be used to signal that a speaker is using someone else’s words or ideas to support his or her ideas in the discussion.

Paraphrasing (not exact words)

(source) states / says / suggests / argues / believes that ...

In (title), (source) says / states / suggests / argues that ...

According to (source), ...

To paraphrase (source), ...

Quoting (exact words)

(source) was quoted as saying “...”

(source) said, “...”

In the words of (source), “...”

To quote (source), “...”

This is what (source) calls “...”

Examples:

William James says that the greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

A Chinese old saying states that misfortune may be an actual blessing.

To quote Oprah Winfrey, “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”

3Expressing Interest and Asking for Elaboration

The goal of a discussion is to explore a topic deeply by having participants share their ideas, opinions, and experiences related to the topic. You can show that you are listening to others by offering a response (rejoinder) that shows your feelings about the ideas being expressed. Also, an active participant will encourage others to elaborate on their ideas by asking follow-up questions. These can be general questions (such as who, what, when, how and why) or more detailed questions that specifically refer to what others have said. Follow-up questions help you learn more about other people’s ideas and experiences, and can keep a discussion going.

Interested

I see.

That’s nice.

Oh, yeah?/Yeah?

Uh-huh.

Surprised

You’re kidding!

Really?

No way!

Wow!

Follow-up question

Who …?

What …?

When …?

How …?

Why …?

Examples:

May I ask why you say that?

It sounds like an interesting sport! What is the rule for serving in Bossaball?

I see. But when did China roll out a national fitness plan?

4Asking for Clarification

Clarification is important in discussion especially when what is being communicated is difficult in some way. By asking for clarification, you aim to ensure that your understanding of what the speaker has said is correct and to reassure the speaker that you are genuinely interested in what he or she is trying to say.
You may use the following ways to ask for clarification:

Asking for Repetition

  • Would you mind repeating that for me?
  • Would you mind going over that one more time?
  • Sorry, could I ask you to tell me that…again?
  • Could you clarify what you meant by…?
  • Could you be more specific?
  • I don’t think I got your meaning. Could you go over that again?
  • I don’t think I quite understand what you meant. Would you mind repeating that?

Repeating and Restating the Other Person’s Idea

  • Let me see if I understood correctly.
  • I’d just like to confirm that I got that right.
  • So what you are saying is...Does that sound right?
  • If I understand you correctly, you are saying...
  • You mean...?
  • I think you are saying...
  • In other words, ...

Responding

  • Thanks for clarifying. I understand better now.
  • Thank you for repeating that. It makes more sense to me.
  • Thanks. We seem to be on the same page now.
  • I appreciate the clarification. Glad we agree on that.
  • Sorry, I still don’t understand.
  • I’m sorry, but could you explain that one more time?

5Agreeing and Disagreeing During a Discussion

Joining discussions is an important part of daily communication. You can contribute to a discussion by agreeing and disagreeing. It is important to learn how to disagree effectively. When you are trying to disapprove of another speaker’s point, you want to do it in a polite and constructive way. That is to say, you should acknowledge the other speaker’s points and ideas before explaining why and how you disagree. Common expressions used to show agreement and disagreement are as follows:

To agree with others

You are right.

I agree with you because…

That’s just what I was thinking.

That’s a good point.

You can say that again.

So / Neither do I.

I think so too.

I’d go along with that

Exactly!

I couldn’t agree more.

I was just going to say that.

You have a point there.

Yes, me too / me neither.

I’m with you.

I share your view.

To disagree with others

I agree with you to some extent / up to a point, but…

I am sorry (to disagree), but…

I see what you mean, but…

I can see your point, however…

That’s a good point, but…

I see what you’re getting at / where you’re coming from, but…

You might be right, but…

I’m afraid I don’t see it that way.

I’m not sure if I would go along with…

That’s not always the case because…

That’s not necessarily true because…

That doesn’t make much sense to me.

Well, I’m not so sure about that.

Yes, but don’t you think...?

I think what he/she may actually be suggesting is…

Examples:

Well, that’s true. But it can be dangerous to judge your relationship against romantic ideals.

I have to side with Tony on this one. Long distance relationships are never going to work out.

I understand where you are coming from, but one-sided love is real and selfless. You get happy when that person is happy even though you aren’t included in his or her happiness.

There is some truth to what you’re saying, but don’t you think that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

6Expanding on Your Own Ideas

Sometimes during a group or class discussion, you want to add more details or information to something you have already said. The following are some phrases to help you to go back to your original idea and expand on it.

What I meant before was ...

I’d like to go back to what I was saying earlier ...

Let me add something to what I said before ...

What I was trying to say was ...

About my earlier point ...

About what I said earlier ...

I’d like to take my earlier point a step further ...

Examples:

What I meant before was giving often created a ripple effect. That’s to say, my simple behaviour brightens their day and the warmth will be spread.

I’d like to go back to what I was saying earlier. Money can’t buy happiness.

Let me add something to what I said before. I want my money to be used in the right place. Therefore, to figure out how, I use my brain to figure out which charitable organizations are trustworthy.

What I was trying to say was when you borrow something from someone, you should take good care of it.

About my earlier point, I didn’t mean we should not donate money. What I meant was taking part in voluntary activities was also philanthropic behaviour.

7Compromising and Reaching a Consensus

To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demand. In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication. Consensus is a general agreement. It is used to describe both the decision and the process of reaching a decision. The idea of it is based on the reality of overlapping interests. It often involves variations from an original goal or desire. Through compromising and reaching a consensus, we stop trying to get people to agree about stuff they do not agree about. We can instead focus on finding agreement to solve problems. You may find the following expressions useful:

Asking for opinions

What’s your take on this?

What’s your view?

Do you have any views on…?

Softening your own opinion

I may be wrong, but…

I’m no expert, but…

I don’t know about you, but…

Disagreeing

I can’t say for certain that…

Maybe it’s just me, but…How about (verb + ing…)?

I’m not so sure.

Do you really want…?

Can you seriously picture…?

I see your point, however, don’t you

think that…

I understand what you’re saying, but…

Imagine for a moment that you are…

Try to see it from my point of view.

Reframing the disagreement

So here is the real question:…?

We could look at this from a different perspective.

I think one way of looking at that is to…

Setting conditions

I’ll agree to your…, so long as…

I’m ready to agree if you can…

I would be willing to…, provided that…

The bottom line is that…

Proposing a solution

We propose that…

So why don’t we…?

I’d like to suggest that we…

Can we resolve this by…?

If I agree, would you be willing to…?

Signalling agreement

Right.

I’m with you.

I agree that…

I think you are right about…

That sounds great to us.

I can go with that.

Examples:

Do you have any views on the effects of globalization?

I am no expert, but I think localization itself is neither good nor bad.

Imagine for a moment that you are a worker for a car company in an industrialized country and one day you lose your job because the entire factory is moved to another country.

The bottom line is that we can’t raise both salaries and bonuses.

Can we resolve this by agreeing that there is a link between globalization and cultural identity of people?

8Keeping the Discussion on Topic

During a discussion, people sometimes get off the topic, bringing up ideas that aren’t related to the discussion topic. In this situation, other people could make an effort to bring the discussion back to the original topic in a polite way.

The following are some expressions for bringing a discussion back on topic and keeping a discussion focused.

That’s interesting, but it raises a different point. Could we come back to that later?

Maybe we could talk about that later, but for now ...

That’s a good point, but ...

Let’s stay focused.

Can we go back to ...?

Maybe we should get back to the question.

I think maybe we’re getting off track / getting off the topic (subject).

Let’s get back to ...

Examples:

That’s a very good point, but our topic is language diversity. We could talk about how to learn English when the present one is finished.

Let’s stay focused everybody. Please put aside the way the Indians eat and focus on traditional dress around the world.

Can we go back to the Chinese ethnic minorities? Maybe when we finish talking about this, if time permits, we will talk about Chinese dialects.

Yes, it is undeniable that kilts are Scotland’s tradition dress. Maybe we should get back to the question of the tribes in Africa.

I think maybe we are getting off track. You know our topic is the indigenous people in the Arctic region, not the winter vacation plan.