[컨퍼런스&영어토론에서 쓸 수 있는 표현] How to participate in a conference or group discussion in English

Alright. So one of my readers, Jongwon, asks, at conferences, I often remain silent and listen to others instead of expressing myself. I want to be a confident professional at work. Any tips on that? Great question, Jung Won. I can relate to this because I do pretty well when it comes to one on one. But when I'm in a group setting setting or when I'm. When I go to a conference or event, I used to get very shy. I was afraid of speaking up. And so I can really relate to this. So I have three suggestions for you. Suggestion number one. Do the scenario planning. Before you go to a conference or an event, do the research. Who are going to be there, what kind of things are they going to be interested in and what are some of the answers? I can prepare to common questions. So you know, when you go to an event, a conference or networking event, inevitably people going to ask you the same question. What do you do? So I used to say, oh, I'm an English teacher. But when I said that, people thought, he probably works at a private institute, he's probably a Hagwon teacher. Not very interesting. So I changed the way I introduced myself because I could tell that people are not very interested in me. So I said, I have a freelance business and I teach English now. When I said that, people are more interested. Huh, that's interesting. What kind of business? How does it work? Then I can go on and talk about my online work, specifically splashenglish.com and I can also talk about my offline work. So when you go to an event or conference, do the scenario planning, people are going to ask you the same questions. So prepare some answers, make them interesting, and also ask them interesting questions. Suggestion number two. When there is a group discussion and everybody's sharing their opinions and you actually have something to say, but you feel bad interrupting someone, you don't want to be rude, so you're not sure when to say what to say. So when you actually have something to say, something to share, use these phrases. Phrase number one. It's interesting you mentioned that, Mike. I also think that it's more effective to treat patients with X, Y and Z. Let me quickly share with you what happened to one of my clients last year. Okay. It's interesting you mentioned that, Mic. So this is a great phrase to use if someone is talking about something. You hear a keyword or phrase or story that you can relate to. You begin your story with this. It's interesting you mentioned that. Phrase number two. I totally get what you're saying, Mike, but I had a different experience with one of my past clients last year. I totally get what you're saying, but I totally get what you're saying means I understand you. It's a nice phrase because you're acknowledging what the other person is saying. You're not saying you're wrong, Mike. You're not saying that. You're saying, I understand, Mike. I understand your perspective, but let me introduce a different perspective because I have a set of different experiences that I want to share with you, which might be interesting. So this is a great phrase to use. Number three, here's my take on it. When you say here's my take on it, it means this is how I understand, interpret, or perceive this situation. So before you share your opinion, your story, you could start by saying, here's my take on it, which is another word for this is what I think. Okay? So if you're afraid of interrupting someone, try using one of these three phrases and try to share your opinion. Suggestion number three. You actually have nothing to say. What do you do when you have nothing to say? Everybody is just smarter than you. You have nothing to share. You could ask insightful questions and direct the course of conversation and also help others who are afraid of asking questions. So here is how you can ask a question. Forgive me for my ignorance, Mike, but what did you mean when you said there are three things to look out for in xyz? Forgive me for my ignorance. Forgive me for saying this. Forgive me for asking this question. Very humbling phrases. If you start like that, who is not going to answer you? Here's another phrase you could. I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch what you said about xyz. Could you elaborate on what you meant by abc? I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Which could mean I didn't fully understand what you're saying. Maybe you were talking a little too fast, so I missed some information. I didn't quite catch that. So this is also a great phrase to use if you want to ask someone a question. So here are three actionable steps you could take next time you go to a conference or an event. Number one, do the scenario planning. Who's going to be there? What kind of questions are they going to ask? What kind of questions are you going to ask them? Number two, use transitional phrases to get them to pay attention to you so that it's easier for you to share your experience and your opinion. Three, ask insightful questions so that you can fill the gap in your knowledge and also help others who are in a similar boat as you. So those are my suggestions. John Wong Let me know how it goes. There's a whole bunch more English phrases that you could learn. Just click on the link below and get on my mailing list and I'd love to share more. Thanks, Sam.