Unit 13

Strategies for making comments

Learning points:
• What should I say to signal my interruption?
• How should I ask for clarification without blaming for a
lack of clarity?
• How do I word my negative comments non-abrasively?
mildly?
• How do I word my negative comments assertively

What should I say to signal my interruption

politely with explicit prefacing (appropriate for use when

talking to strangers or acquaintances)
John, can I make a comment here?
Would you mind if I interrupt here?
Excuse me John, I hate to interrupt but it’s just out of
curiosity, what if …

mildly with little prefacing(for friends or acquaintances)

Excuse me John, what if you…
John, what if you

rather bluntly with zero prefacing (used when John and speaker
have started the dialogue before this line)

What if you…

How do I ask for clarification without blaming for a lack of

clarity?

Task 1
What would you say if you want your presenter to explain one more
time the formula he used to calculate an important score? He has
mentioned a jumble of things. But, you still can’t follow.

1. Briefly summarize the point which you are unsure of, e.g.,

‘You mentioned X, Y and Z’

2. Ask for clarification tactfully/non-abrasively, e.g.,

‘I wondered if you mean…? I think I might have missed its

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 explanation when you went over it.’

3. Use hedges to soften blames,

‘I think I’ve missed…’

‘I might have misunderstood’
‘You did supply some examples, but I’m sorry I still can’t
quite follow’

How do I word my negative comments non-abrasively?

1. Briefly summarize the faulty point that you want to comment

and of which you want propose a better way of expressing,
e.g.,

‘Excuse me, you just said X’

2. Make the comment mildly, e.g.,

‘Do you think it would be better if you say… because

if you say it this way, you can…’

3. Try using affirmative questions to mitigate blaming

of making the mistake, e.g.,

‘Do you think it would be better if…’

‘What do you think if you…’
‘Have you thought about…’

4. Use words that implies suggestions using

hypothetical sentences to make it sound less
imposing, e.g.,

‘What do you think if you added…’

‘You may want to …’
‘One possibility is….

How do I word my negative comments?

There are people who prefer to sound a bit more assertive

about their comments though they understand making the
comments non-abrasively is important. If you belong to this
category, you can consider using the following strategies. sk
negated questions and stress the negating phrase, e.g.,

‘Don’t you think it would cause an error if you…?’

‘Can’t you increase X by a fraction of Y to magnify the…?’
‘I hope you won’t mind me saying this, but don’t you…?

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Some useful expressions

Opening Remarks Notes of use

• Well, I’m really the lucky one. X has made me start first. You know X and the person doesn’t
joke about him/her.
• Thanx Ken. That was a very interesting session you gave us. Your turn comes after another one.
presenter has mentioned your turn
to the front to start your present
• Right. The area I’m working in is very similar to Ken’s. So, I’ll If some of your prepared points ov
just skip those points that Ken has already said.
Stating what you will present / what you want from your audience
• Please do give me some feedback on my interpretations of the two sets Use this if you want to show your
of findings I’m going to show you. My supervisor said they’re a bit invitation to comments.
shaky.
• I won’t present everything. Don’t worry. I’ll just go over ...
and ...
• Well, there’re just three points I really want to talk about.
They’re…, … and…
Checking understanding
• See what I mean here?
• Am I going too fast or have I lost anybody?
• Am I confusing you?
• Have I explained the model clearly?
• Can you follow me? Should I slow down?
Checking legibility of OHTs
• Can you read the OHT at the back there?
• Do you want me to blow it up a bit more?
Cueing attention to visuals/handouts
• If you may want to look at this graph here. (pointing at the graph)
• You can see the pattern on this graph here (pointing at the graph)
• You can find it on p.2 of the sheet I passed to you.

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Inviting feedback
• Right. That’s all I’ve prepared. Perhaps I should stop here for
some comments or questions on…? (Guide your audience to areas
that you want them to give comments on)
• Is there any comment on my design of the questionnaire…?
• I’d like to hear how you feel about my questionnaire design.
Please feel free to …
Responding to audience’s feedback
• Thanks for that comment/suggestion/tip there. Very polite
• That’s a good point you’ve made just now. Hmm, I’ve never thought Very polite and informal
about that.
Getting stuck at audience’s questions
• Well, I really don’t know the answer. Is there anyone who can 1. Use these if your session is meant
answer the question? sharing;
• I’m sorry I can’t possibly answer the question because… 2. Don’t use them if the presentation
• That’s a good question, Ken. But, I really don’t have the for defending your project
answer. I’ve thought about it (explanation for not getting the
answer) but then it turned out that …(failure)
• Not that I don’t want to answer that question, Ken. I’ll come
back to the point later.
Suggestions for improvement that would not work because
you’ve tried them out already
• I’ve done that but it still didn’t work. Stress the highlighted parts.
• Yeah, I did talk to my supervisor but he did not say much about
that…

Audience’s
Show your agreement with the presenter’s point of view
• I see what you mean. I can see eye to eye with you on that.
making suggestions for improvement
• Have you thought about…(suggestion)?
• Why don’t you …?
• I suggest you…
• In that case, talk to your supervisor…
• I think you really need/should …
• What do you think? Wouldn’t it be better if you …

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point out some possible misinterpretation of points /
findings, etc. (i.e., disagreement and why)
• Looks like you have misinterpreted the findings there…
• Ken, I understand how you have arrived at that interpretation,
but I think you have overlooked factor X.
suggest other ways of interpreting findings, doing the
experiment, the survey
• If you took that into consideration, you would have an entirely
different picture...
• You may want to add XXX to your interpretation/discussion
show that you have experienced similar problems in your
project and your own solutions
• I see what you mean. I’ve run into a similar problem when I …
• Yes, I can completely identify with how you feel. That happened
to me too when I was…
• Don’t worry about that, Helen. You’re not alone. I heard that
some other classmates have run into similar situations.
ask for clarification on a point that you don’t quite
understand
• Wait, Ken. I know you have a tight schedule, but I’d still like Never say, “I want you to explain that
you to explain. The word ‘want’ can turn the utterance
• Can you repeat that? I didn’t quite catch it. order.

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