GEEC 1052– EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

TOPIC : SPEAKING SKILLS

CONTENT : EXPRESSING FEELING AND THOUGHTS

Expressing Thoughts and Feelings Effectively

 The ability to deliver thoughts and feelings towards other people effectively is an
important aspect of communication. However, it seems that verbal expression of ideas
and displays of emotions do not come easy to many people.
 Verbal expression of ideas involves putting ideas into words. In most cases, you need
to verbally communicate your train of thoughts for you to be understood by your
listeners. In the articulation of your thoughts, many factors are considered to convey
the message effectively. These elements will be further discussed in the course of this
article.
 Your thinking pattern and feelings are well-coordinated which means that whatever you
think always tend to manifest through your emotions. Along with good articulation of
ideas, proper display of emotions is also needed.
 Not everyone is gifted with the ability to effectively express thoughts and feelings. You
could have encountered people who get tongue-tied when asked about their opinions,
some are comfortable with silence, and while others struggle to release their inner
emotions. This is actually considered a barrier in communication, so it must be resolved
within the person in order to start building good people skills.

Communicate Clearly and Openly

Misunderstandings and misinterpretations are often rooted from lack of clear and open
communication . If you would rather opt to stay silent instead of spitting out whatever you
wish to say to a person, do not be surprised if quarrels and constant fights happen. You
cannot expect the person to just read your mind while you keep things to yourself. So, here
are a few tips on how to communicate clearly and openly:

Do not hesitate to open up and talk. You will never learn to express your thoughts if you
allow fear of talking or speaking to overpower you.
 Learn from the people around you who are confident and comfortable enough in
expressing what they think and feel.
 Avoid being vague in your statements. If you wish to be understood easily, use simple
and direct statements.
 Tell the person what you feel as of the moment. If the conversation relies heavily on
emotions, communicate as well your feelings so that you will be better understood.

Channel Your Emotions Well

It is hard to fake emotions and let it contradict what the mind perceives. For example, if you
are thinking of a bad situation such as the loss of something or someone, your emotions
follow suit. Heavy feelings dominate the emotions in relation to the current state of mind.

For you to be able to properly express your feelings, manifest what is genuinely felt. This
way, the other person will know how to deal with you and misinterpretations of feelings can
be avoided as well.

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 GEEC 1052– EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

You must have heard of a displaced emotion such as displaced anger. It simply means the
kind of emotion that is not suitable for the situation or the circumstance, which becomes
the reason why people refrain from talking to you. Always remember to be true to what you
feel and let it surface.

Be Direct and Straight to the Point

One problem with some individuals in expressing their thoughts is indirectness in getting
the message across. They tend to beat around the bush and mention unnecessary details
before spilling out the main point. Doing so would make you ineffective in delivering your
thoughts and feelings. How do manage to cut the chase and go straight to the bull’s eye?

Get the main idea of what you wish to convey. Express it first and then support it with
explanation. If there is a need to reason out, go ahead and supply the reason for choosing
your point.
Convey the right tone for the conversation. This makes it easy to express the meaning of
what you are saying.
Keep it simple, but not overly simple. They say that the more you talk, the more mistakes
you get. However, simply giving a one or two-liner statement will possibly leave your listener
hanging and leave the person confused about your intentions.
Make it a point to ask if your listener understood, to check
comprehension and active listening. Never assume that the other party fully understands
you.

Expressing Thoughts

 When we express thoughts, we draw conclusions based on what we have

experienced. In the perception process, this is similar to the interpretation step. We
take various observations and evaluate and interpret them to assign them meaning
(a conclusion). Whereas our observations are based on sensory information (what
we saw, what we read, what we heard), thoughts are connected to our beliefs (what
we think is true/false), attitudes (what we like and dislike), and values (what we think
is right/wrong or good/bad).
 Jury members are expected to express thoughts based on reported observations to
help reach a conclusion about someone’s guilt or innocence. A juror might express
the following thought: “The neighbor who saw the car leaving the night of the crime
seemed credible. And the defendant seemed to have a shady past—I think he’s
trying to hide something.” Sometimes people intentionally or unintentionally express
thoughts as if they were feelings. For example, when people say, “I feel like you’re
too strict with your attendance policy,” they aren’t really expressing a feeling; they
are expressing a judgment about the other person (a thought).

Expressing Feelings

Sometimes you will need to express an emotion such as joy or sorrow to the person you're
talking to. This page will list the different ways of expressing feelings in English.

Asking about Feelings

To ask about feelings you can use the following questions:

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 GEEC 1052– EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

 How are you feeling today?

 You look sad / upset. Are you OK?
 You seem a little bit distracted. Are you alright?
 You seem kind of low today. What's wrong?
 You seem a little blue today. What's the matter?
 What's wrong?
 What's the matter?
 Are you OK / alright?
 Are you happy / angry...?
 Is everything OK / alright...?

Expressing Feelings

To respond to a question about feelings you can uss the following expressions.

 I feel a little sad / happy / angry / ....

 I am a little sad / happy / angry / ....
 To be honest, I'm a little bit sad / happy / angry / ....
 It's been a difficult day.
 The thing is that, I am angry / sad / ...
 I am mad at him / her..

Vocabulary about feelings

 sad / unhappy
 feel blue
 feel low / down
 depressed
 downhearted
 angry
 cross
 annoyed
 irritated
 mad
 furious
 vexed
 indignant
 irate
 seething

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 GEEC 1052– EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

Reference(s)
http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/people-skills/expressing-thoughts-feelings-
effectively.html
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-realworldcomm/chapter/3-2-functions-of-
language/
https://www.myenglishpages.com/english/communication-lesson-expressing-feelings.php

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