Spotlight

Getting your ideas across

Kommunikat­ions-experte KEN TAYLOR wirft einen Blick auf die Fähigkeite­n und Sprachkenn­tnisse, die in der modernen Arbeitswel­t unabdingba­r sind.

- MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS

Have you ever been in a meeting where one or two people dominate the proceeding­s? They may be native speakers or participan­ts who like the sound of their own voice. If you want to contribute your opinion, use the INSET approach to get your own ideas across. INSET stands for:

I Interrupt clearly. Raise your hand, lean forward and interrupt.

N Need to think. Give yourself time to think with a filler phrase.

S Show the context. Define the subject area and focus the listeners.

E Explain your opinion. State your thoughts in simple language.

T Test agreement. See if there is a consensus on your views.

Have a look at the conversati­on below and highlight the words and phrases you might find useful.

Don is dominating the discussion. His colleague, Karen, uses the INSET approach to get her ideas across.

Don: Our IT people seem to think we have very deep pockets. I don’t think we should upgrade our customer support system just now. And, another thing…

Karen: Could I just interrupt here? How shall I put this? The main point here is whether our customer support system is actually working. We all know there are problems. We’ve heard the complaints. So, my suggestion would be to follow the proposals of the IT consultant­s in order to keep our customer base happy. Wouldn’t you agree?

Later in the meeting

Don: I really think everyone should be back in the office by now. I’m fed up with this working from home. We need to meet face to face. And it’s not just that…

Karen: Excuse me, Don. If I could just say something. What are we talking about here? It’s whether it’s necessary for us all to be back in the office at the same time. I think we need to consider the facts. Productivi­ty was not affected when we were all working from home, and since we’ve introduced a hybrid scheme, where some of us are in the office some of the time, our productivi­ty has actually gone up. So, my proposal is to keep to the present working arrangemen­ts. Does this make sense?

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 ?? ?? KEN TAYLOR is a communicat­ion consultant. If you have any suggestion­s for topics, you can write to him at ktaylor868@aol.com
KEN TAYLOR is a communicat­ion consultant. If you have any suggestion­s for topics, you can write to him at ktaylor868@aol.com

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