How to talk about a topic intelligently

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TRANSCRIPT

Hi. My name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson, I'm going to show you how to discuss or how to start discussing any subject intelligently. Now, when we start to discuss anything, you want to give the listener a frame of reference. We want to give the listener an idea what we're talking about. So the expressions that I'm going to show you will do just that; they will provide a context to discuss whatever you are talking about. Okay? So let's look at some of these common expressions.

Okay, so I've divided them into three. Okay? I've divided them into three areas because they are slightly different in terms of the way they're structured.

The first one is like this: "From a political point of view," okay? What I'm giving you here is just the introduction. Okay? After this comma, you need to say whatever your opinion is. But this is to give it a context and to tell your listener that you're going to talk about the political side, the politics of it. Okay? "From a political point of view," - you might say - "I believe we need a drastic change in the government." Okay?

Or: "From an environmental perspective, I think", something. Okay? Now, you don't have to use: "I believe", "I think", "I feel", but you can. All right?

"From a social angle, the people need change."

"From a psychological standpoint," okay? And then you say whatever you need to say.

"From a financial viewpoint," all right?

So you see these expressions and words. Right? "Point of view", "perspective", "angle", "standpoint", "viewpoint". I can assure you that if you start speaking using some of these expressions, your English will be much, much improved and you'll sound a lot more intellectual as well. Okay? Also in your writing, also in academic writing. If you happen to be in university, you definitely want to use some of these expressions in your writing. Okay?

Another technique you can use is this expression: "Technically speaking," all right? And then you talk about the technology of it.

Or: "Philosophically speaking," or: "Professionally speaking," okay? And again, you can take any topic. All right? And express it in that way. When we say: "Technically speaking," or: "Philosophically speaking," it means when we're speaking about the philosophy of it. Okay? Or when we're speaking about it from a professional point of view. Okay? Same idea, different ways of expressing it.

Last one is without: "speaking", just saying this word. "Historically," or: "Spiritually," or: "Educationally," or: "Academically," or: "Personally, I prefer to go to a relaxed movie." Okay? Or "funny movie", "I prefer to go to a funny movie rather than a horror movie." Okay? So, that's how you can use the word: "Personally," right? Or: "Personally speaking," right?

So, these are three different ways in which you can discuss anything intelligently or give your opinion on something by providing first a frame of reference for your listener. If you want to have a little more practice in this, please visit our website: www.engvid.com. You'll find a quiz on this, as well as videos on many other topics in English. All right? Thanks for watching. Good luck with your English.