Listening Strategies
Your professor usually tells you the topic at the beginning of a lecture. What does he or she say?
Today we're going to talk about
What I want to discuss today is
I'll give you an overview of
In today's class we will focus on
What is the abbreviation for 'without'?
w / out
w / o
You are asked to express your thoughts during a discussion about social media use. You aren't allowed to say "I think..." What do you say?
In my opinion
Here's what I think
Here are my two cents
What I'd like to say is
Personally, I believe
How can you catch your audience's attention?
Ask a question.
Provide an interesting fact, definition, or quote.
Tell a brief story.
Show an interesting image or cartoon.
Your instructor is going to introduce or change the topic or idea. What is he or she going to say to signal this?
Okay, let's move on to
Next, I'd like to discuss
Let's look at
Now I want to discuss
Let me start with
Let's start by
Now let's talk about
Now that we've talked about
What is the abbreviation for 'between'?
btw
b / t
You teacher has said something that you don't understand. How can you ask for clarification?
Excuse me, could you say that again?
Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you repeat it, please?
Could you please say that a little more slowly/loudly?
What does ___ mean?
What do you mean by ___?
Could you go over ___ again, please?
I don't get what you mean by ____
How can you make rapport with your audience?
Make eye contact and smile.
Use inclusive language to connect with the audience.
Notice audience reactions, comment on them, and clarify if necessary.
You r professor has signaled a generalization. What has he or she said?
This leads us to believe
I hope you can see
We can infer from this that
This demonstrates that
Let me back this up with a story
What is a good abbreviation for 'people'?
ppl
You want to know your partner's opinion about social media use. You ask ______?
What do you think about ___?
How do you feel about ____?
What's your take on this?
How many lines per visual should you use in a PPT presentation?
6
Your professor repeats a point using different words to clarify or emphasize a point. What does he or she say?
In other words, ...
What I mean is ...
So, what I'm saying is...
That is ...
As I said, ...
Let me say that another way: ...
What is the symbol for 'equals'?
=
What can you say to express interest in a discussion with your classmates?
I see.
That's nice.
Oh, yeah? / Yeah?
Uh-huh
How can you open the floor at the end of your presentation?
Are there any questions?
Thank you for your attention. We have time for a few questions.
How does your instructor signal a definition?
The term for this is X.
This is called X. Now, X refers to...
What I mean by X is ...
What do you mean by X? Well, ...
X means...
X is the term for ...
... or what some call X.
X, or ...
What word forms are key words?
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
How can you expand on your own ideas? Which expression can you use?
What I meant before was...
I'd like to go back to what I was saying earlier...
Let me add something to what I said before...
What I was trying to say was...
How can you highlight key points in your presentation?
As we have seen...
So, I hope you are able to understand why...
Finally ...