How to Express Ideas in English Clearly and with Confidence
You’re in a meeting and you’ve got a great idea. So you’re excited to share it. There’s just one problem. Everyone is speaking in English and this means you’ll have to express your idea in English. You freeze.
Suddenly you feel shy and can’t say anything. So you stay quiet and that awful feeling of frustration and disappointment takes over. You had a really great idea and now it is too late. The moment has passed, the conversation has moved on and you missed your chance.
No one will ever know what you had to say. Has this ever happened to you?
Today I’ll show you how to clearly and confidently express ideas in English. You will leave this lesson ready to share your next idea with your colleagues, boss, friends or classmates.
Here’s what you’re going to learn:
- 4 steps to be ready and feel less nervous
- my favorite strategy for activating your vocabulary
- Key phrases native speakers use to interrupt and introduce an idea
- 2 examples of how to combine the strategies and new phrases
Plus, I’ve got two challenge questions for you to get practice with how to express ideas in English. So let’s get started!
My favorite strategies to express yourself clearly & confidently.
Lesson by Annemarie
4 Steps to Express Ideas in English
Step 1: Prepare
Preparation is always the best first step, it helps you feel ready and reduces nerves.
If you know a meeting is coming up, or a brainstorming discussion, a presentation or a sales meeting, think about what you want to say ahead of time, note down some keywords or phrases you might use.
Practice saying the words and sentences you might say out loud. Seriously, it works.
Step 2: Keep it Simple
As you prepare, keep your idea simple and focused.
Don’t worry about complex English grammar or the best sounding English words. Everyone will be happier and everyone will understand more clearly if you keep it simple.
Step 3: Use Visuals
When appropriate and possible, use visuals to help you.
If you are talking about a graph, refer to or show the graph. If you are talking about sales, show everyone what numbers you are talking about. If you are brainstorming ideas, draw a sketch or show a picture.
Most people are visual learners. This will help you and them and sometimes we feel less nervous when people are looking at the visuals, it can take the pressure off.
Step 4: Bite the bullet
Bite the bullet is a great idiom that we use when you have been putting something off, delaying doing something, when you have been avoiding something because you think it will be horrible or unpleasant, and now it is time to just get on with it and just do it, bite the bullet and just get it done.
When you see your chance to share your idea, that is your moment, you need to take it, you need to bite the bullet. It doesn’t mean you won’t be nervous, but being brave means feeling nervous and doing it anyway. It is okay to be nervous, you just need to take a deep breath and jump right in. Go for it, take the risk.
✨Remember: You might be the ONLY person in the room with your idea or your opinion or your point of view. And your ideas could change things for the better. Don’t let English stop you. You might be nervous—but you’ll be glad you did it.
Common Phrases to Introduce and Express Ideas in English
First, politely ask for time to share your idea:
- I would just like to add something…
- Can I jump in here? (to politely interrupt the flow of conversation)
- Can I share something here?
- I would love to run an idea by you…
- Perhaps another option might be…
Second, give your perspective or idea by saying:
- I think that…
- As I see it…
- As I thought about this problem/issue/situation, I realized that…
- I’d like to point out…
- From my point of view…
- Personally, I think that…
- Based on my own experience, I find that…
- I don’t know about you, but I can say/but I think…
- I was wondering if it might be possible to…
- Maybe we could consider…
Here is what that would look like altogether:
- Can I jump in here? Personally, I think there are many great ways to build fluency in English. But this is what has worked best for me and what I would recommend…
- I’d just like to share something. As I thought about this situation, I realized that there isn’t just one best way to learn English.
- I don’t know about you, but I know for me practicing everyday has made all the difference in my fluency. One way to start is…
- I strongly believe that if we just do a little practice every day, our English will improve! And here’s how we can start…
So, now you are ready to clearly share your ideas, even when you are feeling nervous, you know you can take a deep breath and bite the bullet.
Here is your first chance to get started. Choose one of these situations and share your great idea with us:
- A group of people at work are trying to think of ways to improve the environment in your town, they don’t seem to be coming up with anything that could make a real difference. Politely jump in and share your great idea.
- A discussion is going on about the best ways to improve English. Jump in and let them know your best ideas.
You can share in the comments below. It’s the best place to get feedback and learn from others in the Confident English Community.
Have a fantastic week!
❤️Annemarie
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I strongly believe that mastering q language is really demanding but not impossible . People learning a new language need to be consistent. Practice is essential and I believe not being hard on ourselves is also important. We need to be able to make mistakes and be ready to learn from them.
I believe listening to series on Netflix is also helpful but nothing can beat talking with real people. Biting the bullet and not letting nothing stop you.
Wow Susie! That sure is some fabulous advice! I love it! You are so right, not being hard on ourselves is really important. When we are learning we are always moving forward and need to trust ourselves along the way. ‘Nothing can beat talking with real people’ is also great advice. Of course it isn’t always possible, so finding some other ways to practise in the meantime can help. Rather than saying ‘not letting nothing stop you’ which word could you use instead of ‘nothing’? I am so impressed with your practical tips Susie! Thanks for sharing.
I totally agree with Kelly! I love your advice, Susie! All of it.
What series are you watching on Netflix these days? Do you have one to recommend for others?
it is very helpful thank you Annemarie
Can I Jump in Here ? Based not only on my experience it’s obvious how the publicity is deceptive promising miraculous results in a short time . AS rightly Susie says , mastering a language means to guarantee continuity over time in English , listening, writing, speaking . ,. Listening and miming the actor’s line in the movies it’s really amusing and useful for the pronunciation… the pauses . I Admit that discussing by email is very profitable for many reasons First you bite the bullet and jump in to sharing your opinions and second you realize that others also… Read more »
How to come up with reasons and ideas for TOEFL speaking
Thanks for the question, can you tell me a little bit more about your request?
Can I jump in here? I’d just like to share something. Based on my experience, consistent is key. It’s great to keep track of your studying, even when you don’t see any progress. It’s okay to lose heart sometimes, find it tedious and wonder why u have to do this everyday. But just doing it anyway helps u to overcome the feeling of guilt and even later on be thankful for not giving up. Another point that I want to share is personalizing. Find your own learning styles, teach yourself and always find ingenious way to improve your weaknesses in English.… Read more »
Could I jump into the conversation and put all my ideas and thought together about out problem? Based on my experience I’d like to think it’s not a huge problem and we might be consider different common options for solving obstacles. The first strategy is find the leader of our community , on top of that this is person need to be responsible for complicated tasks and by this time nest week prepare in advance the agenda about our outcomes. And, most likely, the second step is figure out your obligations and in the poor state or situation get away… Read more »
How can I express myself
Dear Annemartie, your suggestion “Feel nervous but still do it.” The perfect idiom “bite the bullet “ it feels like commitment, we have to do it anyways. This is the best approach to learn because sometimes we just look for excuses, wait for doing but don’t do it. This idiom is inspirational “Bite the bullet” It inspires us to do the thing we procrastinate for a long time. I really found this lesson very important as you gave so many phrases, we should use when we found stuck during conversation. How to enter into the conversation already going on, and… Read more »
Hi Meena,
You’re exactly right when you say, “This is the best approach to learn because sometimes we just look for excuses, wait for doing but don’t do it.”
I’m so glad you found this lesson helpful and learned some new expressions!
Thanks Annemarie, I am happy to see your answer. Your lessons are advance,I take little bit more time to remember them but feeling them interesting too. I found you on You Tube and happy to read and understand your lessons. Bye for now.
Bite the bullet, interesting idiom that says, ready to do what we think we can never do and we have put aside for a long time.Dear Annemarie,I like this lesson because it suggests, express your ideas anyways.Slowly we can have that attitude to become expressive in front of people.To tell you the truth I have been learning English for a long time, now I also realise that I made a progress of course but still not got that confidence to speak without hesitation.A fear of failure always hangs over me but I am also very rigid about English,I will try… Read more »
Excuse me, can i jump in here? I just simple think about environment :we need to classify garbage; it mean we will put organic garbage in private bag and inorganic garbage in difference bag. And we take priority use something by organic that recycle. And what do you think of it?
Than you Annemarie. I have been receiving your Wednesday email. I have been learning from them. What impressed me most is you always can speak out the awkward feelings and long-standing struggles I have in learning English. You give me the feeling that you know me more than myself. Thank you.
😊 Thanks for the kind comments, Lei. I definitely understand the challenges of learning and speaking another language. Thankfully, with the right strategies and practice, we can become confident speakers in any language.
Another great lesson, Annemarie!!Since I started watching you, I have learned so much, and I feel more confident with my conversations . Thank you 😊
I’m thrilled to hear that, Patricia! Thank you so much for sharing.
Can I kindly jump in with my Candid opinion of ways to improve upon the environment in this town, I believe every household should be given a dustbin container in order to avoid littering around compounds.
I believe that reading different English stories and vocabulary books with regard to speaking practices can mostly contribute to building confident English. This is much helpful when you do it with much effort.
Thank you so much madam for your amazing lessons
Thank you . Ma’am. I would simply say that a five year old child is any day better learner than a fifty year old person. It is primarily because the child is excited to learn whereas a fifty year old has to unlearn to learn correctly. A child and an older person may have the same idea but chances are the older person will be listened due to better way of expression. An older person may be more fearful than the child but after preparation a child is fearless to express the idea. What I mean that we at a… Read more »
Thanks Annemarie for all your fantastic lessons. They’re incredible and every time I read your posts and listen to your videos, they give me hope that I’ll be a fluent speaker one day. I learned a lot from your Wednesday lessons and your videos. My listening skill is getting better and my reading as well. Wishing you prosperity and loads of blessings and happiness in all aspects of your life. Have a wonderful day.
Hi Nasrin Ali.
Thank you so much for your comment and kind words. We’re thrilled to know Annemarie’s lessons are helpful to you, and we wish you much continued success in your English.
I think even listening to audio
books is one of the great way to learn English, thank you teacher for your wonderful lesson.
Thank you for your comment, Betty. We’re glad to know the lesson was useful to you.
I just want to share my experience to improve my English. I studied English since kindergarden.And then I studied English major in the university.I really love to learn English.But it’s still difficult to speak confidently and I’m afraid to speak with native speaker beacause I really worried they don’t understand what I saying.If English isn’t your native language,you’ll definitely face the difficulty in language.My most difficulties in English is Speaking and Listeing. So I practiced with Englidh movies and musice.I also worked at the hotel to get use to practice with native speakers.And I also subscribed Youtube English teachers. I… Read more »
Hi AnneMarie firstly i would like thank you so much for your helpful advice i appreciate your lessons
I would like add something in comments, as i see the best way to learn new language is to leasting lots and focused with natives speakers secondary i strongly believe that biting the bullet is to practice every day and try to share few sentences with co-workers it not always fluency and correct but we can learn more to our mistakes
Personally, I think that we have an especial opportunity to do something great and based in my I own experience I believe that we need to consider the following plan: Firstly, we need to complete the survey to identify the necessities of neighbors Secondly, I’d like to generate content en social media related to the importance of the environment and we can do to care of the planet After that, we could have a meeting with them, share our ideas and inform the available budget to this topic Finally, we would generate a report for the boss To cap it all,… Read more »
Hi Annemarie mam,
It’s great video for me as usual.
Based on my opinion we have to speak English daily it’s a good way to improve our speaking skills.
When i saw any video of confident speaking lesson I wrote down some important points. It will help me later . And better way to Watch English movies and read aloud blogs.
Thanks 😊
I was wondering if it might be possible to learn English listening and singing your favorite music.Based on my own experience, I find that the litte but dayly practice is the way to be confident in English. I also would just like to add that talking with native speakers is the way, in my opinion, to destroy the fear to communicate my ideas. And now, I want bite the bullet and just do it! Thank so much for this opportunity
Hi Cinzia, thanks so much for the comment!
Listening to music is a fantastic way to learn a language. You’ll definitely learn idioms and wonderful examples of figurative language doing so.
And I agree that regular speaking practice is a great way to destroy fear. That’s why we always include small group speaking opportunities in our Fluency School course!
I like all the advices that Annemarie gives. I beleive that if you’re constant you can achieve whatever you want.
Thank you for your comment, Noemi! And I totally agree with you. If you’re persistent, goal-oriented and hardworking, any goal is achievable.
mam i am really inspired your speech. your great mam example for your hardworking.
all videos changes my thoughts, and your all videos improve my confidence. definitely i will be win.
this is the great message for all the students who want to become a greate person in his life.
i liked, very good
Thank you for your tips Anne Marie, it is always helpful!!!!!
I watch series in english to improve my second my second language so I strongly agree with Susie… I will try to speak with my English friends thank you so much your lessons are just perfect!!!
I’m so glad this was helpful, Lola!
I want to more please. because it is very simple and useful for daily life
Hello Anne.
I hope you re well.
Gosh! What a fantastic class!
I expect to have an oral presentation in English at the end of this semester as one of several evaluations for my current English course.
Well, because of the pandemic, some activities in English might be canceled and the oral presentation might be one of them.
Anyway, thanks for these four priceless treasures!
I am going to follow them. After that, I tell the results.
Thanks.
Paulo.
Oh, I wish you much success on the presentation, Paulo. If they don’t cancel it, I’ll be eager to hear how it goes.
Mrs Annemarie and Team,
Thank you very yery much for your valuable weekly lessons.
Best wishes and greetings from Austria.
Hugo
You’re so welcome! Thank you for the kind message.
Thank so much Annemarie, I got your email and got it everything you share with me .
You are so amazing teacher that I have never been before.
I’d like to point my point of view on this issue,and always based on my own experience. I strongly believe that your post and vídeos are a fantastic tool to improve your skills by speaking confident and fluent English. But maybe,we could consider other options such as… watching movies,listening to songs,reading newspapers…
Thanks a lot for your lessons Annemarie!! They are helping me improve my confidence when I speak.
If I could jump in to the first situation and say something about how to improve the environment in my hometown/village… As a parent, I strongly believe that the most important thing is to make the environment more safe and friendly for kids. Personally I think that we should have more playing areas and hiking tracks in nature. Also I was wondering if it might be possible to build kindergarden in our village, so the parents don’t have to waste time for driving to the kindergarden to another town. Based on my own experience in childhood, I understand how important… Read more »
“bite the bullet” when I try to discuss something even if I know the answer or maybe I have a different idea, I feel nervous and cold, sometimes I stay quiet but the best way to overcome that is expresing the first word, then everything is done. It is easy to say than done , but it is one of the best way to feel confident.
Oh, I love that expression Angel. Great job using ‘bit the bullet.’ It’s not easy to do and it takes a lot of courage.
Good
Hi Annemarie, I have been watching all your youtube videos for 2 months, in the beginning, I was just listening while driving but didn’t try to speak with someone and didn’t do my homework… On January 1 I started with the easiest topic which was “what did you do yesterday?” and yes my first recording was really disappointing. Even the easiest words didn’t come to my mind and I couldn’t find the right sentences etc. Since that time every day, I try to speak or record myself on what I would like to say in English or what I couldn’t… Read more »
Hi Annemarie,
Thank you for your advice you didn’t forgot me to send your free training and I really appreciate it. My schedule now is kind of hectic but i see to it that i read your every message. I took your advise and it really works. I think i see improvements…
I hope that i can join your every discussion. Bye for now.
Hi Violeta,
I’m thrilled to hear that you’ve used my techniques and found them helpful to you. I hope you continue to use them to make the progress you want in English.
Very helpful, thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks, Elie.
Hi Annemarie ,
First of all I would like to thank you so much for your lessons ,they are really helpful and encourage me to keep in contact with English language.
Based on my experience, I find that listening to news, watching the series and shows help to improve the language. I personally watch the BBC News every day, they present a variety of reports.
Beside that,practicing speaking the language everyday with someone native or non- native also very helpful.
Thanks
Shatha
Hi Shatha,
Thanks so much for your comments and sharing some of the strategies you use to improve your English skills. After you watch or listen, do you do anything to focus on your speaking?
Hi Annemarie, I have recently applied 2 techniques from your lessons that are recording myself and listening to the Serial on Podcast. They have really made big progress on my English learning ! Thank you very much for your usual advice and I’d highly recommend all my friends to follow that. And here I’d just love to share one tip that has also worked best for me, I don’t know about you but you know for me Google Translate is the essential tool to correct my pronunciation. Firstly, I listen to the Google Translate how a word is pronounced and… Read more »
Hi Annemarie. I should say thank you so much; because your techniques are so useful for me. I’ve watched a lot of shows. They’ve improved my listening (I can suggest “Friends”. It’s my favorite one). But personally, I think if you want to improve your speaking, you should practice with a native speaker or someone speaks very fluently. Just with speaking & practicing in a real situation, you can learn how to use your vocabulary and memorizing all of them.
Hi Bahar,
I’m thrilled to hear that our lessons are useful to you!! I agree that you need to practice speaking in order to improve your speaking. In fact, it’s essential. That’s exactly why our Fluency School course included 15 hours of live speaking practice. 😊
Hi, I think in starting a conversation, one should take the step, but I have two main problems. First, I know a lot of words but can’t remember them when I need them. Second, as an Arabic native speaker, I always feel headache when I force myself to keep on reading or listening in English. The good thing is that I am really glad to join you and use my English in these few words
Hi Amer, we are so glad you are here! that is great to hear that you are really making an effort even though it can be difficult at times. It is definitely a challenge to remember the words we need at the time we need them. Practice is a big part of that. Thinking about conversations before you have them, writing down some of the words you might need, recording yourself saying some of the things you might say can all really help. You can even watch an English tv program and when someone asks a question on the program,… Read more »
Thank you teacher Marie , for helping me to improve my English. Personally l think that the best way to improve English is to read more books, listening to audios, recording ourselves, based on my experience, I find that even making a WhatsApp group can improve our English. Think a about it
Betty, it sounds like you are doing lots of fabulous things to keep improving. Good on you! Keep up the hard work!
Today I have learned how to express ideas to others.As you know that I am not a native speaker and I need to practice on every expression in various situation.I strongly believe that I would achieve my fluency if I follow your lesson.
That is great to hear you are so motivated. As the saying goes ‘practice makes perfect’, so the more you practice the better you will get. With all that motivation you are sure to succeed!
Hello Annemarie and the members of this excellent school! Before starting to share my ideas on the second topic, I want to thank you for the excellent lessons. It is true that your given advices are water and air for people, who want to speak confidently and frequently in foreign languages as native speakers. If I’m asked the recommendation for improving language skill, without thinking I can start to suggest surfing your website. It is the first best way to get self-confidence. In the next turn, most people consider that learning new vocabulary is very important. But according to me… Read more »
What a wonderful comment, Malika! Thank you for your kind words and I’m very happy to hear my lessons are useful. Thank you for recommending them to others as well.
I agree with you 100%. Overcoming fear and getting conversation practice is essential. You’re absolutely right about active vs. passive vocabulary and the need to use language to remember it. I appreciate that you’ve shared your ideas here. 🙂
am so encouraged. I believe I can
Believing in yourself is SO important! That is wonderful you have achieved that important step!
Can i share an idea? I was looking for this opportunity for a long time. I was trying to find the way to improve my English fluency and tried many different ways of doing that. Finally I found the one actually two ways that work for me . The first one is I write less but repeat and try to memorize much more. Consistency is the key. I constantly recall phrases , sentences and words. It is like a game for me now. There is one more activity that really helps and I have a friend who frontiers to help… Read more »
Hi Lyudmila. What a wonderful way of learning English! Thank you so much for sharing your strategy and your experience with us. It might be very helpful for others. And I totally agree with you – consistency is the key. Recording yourself is super useful. When you can really hear yourself, you start to notice what you do well. And you notice what you want to change. It’s so much easier to change and make progress when we have a clear picture.