Well, how tall are you? Not a real question! My point is: At a meeting, what can you do if you want to stand out from the rest of your co-workers, or outshine others?
How? Make yourself eye catching? Maybe. But if you want to do it with your English, I think there are lots of ways. Yet, before you know the answer, read the following sample sentences:
| Situation | Making suggestions at a meeting |
1. I think you are right.
2. I think the plan is going to work.
3. I think the proposal is brilliant.
What do you think about the three sentences? You have made the verb ‘think’ tired by overusing it. Can you hear it complaining? So, what can you do? Let me introduce you the three friends of ‘think’: guess, suppose, and feel.
By the word ‘friends’, what do I mean? I mean they are similar to each other, but at the same time, very different from each other? Am I kidding? Well, no time for that as I think you are pretty busy, right? All the the three friends of ‘think’ have a similar function. They are used by you when you want to express a thought or an idea.
I guess you are not so sure about it. ‘Guess’ implies that you are not sure about what you say, but somehow it doesn’t hurt making a suggestion.
Can You Feel ‘Feel’?
What about ‘feel’? Again, can you read the example?
| Situation | Arguing with your co-worker at a meeting |
CW: What do you think about our new product?
You: I don’t feel the product will sell.
So, you use ‘feel’ to talk about reactions and opinions. But do you think you have hard evidence to support your idea? Probably not.
