Clear, practical English for intermediate and advanced learners. Speak Better English with Harry helps you use natural English with confidence in real situations — at work and in everyday conversations. Each episode focuses on vocabulary, collocations, phrasal verbs, and expressions that native speakers actually use, explained clearly and simply by an experienced native English teacher. This podcast is ideal if you already know the basics and want to sound more natural, fluent, and confident when you speak English.
In this Business English lesson, you’ll learn how to defend your ideas when a colleague, manager or client challenges you in a meeting. Harry explains how to respond clearly, support your reasoning, deal with objections and show the possible consequences of a different decision without becoming defensive. This episode is for B2-level non-native professionals who want to learn English for work, improve their English for meetings and speak more clearly when their proposal, recommendation or plan is questioned.
In meetings, you may know exactly what you want to say but still need a few extra seconds to find the English. You may also hesitate because you’re not sure whether a phrase sounds natural, too direct or too weak.
Take my free Meeting English Quiz and try 8 real meeting situations. You’ll see which answers work well in English and where you may need better phrases for meetings.
If you’d rather work on your English with a teacher, book a free trial lesson. We’ll look at the situations you deal with at work and decide what you need to improve first.
Hi there. This is Harry and welcome back Harry, where I try to help you the English language. And in this particular business English lesson, we're looking at how to defend your idea in English when somebody challenges it. So, for example, you put forward Perhaps it's a new system, a change to a process, a different deadline, or a proposal that will cost the company some money. And then somebody says, well, I Or they ask, why should we do Or they tell you it's too expensive, too risky or too difficult, or whatever it might be. So what do you say then? Now when I use the word defend, argue with everybody. There is an important difference becoming defensive when you You explain the reasons for it. You give evidence. You give them facts. You address your point. When you become defensive, you You react as if the other person So you might get annoyed. You speak too quickly or simply repeat the same point again and again. So I've got ten particular expressions and structures for you so you can defend your idea professionally. As always, I'll go through them mean, and give you examples of Number one, that's a fair point. Or you can also say, I take your Now, that's a fair point. Doesn't mean you agree. It means. Right. I heard you, and I'm not And then you carry on and you still think it's the right idea, So perhaps you want to move to a new supplier and then somebody says, we don't have time for this. The deadlines to close. So you can reply. That's a fair point. The timeline is tight, but so You've been polite. You don't just say, no, you're You've agreed with one fact. You agreed that the timeline is So you're showing the person understood the concern before. You explain why you still think changing supplier is the right decision. So that's a fair point. Number two. Can you clarify what you mean by Often when somebody challenges your idea, it's not clear and you don't actually know what they mean. For example, they say, I think Well, risky. How is it the cost? Is it the timing? You need them to explain what them a proper answer. So can you clarify what you mean Is it the cost or the timing Or when you say it's not schedule do you mean? Can you clarify what you mean by And then your colleague replies, practical or I think the new So now you know exactly what respond to that specific point. Can you clarify what you mean by I can see why there might be Well, an objection is simply a reason why someone disagrees with an idea or doesn't want to accept it. So if somebody objects to your with some part of it. For example, you're suggesting a more in the first year. And someone says, I think people And you can reply, I can see why however, blah blah, blah. We need to compare the initial cost with the savings, or we can keep the cost down by introducing the system in two stages. I can see why there might be use but as well. But however sounds a little more It gives more emphasis to the Okay. And for those of you who use together a short quiz called It has eight common meeting what you're already doing well little more help. You can take the quiz at use the link in the description The reason I'm suggesting this Now be careful here because this The reason is that not the The reason is because. From English speakers too. In fact, plenty of them. But it isn't correct. Use. The reason is that. So perhaps you want to change At the moment, you need three or four approvals for anything over five hundred euros, and it takes about a week to get everyone's signature. But somebody says, oh, why do we It's always worked before. And you can say the reason I'm suggesting this is that the reason I'm suggesting this is that we lost three days last month waiting for approval on this customer's order, and the customer rang twice asking where it was. So you're giving them some fact and they can go and check for themselves. And just a quick point here about suggest and recommend these verbs. They're often used quite the same. If you suggest something, you're And when you recommend something, you're showing that you believe it's the best option. So, for example, if people start sound a little firmer. Instead of saying, I'm recommend that we do this. Okay. Number five. You're right. It's not perfect, but so perhaps system and it isn't perfect. For example, it doesn't connect And somebody says, well, it doesn't even do half of what we asked for. And you could reply, you're But you're right. It's not perfect. But of all the systems we looked at, it's still the strongest option. So you just admit the weakness You don't try to defend And then you go back to your Yeah, there's that issue. But there's still the best And that actually makes your argument stronger because you sound realistic. Now the other person knows that You've taken it into account. Okay. Number six. Let me break this down. Let me break down the main And to break something down here It means to divide it into You explain something step by You make it easier to Let me break down the main reasons for recommending this option. So perhaps you're recommending challenges it because another Let me break down the main And then you give them clear For example, firstly they can Secondly, their price already And finally they already know So you give the other person recommending this supplier. So now they can see clearly why You're not simply saying it's That's why I'm recommending it. You're giving them three clear Okay. Number seven we've got the So imagine you're recommending a change to the way your team works. And somebody asks, how do we And you could say we've got the And then you can add it's in the based on the results from the So you're not simply asking You're actually pointing them This is what to back something It means to support something So if the figures back up your proposal, they show that there's a good reason to believe you and to believe that your proposal will work. You may also hear the expression concrete evidence and concrete evidence means clear, solid evidence that you can actually show people. For example, we've got concrete evidence that the old process was slower. It took the team an extra six So when somebody challenges your idea, show them the figures, explain where they came from, and use the evidence to back up your point. And then number eight is can we question when somebody fact, but you are not sure where So for example, you're somebody says, our customers And you could ask the person, Have we asked customers Or you could also say, where To verify something means to So you're not immediately But at the same time, you're not telling them they're wrong either. You're simply asking to see the Can we verify that? And number nine, we have if we And then you explain what you For example, if we don't confirm the order today, we'll lose the delivery slot. And here we're using the first So after if we use the present the second part. So be careful with the grammar I often hear students say if we will fail to act, but that's incorrect. The correct way to say is if we fail to act, we'll lose the opportunity. So the present tense comes after if and will comes later in the result clause. And you can also make this sentence sound a little less direct by using the second conditional tense. If we didn't confirm it today, we'd probably lose the delivery slot. Here we use the past tense after if followed by would in the result clause. So you're presenting it as a possible consequence rather than saying that it will definitely happen. So with your own team, will may about the result with someone Would can sometimes sound less changes the meaning slightly. It makes the situation sound If we didn't confirm it today, we'd probably lose the delivery slot. And then finally, number ten we can use my recommendation is still two. For example, my recommendation Now still is important here. It shows that you've listened to You've considered the concerns they raised, but your final view hasn't changed. And you could also say, having still recommend option two. That's a very natural way to back to your final point. And just be careful with the verb you choose, because it changes how strong your message sounds. We could move to option two when That means it's one possible choice, but you're not saying it's the best option or you can use should. We should move to option two. And when you use should, you're the right choice. And and if you use need, we need becomes much stronger. You're saying that the change is the deadline, the cost or the So choose the verb carefully that matches what you really mean. If you want to make a clear recommendation, should or I'd recommend will usually be better than could. But if you genuinely want to could is perfectly fine. So just be careful and choose you feel about the option. Okay, so that's the end of this Ten ways ten ways how to defend So let me give them to you one Number one, that's a fair point. Or I take your point. I take your point on the cost. Number two, can you clarify what you mean by it's too risky? Is it the cost or the timing? Number three, I can see why However. Number four, the reason I'm And remember here we use. The reason is that not the You're right. It's not perfect. But you're right. It's not perfect. But a number six is let me break And here you can use firstly, seven we've got the figures to Number eight, can we verify Number nine if we don't do this And then explain what you think And then the last one number My recommendation is still to. Now as always, don't try and use all ten of them in your next meeting. Pick two or three, practice them, get those comfortable, then come back and add a few more. Okay, so as always, if you need any help or you'd like some more examples, you know where to find me. www.englishlessonviaskype.com you and always happy to help. So this is Harry thanking you for listening and as always, join me again for the next lesson.
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