B21:00
Giving feedback
How do you give someone difficult feedback without upsetting them?
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Goal
Meetings, updates, and talking with colleagues.
Meetings, quick updates, a difficult conversation with a colleague — the situations that trip people up are rarely about vocabulary lists. These exercises put you in those moments so you can practise the phrasing and the register before you need them.
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Showing 13–24 of 24 exercises
How do you give someone difficult feedback without upsetting them?
You need a colleague's help before a deadline. They say: “Hey, what's up?” Explain what you need, acknowledge they're busy, and agree on a time.
Explain what you do (or study) to an eight-year-old, in simple words, without stopping.
Tell the story of a time you had to ask for help and were glad you did.
Tell the story of a time you said something difficult that needed to be said.
Talk about a decision using strong collocations: 'weigh up the options', 'reach a consensus', 'a pressing concern', 'draw a distinction', 'set a precedent'.
Describe three jobs people you know do. Use: shift work, full-time, self-employed, a colleague, a client, overtime, a deadline, a pay rise.
Negotiate a deadline or a price. Use: would you be able to, I was hoping for, could we meet in the middle, that works for me, on one condition.
Role-play leaving a message and making a request. Use: hold on, put you through, get back to you, the line's bad, take a message, first thing tomorrow.
Describe how a busy week went. Use: back-to-back, at short notice, put off, a tight schedule, running late, ahead of schedule, in the nick of time.
Talk about a project you worked on. Use at least four of: coordinate, delegate, prioritise, follow up, iterate, wrap up.
Run through a project update. Use: touch base, circle back, align on, take this offline, action point, blocker, bandwidth, on track.