Hello there, and welcome to the very first module of this course,
which is politely contributing to conversations.
In this first class, Some civility, please,
you will be learning effective ways of interrupting politely
so that you can add important information or points to a conversation.
Now, in this class, you will first be getting a brief overview
of what is meant by the terms discussion and debate.
After that, you will learn some very effective and useful phrases for politely interrupting.
Now, what is a discussion?
Well, put simply, a discussion is a conversation between two or more people.
Additionally, when we think of the word discussion,
we typically think of a spoken format.
However, that's not always the case.
Think about the last time that you opened up your social media account.
I'm sure that you saw plenty of discussions being carried out in a written or typed format.
Now, another thing to keep in mind about discussions is that they are not competitions.
The participants in a discussion typically have an open mind,
and they want to understand the other person's point of view.
One last thing to keep in mind about discussions is that typically they are informed.
That is not to say that you cannot have formal discussions, but by and large,
the majority are in fact informal.
Now, what is a debate?
Well, a debate differs from a discussion in the fact that it is a competition.
It also differs from a discussion in the fact that the participants are there to win.
They are not there to open their minds or to expand their perspective
or to even understand the other person's point of view.
And one last thing to keep in mind about a debate is that typically they are formal.
Think of political debates or debates that are carried out at universities.
Now, you might be wondering to yourself,
why should I even bother being polite to begin with?
Well, I have a few reasons for you.
To begin with, sometimes the situation demands it.
I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but at the end of this course,
you will be asked to participate in a debate.
And guess what? Exactly.
The situation demands that you are polite.
Another reason that you might want to consider being polite
is that there's already such an abundance of nasty discussions out there.
And when it takes very little effort to be polite,
why not try and add a little bit of positive energy to your discussion,
even if you don't see eye to eye with the other participants.
And the final reason that you might want to consider being polite is that being polite
helps us to get what we want.
I'm sure that you have heard of this phrase before.
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
And being polite is the best way to get what you want.
Now that you have a good understanding of what is meant by the terms discussion
and debate, it's time to look at some specific phrases
so that you can interrupt politely.
Now, in the English language,
we have several words that we can use that naturally sound polite
and are excellent for starting off an interruption.
Let's go through them one at a time.
Can, would, let, and sorry.
We're going to take a closer look at each of these words
and some specific phrases that you can use to politely interrupt.
So to begin with, can.
Oh my goodness, definitely not that type of can.
I'm talking about the can that you use to politely ask for permission,
such as, can I interrupt for a moment?
Or can I add something here?
And finally, can I stop you there for a moment?
Let's move on to another word, would.
Oh my goodness, definitely not that type of would.
They're not even spelled the same way.
Anyway, let's take a look at a phrase that you can use with would,
such as, would you mind if I jumped in here?
Now an important thing to keep in mind when using this phrase
or when someone else uses the phrase to interrupt you,
please keep in mind that the best way to answer this
would be by saying no, as in, no, I don't mind if you interrupt.
Let's take a look at another phrase using would.
Would it be okay if I added something here?
And yes, you guessed it.
You do also want to be careful when responding to this interruption.
So you may want to say sure, as in, sure, go ahead,
it's okay if you add something here to this conversation.
Moving on to let.
No, not that type of let.
Anyway, I hope you're a tennis fan.
Let's take a look at some phrases that begin with let.
For example, let me jump in here if you don't mind.
Or let me add something here,
and let me interrupt a moment.
Moving along to sorry.
Yes, finally the correct picture.
This is the sorry that I'm talking about.
Let's look at some phrases that begin with sorry.
For example, sorry for interrupting, but,
and, I'm sorry to interrupt, but, and finally,
sorry, but may I interrupt for a moment?
Now I'd like to go over an important point
regarding politely interrupting and the situation or the context
that you find yourself in.
I have a question for you.
Do you think it's appropriate to use
the same phrases that we just finished going over
in a very formal setting?
Most of the time, probably not.
And just to be on the safe side,
I want to show you a few phrases that you can be sure
will be appropriate even in a very formal situation.
So let's take a look.
First one would be, pardon me, or excuse me.
And you can also use before you move on.
Now I'd like you to think about a situation
in which you find yourself regularly in which you might need to interrupt,
but that it's a formal situation.
Take a moment and think, pause the video if you need to.
One of those formal situations that I'm talking about
could be a business meeting.
For example, I want you to imagine that you're in a business meeting
and the person that is chairing or leading the meeting
is about to move on from one point to the next,
but you have an important point that you want to make, and it has to be now.
So you could say something like, pardon me, but I'd like to add an important point.
Now at that moment is when you are going to add the important point.
You could also say, before you move on, I'd like to make an important point.
If we were to change the policy now,
it might have an adverse effect on our existing customers.
Now that you've had an opportunity to see
a bunch of different useful phrases
for politely interrupting in both informal and formal situations,
I have a challenge for you.
I'd like to invite you to go to the resource section of this class
where you will find a worksheet,
and in that worksheet you will find several short but incomplete dialogues.
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it,
is to complete each of the dialogues with
an appropriate phrase for politely interrupting.
And I'd appreciate it greatly if when you're finished,
you could leave a comment in the discussion panel.
Was the activity too easy or too difficult?
What were some of the phrases that you used to interrupt?
And lastly, perhaps you have another phrase that you've learned
that wasn't covered in this class.
Feel free to share it in the comments.
So good luck, and I'll see you in the next class.