How to Give Feedback

Giving and getting feedback is part of effective communication. Giving feedback is a good way to encourage and motivate others. Getting feedback gives people the opportunity to reflect on their learning/ teaching process or their performance at work.

What does feedback mean?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, feedback is:

“an opinion from someone about something that you have done or made”

If there are things that need to be improved you can provide constructive criticism to help others advance in their learning/ teaching process or careers.

The purpose of giving feedback and constructive criticism is to lead others to improve in the longer term. Therefore, when giving feedback it is important that you avoid judging or giving negative comments or remarks.

Here you have some sentence starters that you can use to give positive feedback:

PRACTICE TIME

Imagine that you are a manager in a tech company. One of your assistants has developed a software that will help the company save a lot of money. However, the software is not user friendly (difficult to use). Your assistant has presented his/ her project in the last weekly meeting. Give him/ her some feedback.

Write your feedback in the comments below.

Useful English Phrases for Better Communication

If you don’t understand what other people say, it’s a good idea to ask for clarification instead of saying:

“I don’t understand” or “Sorry, my English is very bad”

Here there is a list of useful expressions for asking for clarification. These expressions will help you speak fluently and communicate better with your classmates or colleagues. It’s important that you learn how to pronounce each of the phrases correctly. There is an audio below each phrase so you can check the pronunciation that will help you learn them easily.

  1. Pardon me?
Listen and Repeat

2. Excuse me. Could you repeat that, please?

Listen and Repeat

3. Could you say that again?

Listen and Repeat

4. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you properly.

Listen and Repeat

5. I’m sorry, I missed that.

Listen and Repeat

6. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.

Listen and Repeat

7. What do you mean?

Listen and Repeat

8. What does _________ mean?

Listen and Repeat

9. Could you give an example?

Listen and Repeat

10. Did you say ________? (say the word you heard)

Listen and Repeat

Practice Time

Read each of the sentences out load and record yourself using your cellphone or your computer. Listen to your voice.

  1. For you, what sounds/ words are difficult to pronounce?
  2. For you, what is the easiest phrase? How many times can you say it without making a mistake?

Share your answers in the comments below.

Related:

Essential Vocabulary for Online Meetings

Useful English Phrases to Ask for Help