Confidence is everything in the workplace, and if you can sound confident in the workplace, then it can definitely have a positive effect on your career and how people perceive your professionalism and capabilities.
Confidence becomes an even more important issue if you are in a leadership position because confidence shows that you can lead the company in uncertain situations, and you can handle projects and also assure others.
One aspect of being confident is all about the posture as well as the dressing sense, but then again, there is also tone.
If you have already sorted out those issues, then there is only one thing left, and that is what kind of language you are utilising at work.
This is because it is not just enough to speak in English, because certain very powerful English phrases will make you sound much more confident.
These phrases will make all the difference when you are giving presentations or writing emails, or even managing your team from a leadership position and anything else at work.
So we are going to look at some of these powerful and highly professional English phrases that will make you sound more confident at work, so let’s begin.
Powerful English Phrases to Sound More Confident at Work
“Let’s explore some options.”
The first very powerful phrase you can put out there has to be “Let’s explore some options.” This is because when people are not sure about something, they usually say something in the lines of “I don’t know how I feel about this”.
It is alright to not be sure about something, but if you say it in a way that does not show confidence, then that is not really very productive. Instead, if you say that you need to explore some options and brainstorm something new, then that is much more powerful.
“I recommend…” instead of “I think…”
The difference between a regular English speaker and someone who commands respect and admiration and shows confidence is simply utilising “I recommend…” instead of “I think…”.
When you say “I think…”, it is just not powerful enough, and it sounds like you are simply putting forward your opinion, and you are requesting others to follow it.
Instead of that, if you start using “I recommend…”, that shows command over the situation, and that shows that you have considered every angle in this matter and that you are providing your very valuable opinion and proposing an idea or strategy or even a solution.
That is confidence.
“Here’s what I suggest.”
The fact of the matter is that you might not be in a position of authority or leadership at work, but leaders don’t just become that in one single day when they are promoted; they show signs of leadership every day and convince their leadership that they are fit for the role.
If you want to sound confident like that and offer direction in a discussion without even being a decision maker, then you can utilise “here’s what I suggest.”
This does not say that you want to be the leader, but it says that you are confident about your position on a matter.
“I’m confident this will work because…”
People are more likely to accept your ideas if you can provide evidence and back it up with reasoning, and that is exactly what this phrase will do for you. It will set the premise for your ideas at work.
If you arrive at a situation where someone is doubting your approach or if you have to present your ideas regarding something, the simplest way to do it is to just say, “I’m confident this will work because…”.
Sometimes simplicity is the most powerful tool.
“Let’s circle back on this.”
Let’s say you are in a meeting and your subordinate presented you with a very nice idea, but there is simply no budget overhead to explore that, or there is simply no time to explore this new idea.
In this situation, you do not want to demotivate your subordinate, and you do not want them to stop sharing innovative ideas like this.
In this situation, you would also like to sound confident about your trust in your employees.
So, if you say something like “let me think about it later”, it is going to have a negative effect.
However, instead of that, if you just say, “Let’s circle back on this.” This keeps the conversation moving and shows that you have already set your mind on getting back to the idea later on, which is quite motivating.
“That aligns with our goals.”
If you want to support your colleague at work because you really liked their idea on something, then people usually say “I agree with this” or “this sounds really good”.
Of course, these will work, but they do not sound just as confident, and they do not sound powerful.
If you want to sound powerful in this situation and also show confidence, and even show that you are always thinking of the bigger picture, you can say, “That aligns with our goals.”
“Let me clarify…”
Every workplace has its share of disagreements regarding different topics and every workplace has situations where someone is misunderstood.
If you are that unfortunate person on a particular day and you have been accused of not working properly or not putting in your level best towards something, do not get defensive and do not apologise in this situation.
This is your time to put forward your perspective and the most professional and powerful way to do it is to start with “Let me clarify…”.
This shows that you still have hold of the situation and that you would like others to understand your position.
“I’d like your feedback on this.”
Confidence is not just about sounding powerful because sometimes it is also about sounding more open and showcasing a collaborative spirit while also maintaining ownership.
That is why if you want to include your colleague in something and also show that you value that opinion on this while also sounding confident and professional, you can either say “what do you think about this?”.
It will get the job done, but it is not powerful enough.
Instead of that, you should say, “I’d like your feedback on this.” This is exactly how you can seek input or a review on something without appearing unsure.
“I’ll follow up on that.”
Half the time, showing initiative is confidence and if you have been trusted with something by your colleagues, you can go the extra mile and take ownership of an action or request.
In order to do this, you simply need to say, “I’ll follow up on that.”
This will show that you deeply care about the request they have for you and that you are definitely going to follow up on it at your own initiative and take ownership of the situation.
This will show initiative and it will also showcase your ability to take responsibility, which in itself will show confidence.
“This is what we know so far…”
Things do not always go according to plan at the workplace because sometimes things just go out of control.
That is the complete opposite of confidence, and this is when uncertainty stays at an all-time high.
Perhaps all your systems are down, or something went wrong in the manufacturing process and you have to recall entire batches of product or perhaps some important data got messed up.
This might sound like a bad situation, but this is also an opportunity to showcase confidence. In order to do that, you just need to say “This is what we know so far…”.
If you say this, then you are basically saying that you still have some degree of control over this situation and that you are not completely uncertain.
We hope this blog has been helpful for you and we certainly feel these powerful English phrases will make you sound much more confident at work.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sounding confident at the workplace and at any institution you are part of.
If you would like to utilise the most perfect and immaculate professional English in professional situations and interact with your colleagues with the utmost level of confidence, we are here for you.
We present to you Love U English, the most methodically created English courses based on the CLT method of learning English.
Our English courses are designed by the best English educators in the industry to help professionals speak fluent English at the workplace and also help students learn fluent spoken English to improve their future career prospects.
We welcome you to visit our website and check out more details.
