Overcoming the B2 plateau when speaking in English

Here you are some expressions to improve your speaking and to overcome the B2 plateau when speaking in English:

I THINK

• It seems to me (that)...

• I have the impression that... Personally,

• To my mind,

• I don’t know about you, but I ...

• I feel (strongly) that...

• I very firmly feel.../I’m a firm believer that...

• I (strongly) believe that...

• Speaking from personal experience, For me personally,

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

• How do you feel about...?

• What's your take on...?

• Where do you stand on....?

• What are your thoughts on this? What do you reckon (informal)?

GENERAL OPINIONS:

• It is generally accepted/believed that It is evident that

• Studies suggest that.../The evidence suggests that...

KEEPING YOUR LISTENER ENGAGED:

• Rhetorical questions (questions you don’t really expect an answer for, you sort of answer them yourself): What do I mean by that? / Is smoking dangerous? Of course it is

• As you very well know, ...

AGREEING:

• Absolutely /Exactly /Definitely

• I see what you mean

• I see your point

• I couldn’t agree more

• You have a point there.

• You’ve hit the nail on the head

• You took the words right out of my mouth.

DISAGREEING:

• I see your point, but...

• Your point is well taken, but ...

• I beg to differ

• I'm afraid) That’s not always the case

• I fail to see the point (of...)

LOOKING FOR AGREEMENT:

• Wouldn’t you agree...?

• Wouldn’t you say so?

• Question tags (Isn’t it, has it...)

• You know what I mean,

ACCEPTING A SUGGESTION:

• It’s a definite maybe

REJECTING A SUGGESTION:

• To be honest, it’s not really my cup of tea

• To be (perfectly) honest/frank, ...

• Not to put too fine a point on it (=I’m sorry I’m being completely direct and honest)
  

IN GENERAL

• By and large

• In general terms

GIVING EXAMPLES

• By way of an example

• A case in point is..../ ... is a case in point

DIRECT THE CONVERSATION TOWARDS THE TOPIC: • By the way, • Speaking of... • Speaking of which, • That reminds me of...

SUMMARISING: • In a nutshell, • To make a long story short,

• The bottom line is ...

CAUSES:

• This is (largely) due to the fact that

• I consider/believe ... to be a crucial factor The main reason behind this is

• It’s mainly/mostly down to.../on account of...

• In view of...

• Seeing that...

DISCUSSING RESULTS:

• Has a knock-on effect

• Has a(n) (clear) effect/impact

• As a result/On account of

• This invariably/undoubtedly leads to ...

OFFERING SOLUTIONS:

• ...would be a satisfactory solution ...would be a positive outcome

CONCLUSIONS:

• At the end of the day