Enter the conversation when a clarification is necessary without dismissing the speaker.
Your situation
You completed the main project but received feedback that your updates were difficult to follow. You want a practical improvement goal.
Known detail: the next review is in four weeks and the team holds a weekly planning meeting. Your communication task is to agree what a useful update should contain. Keep that task in mind while practising the language; accuracy matters more than sounding elaborate.
| Your role | a team member |
|---|---|
| Other person | your manager |
| What is unresolved | the updates did not make risks and next steps clear |
| Possible agreed outcome | you will use a short update with progress, risk and next action |
A useful language pattern
May I pause you there for a moment? I want to check …
A brief reason helps the interruption support the discussion rather than derail it.
Example: “May I pause you there for a moment? I want to check how that affects our plan to agree what a useful update should contain.” This is one way to express the idea. Change the wording when the actual situation calls for a different level of formality.
| Less useful wording | Stop. You are wrong. |
|---|---|
| Clearer follow-up | You mentioned the timing. How does it relate to the fact that the updates did not make risks and next steps clear? |
Example exchange
An illustrative exchange. Real conversations will take a different path.
YouMay I pause you there for a moment? I want to check how that affects our plan to agree what a useful update should contain.
PartnerOf course. Which part would you like to clarify?
YouYou mentioned the timing. How does it relate to the fact that the updates did not make risks and next steps clear?
PartnerLet us confirm what we have agreed and what still needs checking.
Vocabulary for this conversation
| constructive feedback | comments intended to help someone improve |
|---|---|
| expectation | what someone is required or hoped to do |
| development goal | a specific capability or behaviour to improve |
An eight-minute practice
- Minute 1: read the situation and identify what is known, what is uncertain and what you need to agree what a useful update should contain.
- Minutes 2–3: Interrupt once to clarify an important detail, then invite the speaker to continue.
- Minutes 4–5: ask a partner to reply differently from the example. Respond to their meaning rather than restarting your prepared answer.
- Minutes 6–7: review the three criteria below. Rewrite one unclear sentence using shorter, more specific words.
- Minute 8: repeat the difficult exchange without looking at the model. Finish by confirming the next step.
Make the exercise easier or harder
You do not need an idiom or a complicated sentence to sound professional. Check that the listener understands the message, can ask a question and knows which action follows. This exercise does not assess your accent or certify a language level.
| More support | Keep this pattern visible: May I pause you there for a moment? I want to check … Practise one exchange at a time and ask the other person to speak more slowly when needed. |
|---|---|
| More challenge | Add a new constraint: the other person cannot answer immediately. Keep the discussion accurate while you agree what a useful update should contain. |
| For your actual work | Replace the fictional detail “the next review is in four weeks and the team holds a weekly planning meeting” with an appropriate, non-confidential example from your work. |
Your working sheet
Write your own version below. Notes are saved on this browser when local storage is available. Use Download to keep a separate copy; avoid adding confidential information on a shared device.
Example: May I pause you there for a moment? I want to check how that affects our plan to agree what a useful update should contain.
Example: Of course. Which part would you like to clarify?
Example: You mentioned the timing. How does it relate to the fact that the updates did not make risks and next steps clear?
Example: Let us confirm: you will use a short update with progress, risk and next action. Have I understood correctly?
Review your work
Tick only what you can support with your answer or practice. This is a reflection checklist, not an automated assessment.
Questions about this resource
Do I need advanced English for this exercise?
Start with the sentence pattern and a short exchange. If that is comfortable, use the harder variation. The exercise can be adapted to your ability and does not assign a formal language level.
What should I focus on in performance reviews?
The practical task is to agree what a useful update should contain. Check that your language helps the other person understand the facts and respond to the request.
Can I use this dialogue at work?
Adapt it to the real situation. Do not repeat fictional details or commitments. The useful part is the communication pattern: May I pause you there for a moment? I want to check …
Original fictional language practice. Model answers are examples, not the only correct wording. The self-review is not a formal language assessment. About these resources.