Practical/ Functional English- Making a point vs. Making a Proposal

Hey!

I've mentioned in class a couple of times that whenever we are speaking in English, with any kind of communicative purposes, aside from using some given grammatical and lexical structures, we are fulfilling a particular function (or various), and such endeavor usually requires utilizing some rather fixed expressions; not because we fancy doing so, but because our interlocutor is more likely to fully understand and even agree to respond to our communicative intentions accordingly.

Find below some handy expressions for both making a point and a proposal.

A) How to make a point

Making a point

- There are several reasons why I think that...

- The reason (why) I say that is...

- The facts suggest.../ The evidence shows...

- After all, ...

- The point is...

- If you think about it...

Clarifying a point

- What I'm basically saying is...

- The point I'm trying to make is...

- Actually,.../ In fact, ...

- Let me put it this way...

- I think you'll find that...

Challenging a point

- Do you think that's always the case?

- Can you be sure about that?

- Is there any way/evidence to prove that?

- But that's not the point.

- But that doesn't take account of the fact that...

B) Making a proposal

Introducing your proposal

- Just to give you a bit of background information...

- To start with, I'm going to talk briefly about...

Stating the purpose

- The aim of the project is to...

- The main goal/objective of our proposal is to...

Describing the Idea:

- What we plan to do is...

- We plan to build/ develop/ come up with...

Justifying your Idea:

- This solution will help us to... This idea is feasible because...

Listing the benefits:

- In the first instance/ place, this would mean...

- The short-term/long-term goal benefits include...

Summarising your proposal:

- So, basically, what we're proposing (to do) is...

- to sum up, we're proposing...

Soliciting questions:

- Is there anything that needs clarification?

- Does anyone have any questions? (Duh!)

All these expressions have proven to be extremely useful in any kind of (real or fictional) communicative situation in which expressing one's views and trying to make any project succeed were the main goal!

Enjoy!