Business English Vocabulary · Lesson 3

Sound Creative When Sharing Ideas and Making Suggestions

From bouncing ideas around to testing the waters: the phrases senior professionals use to brainstorm, make suggestions and respond to other people’s ideas – clear, precise and easy for everyone to understand.

ARead: the brainstorming session

Read the meeting. The phrases in bold are for exercise B. The underlined phrases are useful meeting phrases for exercise C.

Attracting younger guests

A hotel group wants to attract more guests under 35. Elena, the Marketing Director, is running a brainstorming session with three colleagues.

ElenaMarketing DirectorThanks for joining, everyone. Today isn’t about making decisions – it’s about ideas. For the next half hour, I’d like us to bounce ideas around: just say whatever comes into your head, and we’ll build on each other’s suggestions. And let’s make sure everyone’s voice is heard, not only the people who usually talk the most. Tom, please jump in whenever you like.

JakubBrand ManagerOK, I’ll start. I’ve been drawing inspiration from the gaming industry – their apps make people want to come back every day. How about we create an app where guests collect points for every stay?

SaraOperationsI like that. But I think we need to think outside the box a bit more. Every hotel has a points app. What would a company that isn’t a hotel do?

TomFinanceWell, I’d like to put forward a slightly different idea. What if our lobbies became co-working spaces during the day? Young people want somewhere to work that isn’t their kitchen table.

ElenaThat’s interesting. You’ve raised an important point there: our lobbies are almost empty from ten to five.

JakubJust to push back on that a little – wouldn’t our hotel guests find it too noisy?

TomMaybe. But we’d be better off trying it than doing nothing.

SaraExactly. We could test the waters in one hotel – say, Lisbon – for three months, and see how guests react before we spend any real money.

ElenaI think we may have just hit upon something. Nobody else in our market is doing this. Jakub, let’s circle back to your app idea at the end – it could work together with this.

JakubSure. As I touched upon earlier, the app could do much more than collect points. It could let people book a desk as well as a room.

TomAnd if the trial doesn’t work, we might as well use the lobby for events instead. It’s empty anyway, so we have nothing to lose.

ElenaGreat. In hindsight, we should have looked at this years ago. OK – who can come up with a name for the Lisbon trial by Friday?

Bold = key words (exercise B)Underlined = meeting phrases (exercise C)

BKey words from the meeting

Based on the meeting, choose the phrase that matches each definition. Then complete the example sentence. You may need to change the form of the phrase.

To try something on a small scale, to see how people react before you commit to it

“Let’s launch in one city first to .”
To think of an idea, a plan or a solution

“Could you a few options by Friday?”
To share and discuss ideas informally in a group, building on each other’s suggestions

“Let’s get the team together this afternoon and .”
To make sure that every person in a group has a chance to give their opinion

“In large meetings, a good chair will always .”
To discover a good idea suddenly, or by chance

“After hours of discussion, we finally the perfect name.”
To get ideas from a particular person, place or thing

“Our designers often nature.”
To think creatively, in a new or unusual way

“If we want to stand out from our competitors, we need to .”

CWhat would you say?

Read each situation from a meeting. Which phrase would you use?

DSay it better

Each sentence below is correct, but it sounds simple. Rewrite it using a phrase from this lesson, then compare your version with the model answer.

“Let’s all share our ideas together.”

Use: bounce

Show model answer
“Let’s bounce some ideas around.”
“We need some very creative and unusual ideas.”

Use: box

Show model answer
“We really need to think outside the box on this one.”
“Let’s try it in one shop first and see what happens.”

Use: waters

Show model answer
“Let’s test the waters in one shop before we roll it out.”
“I don’t agree with that.”

Use: push back

Show model answer
“Just to push back on that a little – I’m not sure it would work for our clients.”
“We made a mistake. We should have started earlier.”

Use: hindsight

Show model answer
“In hindsight, we should have started earlier.”
“We have nothing to lose, so let’s send them the proposal.”

Use: might as well

Show model answer
“We might as well send them the proposal.”

EKey words in a new context

Complete the article with the phrases from the box. You may need to change the form of some of the words.

Word box

come up with
make sure everyone’s voice is heard
bounce ideas around
push back
think outside the box
draw inspiration from
circle back to
raise an important point
hit upon
test the waters
in hindsight
might as well

Leadership blogHow to run a brainstorming session that actually works

Most brainstorming sessions fail for the same reason: the same two or three people do all the talking. If you want your team to genuinely new ideas, you need to – for example, by asking each person to write down three ideas before anyone speaks.

Start with a clear question, then let people freely for twenty minutes. At this stage, nobody should criticise. If someone wants to on an idea, ask them to wait until later.

Encourage people to . One useful exercise is to a completely different industry: how would an airline solve this problem? How would a games company?

Keep a “parking space” on the whiteboard for interesting topics that aren’t relevant right now, and promise to them at the end. And whenever someone , write it down so that it isn’t forgotten.

Sometimes a group a great idea in the first ten minutes; sometimes it takes three sessions. When you think you have one, don’t launch it straight away. Instead, with a small trial or a few trusted customers.

Finally, review each session afterwards. , what worked and what didn’t? And if a session produces no good ideas at all? You end it early and try again next week. Forcing creativity rarely works.

Use it well

Three things professionals often mix up when they share ideas.

Come up with or hit upon?

Come up with – think of an idea, usually through effort.

Hit upon (or hit on) – discover an idea suddenly, almost by luck.

We spent a week trying to come up with a name, then hit upon one over lunch.

Disagreeing politely

Push back sounds professional, but it is still disagreement, so soften it:

Just to push back on that a little… Can I push back on that slightly?

Small words like just, a little and slightly make a big difference.

Might as well or better off?

We might as well… – there’s nothing to lose. It sounds unenthusiastic.

We’d be better off… – this option is clearly better. It is followed by -ing.

We might as well ask. / We’d be better off asking now.

Glossary

All the phrases from this lesson.

Generating ideas

to bounce ideas aroundto share and discuss ideas informally in a group
to make sure everyone’s voice is heardto make sure every person has a chance to give their opinion
to draw inspiration fromto get ideas from a particular person, place or thing
to think outside the boxto think creatively, in a new or unusual way
to come up withto think of an idea, a plan or a solution
to hit uponto discover a good idea suddenly, or by chance
to test the watersto try something on a small scale first, to see how people react

Meeting phrases

How about we…?making a friendly, informal suggestion
I’d like to put forward…presenting an idea or a proposal more formally
We’d be better off…saying that one option is clearly better
We might as well…suggesting something because there is nothing to lose
You’ve raised an important point.showing that you think someone’s point matters
Just to push back on that…disagreeing politely
Let’s circle back to…returning to a topic later
As I touched upon earlier…referring to something you mentioned briefly before
In hindsight, we should have…saying, looking back, what would have been better