Vocabulary practice · Episode 61

Review the useful expressions from the episode

Study the episode’s central expressions with English definitions, nuance and examples, plus reviewed support-language versions where available.

B1–B2Everyday EnglishAbout 18 min + dynamic ads5 PDF versions available
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  1. Choose one expression. Read its definition, nuance and examples.
  2. Make it yours. Write one true sentence from your own life.
  3. Return to the episode. Listen for the expression in its original context.

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Vocabulary from the episode

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Expression 1

to project your voice

to make your voice carry further by using breath support and resonance, without straining or shouting

Nuance: Project your voice is actor and speaker training language — it is NOT about being louder, but about being fuller. Good voice projection comes from breathing, posture, and resonance, not volume. Critical for job interviews, presentations, and meetings in English.

Project your voice — speak from the diaphragm, not the throat, and you will be heard without effort.

She practised projecting her voice every morning and in meetings people started asking for her opinion more.

Expression 2

to speak with authority

to speak in a way that conveys confidence, expertise, and credibility — so that people naturally trust and pay attention to what you say

Nuance: Speaking with authority is not about being aggressive or dominant — it is about vocal confidence, clarity, and the absence of hedging. Many learners undermine their excellent English with apologetic tone and excessive 'sorry, but...'.

Speak with authority — slow down, breathe, and trust that what you are about to say is worth hearing.

The moment she stopped apologising for her accent and spoke with authority, the room started listening.

Expression 3

to command attention

to cause others to stop, listen and focus on you — through presence, voice, or delivery rather than noise or aggression

Nuance: Command attention is a quality that comes from confidence, not volume. A person who commands attention in English does not shout — they are clear, deliberate, and calm. For English learners, commanding attention in a second language is a real achievement and a real skill.

You do not need a loud voice to command attention — clarity and pace are more powerful than volume.

She commanded attention not by speaking loudly but by pausing before key points and maintaining eye contact.

Expression 4

to raise your voice

to speak louder than usual — either to be heard in a noisy environment or to convey strong feeling

Nuance: Raise your voice has two very different meanings. In a presentation, raising your voice means increasing volume for emphasis. In a conflict, it means losing control. For English learners, understanding when and how to raise your voice — versus lowering it — is part of expressive communication.

Raise your voice on key words for emphasis, not throughout — selective emphasis is more powerful.

She learned to raise her voice at exactly the right moments and her presentations became more compelling.

Expression 5

to lower your voice

to speak more quietly than usual — for emphasis, to create intimacy, or to draw listeners closer

Nuance: Lower your voice is the counterintuitive power move. A presenter who suddenly speaks very quietly does not lose the room — they pull the room in. Lowering your voice for emphasis is more effective than raising it, because it forces listeners to pay closer attention.

Lower your voice at key moments — it draws listeners in more powerfully than raising it.

She surprised the room by lowering her voice to almost a whisper at the most important line, and everyone leaned in.

Expression 6

to assert yourself

to state your views, needs or rights confidently and clearly — without being aggressive or passive

Nuance: Assert yourself is the confidence verb in communication. In English-speaking professional or social contexts, people who do not assert themselves are often misread as lacking opinions or competence. For learners, asserting yourself in a second language is doubly challenging — but doubly impactful when done well.

Assert yourself in English discussions — state your view clearly and do not wait to be invited.

She learned to assert herself in team meetings instead of waiting to be asked and quickly became more visible.

Expression 7

presence

the quality of being fully and powerfully there — the sense that a person fills a room with their energy, attention, and confidence

Nuance: Presence is the word for the quality that cannot be taught directly but can be developed. Speakers with presence are not necessarily the loudest or the most eloquent — they are the most fully there. They do not check their phone, they do not rush, they do not apologise for existing in the room.

Presence is developed through practice — the more you speak English in public, the more natural your presence becomes.

She walked into the room with presence and before she had spoken a word, the room was already paying attention.

Expression 8

to hold the floor

to maintain control of a conversation or discussion — keeping speaking without being interrupted or losing the audience

Nuance: Hold the floor is the parliamentary phrase for keeping your turn to speak. In meetings, presentations, and discussions, knowing how to hold the floor — using transitions, varying pace, building to key points — is a communicative power skill that English learners rarely practise deliberately.

Hold the floor with transition phrases like 'and furthermore', 'what this means is', 'let me come back to that'.

She held the floor for twenty minutes in a heated discussion without once losing the audience's attention.

Expression 9

to make your point

to communicate your central idea clearly so that it is understood and remembered by the listener

Nuance: Make your point is the communication goal for every sentence you speak. In English, making a point effectively means: stating it simply, supporting it with evidence, and landing on it deliberately. Many learners talk around their point — they build up to it and never quite say it. Learning to make your point directly is a fluency leap.

Make your point early in English — do not build up to it, state it and then explain.

She used to take three minutes to make a point that could be made in thirty seconds, and she worked on this directly.

Expression 10

to vary your tone

to change the pitch, speed, and expressiveness of your voice rather than speaking in a flat, monotonous way

Nuance: Vary your tone is the musicality instruction for speech. Monotone delivery makes even good content feel dull. By varying tone — rising on questions, dropping on conclusions, speeding up in lists, slowing before key points — you make your English both more natural and more engaging.

Vary your tone when presenting — a monotone voice loses the listener within two minutes.

She recorded her presentation, realised her tone was flat throughout, and practised varying it by phrase.

Expression 11

the three-part rule

A speaking structure that organises an answer into three clear points.

Nuance: Groups of three are memorable and often sound complete in speeches.

Use the three-part rule to organise your opinion.

Her answer followed a simple three-part rule.

Expression 12

to buy time

To gain a short period in which to think or prepare.

Nuance: In conversation it often describes phrases that prevent an awkward silence.

Let me think is a natural way to buy time.

He asked a question to buy time before answering.

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