Admit it. You’ve lost your focus during a virtual meeting. But have you ever been asked a question while you were zoning out?

Whether you’re leading or participating in a meeting, you’ll likely face a wide range of difficult questions at some point in your career. 

In this episode, I give you the communication tools you need to navigate these awkward and challenging moments in meetings.

Episode originally published April 8, 2021.

Original theme music by Lucas Knutter 

Read the transcript at https://www.express-to-impress.com/difficult-questions/. 

Join the Express to Impress community on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/express-to-impress/.

See infographics for this episode on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/ExpresstoImpress/_created/.

Express to Impress

How to Answer Difficult Questions in a Meeting

Regine e Rodolfo parlano dell'incontro con Giulia.

Imparare Ascoltando

INCONTRI IN CITTÀ 4

EP 18 Counting Thousand_Ten Thousand in Chinese_ 1,000 - 10,000 #Day 18 千 Qian & 万 Wan 

Who says Chinese is hard？ 谁说中文很难

Intentional living is a way of living your life. It forces you to get to know yourself and identify what it is that is important to you. You decide how you want to live and what you want to cut out of your life. It forces you to prioritise what you want and live each day in alignment with these priorities. In today’s world we are stressed, overstressed, and anxious all the time and it’s no surprise that intentional living is becoming increasingly popular. But what does it mean to live intentionally?

Matcha & Meditation

Intentional Living

Shay的中文小课堂

Idioms and Slangs Episode1


   a. Penny-pincher - Someone who is overly frugal or tight with money.
      Example: "He's such a penny-pincher; he never spends money on anything unnecessary."
   b. Break the bank - To spend a large amount of money, often beyond one's means.
      Example: "Buying a luxury car would break the bank for me."
   c. Cash cow - A source of consistent and significant income or profit.
      Example: "Their latest product has become a cash cow for the company."
   d. Money talks - The power and influence that money can have.
      Example: "In the business world, money talks, and it can open doors."
   e. Tighten the belt - To reduce expenses or live more frugally.
      Example: "With the unexpected expenses, we'll have to tighten our belt for a while."



IELTS Podcast 雅思博客

 Money-related idioms:

설악산에 다녀왔어요.

나는 지난 주말에 친구들과 함께 설악산에 다녀왔다. 설악산은 한국에서 아주 유명한 산 중 하나이다. 우리는 아침 일찍 출발해서 설악산 국립공원에 도착했다.

처음에는 날씨가 조금 흐렸지만, 공기가 상쾌하고 기분이 좋았다. 우리는 천천히 산을 오르기 시작했다. 산길에는 아름다운 나무와 맑은 계곡이 있었다. 나는 그 풍경이 정말 아름답다고 생각했다.

산을 오르면서 우리는 여러 곳을 구경했다. 먼저 신흥사라는 절을 방문했다. 절은 조용하고 고요해서 마음이 편안해졌다. 절 근처에는 큰 부처님 동상이 있었다. 우리는 그 앞에서 사진을 찍었다.

그 후, 우리는 권금성으로 가는 케이블카를 탔다. 케이블카를 타고 올라가니 멋진 경치가 보였다. 높은 곳에서 아래를 내려다보니 산과 바다가 함께 보여서 정말 아름다웠다. 나는 친구들과 함께 감탄하며 사진을 많이 찍었다.

점심으로 우리는 산에서 유명한 감자전과 막국수를 먹었다. 감자전은 바삭하고 맛있었고, 막국수는 시원하고 맛있었다. 음식을 먹으면서 친구들과 이야기하며 즐거운 시간을 보냈다.

식사 후, 우리는 비룡폭포를 보러 갔다. 폭포는 물이 시원하게 떨어지고 있었고, 소리가 우렁찼다. 나는 폭포 앞에서 손을 씻었는데 물이 아주 차가웠다. 친구들과 함께 폭포 앞에서 사진을 찍고 잠시 쉬었다.

하산할 때는 다리가 조금 아팠지만, 마음은 행복했다. 설악산의 자연은 너무 아름다웠고, 좋은 추억을 많이 만들었다. 다음에 기회가 되면 단풍이 아름다운 가을에 다시 오고 싶다.

이 여행은 정말 즐거운 경험이었다. 😊

한국의 문화

설악산에 다녀왔어요.

One way to improve our language skills is by expressing our thoughts in the target language. For that reason, I have prepared an English conversation class “Express Yourself through A Conversation”. Please feel free to check that lesson here: https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/24647106/english
I have a lot of interesting topics to talk about. But of course, you are welcome to bring up your own topic.

In this episode, I want to show you one example of the discussion topic. It’s about my imaginary city, Subara City 素晴市 （スバラしsu ba ra shi）.   The name is derived from 素晴らしい（すばらしい）and 都市（とし）.   素晴らしい means “wonderful”, “magnificent”.    市 means “city” and when placed at the end of a word can be pronounced as “shi”し.   So here I name my imaginary city 素晴市（スバラしsu ba ra shi）or “Subara City”.  In this episode, I’m introducing English lessons, not Japanese. I just want to let you know how I made up the name.

The theme of the story is that you have just been elected to the council for Subara City. You have 6 billion Yen in your budget. What can you do? Listen through. Below here is a simple worksheet to give you more ideas.

Total budget: 6 billion Yen.

(1) Carbon Footprint
Main cause of pollution is old factories on the edge of the city. They have to be relocated.
Budget: ………………….. Yen

(2) Deprivation and Inequality
You need to establish projects to reduce the percentage of people living below the poverty line.
Budget: ………………….. Yen

(3) Congestion and Mobility
Although the ground in Subara City is considered not suitable for subway infrastructure, recent research has been investigating solutions to tackle the ground issue. This research needs funding.
Budget: ………………….. Yen

(4) Education and Qualifications
The number of grants for teachers to study abroad should be increased.
Budget: ………………….. Yen

(5) Language and Cultural Integration
More investment is needed to ensure that migrants coming to work in your city adapt and integrate into the society.
Budget: ………………….. Yen

Midori no Heya

Make a Difference in Subara City

Speaker: Princess Elizabeth was born in London in 1926. She grew up in London with her younger sister and they were educated at home. She was not expected to become queen when she was born, but in 1936, her uncle King Edward VIII gave up the throne and her father became King George the Sixth. As she had no brothers, Elizabeth would become the next ruler.

Speaker: In 1947, she got engaged to her third cousin, Philip Mountbatten. In 1952, while she was visiting Kenya, the death of King George was announced, and Elizabeth returned immediately to England. She was crowned at Westminster Abbey on the second of June, 1953. For the first time ever, the ceremony was shown on TV and watched by millions of people around the world.

Speaker: Elizabeth’s role as queen was mostly ceremonial: she opened Parliament, met government ministers and signed new laws. However, she was not allowed to express her own political opinions. She also represented Great Britain abroad, visiting countries in the Commonwealth and other nations around the world. The Queen was always instantly recognizable in her classic outfit of matching dress, coat, hat and handbag.

Speaker: Elizabeth loved dogs - corgis were her favorite breed. She also bred and raced horses. Every year at Christmas, the Queen spoke to the nation on TV. In 1992, she described a particularly difficult year, as several of her children’s marriages broke up and a fire destroyed part of her home in Windsor Castle.

Speaker: Elizabeth celebrated many anniversaries and became the longest serving king or queen in British history. Some people felt that a royal family was too expensive for the country, so after 2012, she reduced spending and received less money from the government. Many people continued to find the royal family interesting, as shown by the popularity of TV shows about the Queen and her family, such as The Crown.

Speaker: Philip died in 2021 and the Queen died a year later. Her son became King Charles the Third...