1. Landmarks as City Icons , from One World - Nations Online
2. List of Phrases to use for turn-taking
Interrupting
(I’m afraid) I can’t let you go on without (saying)…
Before I forget,…
Before you continue, (can I just say)…
Before you go on,…
Before you move on,…
Can I/ Could I (just) say something (here)?
Can I/ Could I come in (here/ there)?
Can I/ Could I interrupt you (for a minute/ moment/ second)?
Can I/ Could I just?
Can I/ Could I stop you there?
Excuse me/ Sorry for interrupting, but…
Excuse the interruption, but…
I don’t like to interrupt, but…I don’t mean to interrupt, but…
I hate to interrupt (you) (in full flow), but…
I have something to say (on this point).
I know it’s rude to interrupt, but…
I wouldn’t usually interrupt, but…
I’d like to make a point here (if I can/ could/ may/ might).
I’ll interrupt you there.
I’ll let you finish in a minute, but…
I’ll stop you there.
I’m afraid I have to stop you there.
If I can/ could/ may/ might (just) interrupt you (for just a minute/ moment/ second),
I’d like to…
If I may/ might…
If it’s okay to interrupt,…
If you don’t mind me interrupting,…
If you think that sounds boring/ exciting/ frightening,…
If you will allow me (to say something/ to speak for a second),…
Is this a good time to…?
Just wait until you hear…
May I interrupt?
May I(…)?
Me too! In fact,…
Perhaps I could…
Sorry for butting in, but…
Sorry for not letting you finish, but…
Sorry to butt in, but…
Sorry to interrupt, but…
Sorry to stop you in full flow, but…
Sorry, can I just…?
Sorry,…
That reminds me of…
That’s nothing!...
The same (kind of) thing happened to me the other day.
This may/ might be a good point to…
This may/ might be the right time to say/ ask…
Would this be a good time to…?
Accepting the turn when offered it
Thanks. (I won’t take long).
What I wanted to say was…
What was I going to say? Oh yes,…
Speaking first
Although you probably know more about this than me,…
Can I go ahead?
Can I speak first?
I can see you want to say something about this, but…
Before you get started,…
I’d like to start the discussion by…
May I?
Shall I get us started?
Shall I start the discussion?
2. Keeping your turn
Stopping other people interrupting/ Refusing interruption
(I have) just one more point (to make).
(I’m/ I’ve) nearly finished.
(Just) one more thing (before you interrupt).Before you have your say,…
Before you interrupt,…
Before you reply,…
Can I/ Could I just finish (my sentence/ this point/ what I was saying)?
I can see that you want to interrupt, but…
I can see that you want to say something (about this), but…
I haven’t (quite) finished (my point) (yet).
I haven’t (quite) finished what I was saying.
I haven’t got to my main point (yet), which is…
I just want to make one more point/ say one more thing before you have your say.
I know what you’re going to say.
I know you’re dying to jump in, but…
I won’t take long.
If I can/ could just finish (what I was saying/ what I wanted to say/ this one point),…
If you’d allow me to finish…
Please (just) let me finish.
Please allow me to finish.
That is the next point I want to get to, once I’ve finished…
You probably want to say…, but…
Signalling that you are going to continue
And that was just the beginning of the story.
And that’s not all.
And then it got even worse.
And what’s more,…
But you haven’t heard the half of it.
Furthermore,…
In addition,…
Not only that, but…
You might think that is all there is to say on the matter, but…
Taking the turn back/ Continuing what you were going to say/ Getting back on track
(Mmm. Good point.) Anyhow/ Anyway/ Anyhoo,…
As I was saying (before I was interrupted),…
Can I/ Could I get back to you later on that?
Can we get back to the point on the agenda?
Carrying on from where I/ we left off,…
Getting back on track,…
Getting back to the point at hand,…
I’ll come/ I’ll be coming on to that (point/ question) later.
If I can return to the original topic,…
Perhaps we can talk about that later (but…)
Shall I carry on?
To get back on topic,…
To get back to the point at hand/ to what I was saying,…
We seem to be getting off the point.
What was I saying?/ Where was I?/ Where were we? Oh yes,…
3. Getting other people speaking
Getting the other person to speak first
(No, please). After you.
Age before beauty
I’d like to hear your opinion before I comment.
I’m not sure what I want to say yet, so…
I'll let you go first.
Ladies first.
Please go ahead.
You know more about this than me, so…
You must have an opinion on this, so…
Offering other people the chance to speak
(Now) I’d be (very) interested to hear your views (on…)/ what you think (about…)
…, but I’d be interested in hearing your take on it.
…, but I’m sure you have another point of view.
…, right?
Am I right?
Any (initial) thoughts on…?
But that’s enough from me.
Can you give me your thoughts on…?
Do you agree?
Do you have an opinion on…?
Do you have any (particular) thoughts/ views on…?
Do you have any opinions on/ about…?
Do you think…?
Do you/ Did you want to add anything?
Does anyone want to say anything before we move on?
Don't you think (so)?
And you?
How about you?
(Now) I'd like to hear what you think (about…)/ your views (on…).
From your point of view,…?
How do you feel about…?
I imagine you will have strong opinions on…
I know this is not your specialist subject, but…
I know you haven’t had much time to think about this, but…
Or am I just talking nonsense?
Or not?
Please tell me your opinion on…
What are your (first) thoughts on…?
What are your feelings about…?
What are your views on…?
What do you reckon?
What do you think (about…)?
What reaction do you have to…?
What’s your experience (of this)?
What’s your opinion (on this)?
What’s your position on…?
What’s your take on…?
What’s your view on…?
Would you agree (that…)?
You haven’t said anything yet.
You must have a view on this too.
Asking for more details
And then?
Dish!
How did you get out of that?
What happened?
What are you going to do about it?
So?
Keeping other people speaking with interested noises etc
(I’m) sorry to hear that.
Amazing!
Congratulations!/ Well done!
Shudder!
Glad to hear it!
Ha!
How wonderful/ exciting/ depressing/ embarrassing/ ironic!
I don’t believe it!
I know./ I know (just) what you mean.
Never mind!
Nice!
Lucky you!
No!?/ No way!
Oh my goodness!
Really?
That sounds great/ awful/ horrible.
That was close!
That’s a pity!/ That’s a shame!
That’s amazing!
Well I never!/ Well I never did!
What a pity!/ What a shame!
Whoops!
Wow!
You lucky thing!/ You poor thing!
You’re joking!?
Signalling the end of your turn
And so on.
Etcetera etcetera.
I could go on.
I think I’ve made my point.
Sorry for waffling on.
That’s all I wanted to say.
Which just about covers it.
(I think) you get the idea.
Turning down the chance to speak
I can’t add anything to that.
I don’t have any view on this at all.
I think you’ve covered everything.
I’m still just digesting what you said.
I’m still thinking about what I want to say.
Changing your mind about interrupting
I was going to interrupt, but…
I’ll let you finish.
No no, you go on.
No, it’s okay. I’ve forgotten what I was going to say.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.
Sorry, I thought you’d finished.
That’s okay, you’ve already answered my question.
Ending your interruption
Sorry, please carry on./ Sorry, please go on.
Sorry, you were going to say?
Sorry, you were saying?
Sorry, you were saying…
Sorry. What were you saying?
(2) Ref. for teachers: “Taking Turns and Talking Naturally: Teaching Conversational
Turn-Taking” Donald Carroll (including activities for practice) from Pragmatics: