Using personal examples
Use personal examples to make spoken answers specific, believable and memorable — quickly and briefly.
In this lesson you will
- Add short, specific personal examples
- Use example language naturally
- Keep examples relevant and brief
Learn
Examples make answers specific. I like group work is vague; Last semester, my group split a big project and finished a week early is convincing.
Example language: For example, For instance, Once, Last year, When I was…, In my experience…
Keep it short: one or two sentences; then link back: …so that’s why I prefer…
Examples can be simple: you don’t need dramatic stories. Invented-but-realistic examples are fine in speaking practice as long as they answer the question.
Examples
- For instance, last week I used a flashcard app on the bus and learned thirty new words.
- In my experience, studying with music makes me slower.
- When I was in high school, our teacher made us present every Friday — that’s how I got more confident.
Vocabulary
specific
clear and detailed
relevant
connected to the question
convincing
making people believe
brief
short
link back
connect to the main point
Practice
More specific:
Speaking
Answer with one specific example each (30 seconds): What’s a useful skill you learned recently? Do you prefer paper books or e-books? How do you deal with stress before exams?
Lesson quiz
Examples make answers more convincing.
Review
Key points
- Specific examples.
- Example language.
- Brief and relevant.
- Link back.
What you learned
- ✓ I use personal examples.
- ✓ My answers are specific.
- ✓ I link examples to points.