Reflect and Discuss

Roundtable Preparation

Roundtable Discussions are live, small-group (max 4 students) conversations centering on the topics raised in the TED talk. Guided by an American business trainer with more than 35 years of professional experience, the Roundtable Discussions are designed to help you build fluency and confidence in spontaneous conversation with other advanced-level English speakers from around the world.

Read more about Roundtable Discussions >>

Prepare for the Roundtable Discussion by reflecting on the questions below. Practice answering them using vocabulary that was introduced in this lesson. You’ll get the best practice if you practice answering by speaking out loud.

• Let’s start by reviewing some of the key vocabulary in this lesson.
  • Would you describe yourself or someone you know as stoic? How do you/they behave?
  • Can you describe a situation where you got more of something than you bargained for?
  • In what ways do you sometimes undermine yourself? Has anyone ever undermined you? What happened?
  • Would you describe yourself as an under-emoter or an over-emoter? Why?
  • What actions can you take to flag your feelings?
  • How do you react to a looming deadline?
  • What can you do to read the room?
  • In your teen years, what things were you prone to that you are no longer prone to as an adult?

• Can you give a clear and concise summary of the video? Try to include the follow points:
  • a pervasive myth about emotions and the workplace
  • research findings regarding emotional connections in the workplace
  • the two extremes: sharing too much and sharing too little
  • the solution

• Liz offers four suggestions for finding the perfect emotional balance at work. The first suggestion is to flag your feelings without becoming emotionally leaky.
  • Can you explain this suggestion as if you were speaking to someone who has not seen the video?
  • Explain exactly why, according to Liz, this suggestion is important. What might happen if you don’t follow this suggestion? And how might things improve if you follow this tip?

• The second tip is to try to understand the need behind your emotion.
  • Clarify what Liz means by the need behind your emotion. Give examples of specific situations in which a person is experiencing an emotion and examples of the needs that might be behind those emotions.
  • Do you, personally, find it easy to identify the needs that underlie your emotions? If so, how do you do it. Describe the process that you go through. If it’s difficult for you, explain in what way it’s difficult.
  • In your opinion, what benefits can be gained by identifying the root needs as opposed to focusing on the surface emotion? In the workplace, is it realistic to think of emotions in this way?

• Liz’ third piece of advice is to try and put yourself in the other person’s shoes if you’re thinking of sharing about your emotions.
  • Explain, in your own words, what it means to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
  • Why does Liz suggest that we do this? What problems might it help to avoid? What advantages might arise when we do this?
  • In what types of emotional situations might it be easy or difficult to put yourself in the other person’s shoes?
  • Is it harder to adopt this approach in a personal context or in a work-related context?

• The final tip is to read the room and provide a path forward.
  • What does it mean to read the room? How might a person do it?
  • Why is it important to read the room? What can be gained and what can be avoided if we read the room when dealing with emotions?
  • In what types of situations might it be easier or harder to read the room?
  • What does Liz mean when she says to provide a path forward?
  • Can you describe a situation where someone didn’t provide a path forward? How might that person have changed their approach in order to provide a path forward?
  • What types of outcomes might we expect when we don’t provide a path forward? And when we do?
  • Are you good at identifying and communicating a path forward when there’s tension or conflict? If so, how do you do it?

• Consider Liz’ overall message.
  • To what extent to you agree with her observations and her advice?
  • Is her advice practical? In other words, it is realistic to apply these suggestions in the workplace? Why or why not?
  • To what extent does company culture influence the effectiveness of Liz’ advice?
  • To what extent does the culture of the country in which you live and work influence the way that you deal with emotions at work?
  • To what extent do these suggestion apply to a multinational work environment with a variety of different cultures represented?