3. Softening
3.1. When emphasizing the important points, the speaker sometimes needs to reduce
the force of points which are of less immediate significance:
a great improvement > a slight improvement
a major problem > a minor problem
a total success > a partial success
3.2. When people in the audience make negative remarks about the information the
presenters are presenting, they can often soften the impact by restating their point in a
more positive way. For example:
3.2.1 “These figures are very disappointing.
Well, I have to admit,they are certainly not very encouraging.
3.2.2 The shareholders are going to be furious.
Well, they certainly aren’t going to be very happy, that’s true.
(Powell. 1996: 57)