9 ways to say “I agree” in English but who cares?

Let’s see which are the 9.

1/ I agree

2/ I’m with you on this one.

3/ Totally/ Exactly/ Precisely.

4/ I am in agreement

5/ I couldn’t agree more

6/ You’re absolutely right

7/ You’re so right

8/ You took the words right out of my mouth

9/ My thoughts exactly

I had to think hard about this list because all I could think of were “I agree” and “yes”.

Why am I writing this?

Because a new client felt frustrated with himself that all he could think of to say in a meeting was  “I agree” and that was simply not good enough. 

To his mind, he needed to have 20 different ways as he had in his first language. Repeating “I agree” numerous times was deeply frustrating. Plus he felt it was unprofessional and demonstrated a lack of eloquence.

Oh dear, so the fact that I couldn’t think of an alternative to “I agree” must mean I am not eloquent and unprofessional.

Or, does it say that in my meeting, I really don’t care if I can’t remember the 20 different ways to say “I agree” at that moment because I have more important things to communicate, and my audience isn’t counting?

Being an effective communicator isn’t about the numbers although that’s what you may think. That the more words you have will make you more impressive, more credible and command more respect. 

Being an effective and confident communicator is about getting to your point in the most efficient way using the English you have at that moment. 

If that means using “I agree” and “yes” multiple times, so be it. Your meeting or presentation objective doesn’t depend on them.

You may not be convinced and that’s ok.

But as far as I see it, you have 2 choices. You can:

Option 1
Learn and memorise all the different ways of saying “I agree” and blame yourself for forgetting them when you’re in mid-flow.

Option 2
Learn them but accept that if you do forget them at that moment, it’s ok to revert to “I agree”. You may remember them another time and if you don’t, it’s not a problem. 

Because when it comes down to it, showcasing your expertise confidently and credibly doesn’t depend on the number of synonyms you know but on making your message crystal clear and accessible to your audience.

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