How to say “make a difference” like a native speaker
Have an effect that matters. A negative form, “make no difference”, means the outcome stays the same.
All phrases · Common idioms
Hear “make a difference” in real speech
Clip 1 · Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey Harvard Commencement speech | Harvard Commencement 2013 · 4:11
About this video
Oprah Winfrey speaks to Harvard's graduating class of 2013. In the address, she discusses an interview with parents who lost their son in the Sandy Hook shooting and reflects on responding to difficult experiences.
In context
I would like to be a journalist.I want to make a difference.
Well, I was on television by the time I was 19 years old,
Clip 2 · Rita Pierson
Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED · 7:33
About this video
Rita Pierson draws on her teaching experience to discuss why children need someone who believes in them. She talks about reasons students struggle and ways to encourage their sense of worth.
In context
We can do this. We're educators.We're born to make a difference.
Thank you so much.
Clip 3 · Adam Grant
Adam Grant: How to stop languishing and start finding flow | TED · 12:43
About this video
Adam Grant describes falling into patterns of late-night scrolling and television watching despite his own rules. He discusses languishing and contrasts passive entertainment with active involvement that can lead to flow.
In context
Now, mastery and mindfulness will get you to flow, but there's a third condition that turns it into a peak experience.Mattering. Knowing that you make a difference to other people.
Early in my career, I was studying fundraising callers who were trying to bring in alumni donations to a university,
When to use “make a difference”
- Describing a useful small change: “An extra lamp would make a difference in this room.”
- Encouraging a volunteer: “Your help really makes a difference.”
Common learner mistake
Use “make” with this expression: “make a difference”, not “do a difference”.
Possible connected-speech patterns in “make a difference”
Link K into the weak article “a”. “Difference” stresses its first syllable and is often compressed to two syllables.
Related phrases
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