- •Public speaking
- •1. Imagine that you are starting a presentation. What phrases might you use? Write down five of them.
- •2. Listen to two people and hear two ways of opening presentations. While listening, see if you can hear some of the phrases above.
- •3. Check your understanding by reading the scripts below:
- •4. Finish the following sentences with the correct phrase.
- •Imagine you are giving a presentation and using some visual aids. What phrases might you use to draw your audience’s attention to these slides? Write down five of them.
- •6. Now listen to two examples of people giving presentations. As you listen, see if you can hear some of the phrases above.
- •7. Check your understanding by reading the scripts below:
- •8. Finish the following sentences by choosing the correct words and writing them into the blanks.
- •9. Listen to someone asking if there are any questions. As you listen, try to hear some of the phrases above.
- •10. Check your understanding by reading the script below:
- •11. Finish the following sentences with the correct phrase.
- •12. Think about the presentations that you have been to. What were the characteristics of the good ones? Write down five of them.
- •13. As you listen, see if you can hear some of the tips above.
- •14. Check your understanding by reading the script below:
- •15. Finish the following sentences with the correct phrase.
- •16. Read the following article and say what new you’ve learnt.
- •17. Imagine that you are making a presentation to a large group of people working in your industry.
- •18. Look through the following articles and speak on the topic “Public speaking” Public Speaking in English: Presentations
- •Mastering The Art Of Public Speaking
- •Improving Public Speaking Skills:
9. Listen to someone asking if there are any questions. As you listen, try to hear some of the phrases above.
10. Check your understanding by reading the script below:
Tim: Ladies and gentlemen, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them now.
Carrie: Yeah, can I just ask, graph number 3, that last one you showed us, can you explain to me where you’re intending to find the extra income to increase the designer range in the maternity wear?
Tim: Yes, a very good question. I’ve looked at the office wear range and it’s quite heavy on material, holiday wear tends to be much lighter, much smaller amounts of material involved and I ...
11. Finish the following sentences with the correct phrase.
1. If you have any questions, _____________ to answer them now.
A I would like to be able
B I would be happy
C I would have been happy
D I was happy
2. Can I ______________...?
A just ask?...
B you ask?...
C only ask?...
D ask it?...
3. Can you ____________....?
A tell me it?
B tell to me?
C explain to me?
D explain me?
4. Yes, a very ____________.
A good question
B question
C obvious question
D lovely question
Answers
1. If you have any questions, _____________ to answer them now.
A I would like to be able. Wrong – this suggests that you want to answer the questions but can’t
B I would be happy. Correct – this is a polite way of asking if there are any questions. You can also say ‘… I am happy to answer them now’.
C I would have been happy. Wrong – this expresses a past regret… you need to talk about now
D I was happy. Wrong – you need to talk about now, not the past
2. Can I ______________...?
A just ask?... Correct – you are indicating that you have a quick question
B you ask?... Wrong – ‘Can I ask you’ would be correct
C only ask?... Wrong – another word is more natural than ‘only’ here
D ask it?... Wrong – although people always ask questions, the meaning of ‘it’ isn’t clear here
3. Can you ____________....?
A tell me it? Wrong – You can say ‘Can you tell me?’ but not ‘Can you tell me it?’
B tell to me? Wrong – You can say ‘Can you tell me?’ but not ‘Can you tell to me?’
C explain to me? Correct – This is an informal way to preface a question
D explain me? Wrong – You can say ‘Can you tell me?’ but not ‘Can you explain me?’
4. Yes, a very ____________.
A good question. Correct – This is a polite way to receive a question
B question. Wrong – you need an adjective here
C obvious question. Wrong – It’s a little rude to say that someone’s question is obvious
D lovely question. Wrong – This sounds a little strange and it might be considered condescending
12. Think about the presentations that you have been to. What were the characteristics of the good ones? Write down five of them.
Some ideas are given below for you. Read and translate them.
The aims and the structure need to be clear
Wait until the end of the presentation before people feed back on what you’ve said
Make sure you are entertaining, engaging and interesting
Don’t make it too long
Be short, precise and to the point
Make sure you’re relevant – make sure you’re talking to the right audience
Transcript
Male: With a presentation, I think the aims and the structure need to be clear.
Male 2: I like to wait until the end of the presentation before people feed back on
what I’ve