English Skills

The Materials of IT

Speech is the vocalized form of human communication.
The better part of a million dollars was on the line. Every year the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge in Amsterdam gives away 500,000 Euros for the best idea for a green product or service. In 2008, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre presented their alternative to synthetic building materials.
"In terms of a high pressure talk, that was probably the hardest in my memory," Bayer says. He practiced the talk out loud in front of his computer, making changes to his slides as he went. In the end the talk was a success. Bayer's team won the coveted check.
Since then, Bayer has become CEO of Ecovative Design, a company he co-founded that makes green packaging materials derived from fungi near Troy, New York. He's been invited to give many more speeches, including at the annual Pop!Tech conference in Camden, Maine, and the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference in Oxford, England.
With self-directed, local "TEDx" talks taking off, more communities will be inviting local innovators to speak. Presenting at this kind of event is an opportunity to capture the energy of a packed auditorium and translate it into a boon for business.
Those preparing for this kind of talk have heard "practice, practice, practice" and "less is more," but there are still speakers who make audience members fight to stay awake. With that in mind, experienced presenters offer these key steps for rallying a large, influential audience of peers around a central idea.
1. Be Your Passionate Self
Audiences are perceptive. They can even sense enthusiasm from back in the nosebleed seats. "Even if you're reading off the slide but you're really excited about it, the audience will give it to you," Bayer says.
Nan Crawford is an executive coach based in the San Francisco Bay Area who primarily works with female leaders on their presentation skills. Crawford coached Elayne Doughty, a psychotherapist who was raising money to go to the Congo and participate in the international V-Day movement to end violence against women and girls. Doughty expected she would need to do several events to raise enough money for the trip, according to Crawford.
"I coached Elayne on her stories," she says. Crawford drew out what had grabbed Doughty about the cause, asking her when and how it had captured her attention. She also framed fundraising as an opportunity to shift away from fear and invite others to invest in a solution.
"She gave an impassioned presentation," Crawford says. At the end of the first event, Doughty surpassed her fundraising goal by 25 percent.
Dig Deeper: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Presenters
2. Tell a Helpful Story
Speakers are usually advised to try to know their audiences. Taken a step further, Crawford suggests that speakers make sure they understand not only who is in the audience, but also the challenges the audience faces. Then, the talk should address those challenges with a personal and powerful story that resonates.
Daniel Pink, author of the books A Whole New Mind and Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, is a former speechwriter for Al Gore. He says he's seen the opposite happen too many times. "The biggest mistake is people think it's about them rather than about the audience," he says. "They spend too much time talking about themselves."
Instead, an effective presenter will focus on the challenges without giving a laundry list of accomplishments. Anthropologist, filmmaker, and National Geographic explorer Elizabeth Lindsey is frequently invited to speak about leadership through an anthropological lens. "The more we talk about the things that matter to us, and less about our achievements, people breathe a collective sigh of relief," she says. "All of us want to be better. Human nature is always seeking advancement."
Dig Deeper: Get Publicity and Bolster Profits Through Public Speaking
3. Use Fewer Words Than Usual
Less really is more when it comes to big talks. But putting that into practice is far easier said than done. Giving a talk is an opportunity to amplify your message in a way that books and articles can't. Being a different outlet, it has different requirements.
"If all you have for me is information, invite me to buy your book," Crawford says. "But when we stand in front of an audience we have an opportunity to share not just our information but our energy."
For Bayer, seeing how slowly he can give his talk helps him communicate better. "Typically what feels best to the communicator is to give as much information as possible," he says. "But what you really want to do is tell them the idea in a simple way three times or more. If you blast them with detail they get this mushy feeling in their heads."
Pink emphasizes that speaking is a relatively small window, and the audience has a limited attention span. "It's far easier to make seven small points than one big point," he says. "You have to think to yourself, what do you want to leave people with, what do you want them thinking, and what do you want them doing?"
Dig Deeper: Writing and Organizing a Winning Speech
4. Engage the Audience Early
Don't wait for a Q&A at the end to go for audience participation. Start right away, Crawford says. Ask questions so that audience members can stand up instead of raising their hands. Invite them to take a minute, turn to a neighbor, and share a thought. Ask one person to describe theirs.
"Great, how many people share that same concern?" Crawford suggests asking. "Sometimes when you ask that question everyone will stand." Getting responses can help focus a talk, even for an extremely large audience.
Pink describes watching symphony conductor Benjamin Zander give a presentation years ago. "He actually used his piano and brought the audience into the talk, had the audience do things, and made a lot of brilliant points about leadership and humanity," he says. "It wouldn't have been the same if you had read a transcript of it."
5. Make the Stage Home
Get on the stage where the talk is scheduled and practice there as soon as possible, Crawford says. Move around on the stage and go sit in the back row so that the setting becomes familiar.
The organizers will probably want to do a sound check, but see if they will allow it earlier than just a few minutes before the talk. "Even if you can sweet-talk the hotel staff to let you in the night before, that experience of being in the physical space is really important," Crawford says. Walk in as if you're walking into your living room and sitting down on the sofa. Gaining that level of comfort will help calm nerves.
6. Go Beyond Memorization
"A lot of times people look at this and think it's some exalted task with some magic to it," Pink says. "But it's like playing the piano, or laying bricks, or hitting a good tennis serve. It's about knowing what you're doing, doing it for the right reason, and practice, practice, practice."
Bayer practiced what he was going to say in Amsterdam until he could time it down to a second, although he cautions that knowing every line by heart is less important than making sure the message is clear and focused.
"Start developing early," he says. "You don't even have to put slides into PowerPoint, but think early about what it is you want to communicate. You should be able to summarize it in a few words."
Dig Deeper: How to Improve Your Presentation Skills

7. Turn Nervousness Into a Boost
When Crawford coaches speakers who get fluttering stomachs, she asks them to think about their fear in a different way. "There's a physical sensation in our body that's associated with nervousness. The danger is when we think, 'Oh my god, I'm nervous,'" she says.
Call that fluttering something else, she says. Crawford advises her clients to think, "That's the fire in my belly. When I'm done presenting, everyone in this audience is going to have a fire in their belly to make a difference."
Elizabeth Lindsey knows that nervous feeling well. "When we name it, and we speak our truth, we rally," she says. Whenever her heart is pounding through her chest, Lindsey thinks about the elders in her native Hawaii who raised her and didn't have the platform she's been given, she says.
"Even though I'm afraid and even though I feel at times that it would be easier to be in the audience rather than on stage, I know the work that I'm doing is not mine. It's the work that has been given to me," she says.
8. Look With Purpose
Crawford uses her theater background to help clients work on stage presence. In addition to moving around the space and using the whole body to convey the message, she suggests that presenters pay particular attention to their eyes. Instead of "scattering seeds" by scanning one part of the audience and then another, she recommends "planting bulbs."
"I want this idea to bloom in this one person's mind," she says. "Maintain eye contact for one full thought — it might be a phrase within a sentence or two sentences." That eye contact also looks great on camera if the talk is being recorded.
During eye contact with specific audience members, Crawford asks her clients to pay attention to what that person looks like, what they're wearing. A moment ago they were nervous, but as soon as they start describing hair or the color of a shirt, that anxiety level drops, she says.
Dig Deeper: Polishing and Rehearsing for a Perfect Presentation
9. Leverage Fellow Speakers
Look at the roster and reach out to the speakers you're excited about, Crawford says. "You have an opportunity to build that relationship far earlier than people imagine."
Everyone has been invited to talk for a reason, and that can open new doors. Ask the organizers for contact information if you don't have it, Crawford says. Plan to meet interesting speakers for one-on-one time during the conference, whether it's at a dinner or just for a quick conversation.
"If you're sharing the stage you at least have that in common, if nothing else," Crawford says.
And, who knows, maybe knowing your company will only make you feel more comfortable and able.
10. Choose Your Moment to Inspire
Sometimes one has to say no. The idea of presenting should be energizing and enlivening, not draining. Presenters who say yes when they should have declined can cause unnecessary stress for themselves, and for the event organizers.
When the reason is bad timing, offer to present at the next talk well in advance. Sometimes the audience isn't what you're looking for. If you say no, do so candidly, Crawford advises.
"We have this opportunity to spark an idea," she says. "We're lighting fires in the minds of others."
The rewards for a successful talk can be enormous, and not just financial. After giving a presentation once, Lindsey says a woman from the audience approached her. "She said, 'I'm a grandmother and I will never have the opportunity to travel to the parts of the world that you will see, but I want you to know that I go with you wherever you are.'"

Being a good student and going to class is essential, but it is also important to enjoy English activities outside of the classroom.

This is especially important during school breaks. As teachers, we need to encourage students to find something they like to do in English.

Before holidays, I ask students to look at the following list and choose a new method to study English over the break.

On the first day back, I ask them to give a mini-presentation, around 2 minutes, on what they did over the break to study English. 

This assignment has motivated my students to keep up their English during the break and to think about English as a means of communication rather than a subject that is only studied in school.

They also enjoy listening to each other's ideas when they return to class.
  

10 Ways to Study English Outside the Classroom

1. Go Online

There are so many resources online in English. If you are interested in travel, then read about places to travel. If you like comics, or anime, find English language websites next time you want to read one. Whatever your interest, you just need to do a search and look at the English websites.

2. Join an English Conversation group

Check local listings for English-speaking groups in your area. If there are not any, then start your own group. English-speaking groups meet on a regular basis (e.g., every day for thirty minutes after school or after lunch) and have discussions only in English.

Speaking with others helps to practice all the English you have previously learned and improves overall speaking skills.

3. Watch English TV programs or movies

Watching TV programs and movies is a good way to practice listening skills and to get to know more about the culture of English speaking countries. If you have a video, try stopping every few minutes and summarizing what you see.

4. Listen to English Songs

The words to songs or lyrics can be found online. Listen to your favorite songs while reading the lyrics to improve listening. Try summarizing the song to help with comprehension.

5. Listen to English books on CD

Many popular books can now be found on audio CDs. Put the CD on your MP3 player and listen while walking or taking public transportation. Put the CD in your car and listen while driving.

6. Listen to the Radio 

In every country, there are English language broadcasts. Find out the English stations in your area and actively listen to the broadcasts.

7. Read English Books

Reading English books helps to visualize authentic vocabulary and grammar. Read a chapter underlining words or phrases you do not understand. Then, after you finish reading, go back and look up unknown words in the dictionary. Reading can also help you understand the culture of English-speaking countries.

8. Read Magazines

Reading magazines helps to learn contemporary phrases and expressions. Magazines can be more exciting if you are interested in pop culture such as fashion, food, or sports.

9. Read Newspapers

Reading newspapers helps to keep you up to date with events that are happening around the world. High quality newspapers such as the New York Times or the Guardian are good for learning new vocabulary and expressions. Try reading the story and then summarizing it for practice.

10. Keep an English Journal

Have a notebook reserved only for English writing and challenge yourself to write for 15 minutes every day. English Journals are good to help improve your vocabulary and to keep a list of expressions that you would like to use.

Word	Meaning
Attractive	A person who is good looking
Bald	A person who has no hair
Chubby	Polite way of describing someone who is bit overweight
Curvy	A woman with a large bust,  broad hips and small waist
Fit	Someone who gets lot of exercise and  is very healthy
Gorgeous	Very attractive
Handsome	A man who is extremely  good looking
Presentable	Another way of saying someone looks smart
Scruffy	Used to describe someone whose appearance is very untidy
Well-built	Someone whose body shape or size is bigger than the average person

1. What is the subject of description in the text?
2. What is Volvo?
3. What does Volvo look like? (his fur, ears, mouth, and paws)
4. What makes Volvo different from other dogs?

Word	Meaning

Paris	The capital of france , the largest city in france, the center of france commerce , financial and industry, the center of the world’s fashion and mode, one of the richest cities in the world.
Location	Stands in the center of the paris basin The highest land area is montmartre, a famous hill in the northern section of paris.
Historical buildings and monuments	Magnificent gothic cathedral of notre dame, hotel des invalides which houses napoleon’s tomb, the grand opera house, the celebrated eifel tower (984 feet high)
Products	Specializes in such luxury products as perfumes, cosmetics, fashions, and leather goods
Parissians	3.500.000 people living in the metropolitan area, love fashions, polite, warm. The man are romantic and the women are beautiful and fashionable.

Identification	………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Description	………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………............
Closing (Optional)	………………………………………………......................................................................................................................

1. Find a picture of a city
2. Glue the picture on a piece of paper
3. Collect as much information as possible about the picture
4. Write a description about that place