I. Read the text below. Is it a good advice? Why?

Did you know … that almost thirty million of business presentations are given every day? And yet, in surveys, most managers say that are most afraid of public speaking than anything else – even death! To overcome nerves, a lot of presentation trainers advise you to “just be yourself”.

Listening

1. Listen to three people speaking. Concentrate on the way they sound. Are they having a conversation or giving a presentation? How do you know?

Conversation 1.q 2.q 3.q Presentation q q q Conversation 4.q 5.q 6.q Presentation q q q

II. Discuss with a partner. How is speaking to the audience – even a small one – different from speaking to a group of friends? Think about the following:

how clearly you speak how often you pause

how quickly you speak how emphatic you are

III. Look at this famous toast to Albert Einstein by writer, George Bernard Shaw. The extract is unpunctuated. Mark ( | ) where you think the speaker paused. Then listen and check.

I have said that great men are a mixed lot but there are orders of great men there are great men who are great amongst all men but there are also great men who are great amongst great men and that is the sort of great man whom you have amongst you tonight I go back 2,500 years and how many of them can I count in that period I can count them on the fingers of my two hands Pythagoras Ptolemy Aristotle Copernicus Kepler Galileo Newton Einstein and I still have two fingers left vacant my lords ladies and gentlemen are you ready for the toast health and length of days to the greatest of our contemporaries Einstein

From In Company Intermediate

IV. a. Listen again and underline the stressed words.

B. Is there a connection between what we stress and where we pause?

C. What is the effect of pausing

less often?_

more often?________________________________

V. Write a toast to your famous contemporary

A Team Presentation

I. Look at the following information from First Direct. With a partner first ‘present’ the information clearly and professionally. Then ‘present’ the information enthusiastically and dramatically. Which sounds better?

Presenter 1 When you join First Direct you experience something unbelievable. A bank designed around you, which doesn’t expect you to fit round it	Presenter 2 A bank which recruits people who like to talk. A bank which gives its people all the information they need to enable them to help you. A bank which believes in sorting your money out for you without you having to ask.
Presenter 1 Funny kind of bank? Unbelievable? Even a little magical? Yes, but also efficient, safe and secure.	Presenter 2 You can, naturally, choose when, where and how to deal with your money. We’re open 24 hours a day. Our people are ready to talk to you, whenever you call.
Presenter 1 And wherever you might be in the world, you can bank online.	Presenter 2 Join First Direct and feel good about your bank; it’s your money, after all.

From In Company Intermediate