Purposes of the assignment:
1- To learn the importance and the problems of social conversation.
2- To discuss about meaning and importance of what famous people have said about social conversation.
Instruction:
Select two of the quotations found below (more may be used if desired). Each student prepares for discussion by examining the quotations.
To help you do that, answer the following questions about each of the quotations:
Quotation number________ by__________
1 What does the quote mean? Rewrite it, stating it in your own words.
2 List all the words of the quotation that are unfamiliar to you. Give their meaning and pronunciation.
3 Do you agree or disagree with the author’s quotation? Give reasons for your answer.
4 State some examples you have observed that help prove or disprove the idea described in the quotation.
Quotations about social conversation
- “The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next, good sense, the third, good humor, and the fourth, wit”
Sir William Temple.
- “One of the best rules in conversation is, never say a thing which any of the company can reasonably wish had been left unsaid”
Jonathan Swift.
- “Among well-bred people, a mutual difference is affected, contempt for others disguised, authority canceled, attention given to each in his turn, and an easy stream of conversation in maintained, without vehemence, without interruption, without eagerness for victory, and without any airs of superiority”
David Hume.
- “A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books”
A Chinese proverb.
- “To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well”
A Chinese proverb.
- “No one will ever shine in conversation who thinks of saying fine things, to please, one must say many things indifferent, and many very bad”
Francis Lockier.
- “ But please remember, especially in these times of group-think and the right-on chorus, that one person is your friend who demands your silence or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended”
Alice Walker.
- “I don’t like to talk to people who always agree with me. It is amusing to coquette with an echo for a while, but one soon tires of it”
Thomas Carlyle.
- “Never hold anyone by the button or the hand, in order to be heart out, for if people are unwilling to hear, you had better hold your tongue than them”
Lord Chester Field.
- “Loosing self-consciousness and fear allows us to focus on the content of what we are saying instead of on ourselves”
Gloria Stein em.
- “Be sincere. Be simple in words, manners and gestures. Amuse as well as instruct. If you can make a man laugh, you can make him think and make him like and believe you”
Alfred E. Smith.
- “Conversation is the laboratory and workshop of the students”
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- “Take as many half minutes as you can get, but never talk more than half a minute without pausing and giving others an opportunity to strike in”
Jonathan Swift.
- “I hope that good conversation will never become a lost art, it is already precious enough without that. But there are times when it too seems in danger of extinction”
Dorothy Sarnoff.
- “In private conversation between intimate friends the wisest men very often talk like the weakest, for, indeed, the talking with a friend is nothing else but thinking aloud”
Joseph Addison.
Study guide 2
Theme: Speaking in Public Listening-Reading Comprehension.
Purposes of the assignment:
1- To understand in details oral texts about public speaking.
2- To be ready for discussing and reporting about what you have read or listed to.
Instruction:
I-Read the following texts and be ready to say:
a-Which of the ten tips are related with the listening comprehension you received in lessons 5 and 6.
b- Which are new ones? , do you apply them all?
c- Summarize reading number 2 (Giving Impromptu Speeches) and be ready to report it.
10 Tips for Successful Public Speaking
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and healthy. It shows you care about doing well. But, too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here’s how you can control your nervousness and make effective, memorable presentations:
- Know the room. Be familiar with the place in which you will speak. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
- Know the audience. Greet some of the audience as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to a group of strangers.
- Know your material. If you’re not familiar with your material or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your speech and revise it if necessary.
- Relax. Ease tension by doing exercises.
- Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear, and assured. When you visualize yourself as successful, you will be successful.
- Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting,
stimulating, informative, and entertaining. They don’t want you to fail.
- Don’t apologize. If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your speech, you may be calling the audience’s attention to something they hadn’t noticed. Keep silent.
- Concentrate on the message — not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties, and outwardly toward your message and your audience. Your nervousness will dissipate
- Turn nervousness into positive energy. Harness your nervous energy and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm.
- Gain experience. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need.
Giving Impromptu Speeches
Have you ever had work commitments keep you from practicing a speech? Have you ever been asked to speak for someone at the last minute? When I started my consulting practice and became a father of twins in the same year, I often found myself lacking time to prepare and practice my speeches.
One of my evaluators wisely pointed out that it is not how long you prepare for a speech, but how efficiently you prepare. If you learn how to refine your preparation and delivery skills, you can deliver a great impromptu speech from your own foundation of knowledge and personal style.
I would like to share with you some of the tricks I have learned about this important skill from my own recent “trials by fire”:
- Don’t quit your day job. Your main task is to deliver manual speeches. You should attempt impromptu speaking only after you have completed a number of manual speeches and are already comfortable as a speaker. By this time, you should know your natural style and the skills needed for successful impromptu speaking.
- Know your natural style. Impromptu speaking is much easier if you know your own natural speaking style. I discovered my natural style on my fourth or fifth manual speech. What is your natural style?
- Use positive self-talk. My early impromptu speeches were hobbled by negative self-talk. My inner voice kept telling me that I was inadequately prepared and was destined to falter. I turned around this self-talk by realizing through evaluations that I was speaking to friends who enjoyed my personal stories. I found myself connecting with my audience, as if I was talking with each one of them personally.
- Make a point. Even when you give an impromptu speech, you need structure. The classic “opening, body, and conclusion” falls in place if everything you say relates to a point that you reveal at the end.
- Avoid using notes. An impromptu speech is like a flash flood – it goes where it wants to. Trying to force your speech back to your notes is at best awkward and at worst will throw you completely off track. Abandon your notes, and let the rest of your speech flow from your heart. If you must use notes, they should contain only the point you wish to make, plus a couple of words to trigger any stories you wish to tell.
- Deliver it as if you’ve practiced it many times. Don’t reveal beforehand that your
speech is impromptu. This will undermine your audience’s reception of your speech before you even begin. Approach the audience with confidence, as if you’ve practiced many times before. Deliver it with vigor and confidence, allowing your ideas to flow as if you are talking to friends. Present your conclusion as if you’re revealing something very important. Prepare yourself for the praise you receive when your evaluator reveals that this speech was impromptu!
- Be willing to cut it short. Sometimes you’ll have covered only half your thoughts, and you’ll find a great way to end your story, right there. If you think you’re close to the green light, cut to the conclusion!
- Tell your evaluator that your speech is impromptu. Ask him to focus their evaluation on what you did to make your impromptu speech successful, and on suggestions that you can use to improve your impromptu speaking technique.
- Practice at table topics. Be bold, and ask the Table Topics Master to choose you during table topics. If you can master table topics, then you will be able to string together an impromptu speech from a series of anecdotes.
- Volunteer to be an evaluator. This is a great opportunity to learn how to organize thoughts quickly and effectively, and deliver them seamlessly. Force yourself to leave your notes behind when you give your evaluation, so that you learn to think on your feet.
II-Read the following text taken from Public Speaking Success in 20 Minutes a Day, Copyright © 2010 LearningExpress, LLC and prepare an outline for your project work presentation following the hints offered here.
You must have an outline before you begin writing, or you won’t know where you’re going and how you’ll get there; your outline will only be as good as your research notes, so learn to take notes efficiently; the outline is just a skeleton, providing short directions that you’ll use when actually writing the speech.
Now it’s time for you to put these theories into practice.
Use this basic structure as a starting point to create an outline from your research notes:
- Introduction
Who am I? Why am I speaking?.
What will I speak about? .
What will the audience learn or gain from C. my presentation? Or what opinion do I intend to prove?
- Point 1: The first step, piece of evidence, or important fact
Details on this point.
Examples of this point.
Why this point is important to the overall . topic
III. Point 2: The second step, piece of evidence, or important fact
Details on this point.
Examples of this point.
Why this point is important to the overall C. topic
- Point 3: The third step, piece of evidence, or important fact
Details on this point.
Examples of this point.
Why this point is important to the overall C. topic
- Conclusion
Summarize the main points.
Summarize how the points taught the skill, B. proved the thesis, or demonstrated the facts
Draw a conclusion that is applicable to your audience
III-Select one of the 6 set of video sequences about topics related to public speaking
- Preparing your speech
- Warming up
- Opening
- Delivering
- Closing
- Conclusions
And be ready to report it.
Unit I Speaking in Public
Project Work
Objectives:
– To give your classmates information you would like them to know about you.
– To help you reduce your fear of being a strange.
– To help you feel comfortable in front of your classmates.
Procedures:
- Select an approach to talking about yourself.
- Prepare a speech about yourself.
- Present yourself in a speech.
Selecting an approach:
Below there is a list of different approaches to telling others about yourself. Choose an approach from the list or create your own if the teacher permits it. You may also ask the teacher for suggestions.
- Something of value. Bring to class some object that you own and value highly. Tell your classmates about the object and explain why it is important to you.
- If I had only 24 hours. Assume you have only 24 hours to live. Tell your classmates what you would do, and why, during that time.
- If I could return. Assume that you have died and have been gone from the earth for 50 years. You can return as anybody or anything you choose. Tell your classmates what or who that would be. Explain why you made that choice.
- The most important ——————————in my life. Prepare an informal speech in which you discuss one of the following:
- The most important experience
- The most important person
- The most important day
- The most important lesson learned
- I see me…..,you see me….talk to your classmates about how you see yourself and how you think others see you .You might interview some of your close friends, parents, relatives, or others you know well and trust.
- My life and times. Prepare a general speech in which you include information about yourself from various aspects of your life.
Here we offer an outline for your speech:
- Tell about only one of the following:
- An experience you remember.
- An interesting incident surrounding your birth.
- An embarrassing experience and how you handle it.
- The reactions of older brothers and sisters to your arrival to the family.
- Present information about members of your family.
- Parents and-or stepparents
- Sisters or brothers, stepsisters or stepbrothers
- Relatives who live with you
- Family pets and what they mean to you
- Tell about your experiences
- School and what it means
- Work and what you do
- Your likes and dislikes
- What you enjoy eating, playing, seeing, doing, hearing wearing, reading, etc.
- The kind of person you think you are.
- The kind of person others think you are.
Notes: In preparing for any of the classroom speaking activities listed above, or any of those that you will be doing:
– Take time to prepare, don’t leave it to the last minute.
– Choose a topic you are comfortable with.
– Research your information.
– Make an outline.
– Write down the information you found in your own words.
– Know your timeframe.
– Practice in front of a mirror, friends or family.
– Your words will flow better if you use visual aids, so the audience will understand it as well.
