PRES. Week of Sept. 12

In this post you will find:
1. Expressions used in natural conversation
2. Public speech: basic structurs
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1. A natural conversation has:

rejoinders
follow up questions
comprehension checks
clarification requests

Example:

Angelina: I love you, Brad.

Brad: Oh, my goodness (rejoinder). What are we going to do now? I am married already, to Jennifer.

Angelina: That’s too bad (rejoinder). You will just have to divorce her!

Brad: What?! (rejoinder)What did you say I'd have to do? Enforce her? (clarification request)

Angelina: Oh, my god! (rejoinder). No, I said DIVORCE HER! Do you understand now what I’m saying? (comprehension check).

Brad: No way! (rejoinder). She’ll walk away with all my money.

Angelina: Why will that happen? Don’t you two have a prenup signed? (follow up questions).

Brad: No, we don’t.

Angelina: Oh, geez! How stupid of you.

REJOINDERS:

That’s too bad! Oh, my goodness! Terrible! Really?! What the heck! Oh, dear! Oh, no! You poor thing! No way! Oh, my god!
Great! Fabulous! Wonderful! Congratulations! What a surprise!
Excellent! No kiddin'!

ANOTHER EXAMPLE:

A NATURAL CONVERSATION
(with rejoinders, follow-up questions and clarification requests)

Person A. The Korean baseball team is doing great right now. (statement)
Person B. Yeah, amazing, isn’t it? (rejoinder). Have you been following all the games? (follow up question).
Person A. No, unfortunately not. I don’t have a @#$@%^&*.
Person B. Excuse me, what did you say you don’t have? (clarification request)
Person A. I said I don’t have a TV set.
Person B. Oh, that’s too bad (rejoinder). Would you like to come over to my house and watch some games? (follow up question.)
Person A. Oh, really? (rejoinder). That’d be great. I can bring some snacks and xxxxxxx xxx...
Person B. Pardon? You can bring some snacks and some pillows? Is that what you said? (clarification request).
Person A. No, silly. Not pillows, beer. What’s wrong with you ears today, anyway? (follow up question)
Person B. Tears? What tears? (clarification request). I don’t understand….
Person A. Oh, for crying out loud! (rejoinder) I said “what’s wrong with your ears.” You don’t seem to understand me at all.
Person B. Oh, sorry, man. (rejoinder) I went swimming yesterday and now I have water in both of my ears. I can barely hear anything.
Person A. Are you serious? (rejoinder). Why don’t you go and see a doctor? (follow up question). You may get a serious infection.
Person B. Injection? No way. I hate needles.
Person A. Oh, lord. You’re deaf, indeed. I said: INFECTION!!!! not injection.
Person B. Oh, I got it, infection. Of course, you’re right. (rejoinder). I’ll go to see a doctor tomorrow; it’s a promise.
Person B. Good, the sooner the better, or you’ll drive me crazy. (rejoinder) Do you want me to go with you? (follow up question) etc.
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2. Public Speech: Structure

A speech must have 3 parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion.
The principle rules of presenting: tell your audience what you are going to tell them (introduction), give your speech (body) , summarize what you have told your audience (conclusion).
All presentation have to be brief, concise, direct and to the point. The structure should be sufficiently simple and clear so that the message is clearly remembered.

The following is the basic structure of any public speech/presentation:

START: Introduction

Welcome the audience
Grab audience’s attention (with a ‘hook’*)
Explain presentation structure
Explain rules for questioning

MIDDLE: Deliver your message

END: Conclusion

Summarize the highlights
Thank the audience
Invite questions

* A hook is an opening statement that is related to your topic. Its purpose is to grab audience’s attention before your introduce your subject. Three major types of hooks are: questions to the audience, provocative facts or statistics, ‘think back’ requests. E.g. if your topic is plastic surgery, you may choose the following hooks: (question) Is there anyone in this audience who’s truly happy with the way they look, who thinks “Oh, thank you god, for making me so gorgeous?; (provocative fact): Statistics show that 80% of surveyed people would consider having one or more plastics surgeries. 80%! Wow!; (think back): I think that many of you can remember that awful time in high school when you were teased for your hooked nose, or small eyes, or fat thighs? Wouldn’t you have done just about anything to change yourself? Now, most of our ugly parts can be beautified by plastic surgery.” Other great hooks you can use: a summary of a newspaper article, related riddles, proverbs, myths and stories, personal experiences, etc.