Lesson 6: Preparing a Speech, Observations and Judgments

Warm-up: Two Truths and a Lie

1. Groups of 3 or 4 people.

2. Each person must think of 3 statements he or she wishes to share about himself or herself. Take a few minutes to write them down if you wish.

3. Two of the statements must be true (“two truths”), and one statement must be false (“a lie”).

4. Taking turns, read your 3 statements to your group and see if anyone can guess which statement is the lie.

Example:

(a) Brian was a research scientist in medical imaging (医学成像 ) before becoming a teacher.

(b) Brian played drums for a rock band (摇滚乐队 ) in university.

(c) Brian has taught English in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh (孟加拉国 )

Which one is the lie?

Jazz Chant: Meet me in the Morning

Meet me in the morning.Meet me at noon.Meet me in September,or the middle of June.

Meet me at midnight.Meet me in the hall.Meet me in the summer.Meet me in the fall.

Meet me in the evening.Meet me at eight.I’ll meet you anytime you wantbut please, don’t be late.

Observations and Judgments

Observations:

What we can see or hear (or smell, taste or feel)

Example: “She stood about 2 metres away when talking to me.”

Judgments:

What we feel or think about our observations

Example: “She doesn’t like me because she stood far away when talking to me.”

When asking questions about or discussing another culture, it is important that we try not to put in judgments so that we don’t hurt others’ feelings or our relationship with them.

Example:When Westerners come to China, they often need to also learn to ask questions with observations, not with judgments:

Observation: “When people get on a bus, they often push or don’t line up. (What are some possible reasons people do this?”)

Judgment: “Why are people so rude here?”

“Seek first to understand, rather than to be understood.” (Saint Francis of Assisi. )

* That woman is aggressive because she always stands very close to men when she is talking to them.

• The two men hugged and kissed each other when they met at the airport.

* The father does not love his son because he just shook hands with him when saying good-bye instead of hugging him.

• The woman patted the children on the head.

Observation or Judgment?

* That woman is aggressive because she always stands very close to men when she is talking to them. (Judgment)

• The two men hugged and kissed each other when they met at the airport. (Observation)

* The father does not love his son because he just shook hands with him when saying good-bye instead of hugging him. (Judgment)

• The woman patted the children on the head. (Observation)

* She has no sense of humor. She doesn’t laugh at things that are funny.

* He sighed and looked tired.

* They are not very friendly, as they didn’t talk very much.

* Those people don’t know how to behave at a wedding!

Observation or Judgment?

* She has no sense of humor. She doesn’t laugh at things that are funny. (Judgment)

* He sighed and looked tired. (Observation)

* They are not very friendly, as they didn’t talk very much. (Judgment)

* Those people don’t know how to behave at a wedding! (Judgment)

Prepare for Midterm Examination, April 16: Speech: 3 to 4 minutes long, “How to…”Examples: “How to fold paper swans”, “How to improve your basketball skills”, “How to make dumplings (饺子 )”You must submit your written speech to me before you give the speech.You may not read the speech, but you will prepare a speech outline that you may use.

Last week: Choose speech topic, prepare outline, write speech;

This week: Show me speech outline and written speech; practice giving the speech;

Last Week’s Homework

Practicing Your SpeechA. Practice with your outline, not the written script.

(Remembering the ideas is more important than remembering every word.)

B. Practice at least 3-6 times until you feel comfortable.

C. Practice the whole speech each time, rather than just one part.

D. Practice using any audio or visual aids you’ve chosen while you practice speaking.

Practicing Your Speech (cont.)

E. Try some of these methods for practicing.

1. say the words in your head before practicing aloud

2. stand in front of a mirror while you practice

3. record and listen to your speech

4. practice in front of a friend

F. Time yourself when you practice so you can add or get rid of words according to the time limit for your speech.

Giving Your Speech

A. Confidence – your audience wants you to succeed

B. Posture - stand up straight, stand up tall!

C. Prepare - Arrange materials, take a deep breath, and then begin

D. Eye contact - look at the audience as much as possible, look at your outline as little as possible.

E. Project your voice - Speak more loudly than when you’re just talking to a friend.

F. Clearly, slowly - Speak clearly and just a little slower than you do in everyday conversation.

EvaluationA. Quality of written speech – 5 marks (hand in before

speech)

B. Quality of written outline – 5 marks (hand in after speech)

C. Quality of presentation (posture, eye contact, voice projection) – 5 marks

D. Clarity and fluency – 5 marks

E. Appropriate Length (suggestion: 1/2 minute for introduction, 2 ½ to 3 minutes for the body, and 1/2 minute for the conclusion) – 5 marks

Total Score: 25 marks

Model Speech Outline – “How to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich”

Introduction

1. Attention Getters

* Question: “Students, are you tired of eating boring lunches of rice or noodles? Try a peanut butter and jam (PBJ) sandwich!”

* Interesting fact: PBJ sandwich – probably most popular sandwich in Canada and United States among young

2. Preview: PBJ – inexpensive and easy to prepare, provides nutrition and energy, and convenient.

Main Points

1. Inexpensive and easy to prepare

* Ingredients – bread, peanut butter, jam (examples) • Method – amount of each ingredient, sequence (peanut

butter and then jam);

2. Nutrition and energy

* carbohydrate, protein, sugar

* add fruit or vegetables for complete meal

3. Convenient

* can be made the night before, wrap in plastic bag

* will not go bad if you don’t put in the fridge for 1 day

* don’t need forks, spoons or chopsticks to eat it

Conclusion1. Review: PBJ sandwiches – popular because they are

very tasty, but also because: (a) inexpensive and easy to prepare, (b) provide nutrition and energy, and (c) convenient.

2. Clincher (call to action): “So the next time you face the same boring food at the school canteen, think again, and have a PBJ sandwich!”

3. Thank you.

Prepare for Midterm Examination, April 16:

Speech: 3 to 4 minutes long, “How to…”

Examples: “How to fold paper swans”, “How to improve your basketball skills”, “How to make dumplings (饺子 )”

You must submit your written speech to me before you give the speech.

You may not read the speech, but you will prepare a speech outline that you may use.

This week: Show me speech outline and written speech; practice giving the speech;

This Week’s Homework