Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 896, Preparing a Speech.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 896.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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Our dialogue today is between Lourdes and Valerie, about giving a speech, talking to a large group of people.
Let's get started.
I need help.
Sure.
What's up?
I'm supposed to give a speech at the start of the conference next month and I don't know what to do.
It's not that hard to plan out a speech.
You start with an attention getter using humor or telling a personal story.
Okay, I guess I can do that.
After that, in your introduction, you should tell the audience what your speech is about in a thesis statement.
Along the way...
You should establish your credibility by mentioning why you're qualified to talk about this topic.
Then, in the body of your speech, you want to state your main points using supporting ideas, giving examples and maybe using visuals.
Okay.
And finally, in the conclusion, you restate your main points and make some closing remarks.
Simple, right?
Yeah, simple.
One last question.
Shoot.
What are you doing the morning of June 20th?
And how do you feel about standing in for a co-worker who plans to be deathly ill?
Lourdes begins by saying to Valerie, I need help.
Valerie says, sure, what's up?
What's going on?
What's happening?
Lourdes says I'm supposed to give a speech at the start of the conference next month and I don't know what to do.
A speech is a formal presentation, a spoken presentation in front of a group of people.
Valerie says it's not that hard to plan out a speech.
To plan out is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to plan all of the details of something, to prepare for it completely, to have a very good idea about everything you're going to do.
Valerie says it's not hard, it's not difficult to plan out a speech.
You start with an attention getter using humor or telling a personal story.
To get someone's attention means to get them to listen to you, to get them to listen to the things you are saying.
An attention getter would be something at the beginning of your speech that will make everyone stop and listen to you.
Sometimes you can tell a story.
Sometimes you can use humor.
Humor, H-U-M-O-R, just means a joke, something funny, something that will make people laugh.
Lourdes says, okay.
I guess I can do that.
She's not too sure.
Valerie says after that, after the attention getter in your introduction, you should tell the audience what your speech is about in a thesis statement.
Your introduction is the opening of your speech, the first part of your speech.
There's an old rule that when you give a speech, when you give a formal talk, first you tell people what you're going to tell them.
Say, I'm going to talk about this and this and this.
Then you tell them those things in the same order, this and this and this.
And then at the end, you tell them what you just told them.
You summarize.
That's what Valerie is suggesting here.
Lourdes should tell the audience, the people listening to her, what the speech is going to be about.
In a thesis statement.
A thesis, T-H-E-S-I-S statement, is usually associated with formal writing, an essay.
Valerie is using this idea to To help Lourdes understand what she's supposed to do.
Your thesis statement in an essay.
In a written essay is a short statement, usually one sentence that gives the main idea of what you are going to talk about.
Valerie says along the way, you should establish your credibility by mentioning why you are qualified to talk about this topic.
Along the way is an expression we use to mean as you are doing something.
This expression is often used when we are talking about traveling.
I'm going to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
And along the way, I'm going to stop at Fresno to visit my friend, along the way as I am traveling from one place to another.
Valerie, when using this expression, is telling Lourdes that, as she is giving her speech, She needs to establish her credibility.
To establish your credibility.
C-R-E-D-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y means to demonstrate that you are knowledgeable, that you are qualified, that you know something about this topic.
That gives you the authority, gives you the right, if you will, to talk about it.
You know what you're talking about.
If you're going to talk about the weather, you would want to know your audience will want to know why you are qualified to talk about the weather.
Do you have a degree in the science of studying the weather, what's called meteorology?
That would help.
Valerie says that Lourdes should establish her credibility by mentioning why she's qualified to talk about this topic.
To be qualified means to have the knowledge or experience to do something.
Lourdes says, all right, meaning okay.
Valerie says.
Then, in the body of your speech, You want to state your main points using supporting ideas, giving examples and maybe using visuals.
The body B-O-D-Y of your speech is the main section, the main part where you tell people with details, the things that you told them you were going to tell them about in your introduction.
We call these your main points.
Your main points are your most important points, the most important messages that you want to give to your audience about your topic.
Valerie suggests using supporting ideas when talking about your main points.
Supporting means helping.
Supporting ideas would be ideas that...
Help people understand what your main point is.
It could be evidence.
It could be proof of what you are saying.
You could also give them examples of what you are talking about to help them understand.
Maybe, Valerie says, you could use visuals.
Visual, V-I-S-U-A-L, is something you can see.
Visuals are things that you use often in a presentation or a speech that shows people what it is you are trying to tell them about.
It gives them something to look at.
If you're talking about geography, about where things are, a visual would be a map that would show people what you're talking about.
Lourdes says, okay.
Valerie then says and finally, in the conclusion, you restate your main points and make some closing remarks.
Your conclusion is at the end of your speech.
At the end of your speech, Valerie says you should restate your main points.
To restate, R-E-S-T-A-T-E, means to say again.
The prefix re, R-E in English, is typically used to mean again, to do something again.
A replay is to play something one more time.
Valerie says you should restate or say again your main points and make some closing remarks.
Closing remarks are things you say at the very end of your presentation.
The close of your presentation.
Valerie says, simple, right?
Luda says, yeah, simple.
One last question.
Valerie says shoot.
Shoot S-H-O-O-T is a phrase we use informally to tell the other person to continue asking their question.
Usually it's in response to another person who has said that he wants to ask you a question.
You may have someone come up to you and say, can I ask you a favor?
Can I ask you to do something for me?
And you say, shoot.
You mean, okay, ask me your favor.
Tell me what you want me to do.
Lourdes wants to ask Valerie a question.
So Valerie says, shoot, go ahead.
Lourdes says, what are you doing the morning of June 20th?
And how do you feel about standing in for a coworker who plans to be deathly ill?
Lourdes is asking Valerie what he's going to do on a certain day, June 20th, and how he feels about what is his opinion about, about standing in for a coworker?
To stand in for someone is to take the place of another person when that person isn't available to do what they're supposed to do, especially in a work environment.
Lourdes is joking, of course.
She's asking Valerie if he would like to give this speech, if he would like to stand in for his co-worker.
His co-worker is the person he works with, in this case, Lourdes.
Lourdes plans to be deathly ill that day.
To be ill means to be sick.
To be deathly ill means to be so sick you could die.
Once again, Lourdes is making a joke here.
She's hoping that Valerie will agree to do the speech, since he seems to know everything about giving speeches.
Being a teacher and former professor, I've given lots of speeches.
I like giving speeches.
I don't think I'm very good at giving speeches, but I like to give speeches.
So if your organization wants me to give a speech... send me an email.
I might not know what I'm talking about, but I'm happy to give a speech.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I need help.
Sure, what's up?
I'm supposed to give a speech at the start of the conference next month and I don't know what to do.
It's not that hard to plan out a speech.
You start with an attention getter using humor or telling a personal story.
Okay, I guess I can do that.
After that, in your introduction, you should tell the audience what your speech is about in a thesis statement.
Along the way.
You should establish your credibility by mentioning why you're qualified to talk about this topic.
All right.
Then, in the body of your speech, you want to state your main points using supporting ideas, giving examples and maybe using visuals.
Okay.
And finally, in the conclusion, you restate your main points and make some closing remarks.
Simple, right?
Yeah, simple.
One last question.
Shoot.
What are you doing the morning of June 20th and how do you feel about standing in for a co-worker who plans to be deathly ill?
Our script writer has established her credibility over the years as being very qualified for this job.
I speak, of course, of our own Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
