Lesson 8
SPEAKING IN PUBLIC

General Comprehension

The following text introduces the topic of speaking in public. Look at the way it is constructed. Then look at the following questions and read through the text quickly to find the answers. Remember, you do not have to understand every word in order to answer the questions.

1. 	What is the main idea of paragraph 1?
2. 	What is the main idea of paragraph 2?
3. 	What is the main idea of paragraph 3?
4. 	Why do most of us find little difficulty in talking to each other?
5. 	What is the main difference between talking and speaking?

       One of the main communication modes is the spoken word. Most of us find little difficulty in talking to each other. It is only when talking becomes speaking that it becomes difficult. But speaking in public is unnecessarily feared. As long as we recognize the large amount of preparation needed and have something to say, these fears can be allayed. 
       Anyone can learn to speak at least adequately in public. To be a brilliant speaker is a bigger problem: it may well entail a particular flair. The best way of getting a message across in speech is to be natural; not to read a script, but to speak just from notes. Thinking on the feet is the recommended approach, but to speak without any notes at all is folly. A speaker must watch his or her audience and adjust the presentation of the message to the visible reactions of the audience.	

          
       	
       It takes two to communicate. Just as a writer needs a reader, so too does each speaker require a listener. We can all improve on our listening skills and the most important part of listening is to concentrate. Because the brain can work significantly faster than a person can speak, listening is conducive to mind-wandering. A wandering brain soon falls asleep. The recommended anti-sleep precaution is to summarize the speaker’s argument as s/he progresses, noting it down for future reference and formulating questions that you hope the speaker will eventually answer. As memory is often short lived, and/or unreliable, a brief written note of any important message will pay dividends.

Detailed Comprehension
 
Read the text through carefully, looking up anything you do not understand. Then answer the following questions.

1. 	When is talking difficult?
2. 	Should one be afraid of speaking in public?
3. 	What should people do to avoid fears?
4. 	Should a public speaker read from notes?
5. 	Why is it folly to speak without any notes at all?
6. 	Why should a speaker watch his or her audience?
7. 	What is the most important part of listening?
8. 	Why is it that when you are listening to a speech, your mind may begin to wander?
9. 	What is the recommended way to prevent this?
10. 	Why would making brief notes of important points be of value?

Expressions Connected to Speaking

The above text presents some ways of speaking in public. There are some expressions which may not be common in our daily communication. Explain what is meant by the following words and expressions in the context of the passage you have read.

fears can be allayed
a particular flair

getting a message across
thinking on the feet
folly
visible reactions
listening is conducive to mind wandering
anti-sleep precaution
for future reference
will pay dividends

There are also verbs commonly connected with speaking. The verbs below describe how loudly or quietly a person is speaking and also, often, indicate mood. 
Verb	Loudness	Most likely mood	
whisper			soft				--
murmur			soft				romantic or complaining
mumble			soft (and unclear)		nervous on insecure
mutter			soft				irritated
shout			loud				angry or excited
scream			loud (usually without words)	frightened or excited
shriek			loud (and shrill)			frightened or amused
stutter, stammer	neutral				nervous or excited

					

Next, the following verbs all indicate something about how the speaker feels.

Verb	Feeling	
boast				proud of oneself
insist				determined
object				unhappy
threaten			aggressive
argue				not in agreement

groan				despair, pain
complain			displeased
maintain			confident
confess				repentant
urge				encouraging
beg				desperate
grumble			displeased	

Now, it is also possible to give an idea of the way someone speaks by using a speaking verb, plus an adverb.

If someone is angry:		angrily, crossly, furiously, bitterly
If someone feels unhappy:	unhappily, gloomily, miserably, uneasily, sadly
If someone feels happy:		happily, cheerfully, gladly, hopefully, eagerly
If someone worried:		anxiously, nervously, desperately, hopelessly

Other useful adverbs are boldly, excitedly, gratefully, impatiently, passionately, reluctantly, shyly, sincerely.

Exercise 

Now choose the verb which best fits the meaning of each of the following sentences.

1. 	‘I love you,’ he ....................
2. 	‘I am the cleverest person in the class,’ the little boy ....................
3. 	‘It was I who broke the vase,’ he ....................
4. 	‘Look, there is a mouse over there!’ he ....................
5. 	‘I’ll stop your pocket money if you don’t behave well,’ she ....................
6. 	‘I d-d-d-did it,’ he ....................
7. 	‘Please, please, help me,’ he ....................
8. 	‘This hotel is filthy,’ she ....................
9. 	‘Go on, Jim, try harder,’ he ....................
10. 	‘I don’t know anyone here,’ she said ....................

                                                    
Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it.

Adjectives and Adverbs
	
Adjectives

Do you remember what an adjective is? You can refer to the definition in the previous section. Adjectives are used to modify a noun or pronoun. Several types of adjectives mentioned in the previous section can be classified into two types: descriptive adjectives and limiting adjectives (also known as determiners). 
	For the time being, our discussion is focused on descriptive adjectives. A descriptive adjective points out a quality of the person, thing or idea it describes. It tells us what kind of person, thing or idea is referred to.
	Many descriptive adjectives have no special endings (suffixes): old, young, large, short, long, safe, white, hard, soft, bad, rich, hot, cold. However, other descriptive adjectives have endings which show that the words are adjectives. Here are the main endings:

-ful:	wonderful, beautiful, forgetful
-less:	thoughtless, worthless, lawless
-able:	acceptable, likeable, charitable
-ible:	edible, terrible, irresistible
-en:	golden, woollen, wooden
-ous:	glorious, victorious, mischievous
-al:	musical, national, natural
-ive: 	imaginative, destructive, descriptive
-ic:	heroic, scientific, poetic
-ish:	childish, selfish, English
-ary:	customary, secondary, imaginary
-some:	handsome, quarrelsome, lonesome
-y:	silky, shady, smoky
-ly:	friendly, manly, lonely

Adverbs

	We can identify different functions of adverbs. Adverbs can be used to indicate:

•	when something happens or happened (Adverbs of Time)
•	how frequently some happens or happened (Adverbs of Frequency)
•	where or in what direction  an action occurs or occurred (Adverbs of Place)
•	to what extent an action occurs or occurred (Adverbs of Degree)
•	how something is or was done (Adverbs of Manner)
•	in what order things occur (Adverbs of Sequence)
•	the result of an action (Adverbs of Result)
•	an idea which is either in contrast to a preceding one or different from the expected one (Adverb of Contrast)

	This time our discussion on adverbs is limited to adverbs of manner. They are commonly used to modify verbs. We need to pay a special attention to adverbs of manner because they are closely related to descriptive adjectives in terms of their formation.	

	Most adverbs of manner are formed from descriptive adjectives by the addition of the suffix -ly. Look at the following examples:

Adjectives			Adverbs

bad				badly
interesting			interestingly
quick				quickly
slow				slowly
happy				happily
true				truly

	However, there are exceptions.

a. 	Some adverbs have exactly the same form as their corresponding adjectives.
	
Adjectives				Adverbs
	
early					early
		daily					daily
A/an	monthly        affair.		Go	monthly
weekly					weekly
hourly					hourly
yearly					yearly

		a fast runner				run fast
		a late bus				come late
		a low position				hang low
  		a hard control				study hard
		a near miss				come near

b. 	There are a few words ending in -ly which are adjectives and not adverbs.

	brotherly kindness		leisurely pace
deadly weapon			lovely person
earthly comfort			lively dance
friendly person			scholarly lady
heavenly bodies

c. 	The adverbs of good is well.

	a good runner			runs well

d. 	Some adverbs have two forms, i.e. the form ending in -ly and the form that is the same as the corresponding adjectives. Normally the two forms have different meanings.

	study hard (diligently)
	hardly ever study (almost never)
hardly any money (almost none)
come late (opposite of early)
haven’t done anything lately (recently)

fall near (opposite of far)
nearly fall (almost)

to be pretty sure (quite)
to smile prettily (in an attractive manner)

Exercise
	
Now complete the following sentences with either adjectives or adverbs from the following list.

careful/carefully	financial/financially	nervous/nervously	special/specially	
complete/completely	fluent/fluently	quick/quickly	perfect/perfectly	
continuous/continuously	happy/happily			

1. 	Our holiday was too short. The time passed very .....................
2. 	Tom does not take risks when he is driving, He is always .....................
3. 	Sue works ..................... She never seems to stop.
4. 	Alice and Sean are very ..................... married.
5. 	Monica’s English is very ..................... although she makes quite a lot of mistakes.
6. 	I cooked this meal ..................... for you, so I hope you like it.
7. 	Everything was very quiet. There was ..................... silence.
8. 	I tried on the shoes and they fitted me .....................
9. 	Do you usually feel ..................... before examination?
10. 	I would like to buy a car but it is ..................... impossible for me at the moment.