Resources: Speaking

Here are some helpful links to improve your speaking:

• http://people.engr.ncsu.edu/txie/publications/oral_presentation_skills.pdf (This PDF document will give you a lot of helpful tips about organising your presentation. It also provides a lot of example sentences, so you know how to connect sentences or start a topic.)
• http://www.eslgold.com/speaking.html (Here, you will find a lot of exercises to practice your speaking skills alone. You will find many different topics. It also provides topics for conversations, if you want to practice with someone else.)
• http://www.spokenskills.com/student-activities.cfm (This homepage also offers exercises for you to practice alone. It also gives a lot of exercises concerning pronounciation. You can practice your pronounciation while listening to the recordings.)
• http://englishinteractive.net/speaking.html (Here you will find topics for conversations, but also helpful tips about giving a presentation. It also provides a link for karaoke, so you can sing along while listening to famous songs.)
• http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/PublicSpeaking.htm (If you need more tips about giving a presentation, this homepage will provide you with a lot of tips.)
• http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2013/may/10/public-speaking-academics-10-tips (This article by The Guardian provides tips for academic presentations. It is worth reading for every student.)

If you need more tips for giving presentations, there are 210 million results for "speaking public tips" and 273 million results for "giving an presentation". So I am pretty sure, you will find enough further information about improving your presentation and speaking skills!

Tips for speaking in public

There is no need to be nervous!
(source: http://engineeringcareerdevelopment.com/
public-speaking-skills-for-engineers-101-
the-more-you-speak-the-better-you-get)

One of the best and worst experiences in improving your speaking skills is a presentation in front of a group. It is the best opportunity because now you can show off your skills and practice your speaking. But for a lot of people it is one of the worst experiences because they are afraid of speaking in public.

This is why I want to help you now.

Before you speak in public you, of course, have to prepare everything. Think about the following questions:

• What do I want to present (topic, arguments)?
• How do I want to present myself and my presentation (power point, pictures)?
• What is my intention (convince, inform, inspire the audience)?
• What is my audience’s background?

After answering all these questions and preparing your presentation, you can now practice your speech. BUT, do not script your speech. This will sound very unnatural in your presentation and this does not help your speaking skills at all. Prepare some cards with notes and also think about possible questions from the audience.

If you have graphs or pictures in your presentation, you need to prepare them. It is most likely impossible that you will be able to explain the pictures spontaneously. You should practice this part a couple of times.

Here are some tips when you are actually in front of a group:

Look nice. If you dress adequate, it will reflect positive on you. This also means that you are prepared. You do not have to wear a suit or black dress, but it good to wear something appropriate.

Greet everyone. Before you start your presentation or speech, introduce yourself and your topic. You can also start with a story or a joke to loosen up a little. This helps also to reduce the tension between you and the audience.

Look people in the eye. You cannot look everyone in the eye of course, but it is not very good when you look out the window or at the ceiling when you talk. Look for 2 or 3 faces in the room, which smile or look friendly. The people should sit on different sites of the rooms so you can move your view.

Play with your voice. You have so many opportunities to keep the attention of your audience. Speak in a lower voice if you want to emphasis something for example. You should stress important points and ideas. Here a quick tip from the radio: Presenters from the radio always try to smile while presenting something on the radio. Their voices sound different when they smile while talking. 

If you smile at your audience, they will smile back!
(source: http://www.gingerpublicspeaking.com/speak-large-audience)

Use your body. When you talk to a friend, you usually use your hands and body to communicate in a non-verbal way. Try to establish this behaviour in a presentation, too. Try to stand straight, but natural. Use your hands, but do not "over"-gesticulate.

Be positive. You should obtain a positive attitude because you sell a product: You! If you are negative about your own presentation, the audience will not really listen to you and pay attention on something else. They also will be disappointed because they were looking forward listening to your presentation.

Interact with your audience. While you speak in front of a group, you also need to pay attention to your audience. Usually you can tell, if they can follow you or if they have problems understanding your point. At this moment you can repeat yourself or ask the audience, if they have trouble following you. You can also give short summaries at the end of an idea and ask if everyone understood what you have just presented.

Summarise. At the end of your presentation give a short conclusion, prospect view or your final opinion. Afterwards, thank your audience and ask for questions or comments. Appreciate the comments because usually people just try to help you.

Everone can become a confident speaker!
(source: http://publicspeakingsuperpowers.com/
217/why-bother-improving-public-speaking-skills/)

Here are some helpful tips, if you are very nervous in front of a group:

• Be friendly to your audience, then they will be friendly to you.
• Do not worry about making mistakes, this makes you human. Everyone understands if you make a mistake or if you lose your train of thought.
• Before your presentation, take deep breaths. This will calm you. I always take a very small walk through the building, to calm me down.
• If you are organised and prepared, nothing will happen. The audience will believe what you are presenting.
• The best tip: Before your presentation and during your introduction, tell the audience that you are nervous. Usually the audience will smile and may laugh, because they know how you feel!

Learning different speaking strategies

After the short introduction to speaking, I want to give you now some helpful strategies to enhance your speaking skills.

First of all, consider the following Do-Nots:

• Do not translate everything from your native language into English.
• Do not be nervous or stressed, this makes you speak very unnatural.
• Do not try to look for the exact word; if you forget one word, try to describe it.
• Do not only communicate in class; look for conversation partners outside the classroom.

To enhance your speaking skill, you need to do one thing: speaking! Therefore, try to interact with others. Look for opportunities to speak English. There are various ways:

(source: http://ciudaddepuebla.olx.com.mx/
curso-de-speaking-para-estudiantes-de
-intercambio-iid-406333121)

• Join an English group at the university or school.
• Skype with native speakers.
• Try to travel to English speaking countries.
• Get a private tutor and have conversation classes.

Of course it is difficult to find conversation partners who speak English as their mother tongue or are very well in speaking the language.

In that case, you can work on the “theory” of speaking.

You can study standard phrases, which are needed in a conversation. That means that you will need to learn to greet another person and how to talk about certain topics. For example, you would not talk about money problems with a stranger whereas you do not need to call your friends “Sir” or “Madam” while talking.

Moreover, you can read and listen to dialogues, to learn about the intonation, content and also stress in a conversation.

Another opportunity is to practice your English speaking skills online. There are some homepages which will help you to practice your English. Here, you have a homepage where you can find people to speak English to from all over the world: http://www.englishbaby.com/ .

Just remember, you need to keep practicing in order to improve your speaking skills!

Introduction to Speaking

Now I will talk about the fourth and last language skill: speaking.

For many people this seems to be the most difficult language skill. There reason for this is that most people are afraid to speak in a different language. They fear to make mistakes and to be ridiculed by others. But it is not very difficult to speak.

You just need to start talking and then you will get better the more you talk. And – believe me – most native speakers are glad when you speak some of their language. Then they are really nice and understandable and help you out, if you have problems. I experienced that a lot of times.

What is important when speaking?

We all like to talk
(source: http://englishinteractive.net/
speaking.html)

Pronunciation

I know that a lot of people have trouble with pronouncing the words correctly. Just remember, everyone is struggling: the Germans cannot pronounce the “th”, the Spanish tend to pronounce every syllable. But the more you speak, the better your pronunciation will be!

Stress

Going along with the pronunciation is stressing. This means to emphasis certain syllables in a word. If you do not stress the words in a correct manner, you might have difficulties being understood. When it comes to full sentences or phrases even, it is important to know which word needs to be stressed in order to put the focus on the word.
Let me give you an example (the bold words represent the stress):

Tomorrow I will have lunch with Maria. (The lunch is not today or any other day.)

Tomorrow I will have lunch with Maria. (It’s lunch, not breakfast or dinner.)

Tomorrow I will have lunch with Maria. (Not with Tony or Lucy.)

Intonation

When you speak, you always have an intonation. It is the melody of your speech. If you ask a question, your voice raises at the end of your speech for example. The intonation helps you to express your feelings and meanings better. Just imagine how an angry person speaks in comparison to a shy person.

A great example of stress and intonation
(source: http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=427150)

Resources: Writing

Of course you will find a lot of different courses which will help you improve your writing skills.
But I think the most important things are grammar and spelling. You will find various resources in my older entries, which are concerned with grammar and vocabulary (therefore, also spelling) exercises.

But of course I will give you some more online resources for learning:

• http://www.wikihow.com/Use-English-Punctuation-Correctly (The key for writing a good text is also the knowledge of punctuation. On this homepage, you will find tips about how and when to use punctuation.)
• http://www.infoplease.com/homework/writingskills1.html (Here you will find various links. These links are related to different types of texts and reports. They will give further tips about writing skills.)
• http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/art-of-writing/? (You want to write like the masters? Then you will find 10 helpful hints here!)
• http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/10/08/stephen-kings-top-7-tips-for-becoming-a-better-writer/ (Do you want to write like Stephen King? Then you will find here 7 tips about becoming a better writer. Maybe the next best selling horror novel will be from you?)
• http://freelancefolder.com/7-cant-miss-ways-to-kick-start-the-writing-habit/ (Having problems to start writing? This homepage will offer you 7 tricks how to get writing. It really sounds like a lot of fun!)
• http://www.visuwords.com/ (This homepage is perfect for every writer and student. If you are in lack of the right word or you do not want to use the same word over and over again, type it in on that homepage and you will find words with the same or similar meaning. Above all, it has a nice animation :) )
• http://www.uaf.edu/english/writing-center/common-errors/ (Have a look here for very common errors in writing. This homepage will give you some of the most common errors while writing a text in English.)
• http://www.drgrammar.org/frequently-asked-questions (Do you have a question about the English grammar? You do not know which word to use? Ask Dr. Grammar. On this page you will find a lot of different questions concerning grammar and word usage.)

Improving your writing skills

Of course you can improve your writing skills. The keys are patience and efficiency.

Here are some tips:

Read! If you read a lot of different text, you will get a feeling of good writing. You also learn useful expressions for certain texts (scientific texts use a different language than magazine articles for example).

Keeping a note book helps improving your writing skills.
(source:http://englishteachernet.blogspot.com.es/
2011/02/cartoon-humour-charlie-browns-view-on.html)

Try! Try and write something short every day. If you want to improve your novel writing skills, it helps you not only to keep you going, but also to keep you in practice.

Use! When you read or experiment with your writing, it is good to apply what you have learned before. The best thing is to use phrases or text models straight away, so you will keep them in mind.

Research! If you need to prepare a report or essay, you do have to research for a specific topic. While researching, you will find expressions and also connotations for certain words. This will help when you need to write your essay.

Collect! If you want to be really serious about improving your skills, it is best to keep a note book in which you write helpful expressions. While writing them down you might be able to memorise them, too.

If you want to improve your text, then I have some more helpful tips here:

• Start each paragraph with the main idea of the paragraph. This introduces the topic of the paragraph as well as structures your text.
• If you vary the lengths of your sentences, you will create different emphasises. Use short sentences to emphasis a point or idea. Then use long sentences to explain or define that point or idea.
• You should use active voice while writing. This will help to keep sentences short. It will also help not to confuse the reader.
• Use key words. They will help the reader to focus on your text.
• Try to use various types of sentences. This will keep the attention of the reader and also be more constructive.
• Use the specific language. If you write a scientific text, use scientific language. This shows the reader that you know what you are writing about.

Learning different writing strategies or, how to write a good formal text

Everyone knows that writing an important text is not very easy. Sometimes you even have to write it a lot of times before the text is finally ready to be send or published. This is because I will give you some steps you need to consider when writing an important and formal text.

 

Steps for writing a formal text
(source: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/essay/)

Plan and organise

Before you start writing, you should make notes about the topic you are going to write about. You need to brainstorm and/or resarch. Consider the following question:

• What do I want to say?
• Who is my audience (fellow students, teacher, job recruiter, scientists)?
• Which arguments do I have (and which examples do I have to emphasis them)?
• What is my goal with this text?

When you finished taking notes, you should organise them. 

Formal texts (reports or letters) usually contain the same structures:

• Introduction – Greeting, Purpose of the text, a small outline of the following text
• Body – Here, you will give your arguments in various paragraphs; you should start with the weakest argument and then finish the body with the strongest argument.
• Conclusion – Summary of your text, complimentary close

         Drafting, Drafting, Drafting

Even if you do not know how to start,
just write something topic related!
(source: http://cplteenvolume.tumblr.com/)

Now that you organised your information, you can start writing. This will usually take some time. If you finished your first draft, leave it a bit, but do not send it yet! This is not your final version (unless you’re a genius and know how to write formal texts perfectly). After a short break, read through the draft and check for mistakes. 

• Do you want to change the order of your arguments?
• Do you find some phrases unnecessary or necessary?
• Does everything make sense?

When you finished correcting your text, reread it again. Do you like it now? If yes, I suggest leaving it again for some time. (I suggest it because you will develop a certain “blindness”. This means, you will read over mistakes or some phrases which you might not like)

When this process is finished you may have to write a second draft. When you write a text on your computer it is of course easier because you do not need to rewrite everything and make the chances in your document directly.

This process should go on until you are satisfied with your text.

Reading

When you finished writing, you have to read your text one last time before you send, submit or publish it. It is also very helpful to give the text to a person, who is a good English speaker. This person might find some mistakes you did not find because of your “blindness”. The person might also be able to detect some error in reasoning or confusion. You can also use this chance to talk about the text with the other person. Let’s just hope, you do not need to rewrite everything.

Last but not least: send, submit or publish

When you feel really sure about your text, check the formatting. Is everything in order? Do I have all necessities (greetings, highlights, requirements, resources)?

Only then, you should send, submit or publish your text. 

Good luck! :)

You can do it!
(source: http://englishteachernet.blogspot.com.es/2011/02/
cartoon-humour-charlie-browns-view-on.html)