This is the final lesson on fluency in this section. It will help you to win the listener's attention using gestures, eye contact and intonation.
Showing enthusiasm and confidence will make you a compelling presenter and an interesting conversation partner, and it will boost your test score.
What kind of enthusiastic vocabulary can you use? For example: amazing, fantastic...
Showing enthusiasm and confidence is particularly important in speaking tests, and it's a point where many non-native English speakers struggle. They appear flat or boring in English, even if they are not either of those things.
This lesson will introduce some simple ideas to seem confident and enthusiastic. Remember, these may seem strong for some cultures, but they are completely normal for many English-speaking cultures.
Strong adjectives
Here are a few suggestions for your student, if they can't come up with any.
Note: Remember that you can seem confident and enthusiastic negatively, too.
POSITIVE | NEGATIVE |
---|---|
awesome | awful |
best | worst |
terrific | terrible |
fantastic | horrible |
excellent | disgusting |
gorgeous |
hideous |
Additional info
The overuse of the verb "to like":
A lot of students use “I like...” for things/people they love or are passionate about. For instance, "I like my family" sounds like you don't really love them. English speakers normally use "like" to refer to things/people we appreciate but aren't passionate about. For deeper feelings, we use "love".
Your instructor will ask you some questions. Give a very short, confident and enthusiastic answer.
For example:
A: What's your favorite food?
B: Hmm, it has to be tacos! They're fantastic!
A: Is your hometown a good place to live?
B: Oh, yes. Absolutely. I'm from Vancouver, Canada. It's such a gorgeous city.
The goal is to find how your student naturally shows enthusiasm. Try looking at their profile to see what their hobbies and interests are, or ask them for a topic they are excited about.
Just ask a few questions. There are strategies in the section below, so don't worry too much about performance. We are finding the base-line for the student.
Tell your student: "Let's practice starting your answer with a lot of enthusiasm. Don't worry about expanding. Just a short, strong answer is enough."
Here are some examples:
- Are there any sports you like watching?
-
Where did you go last on vacation?
- Do you have a favorite book or movie?
- What are the most memorable things you've seen or experienced in nature?
- What is the best gift you have ever received?
- What's your favorite food?
- What is your favorite smell?
- What was your most unforgettable childhood adventure?
GRAMMAR NOTE:
Students may make the mistake of saying, "It's so beautiful city." Point out the difference between so + adj and such a/an + adj + noun:
- It's so + [adj.].
- Vancouver is so gorgeous.
- It's such a [adj. + noun].
- Vancouver is such a gorgeous city
- It's such a great place to live.
Here are a few ways to show enthusiasm:
- word stress/intonation;
- word choice;
- eye contact; and
- gestures.
Practice each one with your teacher.
To be effective, enthusiasm has to be at least partly natural. Practice all these strategies, but if any of them feel very strange, don't force your student to do them.
Word stress/intonation
Remind them of 3 ways to stress a word:
- louder/softer (volume);
- higher/lower (pitch); and
- longer/shorter (word length).
Word choice
This was covered in the warm-up.
Eye contact
Practice maintaining eye contact throughout the whole lesson. If they can do it for 25 minutes, they'll manage any interview test.
Gestures
Loosen up and move your hands. It's very strange to speak enthusiastically but have your hands by your side. It doesn't have to be a specific action, as long as you don't look like a statue!
Now that you've practiced showing confidence and enthusiasm, try giving a full answer to some speaking-test-style questions.