Be enthusiastic!
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 conversationalist.
What kind of strong vocabulary can you use? Do you ever say "amazing", "fantastic", "terrific", etc.?
Showing enthusiasm is a point where many non-native English speakers struggle, particularly Asians.
So many non-native speakers 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 an Asian person, but they are completely normal in English.
Strong adjectives
- awesome
- the best
- amazing
- fantastic
- excellent
- great
- incredible
- outstanding
- superb
- terrific
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" gives the impression that you don't really, especially if it's said in a flat tone! English speakers normally use "love", so "like" is less positive than normal.
Your instructor will ask you some questions. Give a very short, confident and enthusiastic answer.
Examples:
A: What's your favorite food?
B: Hmm, it has to be lobster! It's incredible!
A: Is your hometown a good place to live?
B: Oh, yes. Absolutely. I'm from Athens—it's amazing!
The goal is to find out 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:
- Do you enjoy watching any sports?
- Do you have a favorite book or movie?
- What's your favorite food?
- Where did you go last on vacation?
Here are a few ways to show enthusiasm:
- word stress/intonation
- word choice
- eye contact
- gestures
Tell your student,
Let's practice each one of these, one by one.
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
As mentioned in the last lesson, words can be stressed three ways:
- louder/softer (volume)
- higher/lower (pitch)
- longer/shorter (word length)
You can use all three at once for maximum enthusiasm:
- Longer, louder and a rise-fall in pitch. As in, "I went to Hawaii. It was incr↗EEEEE↘dible!"
You can also show strong tone by stopping after each short word: "It. was. am↗AAA↘zing."
Word choice
This was covered in the Warm Up.
Eye contact
Make strong eye contact on the key word. For video chats, you'll need to look at the camera. Try to lean in and look intently at the listener, or the camera. You may want to raise your eyebrows or widen your eyes. Don't overdo this, or it may seem creepy.
Also, tell the student to maintain eye contact through the whole lesson to practice sustaining it through a business meeting or presentation.
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, give a full answer to some thought-provoking questions.