In this ESL Podcast we talk about giving a presentation. Learn how to relax when giving a presentation and learn English at the same time!
Learning English http://vkontakte.ru/club17650165
A: You look like you saw a ghost. What’s up with that?
B: I’ve got to give a huge presentation for work today in front of 20 top execs from the company.
A: What’s the big deal? You know your stuff.
B: Ya but I have bigtime stagefright. At the end of my presentation the execs will asking me all kinds of questions. I freeze up when I have to think on my feet.
A: Don’t psych yourself out. You’ll be fine.
B: That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to give the speech.
A: If you get nervous just picture the audience in their underwear. Aparantly that helps.
B: I’ll do that only as a last resort.
A: Why?
B: The execs are mostly men in their 50’s...
Phrases and Vocabulary used:
You look like you saw a ghost: You use this expression to tell someone that they look really scared about something. If they look white, scared, and their eyes aren’t moving much you can say, "you look like you saw a ghost".
What’s up with that: This slang question is really asking, "What is the reason for that?". It is often rhetorical, meaning you don’t expect it to be answered.
An example is, "Trevor was acting really weird yesterday. What was up with that?"
Execs: This is a short form for "executives" which are high level people in a company.
You know your stuff: This slang phrase can be used to tell someone that they know something really well.
Don’t be nervous about tomorrow’s math test. You know your stuff.
Stagefright: Stagefright is when a person is really afraid to be in front of an audience.
Freeze up: "Freezing up" is the feeling that you can’t move or talk because you are so nervous or scared about something.
He’s good at the piano but he freezes up when he plays in front of anyone.
Think on my feet: If you have to "think on your feet" it means that you have no time to prepare something.
Even if you prepare well for a job interview, you may still have to think on your feet if the interviewer asks you something you weren’t at all expecting.
Don’t psych yourself out: If you "psych yourself out" it means that you convince yourself that you can’t do something. It’s a really negative thing to do. "Psyching yourself out" is when you come up with all kinds of strange reasons and excuses about why something will fail. Many people don’t try something new because they psych themselves out.
Picture: "picturing" something means to imagine something in a certain way.
Last resort: If you do something as a "last resort" it means that you will only do it after you’ve tried all other options first.
Some presidents say they will only go to war as a last resort.