PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Using Your Voice

Before you watch Key:
1. slow down
A 2. speak clearly
This activity introduces the topic of using your voice 3. slight pause
effectively when giving a talk. 4. distracting
5. variety
Students discuss the qualities they admire in voices they
hear on the radio or other media. C
This activity requires students to use the concepts and
B vocabulary from the video in the context of conversation.
Ask students to work individually or in pairs to complete
Have students try to convey emotions by saying
the conversation. Monitor and support. Check answers
sentences in different ways. This may require a little bit of
with the class.
acting (and practice). If students are unclear about how
to express different emotions, they can think of different
situations and how they would respond. For “It’s time Key:
to go,” they might be at a boring party, eager to take an 1. mumbling
airplane, or unhappy about a situation and want to leave. 2. lacks
3. follow
4. absorb
Video 5. lost
6. emotion
For online classes, before playing the video, make sure
that you’re sharing both the screen and the sound.
Alternatively, upload the video to a shared folder before Digital skills focus
class, and ask students to download it to watch on their
own devices. A
This activity offers tips on successful audio quality for
online talks. Emphasize that audio quality will vary
A
depending on each listener’s device, but a speaker
This activity is designed to check students’ should try to make their audio as clear and noise-free
comprehension of main ideas. Tell students to view the as possible. This includes testing audio prior to the talk,
video and focus on the general understanding of effective minimizing room noise, and possibly purchasing a high-
voice practices. Ask students to work individually or in quality microphone. Ask students to work individually or
pairs to determine whether each statement is true or in pairs to match the sentence beginnings and endings.
false. Monitor and support. Check answers with the class. Monitor and support. Check answers with the class.
If you teach online or with an interactive whiteboard, use
the interactive feature of the worksheet to check answers
with your class. Key:
1. b
2. g
Key: 3. a
Teacher ’s notes

1. T, 2. F, 3. F, 4. T, 5. T 4. d
5. e
B 6. f
Have students watch the video again and listen for 7. c
details. Ask students to work individually or in pairs to
select the correct option. Monitor and support. Check
answers with the class.
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 PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Language focus something they feel strongly about and allow their voice
to embody their passion or beliefs. They should speak to
A their group and get feedback from the members using the
This activity has two purposes. The text serves as advice checklist of tips for effective voice practice.
for effective voice practice, and it focuses students’ For online classes, use break rooms to have students
attention on some techniques they can use to complete work in pairs or groups. Set a timer so the students know
the Digital Communicative Task. when they have to go back to the whole class chat.
Tell the students to fill in the gaps to complete the
sentences. Monitor and support. Finally, check answers
Key
with the class. Encourage discussion if there is
Student’s own answers
disagreement or if students are not sure which is the best
word to fill each gap.
Digital communicative task
If you are teaching an online class, set a timer for the
individual practise so you don’t disturb students by asking A
them if they’ve finished. This activity is designed to give students the opportunity
to apply the communication skill in an online situation.
Key: Students will give a talk individually, but can be paired for
1. a tremendous impact the preparation part of the activity. They should choose
2. expressive a topic for a talk (2-3 minutes in length). They should
3. slowly and clearly rehearse the talk with their partner as the audience. The
4. slow down first rehearsal should focus on issues of clear speech.
5. to pause For the second rehearsal, students should vary their pitch
6. emotional impact and volume. Finally, have students rehearse their talk
7. variety with your voice with expression and confidence. Students should refer to
8. let the pitch rise the Effective Voice Practice Checklist to make sure they
9. slight pause are incorporating all of the tips. Allow time for pairs to
10. vary your pitch give feedback to each other using the checklist.

B Students can do their planning and rehearsal in a

This activity is designed to focus students’ attention breakout room. Encourage students to record themselves
on verb collocations (words commonly used together). and watch back. They should check their voice work
Encourage students to watch the video again or use a against the Voice Practice checklist.
dictionary, as needed, to find the phrase.
B
Key:
1. take Students present their talk in the online class while
2. follow you record the session or they make a video of their
3. insert talk and show it during the online session or post it to
Teacher ’s notes

4. show a discussion board. Encourage audience members to

5. change up give feedback to the speakers using the Effective Voice
6. lose Practice Checklist. Allow time for the audience to give
7. absorb feedback to the speakers, either spoken or written, on a
discussion board.
C Ask each speaker to reflect on his/her rehearsal process
This activity gives students the opportunity to practise the and whether they see improvement from the first
suggestions for effective voice practice in this lesson. In rehearsal to the finished and recorded talk.
pairs or groups, have students prepare to speak about
a topic for one minute. Encourage students to select
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