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1. Keep the goal in mind – Have a very clear idea of a problem to be solved, an issue to be resolved. Know from the start what your call to action will be. Everything you do from beginning to end will support that goal. Don’t ramble or include irrelevant material Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. The best speakers have always stayed on point and used plain language to support their point.

2. Outline – Tried and true The old tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em, tell ‘em, then tell ‘em what you told ‘em. It really works. Instead of copious notes that you’re tempted to rely on, index cards with your heading and subheadings or a single page with your outline on the lectern or podium will keep you on track. If you’re using a PowerPoint presentation, use the screen that faces you as your notes.

3. Open with an attention getter – Whether it’s a startling statistic, a question for them to respond to, getting them all out of their seats for an exercise, or a humorous anecdote, you want to get their attention. You want them to sit forward in their seats, raise their eyebrows, show signs of life, even if it’s right after lunch. Once you have their attention, your job is to keep it.

4. Use three points to make your main point – Make the structure solid. Don’t bounce back and forth from one supporting topic to another. Have your three points and keep them clearly differentiated. If you have a handout, nothing is more distracting than having the audience flip back and forth through the pages. Keep the structure in place so people don’t have to work to follow your logic.

5. Keep them awake – Surprise them with an unexpected action or loud statement. Darren LaCroix, the 2001 International Champion for Toastmasters and successful professional speaker and coach, fell on his face to show the audience that falling on your face isn’t as bad as we think and kept talking. If you don’t know how to do something safely, don’t do it but do surprise them.

6. Keep the visuals simple – Nothing pops less than a presenter who reads lengthy notes or PowerPoint slides to the audience. You might as well offer pillows and blankets to the audience as they file into the room. Use your outline headings on your visuals, not paragraphs. Use graphics and photographs. It’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Before and after pictures side by side can tell your story.

7. Have a closing that sticks with them – Tie your conclusion back to your opening, reiterate your three main supporting points, and say how your approach is going to solve the problem or resolve the issue. Give your audience a call to action, a specific step that will make a difference. If there is a physical or internet address they need, give them the address in your handout or on a card. Invite them to follow up with you.

When teaching the present progressive, or continuous, tense, we often concentrate on structure: you have a subject, followed by the auxiliary, “be” followed by the “-ing” form of the verb. A lot of teachers have started calling this verb “the -ing verb”, and rightly so, as I am convinced that virtually nobody can say for sure what the correct term for it is.

Would you call it the gerund? No, because the gerund is the noun derived from a verb, not a verb itself. Here we have a completely different discussion, and another lesson to prepare. You probably do a free time/interests lesson where you ask the question “what do you like doing?”. Your students have the opportunity to practise real gerunds, as in sentences like, “I like playing football, going skiing, painting, reading, shopping...”

You, of course, as a serious ESL professional, know that in a sentence like “I am having a shower”, the “-ing” verb is actually the present participle. Are we sure about that?

participles or adjectives?

If I say, “I am tired”, I know that “am” is the verb and that “tired” is obviously an adjective, given that “to be” is a verb of state, and an adjective is used to add detail to a noun, in this case a pronoun, “I”. But tired is also the past participle of the verb “to tire”. Just as past participles can be used as adjectives, so can present participles: The match was tiring, this film is boring” etc. Expressions like “running water” or “living space” contain “-ing” adjectives.

When saying “I am” we are invariably talking about a present state, so what’s the difference between “I am tired”, and “I am working”? To say “I am working” also indicates my present state, even if technically speaking “working” is the present participle, not an adjective. Interestingly, in French there is no present progressive tense, they use an adjectival phrase which translates, “I am in the process of to work”. A fine line indeed between adjectives and participles!

All these thoughts have led me to believe that they should not discussed with your students, being indeed pointless grammatical debate that will not help them one little bit to communicate more effectively. Instead of trying to have your students build sentences from pre-defined parts, i.e. aux + verb+ing = present progressive = something happening now why not make a mind map of all the possible things we could say starting with “I am”. After all, “I am English” is a present, just like “I am working”. You could brainstorm emotions, physical condition, nationalities, age, jobs, and what is happening now. This way, rather than focussing on meaningless grammatical structure, you are giving your students functional language that they can use outside the classroom.

To win more negotiations, you should focus your thoughts. That’s to say, you should be very thoughtful of what you’re thinking during the negotiation, why you have such thoughts, and where those thoughts might lead. To do otherwise could mean you’re led haphazardly towards a negotiation outcome that doesn’t serve your goals of the negotiation. Observe the following to increase the focus of your thoughts in a negotiation.

Breaking News: Do you take note of how and when TV News organizations flash that moniker across/on the screen? At that moment they’re attempting to grab your attention from what you were focusing on and directing it to what they want you to focus on. In most cases, the breaking news is nothing that would really demand you lend your attention to, but they’ve captured your focus, which was their intent. If you raise your awareness to what’s being attempted by such ploys in a negotiation, you’ll focus your thoughts on not losing your focus per what’s important to your negotiation effort.

Be mindful of when timeouts are called:

When timeouts are called in a negotiation, note the reason cited for the timeout and assess the reasoning validity. As an example, if you happen to be winning the negotiation or a point in that process, and the opposing negotiator asks to take a break, he could be doing so to slow your momentum, take the time to gather additional insights/thoughts, and/or to refresh himself. All such insights will give you guidance per what may be occurring in his mind, as to the reasoning he called a timeout. Thus, it may or may not behoove you to grant his request, depending on how hard you wish to push at that time and/or what your next move is intended to achieve. The point is, be aware when there’s a shift in the negotiation and what may have occurred to cause it.

Diversions – Sizzlin’ Korean BBQ:

Take note of what the opposing negotiator is asking you to focus on. Question yourself, and possibly her, why she’s asking you to lend your attention to the point she’s highlighting. Note the same when you make a point and attempts are made to divert it. Ask yourself, why was my point given less credence? Why doesn’t she want to address my point and what implications does that have?

In a negotiation, the other negotiator may not tell you how to think, but he may attempt to direct your thoughts by suggesting what you should think about. In so doing, he’s controlling you and the negotiation. To the degree that you think of what you’re thinking about, why you have such thoughts and how those thoughts are aligned with the goals you seek for the negotiation, you’ll combat his efforts while promoting the outcome you seek.

By focusing on what you think about and why you have such thoughts, you’ll be in more control of the negotiation, which will allow you to win more negotiations… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!