Hello dear, and how is your year going so far? I hope it\u2019s off to a great start. Mine is going really well \u2013 I\u2019m thoroughly enjoying getting back in the saddle again and reconnecting with my students and clients after spending a couple of weeks only connecting with my family and friends. I so deeply love what I do and am reminded of that every day. However, when I hear the news, there are moments when I really wonder where the goodness lies in some people. Recent global events have had an impact on me, and I find sometimes it\u2019s a struggle to celebrate the joy of life every single day when you hear such terrible stories of violence and pain. (I just realized this has nothing to do with teaching you English \u2013 bear with me, I\u2019m almost done!) If anything it is a reminder to come together even closer than before \u2013 to shout even louder, to write and communicate even more, and to let your voice be heard. Don\u2019t ever let anyone stop you from sharing your story. Ever. The pen is mightier than the sword indeed!<\/p>\n
And speaking of sharing your voice, let\u2019s talk for a moment about\u2026..rocking an English presentation! What\u2019s the biggest mistake people make when they give a presentation in English? Guess what \u2013 it\u2019s not looking down at your notes (more on that in a second) or having a crappy Power Point\u2026it\u2019s forgetting to thank the audience! It\u2019s really important to thank the audience twice, actually. (Maybe now you\u2019re thinking\u00a0\u201cOMG I have been doing it wrong my whole life!\u201d<\/em>) You need to thank the audience for coming at the beginning of your presentation – a phrase like\u00a0\u201cThank you all for joining me today. Now I\u2019d like to talk about \u2026.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0can work really well, or\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s great to see everyone here today \u2013 thank you all for coming! I\u2019d like to start off with\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/em>is another option. You should thank the audience once again at the end of your presentation \u2013 something like\u00a0\u201cThank you again for your time today \u2013 I\u2019ve really enjoyed talking to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>This also tells the audience that you\u2019re done \u2013 many people just end with the last sentence of their information and then say\u00a0\u201cOk, that\u2019s all.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>I think you can do better! People are very busy and feel appreciated when they are thanked. And who doesn\u2019t like a pat on the back every now and then?<\/p>\n Oh, just a brief word about using your notes. Nipples. Yes, I said nipples. (It\u2019s a brief word.) Please don\u2019t raise your notes higher than your nipples. It\u2019s important to keep your face completely clear when giving a presentation. Take your notes up to you, don\u2019t bend over your notes. If you watch newsreaders, they also have the same technique. Just pretend you are on TV and you\u2019ll be fine!<\/p>\n Wishing you sweetie, a wonderful week. May you find goodness everywhere and may you let your voice ring out loud and clear! Thank you so much for reading! (See what I did there?)<\/p>\n Wit lof from buffi x<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello dear, and how is your year going so far? I hope it\u2019s off to a great start. Mine is going really well \u2013 I\u2019m thoroughly enjoying getting back in the saddle again and reconnecting with my students and clients after spending a couple of weeks only connecting with my family and friends. I so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n