Uploaded July 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Why do we do what we do? Well, a number of answers spring to mind ‘Because it is the right thing to do’ or ‘Because we like it’ or ‘Because we have to’. All these are reasonable answers of course, but what if there is another one? What if the reason we do something is that we just happened to do it at some point in the past?!?
Imagine this scenario: you are walking down the street, you are a bit tired, you are in a bit of a hurry – you are also badly in need of caffeine. Normally you have coffee at ‘Dunkin’ Donuts’, but this is a few blocks away and you happen to walk past this place you have never been to before – ‘Starbucks’… I will let the great Ariely continue the story…
This simple observation is one of the most profound discoveries in the field of Social Psychology: Our brain is lazy; we don’t want to seriously sit down and think about each and everything we do every day. Instead, we rely on heuristics. One of the most potent heuristics is this: ‘What did I do last time?’ Never mind that last time I was in a hurry and ‘Dunkin’ Donuts’ happened to be away; we don’t remember these things – instead we remember what we did. And then what do we do? We ‘line up behind ourselves’ and do the same thing!
Not only that; according to Psychologist Daryl Bem, we also change our beliefs and attitudes so that they are consistent with our new behaviour pattern! ‘For many things, our attitudes come from actions, that led to observations, that led to explanations, that led to beliefs’ (McRaney 2013 – p. 60). Common sense says the chain of causation is: ‘I like films = I go to the cinema’; Bem says: ‘I go to the cinema = I must like films!’
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
Why do we do what we do? Well, a number of answers spring to mind ‘Because it is the right thing to do’ or ‘Because we like it’ or ‘Because we have to’. All these are reasonable answers of course, but what if there is another one? What if the reason we do something is that we just happened to do it at some point in the past?!?
Imagine this scenario: you are walking down the street, you are a bit tired, you are in a bit of a hurry – you are also badly in need of caffeine. Normally you have coffee at ‘Dunkin’ Donuts’, but this is a few blocks away and you happen to walk past this place you have never been to before – ‘Starbucks’… I will let the great Ariely continue the story…
This simple observation is one of the most profound discoveries in the field of Social Psychology: Our brain is lazy; we don’t want to seriously sit down and think about each and everything we do every day. Instead, we rely on heuristics. One of the most potent heuristics is this: ‘What did I do last time?’ Never mind that last time I was in a hurry and ‘Dunkin’ Donuts’ happened to be away; we don’t remember these things – instead we remember what we did. And then what do we do? We ‘line up behind ourselves’ and do the same thing!
Not only that; according to Psychologist Daryl Bem, we also change our beliefs and attitudes so that they are consistent with our new behaviour pattern! ‘For many things, our attitudes come from actions, that led to observations, that led to explanations, that led to beliefs’ (McRaney 2013 – p. 60). Common sense says the chain of causation is: ‘I like films = I go to the cinema’; Bem says: ‘I go to the cinema = I must like films!’
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
![Clips from IRCEELT [Tbilisi 4 / 5 / 2019]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T4Nvz1DqnsA/mqdefault.jpg "Clips from IRCEELT [Tbilisi 4 / 5 / 2019]
SOME TIPS FOR PRESENTERS
I cannot say I am an expert, but I have attended numerous talks by others and I have given quite a few myself. So I thought I would make a quick list of ‘Dos and Don’ts’ – hoping that others will add to it…
DO…
…start with something attention-catching (a joke – something weird – a story); you only have a few seconds.
…say interesting things. Content matters. (Ask yourself: would someone still find your talk interesting if they were not an EL teacher?)
…use stories and anecdotes to make your talk more interesting. Stories are our mother tongue.
…use stories to convey information; stories are far more memorable than giving studies or numerical information.
…move from the concrete to the general. It is easier for people to understand a principle if you have given them a concrete example first.
…include some practical elements. People need to be able to answer a question like ‘What did you get out of this?’ afterwards – regardless of how brilliant the talk was.
…add value to your talk through ‘social currency’. Include interesting little tit-bits of info that people can share with others (‘A glass ball will bounce higher than one made of rubber’).
…include ‘peak’ moments in your talk (a striking example; a paraprosdokian; a motivational quote etc.). This is what people will remember later (‘The Peak – End Effect’).
…segment your talk, and regularly let people know which part of the talk you are in.
…use your body, your arms and your facial expressions to liven up your talk.
…colour your voice; you may never become Cliff Parry but pitch fluctuations, stress and the strategic use of pausing help immensely.
…talk with confidence and assurance. This means two things: i) you have to know your stuff and ii) you need to have faith in what you are saying.
…use incongruity. Weird things like the completely unrelated picture of a dinosaur on the slide helps wake people up.
…use the power of association. Make that dinosaur a cute baby or a kitten. Advertisers have used kittens to advertise pizza. They know what they are doing.
…use emotions (uplifting soundtracks, moving poems, anger-provoking pictures, etc.) Emotions help print your message in people’s memory.
…interact with the audience (e.g. by eliciting information, by asking them questions, by using simple discrimination tasks, or asking them to predict something).
…engage the audience somehow (e.g. by giving them an activity to try out or something to discuss with a partner). Interactive elements boost information retention.
DON’T…
…stand behind the podium (unless you are as interesting as Luke Prodromou in which case you can do whatever you want).
…read from a text or your notes / overload your slides / read from the slides.
…choose titles like ‘The situated construction of divergent modalities in the quest for a fundamental positionality: the case of the subjunctive’.
…use long, complicated sentences. Forget you are an academic for the duration of the talk (…better still: ‘Forget you are an academic’).
…let the talk sag; make sure you maintain a brisk pace. Monitor activities and cut them short if people are losing interest.
…go over time; even the best attendees start getting restless if you do (plus it is unfair to the organisers and the next speaker).
…fade out; end with a bang (a quote – a joke, etc.) – and clearly signal to the audience where they are supposed to applaud. This helps round off the experience (see 2:00 – 2:12 here). *
[* NB: That last joke is not mine; I’ve pinched the idea from J. J. Wilson :-) ].
[Clips from IRCEELT. Tbilisi, Georgia 4 / 5 / 2019]")
![Comedy for ELT - Homo Devis 2 [The Race]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ux876msHnXg/mqdefault.jpg "Comedy for ELT - Homo Devis 2 [The Race]
Scientists have recently discovered a new human (sub-)species. It’s called ‘Homo Devis’. Most of us plebs refer to them as ‘the super posh’ and ‘the filthy rich’, though people have been known to use other names as well… These people live differently, they think differently, they speak differently.
A brilliant comment on class stratification by the very talented Catherine Tate. Taken from the BBC TV Series ‘The Catherine Tate Show’. Level: C1 – C2 Topics: Rich – Poor / Class / Discrimination / Values.
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this audio clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
SCRIPT
M: Now – remember what daddy told you about sports day?
S&D: That ‘The taking part is everything; to win with dignity and to lose with pride in the knowledge that you did your absolute best’. *
M: Remember, whatever happens here today, mummy and daddy are immensely proud of you.
S&D: Thank you mummy…
M: OK darlings, now… it’s nearly time… in perpetua vincere.
S&D: In perpetua vincere… *
A: In lane 1, Cloe Taylor Thomas; in lane 2, Thomas Taylor Thomas; * in lane 3, Imogen Fitzroy Ferguson; in lane 4, Fergus Fitzroy Ferguson; * in lane 5, Emilia Harvey Henry; and in lane 6, Henry Harvey Henry. *
R: On your marks; get – set - * go!
M: Nooooo!!! It’s the eggs!! They’re not organic!!! (the children scream and everybody rushes off to the cars…) ***")
