Uploaded December 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is the $ 1 m Q: Should we focus our time, efforts and resources on fixing things or on creating peak moments (for our customers, employees, students)? Well, let us look at a concrete example. Imagine you are the proud owner of a hotel (say ‘Fawlty Towers’). How can you improve the service you provide? You might say ‘OK – I’m in the accommodation business, serving people. I can try to provide larger, cleaner rooms, faster, more efficient service, a larger range of sport and other facilities etc.’ Now watch the great Dan Heath telling us about the ‘Magic Castle Hotel’, rated (…wait for it…) Number 2 in LA! [And this is the take away: Let us try to create Peak Moments for our students. We are not in the language learning business – teaching people; we are in the people business – teaching languages. ]
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
This is the $ 1 m Q: Should we focus our time, efforts and resources on fixing things or on creating peak moments (for our customers, employees, students)? Well, let us look at a concrete example. Imagine you are the proud owner of a hotel (say ‘Fawlty Towers’). How can you improve the service you provide? You might say ‘OK – I’m in the accommodation business, serving people. I can try to provide larger, cleaner rooms, faster, more efficient service, a larger range of sport and other facilities etc.’ Now watch the great Dan Heath telling us about the ‘Magic Castle Hotel’, rated (…wait for it…) Number 2 in LA! [And this is the take away: Let us try to create Peak Moments for our students. We are not in the language learning business – teaching people; we are in the people business – teaching languages. ]
[NB: I do not own the copyright to this video clip. I have uploaded it here for educational purposes].
![Comedy for ELT - Homo Devis 1 [The Car]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RXLuxUPUmYM/mqdefault.jpg "Comedy for ELT - Homo Devis 1 [The Car]
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: (talking on the phone – presumably to her husband) …and he’s coming here to the house. No, that’s fine… I mean, actually here…. No, I’m fine… Right. …OK... I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. The Land Rover Voyager has gone in for repair.
D: But mummy, how shall we get to school?
M: Try not to panic…
D: But it’s home economics today and I’m sending my scallops wrapped in Bavarian veal…
M: I’m afraid the news… gets worse…
D: But how?!?
M: We’re going to have to have… a hire car.
D: Hire car?!? You mean a car that… other people have been in?!?
M: It’s being delivered by a man from the garage…
S: Do you mean a…
M: Yes, darling, a mechanic. * (the doorbell rings – it’s the mechanic; Mother opens the door apprehensively)
GM: Morning, darling. I’m from the garage. I’ve got your courtesy car.
D: Mummy, what’s he saying? *
M: We mean you no harm…
GM: Are you all right love?
M: I’m sorry I don’t understand what you are saying… * Please put the keys on the floor and leave us in peace… * (…Yuh, what?....) Have mercy on us! *
GM: Are you alright?... *
M: Please don’t kill us…
GM: Here, love… I’ll leave them here. (leaves the keys on the floor) Take it or leave it, all right? (he walks away)
S: There is no DVD in the back seat!
D: And there’s no bull bar on the front! What if we have to go off-road or to High gate Village?
M: It’s a death-trap! I’ll call daddy… We’ll have to cancel school for today, now run for your lives children, we’re all going to die!! **")
![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]")
