Speak Professionally & Project Positive Image - Alistair King's Tips

1. Welcome! How to Speak Professionally & Project a Positive Corporate Image with Alistair King

2. English Speaker Acrolect Mesolect Basilect

3. The Spoken Word

4. 1.     Greater confidence leads to more efficient staff.

5. 2.     Heavy mist covered the factory.

6. 3.     Well-trained staff work with increased confidence.

7. 4.     Carl’s curls were trimmed by the barber.

8. 5.     The present has been received.

9. 6.     Are you able to lend the plane?

10. 7.     Please collect your booklets at the registration table.

11. 8.     The clouds disappeared at around 9 a.m. 

12. 9.     All full-time staff in this department have been trained.

13. 10. Your presence is required at the meeting.

14. 11. You need to use a pan for this task.

15. 12. Can you sand the wood down?

16. 13. We have had many complaints since our complaints desk was opened.

17. 14. Can you collect your celery today?

18. 15. It is difficult to gain access to this site.

19. 16. Release excess energy by going for an early morning run!

20. 17. The sales office will be closed until Monday.

21. 18. We are being forced to stay back every evening until 9PM.

22. 19. A lot of money has been spent on promotion of our product.

23. 20. This hose is used for watering the garden. …

24. 21 Poor girl – she’s afraid of the duck.

25. 22 Thank you for your presents.

26. 23 It cost me fifty dollars.

27. 24 I don’t like using these paper plates.

28. 25 What a sight!

29. 26 He welcomed the women to the function.

30. The News

31. News 1/10 One of the oldest indigenous peoples, the Inuit, have turned to one of the most modern forms of communication to tell the world about their culture. They have launched a website detailing their 5,000-year-old history, cataloguing their origins, when they first came into contact with white explorers and their struggle for land rights. Part of the reason for setting up the website was to tell the story of the Inuit in their own words, as until now, most of the research on Inuit culture and history has been done by others.

32. News 2/10 Malicious computer hackers could soon face life in prison for some computer crimes. The US House of Representatives has approved a bill that inflicts harsh penalties for computer crimes that harm people or endanger America's critical infrastructure. The same law rewrites the rules on surveillance and lets US police forces and law enforcers install wiretaps if there is an ongoing attack deemed to threaten national security. Civil liberty groups criticised the legislation and said it trampled on rights to privacy, was hastily drawn up and punished people too severely.

33. News 3/10 The first official planning options for rebuilding Lower Manhattan after the 11 September attacks are due to be revealed. Six proposals have been commissioned by the umbrella-body which New York Governor George Pataki created to oversee the whole process - the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC). They have been shrouded in secrecy, and were guided by a complex set of financial and commercial considerations. But several leading politicians in the city have already seen them, and begun to cast judgement.

34. News 4/10 In her "investment for reform" deal with the Treasury, the Education Secretary, Estelle Morris, has agreed to a series of performance targets. They involve sustaining improvements in England's primary schools, raising attainment in secondary schools and improving adults' skills. Where national curriculum tests are concerned the objectives restate some existing targets and bring in some new ones, notably for reducing underachievement.

35. News 5/10 Criminal charges are pending at a United States national park, after a visitor was gored by a bison. But it is Paul Jocelyn, who suffered a puncture wound in his right thigh, who is facing a court summons, rather than the bison. The 37-year-old visitor, from Albertville, Minnesota, faces prosecution for harassing wildlife, after he allegedly came too near the animal, at Yellowstone National Park. It is against the law to come within 25 metres of wildlife.

36. News 6/10 Mr Jocelyn was with a group of visitors, who allegedly went within five metres of the bull bison, as it was grazing near the park's most famous attraction, the Old Faithful Geyser. He then made the additional mistake of walking around the bison to see if it would raise its head for a photograph. The bison's response was to pursue Mr Jocelyn into a nearby wood, where it tossed him in the air. Shortly afterwards, the bison resumed grazing.

37. News 7/10 Once the prime example of a "tiger economy", Malaysia's decade-long economic boom ended with the onset of the Asian financial crisis in 1997. High government spending and excessive corporate borrowing had contributed to a large domestic debt and a high current account deficit, making it vulnerable to international capital fluctuations and forcing it to adopt austerity measures.

38. News 8/10 What has been described as the most spectacular example of wildlife conservation in the history of the United States has been ruled unlawful by a judge. A federal court has decided that conservationists broke the law when they successfully re-introduced wolves to the Yellowstone Park in the American Rockies. The project, which began three years ago, was designed to control the numbers of other species in the park. The wolves not only survived; they thrived and began killing cattle on nearby ranches.

39. News 9/10 Ranchers, who say that the wolves have been leaving the park's unfenced boundaries and killing their livestock, went to court. A federal judge has now ruled that the whole re-population operation was illegal. The case is to go to appeal. The man behind the project, Ed Bangs, from the US Bureau of Fish and Wildlife, said it would be a shame if the wolves had to go. He said: "Biologically it's been an outstanding success. There have been very few problems and 20,000 people get to see wolves in Yellowstone Park, so biologically the programme is more successful than we ever hoped for."

40. News 10/10 Ranchers, however, want the wolves to go. One rancher said: "I never thought it was a good idea - they're killers no matter what." The ranchers want the state's Federal Wildlife Wardens to prevent the wolves from leaving Yellowstone. Rancher John Morse said: "My own sense is that the middle ground ought to be that the park service, which has been particularly arrogant, should figure out a way how to keep the wolves in the park."

41. Break

42. Pronunciation

43. Word-final Stop Consonant/k/ /g/ One duckdug its head into the pail and othe other duck followed.

44. Word-final Stop Consonant/k/ /g/ A frog crawled inside her frock.

45. Word-final Stop Consonant/k/ /g/ We lock the logs in the warehouse.

46. Word-final Stop Consonant/t/ /d/ I hate to get my head wet.

47. Word-final Stop Consonant/t/ /d/ The hunter scratched his hat when he found his chicken which had lost its head.

48. Word-final Stop Consonant/t/ /d/ The boy’s left foot is very near the food.

49. Word-final Stop Consonant/p/ /b/ Just tap the tab key.

50. Word-final Stop Consonant/p/ /b/ The tiger cub cannot drink from the cup.