TEDTALKS MARGARET HEFFERNAN was born in the USA, grew up in the Netherlands and lives in the UK. She began her career at the BBC and later ran a professional ‘organization for flim and television producers in the USA. She has been the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of several companies and is a professor of entrepreneurship, as well as a writer. One of her areas of interest is how ‘organizations work. Surveys of European and American executives have shown that 85 per cent of them are afraid to discuss work-related issues. Margaret Heffernan’s idea worth spreading is that if we truly want the best results at work, we can't be afraid to challenge our colleagues and to dare to disagree with conventional wisdom, BACKGROUND 1 You are going to watch an edited version of a TED Talk by Margaret Heffernan called Dare to disagree. Read the text about the speaker and the talk. Then work in pairs and discuss the questions. 1. Can you name any famous people who have (or had) a reputation for saying unexpected things? Who? What kinds of things do (or did) they say, and why? 2 Have you ever been in a situation where afterwards you regretted either saying something or saying nothing? 3. Many people find it dificult to tell other people that they isagree with them. Why do you think this is? KEY WORDS 2 Read the sentences (1-6). The words in bold are used in the TED Talk. First guess the meaning of the words. Then match the words with their definitions (2-9, 1 When doctors understood the epidemiology of certain cancers, it helped them to find the causes. 2 Most cities have some areas where affluent people live and other areas where less well-off people lve, 3 Scientists often use data to develop a model of how things work: for example, to predict weather patterns. 4 Sometimes a whistle-blower can lose their job as a result of the information they make public. 5. Not everyone who has different ideas is a crank 6 It's not easy to stand up te people who have more power than you. a theory or idea b the study of pattems and distribution of disease in a population. ‘© someone who reveals or exposes a problem in an organization to confront or resist someone in a courageous way rich, wealthy someone who is considered odd or eccentric because of their opinions AUTHENTIC LISTENING SKILLS Grammatical chunks You don't have to be able to hear and process everything that is said in order to understand a speaker's message. In spoken English, there are ‘chunks’ of grammatical language that are speeded up and unstressed by the speaker because they don't carry the key meaning. For example, in the sentence ‘There are a quarter of a milion doctors in the UK’ the words there are would not be stressed when spoken. As alistener, you can learn to ignore these unstressed chunks and focus on the main content words. Sa_ [AEE Look at the Authentic listening skills box. Then listen to the first and second sentences from the TED Talk. Are the underlined chunks stressed or unstressed? Is the message clear without these chunks? 1 In Oxford in the 1950s, there was a fantastic doctor, who was very unusual, named Alice Stewart. 2 And Alice was unusual partly because, of course, she. was a woman, which was pretty rare in the 1950s. MEEZW Read the third and fourth sentences. Underline the chunks you think will be unstressed. Then listen and check. 3. And she was biiliant, she was one of the, at the time, the youngest Fellow to be elected to the Royal College of Physicians, 4 She was unusual too because she continued to work after she got married, after she had kids, and even after she got divorced and was a single parent, she continued her medical work. 129TEDTALK' 1 Watch the edited Tick (/) the ar b a ne importance of keeping Alice Ste Inen shi ry confusing, rsion of the TED Talk that Margaret Heffernan mentions. ing the courage to speak out in dificult situatic me information privat 46) of the talk they X-rays could be jate effect d part (2.46-6.31 e the correct, somplete the sentences 1 art and George Kneale hai personalities. 2 George Kneale tried to show that Ali ontentions were carrect / mistak ret Heffernan sugg4 DSEERI Work in pairs. Watch the third part (6:98 to the end) of the talk again. Answer the questions. 1 doe thought a medical device his company was developing could be harmful. What did the other people in his company think? 2 Joe worried about discussing his fears with his, colleagues. What did he do eventually? 3 Inthe company, there was confict and debate about the device. What happened in the end? 4 The University of Delft teaches students to stand up to, ‘authority. What does Margaret Heffeman think of this idea? 5 Margaret Hetfernan says that we are afraid of the confict that can come from questioning information. What is her ‘opinion of this fear? 5 Work in small groups. Complete the sentences about Margaret Heffernan's message with four of these words. Then discuss to what extent you agree with her ideas. agree leaders change together disagree understanding 1 Boing open is essential, but, by itself, openness doesn't lead to____ 2 Working lot of energy. 3 When one person speaks out about a problem, usually you find that other people but hadn't wanted to say anything, 4 People who have courage to speak out can be regarded as by their colleagues. in ‘constructive confit’ takes a VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT 6 [IEEE] watch the clips from the TED Talk. Choose the correct meaning of the words. 7 Workin pairs. Complete the sentences in your own words. 1 Iremember the fst time | had a shot at than | expected. 2 once lost my ... and it was ike looking for a needle in a haystack because 3 find those TV quiz shows where individuals go head-to- head very It was easier CRITICAL THINKING Relevant background information 8 Work in pairs. Margaret Heffeman gave a lot of background detail about Alice Stewart and an executive named Joe. Decide why the following background information was relevant to her main message. Use the ‘words in brackets. Alice Stewart's personal fe (uncorventional) her professional achievements (exceptiona) her collaboration with George Kneale (confident) Joe's feelings about his job (atraic) his decision to speak out (courageous) osone > organization, organisation BR ENG > organization NAM ENG. 9 Work in pairs. Read these comments’ about the TED Talk Discuss how the background information about Alice and Joe added to the viewers’ understanding of the talk ‘Smith 87 -| was fascinated by Alice Stewart's story. Itmakes her achievements even more impressive when lr you krow about her personal story r Ralph - Large organizations can be so inticating! | know just how Joe fet. Nobody wants to speak out and rok the boat. Tho “The comments were created for this activity. PRESENTATION SKILLS Using pauses Using pauses in your talk is an effective way of ‘emphasizing your main points. ‘+ Pause when you want to draw the audience's attention to your next words. ‘+ Pause at the end of a point to give the audience time to process what you have said. ‘+ Leave longer pauses to allow the audience to reflect and to relate your ideas to their own experiences. TIPS 10 [IEDEY Look at the Presentation tips box. Then watch the clips from the TED Talk and use lines to show where Margaret Heffernan pauses. The first line has been added for you. 1. Byarate of two to one, | the children who had died had had mothers who had been X-rayed when pregnant 2 Infact, she need not have hurried. It was fully 25 years before the British and medical - British and American medical establishments abandoned the practice of X-raying pregnant women 11 Work in pairs. Think of a surprising news item you have read or heard about recently. Make brief notes on the background to the story and the surprising facts. Practise telling the story with pauses in different places to decide what is most effective. 412 Work with a new partner. Tell each other your stories. Does the story surprise you too? Have you heard about the story before? | if i~] 3 2 431EEZ3 Moments of change TRUE Eyres M ER (oie R ee Rell eat data collected using traditional tools. It can reveal eee oC Rel eRe R ite a ls Tee tioul RAS oto a9 PEOPLE INTERACTING ONLINE Exercises 1 and 2 MIXED CONDITIONAL SENTENCES Mixed third + second conditional If-clause Main clause would + infinitive without to If + past perfect, ‘We use mixed third + second conditional sentences to talk about a past condition and its result in the present or the future (not the past). Ifyou hadn't helped me with this software, | wouldn't be able to use it. (You did help me, so | am able to / will be able to use it) Mixed second + third conditional H-clause Main clause If + past simple, would have + past participle We use mixed second + third conditional sentences to talk about a present condition and its imagined past result. Ifthe fitness app didn’t exist, | wouldn't have realized how Unf 1am. (The app does exist, so | did realize how unfit | was.) > Exercises 3 and 4 wish We use wish to express regrets. We use wish + past simple to talk about something that is the opposite of how we want it Its use is linked to the use of the second conditional. wish you didn’t live such a Jong way away now. (You live a long way away now) ‘Maya wishes | lived in the same town as she does. Does Sonia wish she lived closer to you? We use wish + past perfect to talk about something that is the opposite of how we wanted. Its use is linked to the use Of the third conditional, wish you hadin’t moved to New York last year. (You moved to New York last year) Eduardo wishes I'd stayed in London. Do you wish you hadn't left London? We don't often say don’t wish or didn’t wish. We can say both / wish 1+ past simple and / wish | + past perfect. > Exercise 5 PAST MODALS (2) We can use the modals could (not) might (not, should (not) and must (not) instead of would with have + past participle. * We use could have and might have + past participle in third Conditional patterns to tak about possible actions asa resut of imagined past events ifyou'd told us our choice wasn't availabe, we could have chosen a cifferent product. ifyou'd told us there were other options, we might have chosen a diferent product ¢ We don't use couldn't have + past participle with third conditional pattems. We use couldh’t have to tak about things that were impossibe. We couldn't have chosen a diferent product ~ there were no other options: ‘+ We use should have and shouldn't have + past participle to citcize past actions. It can also express regret. If there was no alternative available, you should have told us earl. | should have checked al the details, but | clint have time. * We use must have + past participle to express @ deduction about a past event There are no tickets left after only two days they must have sold out realy qicky. > Exercises 6 and 7 162EXERCISES 1. Choose the logical option to complete these third conditional sentences. Each option is grammatically correct. 1 If Jack hadn't argued with his boss, he'd! have lost / he wouldn't have lost his job. 2 If they'd analysed / they haah't analysed the data, ‘sooner, they'd have found the problem. 3. | wouldn't have left Facebook it’ known / hadn't known how useful it was. 4 We'd have made / We wouldn't have made a mess of i it we'd read the instructions. 5 It you'd remembered / you hadn't remembered your password, you wouldn't have been locked out of your account. 6 I scientists hadn't shown the effects of smoking on health, more people would have aed / wouldn't have died. 2 Read the first sentence. Then write a sentence with the ‘third conditional to give the same information. Begin each sentence with If. 1. Jack won a lot of money, so he bought a car. 2 My friends didn't know | was at home, so they didn’t visit me. 3 I had a day off work because | felt il 4. Everyone passed the exam because it was very easy. 5 The film was really interesting, so we watched it twice, 6 You didn't tell me about the article, so I didn't read it. 3 Match the parts to make mixed conditional sentences. If Alice Stewart hadn't researched childhood cancer, If you had taken the medicine, IF hadn't failed my exams, Ifit wasn't so difficult to get a job with that company, It Twitter didn't exist, If the company was more well-known, oasons 'd have started working there ages ago. I'd have the job of my dreams today. sales would have been much better. somebody would have invented something similar. we'd stil give X-rays to pregnant women. you would feel better by now. seaoce 4 Complete the mixed conditional sentences with the correct form of the verb, 1 If'd invented Youtube, | (be) a milionsire. 2 ifyou____(not/be / always ) so ‘forgetful, you would have found the car keys more quickly. 3 we (not / keep) in touch online, would we know each other now? 4i (see) more adverts ontine if hadn't installed the blocking software, 5 There would be a serious flu epidemic if doctors {not / give) everyone a vaccination 6 Where —___ you __ (be) today if you hadn't decided to stay in New York? 5 Read the situations. Then write a sentence (8) or a ‘question (@) with wish to express regret. 1. We're lost because we haven't got a map. (8) 2 tit was Saturday, I'd be at the beach. (Q) I changed my job last month, but it was a mistake. (S) 4 Lois can't apply for the job because she doesn't speak French. (S) Dani says the car he hired was really expensive. (Q) | think the hotel's awful, We should have chosen a different one. (S) oo 6 Choose the correct option to complete the sentences. 1 It was our mistake. We might have / should have given yyou the correct information. 2 The plane was delayed by four hours. The passengers might have / must have been furious. 3 Ifthe train had had wi-fi | could have / couldn't have checked my emails on the journey. 4 I can’t believe David missed his fight. He should have / shouldn't have stopped for a meal on the way to the airport. 5 Don't worry about getting to the meeting late. You couldn't have / mightn’t have known the trafic would be bad. 6 Ifthe service had been better, | might have / must have thought about using the company again. 7 Correct the mistakes in these sentences. 1. Ifyou would have worked harder, you'd have passed your exam, 2 Tom wouldn't be il if he would have taken his tablets. 3. | wouldn't have been successful f you hadn't supported me. 4 I the epidemic had spread, more people would died, 5 Ifwe didn't have bought the tablet, we would have bought a laptop, 6 What you would have done if you had failed the exam? 7 {'m sony I'm late —I must have phoned you to let you know. 8 [often think I would have chosen a different career. 163