Lesson 01

Remember to say thank you

01. WARM-UP DISCUSSION

01 | Before you watch TED Talk by Laura Trice and once you have read her
bio, read and discuss the following questions with your classmates.

What does Laura Trice do for a living?

Dr. Laura Trice is a therapist and coach and she’s created a therapeutic program
called “Writing in Recovery to help people.

What is her Writing Recovery program about?

to help people develop better self-awareness and set goals through that uses
creative skills such as journaling and music.

How often do you praise the people around you?

I frequently o normally praise the people around me.

Can you imagine yourself saying the following?

“I don’t need to tell them I appreciate their work, they already know.”
“I don’t need to tell them how good they are, they know it.”
Yes I can. I used those phrases at some time without realizing it

How often do you thank your peers for their work?

I usually to give thanks to my peers of work

    
02. KEY WORDS
01 |
Read the sentences below taken from the TED Talk below. Pay attention to
the words in bold and first try to guess the meaning of the words. Then
match the words with their definitions.
1. praise / 2. specific / 3. genuine / 4. to take in (sth) / 5. shy / 6. embarrassed / 7. fortunate / 8.
enough / 9. rehab facility / 10. to get to (do sth) / 11. death / 12. to come down (to sth) / 13. core
wound / 14. to be proud of (sth/sb) / 15. to long for / 16. breadwinner / 17. to do the (house)
chores / 18. to be supposed to (do sth) / 19. to block / 20. critical data / 21. to treat / 22. inner
circle / 23. to neglect / 24. to abuse / 25. to meet a need / 26. to hear / 27. to care about (sth) / 28.
household / 29. under the same roof / 30. to show up
a. in the same house / b. clear and exact / c. real and exactly what it appears to be / d. to want
something very much / e. things that you say that express your admiration and approval of
someone or something / f. a job or piece of work that is often boring or unpleasant but needs to
be done regularly / g. nervous and uncomfortable with other people / h. to be interested in or
concerned about someone or something / i. to use something for the wrong purpose in a way that
is harmful or morally wrong / j. to arrive for an event / k. having good luck / l. to not give enough
care or attention to people or things that are your responsibility / m. to listen to what someone is
saying / n. to have a particular thing as the most important matter / o. your closest friends, family
or associates / p. to satisfy a demand or requirement / q. the end of life / r. to completely
understand the meaning or importance of something / s. a centre or clinic where people with an
alcohol or drug addiction are treated. / t. very important information / u. to be expected to do
something / v. as much as is necessary / w. to stop something from happening or succeeding / x.
feeling satisfaction and pleasure because of something that you or someone else have achieved /
y. feeling shy or showing a state of distress / z. a group of people, often a family, who live together
/ aa. the first negative emotional pattern that you experienced in this human life / bb. to behave
towards someone in a particular way / cc. the member of a family who earns the money that the
family needs

03. IMPROVING YOUR LISTENING SKILLS: Recognizing unstressed words

Recognizing unstressed words
Native speakers do not stress every word they say. It’s important to be able to
recognize the sounds of unstressed words. For example, prepositions (to, and, for),
modal verbs (can, should, must) and auxiliary verbs (are, was, were) are usually
not stressed.

01 | After reading the Improving your listening skills box, read the following
extract of the TED Talk you will watch. Can you guess which words will be
unstressed?
Hi. I'm here to talk to you about the importance of praise, admiration and thank
you, and having it be specific and genuine.

02 | Listen to the extract and check you answers in Exercise 1. Which words
does the speaker, Laura Trice, not stress? Choose from the list below.
here
talk
to
you
the
praise
admiration
and
specific
genuine
04. LET’S SIT BACK AND WATCH THE TED TALK!

01 | It is time to watch Laura Trice’s TED Talk. Remember you can always
click on the subtitles icon, in the lower-right corner, and choose English to
read the subtitles in the target language as you watch. You can also slow it
down by clicking on the speed icon and choosing the right speed for you.

02 | Read the following comprehension and discussion questions. Share

your thoughts with your classmates to open up the discussion.
What is Laura Trice’s idea worth sharing?
It’s very important to say thank you, praise and admiration others people because
all usually to be blocking for to say thanks.

What did you find most interesting or surprising?

The most interesting for me is why don’t we ask for the things that we need

Can you relate to what she says about keeping silent and not asking for what we
need?

Yes, when I was youngest I had a bit problem with to say any something that to
need and its very important to be able to communicate for others for grew up.
Because I was very shy and I didn't want to bother or worry the others, that's why I
kept silent.
    
03 | The following useful phrases have been taken from the TED Talk. Can
you complete them with ideas of your own?

The way I got interested in …the psychology and very specifically in child
psychology was … because I wanted to help to children with big o small
problems to express their emotions and improve or increase their self-
esteem

I’m fortunate enough to … I Have a great family, one husband who supports me, a
very naughty, playful but very healthy child, I have my parents with me and I’m
fortunate to do what I like.

And why should we care about to say thank you and praise others…?

05. CHECK UNDERSTANDING

01 | Read the following summary of the talk. Complete the gaps with words from the
box.

Laura Trice -- a counselor and life coach -- gave a very clear and inspiring three-minute
TED Talk in 2008 about the importance of praise, admiration and saying thank you.
In this short and sweet talk, Trice gives two guidelines: that you are specific and genuine.
These are logical guidelines; if you’re too broad in your praise or compliments you can be
confusing. And if you aren’t genuine, people are able to spot it a mile away. You might as
well not say anything.
In addition, Trice calls upon society for saying nothing. “Why don’t we ask for the things
that we need ?" Trice questions us. “Do you want to praise someone? Do it and don’t late
too much. It might be too doubt when you finally get up the courage to do it.

02 | Choose the correct option to make true sentences.

A few years ago, when Laura Trice wanted to say thank you, she just stopped because she
felt shy and embarrassed.
She understood a lot about saying what you feel and need in a rehab facility where she was
WORKS
It is generally very difficult for people to ask for what they need.
Laura Trice gives a number of examples about people who ask for what they need and
people who don’t ask.
April, Laura’s friend, thinks that it is good to thank your kids for doing their chores.

03 |Which sentences are true according to the TED Talk?

a) The speaker believes that people don’t ask for what they need because they will
show others where they are insecure. TRUE
b) When you ask people for what you need from them you are giving them critical data
about you. TRUE
c) Laura Trice believes that most people abuse the information that you give them.
FALSE
d) Laura Trice uses the motorbike metaphor to explain how people can look inside and
ask themselves what they really need. FALSE
e) Laura Trice asks the audience to do something. TRUE
f) The speaker makes some strange noises for the audience to laugh. FALSE
g) The speaker invites the audience to start with world peace at home. FALSE
h) The speaker congratulates the audience for being great husbands, friends, mothers,
sons, daughters. TRUE

    
06. PRESENTATION SKILLS: Involving your audience
When giving a presentation , it’s important to keep your audience interested. One
way of doing this is to involve them in your presentation. For example, you can:

•Ask the audience to participate in an activity

•Teach them how to do something
•Give them something to do or reflect upon during or after the talk
•Find out about the audience
•Ask / answer questionsask / answer questions
    
01 | Read the Presentation skills box. Go back to Laura Trice’s TED Talk and
answer the following questions.
Which of the things listed in the box does Laura Trice do to involve the audience?

What else could she have done to involve her audience even more?
•Teach them how to do something
•Give them something to do or reflect upon during or after the talk
What do you usually do to involve your audience in the presentations that you
give?
•Ask the audience to participate in an activity
•Teach them how to do something
•Give them something to do or reflect upon during or after the talk
•Ask / answer questionsask / answer questions
Think of a presentation or talk you recently attended. Which of the strategies above
did the speaker/s use? How effective were they?
•Ask the audience to participate in an activity
•Give them something to do or reflect upon during or after the talk
•Ask / answer questionsask / answer questions