Speaking confidently in formal contexts
Confidence in speech is mostly preparation plus pacing. Both can be practised alone, in short bursts, without an audience.
Part of your national curriculum
- Spoken English: Speak confidently and effectively, using Standard English confidently in a range of formal and informal contexts
- Spoken English: Give short speeches and presentations, expressing their own ideas and keeping to the point
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Speak confidently and effectively, using Standard English confidently in a range of formal and informal contexts
Key learning points
- • Plan in headings, not sentences
- • Pace, pause and volume
- • Standard English under pressure
- • Handling questions
This lesson at a glance
- 26 minutes
- 16 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 16
Watch first
Speaking confidently in formal contexts
An English teaching video on this topic from CENTURY Tech. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Speak confidently and effectively, using Standard English confidently in a range of formal and informal contexts
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 16
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Plan in headings, not sentences
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 16
Learn
Plan in headings, not sentences
Full scripts produce a flat read-aloud. Instead, write four headings with one piece of evidence under each. You keep the structure and still sound like a person talking.
Explore the idea
Part 4 of 16
Learn
Pace, pause and volume
Speak slightly slower than feels natural, pause fully at each full stop, and let volume rise only on the point you most want remembered. A pause is not dead air; it is the listener's thinking time.
Quick check
Part 5 of 16
Quick check
Why plan a talk in headings rather than full sentences?
Quick check
Part 6 of 16
Quick check
What is the role of a pause in a presentation?
Reset break
Part 7 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 8 of 16
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Standard English under pressure
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 9 of 16
Learn
Standard English under pressure
In formal talk, keep to full verb forms, agreement and clear referents: ‘the survey shows’ rather than ‘it shows’. If you lose the thread, stop, take a breath and restate the heading — that recovery reads as control, not failure.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 16
Learn
Handling questions
Repeat the question briefly, answer in one sentence, then add one piece of evidence. If you do not know, say so and offer where the answer would be found. Both are marks of a credible speaker.
Quick check
Part 11 of 16
Quick check
Which is stronger in a formal talk?
Quick check
Part 12 of 16
Quick check
Best response to a question you cannot answer?
Challenge round
Part 13 of 16
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 14 of 16
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
In ____ talk, keep to full verb forms, agreement and clear referents: ‘the survey shows’ rather than ‘it shows’.
Mastery quiz
Part 15 of 16
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Speaking confidently in formal contexts
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. Why plan a talk in headings rather than full sentences?
2. What is the role of a pause in a presentation?
3. Which is stronger in a formal talk?
4. Best response to a question you cannot answer?
Lesson round-up
Part 16 of 16
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Points this lesson
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Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
The last bus
The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.
She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.
Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.
Original extract written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
- How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
- Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.
Reading response
ReadingRead the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingNote the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover
How this is going
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Speak confidently and effectively, using Standard English confidently in a range of formal and informal contexts
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Give short speeches and presentations, expressing their own ideas and keeping to the point