Standard English and vocabulary
Standard English
You will be expected to use Standard English when making your presentation. This means that you should avoid informal language at all times.
Slang is a word to describe some of the everyday, informal language that you generally use with friends or family.For example, the word 鈥榤ate鈥 is slang for the Standard English word 鈥榝riend鈥. Or, if you were greeting an important visitor, you would probably say, 鈥楪ood morning鈥, but to a friend you might say, 鈥楢濒谤颈驳丑迟?鈥
You should also try to avoid using too many informal abbreviations such as 鈥榳辞耻濒诲苍鈥檛鈥 and 鈥荣丑辞耻濒诲苍鈥檛鈥. 鈥業 would not鈥 and 鈥楾hey should not鈥 are much more appropriate.
Other types of informal language to avoid include:
- ain鈥檛 - instead use it is not
- innit? - instead use isn鈥檛 it?
- en鈥檛 - instead use it is not
- yeah - instead of yes
- ta - instead use thank you
For more information on Standard English go to speaking and listening.
Remember
You might feel uncomfortable at first but when you make a formal presentation, your audience will expectem> Standard English to be used. When you practise your presentation, always use Standard English as this will ensure you are fully prepared to use it on the day of the actual presentation.
Vocabulary
It is also essential to consider carefully the vocabulary that you use in your presentation. Your vocabulary should be wide-ranging and sophisticated.
You could think in particular about using words that are linked to the topic you have chosen to discuss. For example, if you have chosen to do a presentation on bullying, you might want to think about some specialist words. In this case you might want to use vocabulary such as:
- cyber-bullying
- discrimination
- prejudice
- isolation
- verbal-bullying
Don鈥檛 be afraid of using some vocabulary that is new to you. The audience will expect to learn new things when they listen to your presentation, so it is important that you try to be adventurous when it comes to vocabulary choices.
Remember
Your use of vocabulary must be accurate so a dictionary will be very useful when checking the definition of new words. A thesaurus will help you to expand your vocabulary and ensure that you are using a wide-range of word choices.
However, it鈥檚 also important that you are comfortable with your choice of vocabulary - don鈥檛 use complex words because you think they sound better. They should add something to the content of your talk.