More practice with the language you're learning
Supplementary support — grammar, vocabulary, speaking and review — built from language already taught in the course. Not a lesson, and never a test.
1.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Flattening (before)**: 'AI in schools is a disaster.' **After**: 'AI in schools is a disaster in the room I visited on Tuesday — and I owe you the two rooms where it wasn't.'"
2.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Hardening (before)**: 'Once again the other side proves they are unserious.' **After**: 'The two strongest people on the other side of this said something serious this week. Here is what I'm still not sure they're wrong about.'"
3.Transformation: express the same meaning without repeating the original wording — "**Performance drift (before)**: 'Ratio incoming. Bring it.' **After**: 'I'm writing this for the six colleagues who quietly disagreed with me at last month's meeting — not for the timeline.'"
4.Rewrite to resist FLATTENING: 'Remote work is over.'
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'Remote work is over for a specific kind of role and specific kind of manager. I'll say which — and where I've been wrong about this before.'
5.Rewrite to resist HARDENING: 'The other party has no serious economic policy.'
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'One of the other party's proposals this week is more serious than mine on the specific question of housing supply. Here's why, and where I still disagree.'
6.Mini-context: someone disagrees with you in a meeting. Reply in two turns, using this structure at least once.
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Persona management at C2: four common distortions and their defences. (a) FLATTENING — nuance loses to the punchy one-liner; DEFENCE: keep one deliberate qualifier per post, on the record. (b) HARDENING — you agree with your side more strongly online than offline; DEFENCE: publicly disagree with your own team once a month, in specifics. (c) PERFORMANCE DRIFT — you start writing for the people who quote-tweet you, not the people you meant to reach; DEFENCE: name your intended reader in the draft and cut anything they wouldn't recognise you saying. (d) AUDIENCE CAPTURE — you slowly become the version of yourself your loudest followers love; DEFENCE: audit against your offline voice quarterly and cut moves you would not make in a room.
1.Sort these into "positive", "neutral" and "critical" in tone, and be ready to defend a borderline case: voice, to hold your voice, audience capture, the flattening effect, performance drift, an integrity check, to be recognisable in one paragraph, to disagree with your own side
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voice — the recognisable way a person sounds on the page or on stage, independent of topic | to hold your voice — to keep sounding like yourself when the platform is pulling you off it | audience capture — the slow drift toward becoming the version of yourself your loudest followers love | the flattening effect — the platform-driven loss of nuance in favour of the punchier line | performance drift — writing for the people who quote-tweet you rather than the people you meant to reach | an integrity check — the deliberate question of whether you would say this in a room of people who know you | to be recognisable in one paragraph — to have a voice distinct enough that unattributed prose can still be identified | to disagree with your own side — to publicly break with your usual allies on a specific issue, for reasons
2.Odd one out: which of these is least like "voice" in meaning or use — to hold your voice / audience capture / the flattening effect? Explain why.
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Compare against: the recognisable way a person sounds on the page or on stage, independent of topic
3.Odd one out: which of these is least like "to hold your voice" in meaning or use — audience capture / the flattening effect / performance drift? Explain why.
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Compare against: to keep sounding like yourself when the platform is pulling you off it
4.Odd one out: which of these is least like "audience capture" in meaning or use — the flattening effect / performance drift / an integrity check? Explain why.
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Compare against: the slow drift toward becoming the version of yourself your loudest followers love
5.Odd one out: which of these is least like "the flattening effect" in meaning or use — performance drift / an integrity check / to be recognisable in one paragraph? Explain why.
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Compare against: the platform-driven loss of nuance in favour of the punchier line
6.Semantic map: place "voice" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
7.Semantic map: place "to hold your voice" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
8.Semantic map: place "audience capture" on a scale from mild to strong against two other words you know. Then use the strongest one.
9.Mini-dialogue: write four lines in which two of this lesson's words appear naturally.
1.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "voice" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
2.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "to hold your voice" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
3.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "audience capture" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
4.Word family: give the noun, verb, adjective and adverb forms linked to "the flattening effect" where they exist, then use the form that is hardest for you.
5.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "voice" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: Her voice is intact — you'd know it was her if you saw one paragraph unattributed.
6.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "to hold your voice" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: Under that much pressure, holding your voice is the whole job.
7.Spot the mismatch: which partner does NOT work with "audience capture" — and what would a proficient speaker say instead?
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Natural model: You can watch audience capture happen in real time — the qualifiers drop out first.
8.Rewrite one sentence from your last piece of writing, swapping a weak combination for a precise one from this lesson.
1.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Flattening (before)**: 'AI in schools is a disaster.' **After**: 'AI in schools is a disaster in the room I visited on Tuesday — and I owe you the two rooms where it wasn't.'"
2.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Hardening (before)**: 'Once again the other side proves they are unserious.' **After**: 'The two strongest people on the other side of this said something serious this week. Here is what I'm still not sure they're wrong about.'"
3.Shift the register twice: make this markedly formal, then markedly conversational — "**Performance drift (before)**: 'Ratio incoming. Bring it.' **After**: 'I'm writing this for the six colleagues who quietly disagreed with me at last month's meeting — not for the timeline.'"
4.Diplomatic vs direct: soften this, then sharpen it. Which version would you actually use, and to whom? "Are you recognisable in one paragraph without the name at the top?"
5.Compress: express the idea behind "Her voice is intact — you'd know it was her if you saw one paragraph unattributed." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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the recognisable way a person sounds on the page or on stage, independent of topic
6.Compress: express the idea behind "Under that much pressure, holding your voice is the whole job." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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to keep sounding like yourself when the platform is pulling you off it
7.Compress: express the idea behind "You can watch audience capture happen in real time — the qualifiers drop out first." in six words or fewer without losing the nuance.
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the slow drift toward becoming the version of yourself your loudest followers love
8.Read one of your own paraphrases aloud. Which word choice is doing the most work? Replace everything around it.
1.Rank and justify: order the ideas in Are you recognisable in one paragraph without the name at the top? / When did you last disagree with your own side, in specifics? / What is the version of yourself your loudest followers would prefer you to become? from most to least convincing. Defend your top choice.
2.Role-play: 10 minutes prep. Rule: no household names on their own — pick a figure whose voice you can quote from memory. Take the position you least agree with.
3.Decision task: you have two minutes to reach a single recommendation on The 200-word personal defence plan, dated, with one sentence: 'The distortion I'm most likely to lose to this year is ____ because ____.'. State it in one sentence.
4.Now switch sides and argue the opposite for 60 seconds. Which language had to change?
5.Follow-up — push further: A columnist who used to concede regularly and stopped in the last 18 months. Add a counter-example.
6.Follow-up — push further: A CEO whose posts read like they are for the acquisition, not the team. Add a counter-example.
1.Paragraph ordering: draft your four topic sentences only, then decide their best order and say why.
2.Partial writing: write only the concession paragraph of Write a 380–420-word essay in four paragraphs. §1 A three-line voice-portrait of ONE public figure. §2 The trajectory of that voice over the last few years and the platform distortion it has met. §3 The defence you'd prescribe, specific enough to be actionable next week. §4 The SAME four moves turned on your own voice — one line each on portrait, drift, defence, and one sentence you will not write again. You MUST use at least SIX target items naturally. No 'we must all', no 'be authentic', no closing slogans. — 60–80 words.
3.Editing pass: cut 15% of your words without losing content. What went first?
4.Audience switch: rewrite your opening for a hostile reader, then for a sympathetic one.
5.Self-check: underline every repeated word and replace two with precise choices from this lesson.
1.Pick one writer, columnist, novelist, host or podcaster. Draft ONE three-line voice-portrait — how they sound, not what they say. Read aloud. If the lines could describe two other people, rewrite until they can't.
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Open a review by naming the voice, register or texture of the thing being reviewed in one specific line — 'the register is that of a headmistress writing to a colleague she has quietly given up on' — before you say whether it works.
2.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — How does the writer describe AUDIENCE CAPTURE without naming the term?
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'I'd been rounding up. In the direction of the people who liked my posts. Not my enemies — my fans.' She specifies the direction of drift (toward supporters, not opponents), which is the hardest part to see.
3.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Which defence does she prescribe against FLATTENING?
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'Put one qualifier back into every post — one on the record, not a hedge, a real one. Something I actually wasn't sure about.'
4.Find the evidence: which exact words in the text/script support this — Which defence does she prescribe against HARDENING?
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'Disagree publicly with my own side once a month, in specifics.' She explicitly rejects both-sides theatre.
5.Key word transformation: rewrite "**Flattening (before)**: 'AI in schools is a disaster.' **After**: 'AI in schools is a disaster in the room I visited on Tuesday — and I owe you the two rooms where it wasn't.'" using the structure from The public persona: distortions and defences, in 3–8 words.
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Persona management at C2: four common distortions and their defences. (a) FLATTENING — nuance loses to the punchy one-liner; DEFENCE: keep one deliberate qualifier per post, on the record. (b) HARDENING — you agree with your side more strongly online than offline; DEFENCE: publicly disagree with your own team once a month, in specifics. (c) PERFORMANCE DRIFT — you start writing for the people who quote-tweet you, not the people you meant to reach; DEFENCE: name your intended reader in the draft and cut anything they wouldn't recognise you saying. (d) AUDIENCE CAPTURE — you slowly become the version of yourself your loudest followers love; DEFENCE: audit against your offline voice quarterly and cut moves you would not make in a room.
6.Reflection: which part of this task type costs you most time, and what will you do differently next time?
1.True, false or not stated? Decide for each, then correct the false ones: "'I'd been rounding up. In the direction of the people who liked my posts. Not my enemies — my fans.' She specifies the direction of drift (toward supporters, not opponents), which is the hardest part to see." · "'Put one qualifier back into every post — one on the record, not a hedge, a real one. Something I actually wasn't sure about.'" · "'Disagree publicly with my own side once a month, in specifics.' She explicitly rejects both-sides theatre."
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How does the writer describe AUDIENCE CAPTURE without naming the term? → 'I'd been rounding up. In the direction of the people who liked my posts. Not my enemies — my fans.' She specifies the direction of drift (toward supporters, not opponents), which is the hardest part to see. | Which defence does she prescribe against FLATTENING? → 'Put one qualifier back into every post — one on the record, not a hedge, a real one. Something I actually wasn't sure about.' | Which defence does she prescribe against HARDENING? → 'Disagree publicly with my own side once a month, in specifics.' She explicitly rejects both-sides theatre.
2.Retrieval race: in 60 seconds, list every word from this lesson you can remember, then check what you missed.
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voice, to hold your voice, audience capture, the flattening effect, performance drift, an integrity check, to be recognisable in one paragraph, to disagree with your own side
3.Use "voice" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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the recognisable way a person sounds on the page or on stage, independent of topic
4.Use "to hold your voice" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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to keep sounding like yourself when the platform is pulling you off it
5.Use "audience capture" in a sentence about a completely different topic from the lesson.
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the slow drift toward becoming the version of yourself your loudest followers love
6.Teach it back: explain The public persona: distortions and defences to someone who has never met it, in under 45 seconds.
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Persona management at C2: four common distortions and their defences. (a) FLATTENING — nuance loses to the punchy one-liner; DEFENCE: keep one deliberate qualifier per post, on the record. (b) HARDENING — you agree with your side more strongly online than offline; DEFENCE: publicly disagree with your own team once a month, in specifics. (c) PERFORMANCE DRIFT — you start writing for the people who quote-tweet you, not the people you meant to reach; DEFENCE: name your intended reader in the draft and cut anything they wouldn't recognise you saying. (d) AUDIENCE CAPTURE — you slowly become the version of yourself your loudest followers love; DEFENCE: audit against your offline voice quarterly and cut moves you would not make in a room.
7.Whose voice have you watched hold up under platform pressure — and what specific move did they keep making?
1.Warm-up — name the move across three genres — Teacher gives you three short quotations — one op-ed sentence, one keynote sentence, one hostile-interview reply. For each: name the genre, name the specific move (hook / spine / concession / turn / LAND / pivot / clip-safe), and say what would break if you tried to say the same thing in a different genre.
2.Prep — pick a topic, build the spine you can hold across all three — Topic option: whether AI tools belong in primary-school classrooms.
3.Prep — pick a topic, build the spine you can hold across all three — Topic option: whether cities should ban new drive-throughs.
4.Prep — pick a topic, build the spine you can hold across all three — Topic option: whether four-day working weeks belong in your industry.
5.Round 1 — file the op-ed (300 words in 12 minutes) — Twelve minutes on the clock. Write a 280–320-word op-ed on your topic. It MUST: open on a specific hook (image, incident or number), state the argument in one sentence in the first paragraph, give the opposing case one honest paragraph (no strawmen), and LAND on a line that echoes the hook. Hand in whatever is on the page at minute 12. Teacher reads aloud one sentence you'd cut and one you'd keep.
6.Round 2 — deliver the keynote (5 min, no notes) — Five minutes on your feet, one printed page allowed (LAND · spine · turn cue · LEAVE). Same topic, same argument. You MUST: LAND without a throat-clear, hit the spine sentence inside the first minute, execute a deliberate TURN between minutes 2 and 4, and LEAVE on a line that echoes the LAND. Teacher does not interrupt. After the 5 minutes, teacher calls the ONE move that most needs a retake — you have 60 seconds to redeliver it.
7.Round 3 — survive the hostile interview (10 min live) — Teacher plays a Newsnight-style interviewer. Ten minutes, no cuts. Questions escalate: leading → sceptical → hostile with a false frame → bad-faith → false sympathy. You MUST: fight the frame, not the interviewer; refuse to say 'look' / 'let me be clear' / 'that's a great question'; concede one specific thing on purpose; LAND on a clip-safe line of your own choosing to close the exchange. After the 10 minutes, name your own worst answer aloud.
8.Talk it through — which move survived translation — Together, rebuild the strongest and weakest moments across all three rounds. Teacher names two strongest moves and one weakest per round. You do the same. Then answer aloud: what did all three genres let you say, what did only one of them let you say, and which distortion (flattening, hardening, performance drift, audience capture) would your online voice have introduced if you'd tried to say the same thing in a post?
9.Bring it together — the 100-word public statement — Write a 100-word public statement, in the first person, from a leader who has spent the last 60 minutes writing, speaking and being interviewed on this topic. It MUST: name the argument plainly, concede the one thing you conceded in all three rounds, DATE at least one commitment, LAND on a line that would pass the screenshot test. Use at least FIVE Unit 6 target items naturally. Then write one sentence at the bottom: 'The move I made today I couldn't have made three months ago is ____.'
10.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to earn its space".
11.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "the argument in one sentence".
12.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to concede a paragraph".
13.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a landing sentence".
14.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a strawman".
15.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to land the opening".
16.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "the turn".
17.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to leave a line".
18.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to talk to one person".
19.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to fight the frame, not the interviewer".
20.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a graceful pivot".
21.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to concede on purpose".
22.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "a clip-safe line".
23.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to name it plainly".
24.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "the screenshot test".
25.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "voice".
26.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "audience capture".
27.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "the flattening effect".
28.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "an integrity check".
29.Say a natural sentence from this unit's world using "to disagree with your own side".
30.Which of the three rounds made you sound most like yourself — and why?
31.Which concession survived all three genres unchanged, and which one had to be re-shaped?
32.If today's op-ed, keynote and interview all landed on your own account tomorrow, which one would you delete first?