The Distinct Voice

Activate the Unit 1 framework before performing: connotation, indirectness, register dials, self-irony.

Output: You name the three register dials and one self-irony move out loud, using your own examples.

Teacher prompts you with two short sentences. For each, you call which dial is set where (formality / distance / technicality) and add ONE self-irony tag without changing the meaning.

• · 'I've reviewed the data and have some concerns.' — where are the three dials, and add a self-irony tag.
• · 'Your idea has a serious flaw.' — soften it diplomatically, then add a self-irony tag.

Group extension: Pairs swap sentences; small groups pick the most surprising rewrite.

Deliver the prepared 5-minute talk in INTIMATE register: warm distance, low formality, lay technicality.

Output: Five-minute spoken talk delivered to teacher-as-friend. Teacher tracks vocab items used.

You deliver the talk you prepared for homework. Teacher plays a close friend over coffee. You MUST use at least FIVE Unit 1 vocabulary items naturally. Teacher does not interrupt; ticks each item as it lands.

Convert performance into noticing before the second run.

Output: You name three concrete features of your own intimate voice.

Teacher reads back two of your own sentences verbatim. You name: (a) where the three dials sat, (b) one self-irony move you made, (c) one moment that risked ringing false.

Deliver the SAME talk in PUBLIC register: cooler distance, higher formality, still you — not corporate.

Output: Five-minute spoken talk delivered to teacher-as-public-audience. Teacher tracks register shifts.

Same content, same order. Teacher plays a public audience at a small evening event. You MUST keep the SAME core argument, but shift register so the talk would survive being recorded and posted. You MUST keep at least TWO self-irony moves — losing them all would over-formalise.

Compare the two runs forensically; convert intuition into named choices.

Output: A short annotated comparison: three lines you changed, two you kept, one you wish you had changed.

Teacher plays back specific moments (from notes, not recording). Together you build a 3-column comparison: line (v1) / line (v2) / what dial moved and why. Teacher challenges at least two of your calls — you defend or revise.

• · Which shift was the most efficient — one word change, big register move?
• · Where did public-you lose something that intimate-you had?
• · Where would a third version (to a senior sceptic) sit between the two?

Group extension: In pairs, swap comparisons and pick the most controlled shift you'd steal.

Lock the lesson by producing a third register on the page.

Output: A 120-word written 'voice note' handed in.

Write a 120-word PUBLIC-FACING summary of your own talk (third register: formal, warm, lay). Must use at least FIVE Unit 1 vocab items naturally, include one calibrated self-irony move, and ring true.