Who, and why them
Say who you chose and why that person, in two sentences. No more.
One prediction before you start.
1. Three minutes describing one person. What runs out first?
Adjective, then evidence
Model — Pia, on her old boss
Who and how I know her. She was my manager for four years, in my first proper job. She is about sixty now, small, very neat — the sort of person whose desk has three things on it.
What she is like. She is extremely direct. If she thought something was bad she said so, in the meeting, in front of everybody. I found that terrifying for about six months and then I found it restful, because you never had to guess.
An example. In my second week I sent a client a report with the wrong figures in it. She did not shout. She sat down next to me, we found every error together, and it took four hours. She never mentioned it again. I have never made that mistake since.
What I took from her. She is much more patient than she seems, and much less interested in being liked than anyone I have worked with since. I am not as direct as she is. I would like to be.
Work from the model.
1. She calls her boss extremely direct. What comes immediately after?
2. How many distinct adjectives does the whole model actually use?
3. So what fills three minutes, if not adjectives?
4. The last paragraph uses more patient than, less interested than, not as direct as. What is it doing?
Showing instead of stating
The move
| Instead of | Say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| She was generous. | If you admired something in her house you left with it. | The reader can see it |
| He is stubborn. | I think he changed his mind three times in eighty years. | Specific, and funnier |
| She was direct. | If she thought something was bad she said so, in the meeting. | Shows the behaviour |
| He is disorganised. | He has never once known where his keys are. | One concrete fact beats the label |
Adjective, then evidence. Say the adjective — then immediately give one specific thing that person did. The adjective is the claim; the example is the proof.
This is also how you fill three minutes with seven adjectives. Each one buys you twenty seconds of story.
Match each adjective to the example that shows it without saying it.
Find the evidence
Four flat labels. Rewrite each as one specific thing the person did.
1. My father is generous.
2. My sister is disorganised.
3. My friend is reliable.
4. My neighbour is nosy.
Pia's three minutes has four sections. Put them in the order she uses them.
Three minutes, one person
The longest speaking stretch of the unit.
Task card · Speaking
The person you chose, described to someone who has never met them.
Three minutes, four sections, no notes. Every adjective followed by an example. At least four comparatives and one as … as.
- Say your four section openers to yourself before you begin. Do not write them down.
- Every time you use an adjective, the next sentence is evidence for it. No exceptions.
- Hedge anything critical. This is a real person and the description should be one you would be happy for them to hear.
- Then swap, and ask three questions about their person.
Stop at ninety seconds and answer. Then carry on.
1. Which section are you in?
2. Has every adjective had an example after it?
What the log says
Answer before your teacher reads the log.
1. How many distinct adjectives did you use?
2. Did you fill the three minutes?
3. Which comparative error came up most?
Carry the log
One question.
1. What comes immediately after an adjective?
Before Lesson 6. Write down the two comparative errors you are most sure you made — from memory, without asking.
Lesson 6 compares your two with the log.