COMMUNICATION &

PRESENTATION SKILLS
ORAL SKILLS & SPOKEN ENGLISH
S M Mahsud
Lecturer
HITEC University

MAIN POINTS TO REMEMBER ABOUT

ORAL PRESENTATION

(i) effective use of visual aids

(ii) adequate eye contact : size of the
audience
(iii) clarity in pronunciation and fluency
(iv) maintaining a proper speed of presentation
(v) posture and body movements suggesting
confidence
(vi) seeking and making proper use of visual
feedback
(vii) noting down important points arising out
of discussion

DEVELOPING ORAL SKILLS

1. Speech & Writing/Printing: a
comparison
Speech : pitch, volume, tone, speed,
pauses, body movements, facial
expressions
Writing/Printing: punctuation,
capitalization, spacing, margins, fonts

DEVELOPING ORAL SKILLS

(continued)
2. Pronunciation of Words:
(a) vowel and consonant sounds
(comparison of sounds with letters a-z);
The letter a in :
fat //,
father /a:/,
fate /e/, about //
Or the letters th in thin // & then //.
Also notice
(b) word-stress: language, communication

DEVELOPING ORAL SKILLS

(continued)

3. Use of the phonetic script and the

(Pronouncing) Dictionary: International
Phonetic Alphabet: free downloading is
possible
Dictionaries on CD : listening to the
pronunciation and it variety (e.g. British
& American) now possible

DEVELOPING ORAL SKILLS

(continued)

4. Pronunciation of Sentences:
intonation and rhythm
INTONATION: rising / (yes /)
falling \ (yes \)
combination \/ (yes \/)
RHYTHM: de dum de dum
x
x

Vowel sounds of English

(Pure Vowels/Monophthongs)
initially medially finally
1. /i:/
east
sheet
key
2. /I/
it
hit
duty
3. /e /
end
send
4. //
and
sand
5. /a:/
art
heart
car
6. //

ox

fox

Vowel sounds of English

(continued)

ooze

medially
ball
put
choose

10.//

up

cup

11./:/
12. //

earn
ago

learn
police

7. /:/
8. /U/
9. /u:/

initially
all

finally
saw
chew

stir
maker

Vowel sounds of English

(continued)

Diphthongs

13. /e/
14. /a/
15. //
16./a/
17. //
18. //
19. /e/
20. /u/

eight
ice
oak
out
oil
ears
airs

straight
mice
joke
shout
boil
beard
paired
cured

stay
my
slow
how
boy
peer
hare
tour

Consonant sounds of English

1. /p/
2. /b/
3. /t/
4. /d/
5. /k/
6. /g/

initially
pin
bin
tell
day
keep
get

medially
spin
tubs
stick
heads
skill
jugs

finally
keep
club
light
laid
stick
bag

Consonant sounds of English

(continued)

initially

medially finally

7. //

chin

reached teach

8. / /

joke

hinged

large

met
net

smoke
snake
rings
fling

team
tin
sing
full

9. /m/
10. /n/
11. //
12. /l/

lot

Consonant sounds of English

(continued)

13 /f/
14. /v/

initially
fan
van

medially finally
soft
if
leaves
thief

15. //

thin

months

bath

16.//

then

clothes

bathe

Consonant sounds of English

(continued)

17. /s/
18. /z/
19. //
20. //

initially
sip
zip
ship
measure

medially
list
loser
rushed
rouge

finally
less
buzz
hush

Consonant sounds of English

(continued)

21. /h/
22. /r/
23. /w/
24. /j/

initially
hot
rot
watt
yatch

medially finally
behave
try
sweat
tune

Word-stress
Two-syllable words
Stress on first
syllable
bargain
govern
secret
mischief
message
cabbage

surface
furnace
husband
butcher
proverb
thorough
oven
onion
compass

Word-stress (continued)
Two-syllable words
Stress on second
syllable
admit
forbid
succed
suppress
police
payee
dismiss

agree
select
request
prefer
refer
occur
arrest
commence
perhaps

Word-stress (continued)
Three-syllable words
Stress on first syllable
advertise
educate
illustrate
furniture
government
literature
recognize
signature
tentative

Stress on second syllable

adventure
commercial
decision
external
internal
permission
revision
spectator
umbrella

Word-stress (continued)
Three-syllable words
Primary Stress on
third syllable
,addressee
,cigarette
,coincide
,devotee
,engineer
,guarantee
,recimmend

Word-stress (continued)
Four-syllable words
Primary Stress on first
syllable
applicable
accurately
comfortable
honourable

Primary Stress on
second syllable
advertisement
appreciate
arithmetic
exaggerate
participate
photography

Word-stress (continued)
Four-syllable words
Primary Stress on
third syllable
accidental
application
exhibition
independent
individual

Primary Stress on
fourth syllable
dedicatee
examinee

Word-stress (continued)
words with more than four syllables
Primary Stress on first
syllable
favouritism
cannibalism
secularism
Primary Stress on second
syllable
adventurousness
enthusiasm
conservatism

Primary Stress on third

syllable
electricity
irresponsible
popularity
Primary Stress on fourth
syllable
academician
civilization
pacticipation

Word-stress (continued):
stress change according to part of speech
COMPARE:
Noun/Adjective
absent
accent
concert
conflict
export
produce
subject

Verb
absent
accent
concert
conflict
export
produce
subject

Attributes of
good oral communication

1.Sounds and sound combinations

2. Stress
3. Rhythm
4. Intonation
5. Speed: pausing
6. Clarity of articulation
7. Voice modulation: volume & pitch
variation (avoiding monotonous speech)