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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

HOW TO STAY
CALM UNDER
PRESSURE
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1 Warm up
With your partner, talk about the questions below.

1. In what situations do you feel under pressure?

2. How well do you cope in stressful situations?
3. Do you think that stress is just a side effect of modern life?
4. Do you think that some people are affected by pressure more than others?
5. What kind of things do you do to help yourself feel calm?

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HOW TO STAY CALM UNDER PRESSURE

2 Focus on vocabulary

Part A: Add the following extracts to the gaps in the definitions.

a lot of praise good quality important part know exactly

less effective stress and pressure unpleasant memory very strongly

1. choking (v) - unable to perform to your known standard due to high levels of

2. haunts (v) - an or thought from your past that continues to return to your mind

3. undermine (v) - to make something , often related to confidence

4. boils down to (phr. verb/ idiom) - to focus on a fundamental/ the most of something

5. primed (v) - to be prepared and what you should do

6. acutely (adv.) - to feel or notice something

7. extol (v) - to give to something

8. virtues (n) - a specific or habit

Part B: Now complete the sentences with appropriate words from Part A.

1. My friend was always going on about the of being a dog owner, but I was still
happy to live on my own.

2. She was aware of the fact that she was likely to lose her job, the company had
been losing money for months.

3. I had to give a presentation to my classmates, and despite all my preparation I was sure I was going
to .

4. The important thing to remember about football is that it all which team scores
the most goals.

5. Jessica was still by the time she dropped her chocolate milkshake on her father
in law’s brand-new shoes.

6. My boss continually tried to me by pointing out that he went to Oxford and I

didn’t.

7. People often love hiking as it can the benefits of freedom and a love of the great
outdoors.

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HOW TO STAY CALM UNDER PRESSURE

Part C: Personalise the vocabulary: share your opinions with your classmates using the questions
below.

1. What do you think the success of a good language learner boils down to?
2. How would you react if someone in your workplace tried to undermine you?
3. Is there anything from your childhood that still haunts you a little bit?
4. Are you acutely aware of any serious issues occurring in your country at the moment?
5. Have you ever seen or been aware of a sportsperson, or a performer choking?

3 Understanding the main idea

Listen to the first section of the TED talk by Noa Kageyama and Pen-Pen Chen on ‘’How to stay calm
under pressure" (0:00-0:53), then decide if the following statements are true (T) or false (F). If the
statements are false, then change them to true.

1. Choking happens when an athlete makes their shot.

2. Choking happens a lot in sports.

3. Choking only occurs with sportspeople and athletes.

4. The majority of people say it happens because they are naturally nervous.

Glossary:
Spelling bee - a competition where contestants must spell increasingly difficult words
Darts players - participants who throw small arrow-shaped missiles at a circular target to score points

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HOW TO STAY CALM UNDER PRESSURE

4 Listening comprehension

Listen to the rest of the video (00:54-04:28) and select the correct answer for the following questions.

1. The speaker suggests that performance is harmed when the mind is preoccupied with:

a. worries, doubts or anxiety

b. worries, doubts or nervousness

c. worries, doubts or fears

d. worries, doubts or tears

2. A 2004 maths study found students who were stressed performed:

a. worse on more difficult, memory-intensive tasks

b. better on more difficult, memory-intensive tasks

c. worse on easy maths problems

d. worse on both easy and difficult maths problems

3. Tasks done ________ are most vulnerable to a certain type of choking:

a. subconsciously

b. consciously

c. unconsciously

d. all of the above

4. Two things that can help us avoid choking at the most important times are to:

a. eliminate stress and high-pressure routines

b. practise under stressful conditions and have a pre-performance routine

c. have a healthy diet and a good sleeping routine

d. practise under stressful conditions and have a post-performance routine

5. According to the research, this is more effective and works better than an internal focus on the
ultimate goal:
a. imaginary focus

b. emotional focus

c. no goal at all

d. external goal

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HOW TO STAY CALM UNDER PRESSURE

6. Fill in the gaps to form the conclusion of the video: "practice, _______ , ________ , ___________,
makes perfect":
a. under pressure, with focus and with that fire burning inside

b. under pressure, with focus, and with the glorious end goal in sight

c. under pressure, with focus, and with the internal ember burning bright

d. under pressure, with focus, and without being uptight

5 Adjectives

The following adjectives are all taken from the video you just watched. Match them to the correct
definition.

1. preoccupied a. a thing that you cannot stop or prevent

2. vulnerable b. thinking about one thing so much that you can’t focus on
anything else
3. explicit c. something that is incredibly easy to understand, crystal clear

4. inevitable d. be easily influenced or affected by something

5. susceptible e. somebody or something that can be damaged easily, both

physically and emotionally

Now, use the adjectives to fill in the gaps in the statements and discuss with your partner if you agree
or disagree.

1. Governments should do more to help people in society.

2. Teenage boys are more to the influence of their peers.

3. Climate change is and there is nothing that can be done.

4. People are too with staring at their phones instead of doing something worthwhile.

5. Language teachers should always give instructions if they want their students to
improve quickly.

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HOW TO STAY CALM UNDER PRESSURE

6 Talking point

In pairs discuss the following questions on the themes brought up in today’s lesson:

1. What was the most surprising thing that you heard in today’s video?
2. Why do you think some people are more susceptible to choking than others?
3. Do you think having an external focus instead of an internal focus is good for performance? Could
you integrate this strategy into your life?
4. What is more important for an athlete: physical performance or mental performance? What about
a singer?
5. Which statement do you think is more realistic?

• Practice makes perfect.

• Practice, under pressure, with focus, and with that glorious end goal in sight, makes perfect.

7 Speaking - roleplay

Professional sportspeople often employ coaches to improve their psychological performance for big
sport events. Work with a partner and act out a roleplay between:

Using the ideas and vocabulary from today’s lesson, come up with and practise your dialogue. Once
you feel confident enough your teacher will ask you to perform your dialogue for another pair in you
class.

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