Results

Guiding or managing the interactions This refers to a speaker’s ability to enable a conversation, discussion or debate to continue by making appropriate contributions using suitable strategies to encourage others to contribute. So a speaker could draw the attention of participants in a discussion to the aims of the task in hand, encourage other speakers to take a turn, and so on. They may act as the chair of a meeting, or as ‘devil’s advocate’ in a discussion. 

Turn-taking Especially in group discussions, skilled speakers will act sensitively in taking turns to speak and allowing sufficient opportunities for others to do so.

listening actively and responding appropriately This refers to a speaker’s skill in showing that they are attending and listening to what other speakers have said. It also includes a speaker’s ability to provide appropriate and clear answers, within the limits of their knowledge, to any reasonable questions posed. 

Self-assurance Assessing the quality of a person’s use of spoken language should take account of their effectiveness in not seeming nervous in any specific kind of talk situations. They may well be feeling quite apprehensive, but are able to manage their feelings so that it does not show. This skill includes the ability to cope with being questioned or interrogated, or to deal with heckling, disputes, emotional conflicts, lack of cooperation, and so on. 

Liveliness and flair This skill is most relevant to presentational talk and drama activities. It represents the extent to which a speaker is able to show enthusiasm and imagination to achieve a distinctive and effective use of talk