LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this speaking lesson on professionalism are to:

• discuss professionalism and how people consume information;
• read dialogues and express opinions;
• watch a video about people trusting influencers vs. experts.

In this lesson, students discuss professionals, experts and influencers. They explore how people consume and trust information, read dialogues and share their opinions. Students watch a video about why people trust influencers over experts and discuss how to tell good information from bad. They also reflect on changing ideas about professionalism, examine professional traits and debate future trends in the workplace.

This is a Speaking Class worksheet. It includes a variety of tasks that let your students practise their speaking skills. This lesson format does not focus on grammar or vocabulary. Learn more about it here.

WARM-UP AND VIDEO

This speaking lesson on professionalism starts with a warm-up. Students discuss questions about professionals, experts and influencers. They then read dialogues exploring how people consume information and the factors that influence it. Students discuss the approaches mentioned in each dialogue, choose the view they relate to and justify their choice. Moving on, they watch a video about why people trust social media influencers more than traditional experts. Students watch the first part of the video and discuss the questions. Afterwards, they watch the rest of the video and answer the question the speaker poses at the end (How do we discern good information from bad?). Students come up with at least three ideas.

MORE DISCUSSION

In this part of this speaking lesson on professionalism, students elaborate on statements about changing views on professionalism (e.g. People destroy professionalism by seeking free or cheap services). After that, they look at different markers of professionalism (e.g. using appropriate communication tone, dressing for the role appropriately). Students then discuss questions about the importance of professional traits and how they have changed. Following that, they look at pairs of different factors (e.g. gig economy OR remote work). Students discuss which point in each pair will have a bigger impact on how professionalism changes in the future.