Persuading listeners, using rhetorical devices ■■ Using an English search engine interface (1 5.6), find and read up on1 a workplace trend of the near future. Possible search terms include “workplace trends of the future” or “future of work biggest trends” (without quotation marks). Of course, you can also talk about one of the trends described at the beginning of this chapter (1 10.1). ■■ Imagine being a member of the board of a large corporation. You are in a board meeting at the moment, discussing the best strategies to make your company ready for the future. One or two other members of the board do not believe that the trend you are about to discuss (the one you did research on) will be relevant for your company. You strongly disagree with them. ■■ Try to convince your colleagues of your point of view. Give a talk in which you make it clear to them that the company needs to adapt to the needs of the modern workforce. Otherwise, it will sooner or later go out of business. For example: You have been reading about the importance of focusing on employee healthcare and wellbeing, which includes mental health. Some of your fellow board members do not believe that your employees’ health is any of your concern. They argue that employees are paid to perform the tasks needed by the company, and that this is all that matters. In your opinion, this attitude is highly problematic and will most likely lead to people quitting their jobs. ■■ In your talk, use as many of the rhetorical devices explained above as possible. ■■ For inspiration, watch a few speeches at AmericanRhetoric.com (or elsewhere). This is what you could say: Methods & strategies: Focusing on action verbs (part 2) & nouning Do what the verb says – and turn it into a noun! Let’s take one more look at the action verbs that begin the six bullet points (which were first mentioned in section 1 6.3). When working with them, it is crucial to think about what they really mean. What does “analyse” mean? It means to study or explore something closely and carefully, to look at its different parts and components. What does “assess” mean? It means to make an informed judgment on something, to decide whether it is good, right, valid, or necessary. Make sure you understand and follow every word of the instructions you get. A fancy way to rephrase the instructions during your exam is to turn the verbs into nouns. This practice is known as nominalisation, or “nouning”. It is normally more common in writing than in speaking. Therefore, you should not overuse this method as you may run the risk of sounding overly stiff or pretentious. Sometimes it works really well, though. Use your own best judgment. The last sentence of section 1 6.3 includes an example of nominalisation: “Explain why some businesses have recently been …” is changed to “I’d like to start out with a possible explanation as to why some companies …”. To do [A] [B] [H] 10.3 René Descartes, the famous 17th-century French philosopher, thought that animals were basically machines. Using them any way we want would certainly be okay, from this point of view, because what could possibly be wrong with using a machine? We’ve come a long way since then. We’ve begun to understand that animals can suffer, that they are intelligent, that they are more like us than Descartes would have deemed possible. We would no longer think of them as machines. Now, however, in a bizarre twist of perspective, it looks as though we’ve come to think of our employees as machines. We’ve stopped seeing them as humans in need of recognition, in need of appreciation, in need of support. That is a problematic, precarious perspective. It’s bad for our present employees, for prospective employees, and for ourselves. Can you see what rhetorical devices are used in the bold passages? Scan this page with the QuickMedia app to check your answers. How-to [A] [B] [D] [H] 10.4 1 to read up on something: sich über etwas informieren 91 Key aspects Strategies Sample task 10 The world of work Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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