3.1.4 COMMUNICATING UNDER PRESSURE
COMMUNICATING UNDER PRESSURE
1. Lead-in: Controlled chaos
Activity: “The worst deadline ever”
In pairs, you have 1 minute to think of a situation where:
- time was running out
- emotions were extreme
Student A tells the story in 30 seconds.
Student B listens and notes:
time expression used
emotion expressed
Prompts
“I was completely…”
“Not only was I…, but I was also…”
“No sooner had I…, than…”
2A. Time & schedules: Precision and pressure
2B. Discussion
- Is playing for time always negative?
- When might killing time be acceptable?
3A. Prepositions under pressure
3B. Mini Stories
In pairs, look at these time expressions from the previous exercise:
| Deadlines / endpoints | Duration | Time spans | Time pressure / lateness | Relative timing |
| in the nick of time | for almost two weeks | from March to June | behind schedule | before the meeting |
| by Friday | for three days | from April to September | short of time | during the afternoon |
| by the end of the day | for several months | over the weekend | around the clock | |
| within the agreed time frame | ||||
| in time |
- Take any three expressions from this list and use them to tell a short story about a project under pressure.
- Create a 30–60 second story.
Example: We’d been behind schedule for almost two weeks, … but we finished everything in the nick of time
4A. Focus on nuance : by or until
| by | until / till |
| Focuses on a deadline | Focuses on duration up to a point |
| The action is finished at or before a point in time | The action continues and stops at that time |
| Key idea: completion before a limit | Key idea: continuation up to a limit |
| Examples | Examples |
| The deadline must be met by Friday. | We worked until Friday evening. |
| Please submit the report by the end of the day. | The office stays open until 6 p.m. |
| We managed to finish by 5 p.m. | We waited until the meeting started. |
| If not finished by that time → there’s a problem. | The action is still happening before that time. |
4B. Practice
4C. during vs throughout
| during | throughout |
| Focuses on what happened inside a period | Focuses on the entire period, from start to finish |
| Often for shorter events or specific moments | Emphasises continuity |
| Key idea: at some point within | Key idea: the whole time |
| Examples | Examples |
| She took notes during the meeting. | She stayed calm throughout the meeting. |
| I felt nervous during the presentation. | It rained throughout the afternoon. |
| There were interruptions during the afternoon. | He was under pressure throughout the project. |
| Not necessarily the whole time. | No break — 100% coverage of the period. |
4D. Practice
4E. Speaking practice
Complete these sentences with your own ideas:
I need to finish ___ by …
If we don’t decide ___ by …, there will be consequences.
Our latest project must be completed by …
Nothing will change ___ until …
I was completely focused ___ until … happened.
I feel a bit nervous during …
I tend to check my phone during …
There’s often a lot of noise during …
I find it hard to relax throughout …
5A. Emotions & reactions
Look at the following words and see if you can think of a situation where you felt any of these emotions.
- embarrassed
- exhausted
- shaken up
- overwhelmed
- disappointed
- furious
5B. How did I feel in these situations (use one of the adjectives in Ex. 5A):
- I put my foot in it
- I was dead on my feet
- I lost it
5C. Discussion
What things can make you feel disappointed?
What do you do when you are exhausted?
At work, do you often feel overwhelmed?
Have you ever become absolutely furious?
6A. Language revision
- Not only … but also: Ex. Not only did we miss the deadline, but we also lost the client.
- No sooner…than… Ex. No sooner had I pressed “send” than I realised the mistake.
- As soon as Ex. As soon as the data came in, we updated the slides.
6B. Practice
6C. Practice.
Finish these sentences with your own ideas.
- At the weekend, not only did I ___, but I also ___.
- No sooner had I got in to bed than ___.
- As soon as I wake up, I ___.
- Not only was the situation ___, but it also ___.
- No sooner had we left the house did we realise ___.
7A. Presentation language + slides
Look at the following presentation script. It is a bit informal and repetitive. Change the script so it includes the following words:
highlight emphasize demonstrate back up sum up let me draw your attention to…
7B. Activity 2: Presentation prep
- Choose a topic (e.g. improving project timelines)
- Prepare 3 slides
- The presentation must include:
- 5 presentation expressions
- 2 references to slides
- 1 strong justification
Presentation expressions
- I’d like to introduce an idea that could significantly improve…
- Our proposal aims to…
- To give you some context…
- Let me walk you through the main features…
- This leads us to the next point…
- What we must not overlook is…
- It’s important to highlight that…
- What makes this especially compelling is…
- The data strongly suggests that…
- This offers a clear advantage over…
- What makes this especially compelling is…
- The data strongly suggests that…
- This offers a clear advantage over…
References to slides
- As you can see on this slide…
- This chart illustrates…
- Let me draw your attention to…
- If we look at the figures here…
- This brings us to the next image…
- This diagram breaks down the process into…
- The bar graph compares…
- The image on the right shows…
- The layout highlights…
Justifying and supporting ideas
- justify
- back up
- build on
- demonstrate
- point out
- Example combinations:
- The figures back up our proposal.
- This evidence demonstrates a clear trend.
- I’d like to build on the previous point.
Final task: Presentation
Each group delivers a 3–4 minute presentation.
To download the pdf for this lesson, click on the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y0nRUiy2IQfmepE8LatPd5QoSqjVtj0v/view?usp=sharing