英语博客-北美风情 184、Public Speaking

  Most people feel nervous about public speaking, and it’s a difficult thing to do in any language. Greta, one of our listeners, suggested this idea for an episode¹ and we went with it! Harp² and Maura talk about their own experiences with public speaking and also share some advice on how to do it well. Does imagining the audience naked really work?

　　Maura: So, you can say that you’re going to give a talk. That’s one way of talking about public speaking. Another verb that you could use, another expression, is to make a speech.

　　Harp: Yes. To make a speech. To give a speech and to make a speech—it’s the exact same thing; it means that you’re gonna go in front of people and you’re going to do some public speaking.

　　Maura:Yeah. To make a speech is really when you’re speaking. If you’re preparing for the speech that would be you’re writing the speech or you’re practicing the speech. But if you make a speech, you’re actually speaking in front of people.

　　Harp: So you could say to make a speech or to give a speech. And this is much more formal. When you talk about a speech, I imagine someone standing³ in front of an audience, maybe behind a podium, very formal and they have very specific things they want to say.

1 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

2 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。