Today I’m going to make a few comments about giving presentations. Please, please, when you deliver your presentation, give an angle on your topic. In this context angle means point of view. This word is often used in newpaper reporting – when a reporter writes a story he or she writes from a particular viewpoint focusing on a particular part of the subject. This will make us see the topic in a new light and be more interesting. Above all, your presentation needs to have a message. If you choose to do a presentation on a common topic such as the health dangers of smoking then to be honest it is unlikely that you will get a very high mark. Even if your language is very good what new things are you telling your audience? Don’t we all know that smoking is bad for you? There is no new message in your presentation, so what is the point of the presentation at all? But, did you know that 20% of the cigarettes that are smoked in this country have been smuggled into the UK? That means that smokers are contributing to organized crime. Talking about how smoking is actually funding criminal gangs is definitely an angle on smoking that would get you higher marks than talking about its health risks.

The second thing I wanted to mention is the official UK government site on statistics about the UK. It’s here. This site is just fantastic. It is full of accurate figures about the UK. How many people are there in the UK? How many people get married? How many people get divorced? How much do people get paid? This is the best place for all sorts of info and statistics about Britain.