Episode 8: Improve your discourse... tell me an anecdote!

Telling stories is usually considered a great skill in your own language. When you know how to captivate your audience with anecdotes, people will probably say that you have a great talent: you have a way with words! In this episode, I'm using an anecdote told by the famous Hollywood actor, Will Smith, when he visited the British talk show "The Graham Norton Show". I will explain the different parts that make up an anecdote (Abstract, Orientation, Complicating event, Resolution, Coda, and Reaction) by dissecting how Will Smith uses them. To see a video version and learn more about the stages of anecdotes and what vocabulary you can use, go to my website.

The skills you show when you tell an anecdote can help you in exams like IELTS, for example. In part 2 of the speaking exam, you'll have to speak for 2 minutes, and it will probably be some form of anecdotal experience. In exams like B2 First for Schools (Cambridge), you sometimes have to write a story, by recycling the same steps mentioned before.

Remember that the more you repeat an anecdote and tell other people, the better you will become at it. Practice makes perfect! I'd be happy if you could record yourself telling an anecdote and send it to me... I promise I'll put it in one of the future episodes. You can use some of the expressions from my website for every part of your anecdote.

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