[LEE]

25th July 2002

BIG BROTHER HOUSEMATES RECEIVE FINAL MINI TASK

Big Brother has given the housemates their final mini task. The group are to deliver a short after dinner speech this evening based on their experiences in the house. To help them prepare they have been given exercises to practice elocution, pronunciation and general verbal skills. They will be provided with after dinner speech writing tips later today.

Following are the elocution, conversation and role play exercises given to the housemates.

ELOCUTION

Exercise 1

You should begin by exercising your vocal chords.
A good way to do this is to repeat a phrase over and over in a variety of regional accents.
Each housemate should try the exercise in front of the rest of the group using the appropriate accents and volumes:

· Round the ragged rocks, the ragged rascal ran" - low volume. Somerset
· "Round the ragged rocks, the ragged rascal ran" - loud volume. Glasgow
· "Round the ragged rocks, the ragged rascal ran" - medium volume. Geordie
· "Round the ragged rocks, the ragged rascal ran" - whisper. Cockney
· "Round the ragged rocks, the ragged rascal ran" - shout. Yorkshire

Exercise 2

Each housemate should take it in turns to say these tongue twisters out loud to the rest of the group, practising the sound “TH”

1. Thor is the god of Thunder.
2. 2. Thelma and Theo have bad breath.
3. 3. Mr. Smith's teeth are thin and lethal.
4. 4. Thick ticks on three trees brought broth to ten thin tin men.
5. 5. Sick thickets thwarted seven thin sinners from passing through

Exercise 3

Each housemate should take it in turns to say these phrases out loud to the rest of the group making sure the letter “H” is not dropped.

1. Holidays can be hectic
2. He is hiding behind the house.
3. He hopes to have a new home.
4. He has gone home because he was hungry.
5. Harry is happy because he has a new hat.

Exercise 4

Each housemate shoud say these tongue twisters out loud to practice the sounds “L” and “R” :
1.Laura and Larry rarely lull their rural roosters to sleep.
2. Climbing crimes are lures for crowded clowns.
3. It's the right light with the glimmer in the mirror.
4. Jerry's berry jelly really rankled his broiling belly.
5. A leaky rear latch on the listing bark lifted right up and the water rushed


POLITE CONVERSATION

How we speak to one another is one of the most obvious manifestations of manners – both good and bad.

A well mannered talker puts those around him at their ease, is as good a listener as he is a talker and has the ability to come up with easy and amusing chat.

The following tips will help you with your conversation over dinner:

· When talking on a one to one basis with those sat next to you, give them your full attention. Be sure to hold eye contact, laugh at any jokes and don’t fold your arms.
· Try not to overly dominate dinner table conversation. Allow everyone to participate and try and coax an opinion out of anyone appearing left out.
· Watch others reactions to ensure that nobody is offended by the conversation. If offence is caused then don’t overdo apologies; have a quiet word later.
· Steer clear of the following topics: sex, gossip, politics, religion and money.
· Don’t succumb to constant joke telling, name-dropping and never ask a woman her age.
· Beware of awkward silences. Aim to re-start the conversation with a light hearted remark.


ROLE PLAY EXERCISES

Once all of the housemates have read and understood the guidelines on polite conversation you should practise conducting a series of short two minute conversations as a group.
You may choose any topic you like to discuss but you should employ all of the verbal skills you have learned.
Two suggested role plays:

1. You are all at a dinner party. One of you is a local councillor who is passionate about their politics. One of you is a newspaper gossip columnist. One of you is so shy that you barely speak. The remaining housemate must keep the conversation polite and amiable, taking care to include everyone.

2. Three of you are chatting at a party when a fourth person joins the group. This person is generally avoided due to their insistence on continuously talking about themselves and their glamorous lifestyle. How do you all deal with the name dropping and interrupting?