Text в Girl Talk - Where You Can Buy Success in the Coffee Break

The lights are relaxedly dimmed and lime juice cordial and iced water sparkle invitingly on green baize. Lisa Ford makes her en­trance. She is expensively but discreetly dressed: the right suit with the right hemline, low-heeled shoes, high-necked blouse, the mini mum of good jewellery. She hails from Atlanta, Georgia, and she' as fresh as if she'd just stepped out of the shower.

Close on two hundred women in business, government, and the

professions have come to learn how to project themselves. By four

o'clock today, I shall have crystallised my self-knowledge, dramatised my commitment goals, and eliminated the credibility robbers in my speech patterns. My body language will speak volumes.

«Excuse me, Joe», I shall be able to say, when interrupted by a male colleague. Men interrupt women 76 per cent more often than they interrupt men. It is just another symptom of their sublime arrog­ance. «Excuse me, Joe», - clear and direct, not submissive, my hand up, but close to the body without aggression, the gesture that says subliminally: Stop. 'I would like to finish making this point/

Note, that I did not say, tentatively, «Er, Joe, I'm sorry, but would you, -er-kind of mind if 1-er-added something? I mean, you probably won't think this is at all important, and of course, do feel free to sort of, well, criticise it if you like, but I'd just like to say...» And when Joe congratulates me on my profundity, I shall swallow the good British instinct that might lead me to say, self-effacinghly. «Gosh. It was nothing!» and say, as a man would, «Thank you When you are as talented as I am, it comes naturally».

The lights are gleaming now on a glossy video held aloft: Success and Self-Programming. We can buy it during the coffee break. We should share our knowledge because knowledge is power. Okay, let's get down to counteracting our stereotypes. Women, as we all know, are seen as too emotional, lacking the ability to handle criticism. Women are seen as having nothing important to say. Women make it worse for themselves by voicing their anxieties. I must avoid-robbing appearance mistakes and mannerisms that say I am a light-weight. «Powerless people smile to please», warns Lisa.

Women are expected to smile, where men aren't. I must develop a strategy for investing in my own image: promote myself for positive visibility. Being decisive is a power skill - I must breeze into the office on Monday morning full of positive thoughts and ready to defuse un­warranted criticism.

Like toothpaste, it's the inner ring of confidence that counts be­cause as Lisa says: «The scary thing is, around 80 per cent of our in­ternal dialogue is negative». That's okay as far as it goes. I'm not knocking assertiveness training or the teaching of techniques to combat sexism. But isn't it frightfully un-British? I've got this unea­sy feeling that if we all package ourselves as the self-projectionists advocate, we'll produce a race of all-American clones.

Please, may I hang on to my occasional bursts of temper or bouts of moodiness? Do you mind my crooked teeth? On the way to school, I used to take out my hated brace as soon as I was out of sight of the house. When the dentist expressed mystification that the treatment wasn't working, and I had to defend myself by saying that I found it difficult to splutter German through all the metalwork, he told me sternly that I would later regret my vanity. My teeth are not perfect. But I can speak German.

Now an American miss would not have done this. American misses know that confidence is engendered through a flashing smile. It is engendered, too, through a high school and college education which positively encourages self-promotion and self-analysis. Amer­ican misses would have no reservations about writing a «Dear Boss» letter as advocated by this seminar in order to increase value and vi­sibility. It would not stick in their throat to say, «Thanks for approv­ing my attendance at the Image and Self-Projection Workshop. I learned a lot! Here are some of the highlights».

No, allow me a bit of unpredictability, please. Woman, after all, is at best a contradiction still. Sorry, Joe. You wanted to say something?

(Pat Ashworth, The Guardian)

F. Explain the meaning of these phrases from the text

1. cristallised my self-knowledge

2. dramatized my commitment goals

3. eliminated the credibility robbers in my speech patterns

4. my body language will speak volumes

5. the gesture that says subliminally: Stop

6. Er. Joe, I'm sorry, but would you-er-kind of mind if I-er-added something?

7. Let's get down to counteracting our stereotypes

8. power-robbing appearance mistakes

9. investing in my own image

10. breeze into the office

11. inner ring of confidence

12. the scary thing is

13. knocking assertiveness training

14. package ourselves as the self-projectionists advocate

15. a race of all-American clones

16. bouts of moodiness

17. Do you mind my crooked teeth?

18. to splutter German through all the metalwork

19. American misses know that confidence is engendered through a flashing smile

20. no reservations about writing a «Dear Boss» letter

21. to increase value and visibility

22. stick in their throat

G. Pat Ashworth was reporting Lisa Ford's seminar. Divide the phrases in Exercise E into two groups, according to whether Pat Ashworth is voicing her own opinion in using these phrases or reporting Lisa Ford's words.

H. Now choose the best answer to the following questions:

1. What is the writer's view of Lisa Ford?

A. She admires her self-presentation.

B. She likes the way she is dressed.

C. She sees her as a stereotype.

D. She would like to see beyond the image.

2. The purpose of the seminar is to

A. improve women's body language.

B. eliminate irritating mannerisms.

C. train women how to interrupt.

D. teach the art of self-presentation.

3. The best way to handle interruptions is to

A. go on talking as if nothing had happened.

B. stop and listen to what the person interrupting has to say.

C. raise your hand forcefully in the air.

D. acknowledge the interruption and carry on talking.

4. What does the writer think about the seminar?

A. She learned a number of new practical skills.

B. She discovered that she would benefit from adopting a more positive approach to work.

C. She disapproves of the approach put forward.

D. She felt she had wasted her time by attending.

Group Activity

How well do you communicate? Is your self-image working for you?

Self-image is:

> How you regard yourself.

> The mental picture of how you believe you appear to others.

> How you picture your physical self.

> How you believe others see you physically.

> Your idea (positive or negative, rational or irrational) of how you present yourself to others and how you are subsequently judged by them.

> A personal assessment of your character, personality, skills, abilities, and other attributes.

> A powerful internal mechanism influencing how you feel about yourself.

> An accumulation of scripts you have been given (conscious­ly or otherwise) and have learned well throughout your life.

What is involved in creating a self-image?

Your self image is developed by how you assess the following fac­tors in your personhood: Physical appearance,

Shape of your body.

Accomplishments in academics.

Achievement in athletics.

Social skills.

Value system.

Skills, abilities and competencies.

Relationship with family, relatives, siblings, peer group, and others.

Behaviour in social and professional situations.

Background and environment from which you came.

Jobs and job titles held.

Goals, ambitions and aspirations for the future.

How does your self-image affect you?