Stay Interviews

 1. Have you heard the expression 'The Great Resignation'? What does it mean? Why are we hearing it now?

2. As a period of employment ends, companies sometimes conduct 'exit interviews' - what is the goal of these interviews?  Have you ever had an exit interview? What were you asked? How did you reply?

3. How are 'stay interviews' supposed to address the turbulent jobs market at the moment?

Read article here: Stay Interviews Reading

4. In the article, Matthias Spitzmuller says, "We’re in a different society than we were at the beginning of the pandemic, and that will mean changes in employment preferences." Is this true in your country? Are people reassessing life/work? Are people more prepared to see if the grass is greener elsewhere?

5. Here are four questions taken from the article - how would you answer them if they were applied to your company/organisation?

a) Which types of employees should companies target with stay interviews?

b) Who should conduct the stay interview?

c) What should be discussed in a stay interview?

d) The pandemic has shifted how some employees want to work. Should those issues be brought up in stay interviews as well?

6. Here are five questions taken from a 'What should be discussed' section - are these questions useful? If not, what else could you ask?

e) What’s your frame of mind today?

f) Who do you feel connected to at work?

g) What barriers can I remove for you?

h) What new thing do you want to learn that will excite you and help you grow?

7. Does the concept of stay interviews only really apply to large organisations? Why? Does the concept come from the notion of wanting to quantify everything?

8. Does money solve most of the issues associated with people wanting to leave their jobs? In your previous employment, would you have stayed with a company/organisation if they had simply increased your salary?

9. Are there any downsides to using stay interviews? Tell me about inaction, overpromising, extra cost.

10. What alternative ways are there of getting feedback from staff?

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Situation

A long-term employee (your teacher) doesn't seem as motivated as usual, and you've heard rumours that he is looking at leaving your organisation. Arrange a stay interview for him, and try to keep him on board at your company.

..........

Discuss quotes

“Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.”

― Tom Stoppard

"There should be exit interviews for dating. Just a brief evaluation of the highlights and challenges of the relationship, and maybe a few questions like "So what exactly was it that motivated you to dump me?"

--- Devan Sipher

“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.”

--- Marcus Aurelius

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all – the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”

--- Randy Kosimar

"You can always tell when a man's well informed. His views are pretty much like your own."

Student Handout PDF: Stay Interviews

Photo: Sora Shimazaki

Audiobook Voices

 

1. Who is your favourite voice in your language/English? What do you like about their voice? 

2. Do you listen to audiobooks? Why/why not? Which have been your favourites/least liked? What advantages do they have over traditional reading?

3. Are there some types of text that don't lend themselves to audio versions?

4. Are there any voice actors that have cornered the audiobook market for literature in your country? Do you know of any famous audiobook readers for anglophone literature? 

5. Have you ever taken part in a spoken event/recorded your own voice? What was it for? 

6. Did you ever read aloud while you were at school? Did you enjoy it or dread it? Does reading aloud enhance understanding or does it hinder it?

Read the article here: Audiobook Reading

7. What surprised you most about the work of an audiobook narrator? Is it something you would consider doing yourself?

8.From the three following steps, which would you find the hardest to do?

a) Read the book in a short space of time.

b) Visualisation of characters and events.

c) Spending 4 to 6 hours per day in a recording booth.

9. If you could choose a novel to narrate, which one would it be? Would it be your favourite book of all time, or would you worry that the recording process might make you resent your favourite work? What makes a text easy to read? What authors would you avoid reading?

10. Look at the following sentences describing voices; in your own words, describe how these voices sound.

a) I could hear Brian’s booming voice drawing ever closer.

b) ' I’ve got something for you,’ he said in his low husky voice.

c) She put on a squeaky voice and did an impression of Michael Jackson.

d) “I’ll look after you”, she said in a sweet voice.

e) She delivered her dialogue in a monotone voice.

11. What types of voice would you expect in the narration of a thriller, a children's story, or a classic tale?

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Situation

You work for a large translation company that specialises in translating classics from your language into English audiobooks. You are recruiting a native-English speaker for your latest project (your choice of book).

At the interview, inform the candidate (your teacher) of your project requirements - including your policy on dress code, voice type, soundproofing requirements, hours worked, 'transparency' etc. 

..........

Discuss quotes

“Dad used to read aloud to us from Dickens and Kipling. My tastes were omnivorous. I read anything I could lay my hands on, but the memory that stays with me is that of my father reading the Jungle Books to us when we were young. Beautiful stories!”

― A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

"Books are mute as far as sound is concerned. It follows that reading aloud is a combination of two distinct operations, of two 'languages.' It is something far more complex than speaking and reading taken separately by themselves."

--- Maria Montessori

"It is not the voice that commands the story; it is the ear."

--- Italo Calvino

“Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.”

― Lisa See

"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of reading it."

--- P. J. O'Rourke

Student Handout PDF: Audiobook

Photo: Karolina Grabowska