1. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 1 | 10
Task 1. Work in pairs. Ask your partner the following
question:
Tell me about a challenge that you or your team faced and
how you overcame it.
Task 2. You’re going to watch to an extract from a workshop in
Stanford Graduate School of Business. https://youtu.be/-
FMB6xtQdjM?t=3m1s
1. What was Sydney Larson’s problem during the interviews?
2. What format does she propose?
3. According to Sydney Larson, what’s the key element of
answering interview questions?
4. What was the example she gives?
______________ => _____________ => ______________=>_____________
Task 3: Vocabulary
a. Fill the gaps from memory. Use the video to check https://youtu.be/-FMB6xtQdjM?t=3m1s
Okay, I had six weeks to get our company compliant with various consumer protections regulations
1____ meet an investor requirement, and what 2___________ was tens of millions of dollars.
Very brief and to the point. Next, the task. The task can also be brief.
My task was 3___________ we met that deadline that had been 4___________ by
investors, 5___________ we got the money that we needed.
End of story. And then action. This is where you wanna spend most of your time. You really wanna
help the interviewer understand what is your thought process, what did you do and why did you do
it. So in this case,
I started with a project plan and I talked to various people across the company to try to understand
how were they going to be 6___________ by these regulations and what did we need to change. I
7___________ the project plan and after getting buy in, I followed up really frequently
8___________ we were actually 9___________ because we 11__________________
deadline. And finally, the result. Again, the result can be very short and sweet.
So the result of the situation was that we met the deadline, because of my work, you wanna make
sure that you again give the interviewer a reason to, to believe that you were the one that made this
all happen, and we got the money that we needed.
are up against such a tight deadline impacted to
on track came up with to make sure that x2
set was at stake so

2. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 2 | 10
b. Match the expressions with their meaning.
A We’re up against a tight deadline. 1 It had an effect on us.
B We’re on track. 2 They chose a date by which we needed to finish.
C We got impacted by this decision. 3 We have verylittle time to finish our work.
D They set a deadline for us. 4 We’re not behind schedule.
E What is at stake? 5 What will we lose if we fail?
c. What is the difference between so (or so that) and to? Read the examples and complete the rule.
I had six weeks to get our company compliant with various consumer protections regulations to
meet an investor requirement.
My task was to make sure that we met that deadline that had been set by investors, so (that) we
got the money that we needed.
The rule: We use to/so that before a verb. We use to/so that before subject + verb.
d. Discussion. Fill the gaps (you can use the same expression more than once). Then in pairs,
pick two questions that you’d like to discuss.
against a tight deadline impacted set
on track to make sure that was at stake
1. Are you__________ with your currentprojectactivities?Generally,doyoufinditeasyto stay
_________?
2. When wasthe last time youdidovertime? What____________?
3. How do you____________ you don’tgetdistractedwhen you’re working________________________?
4. How do youkeeptrack of the deadlinesthatyou ____________ foryourself?
5. Can you rememberadecisionyoumade that ____________ otherpeople?
Task 4. Tell your partner about a time when you or your team were up against a really tight
deadline. Use the grid to plan your answer.
Situation Task Action Result
Task 5. Look at these two sentences from Sydney Larson’s speech. The parts in bold aren’t what
she actually said. Can you predict what she in fact say (reformulate them)?
1. I couldn't understand what they had really added to that situation.
I couldn't understand what ____ _______ they had really added to that situation.
2. I had six weeks to get our company compliant with various consumer protections regulations to
meet an investor requirement, and tens of millions of dollars were at stake.
…..meet an investor requirement, and what ______________________________________.

3. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 3 | 10
Task 6. Sort these expressions into the table:
So what we did was [verb]
And so as a result I…
So the solution I came up with was to [verb]
So what I was trying to do was [verb]
We needed to make sure that… so that…
What was at stake was [noun]
So what I needed to make sure was that…
So what I decided to do was [verb]
Situation Task Action Result
Task 7. Reformulate these sentences:
1. We didn’t have much time so we decided to focus only on high priority issues.
We didn’t have much time so what______________________________________
2. We didn’t have much time so we focused on high priority issues.
We didn’t have much time so what______________________________________
3. When we identified the problem, we came up with a change to the process.
What______________________________________
4. Next, we let everyone know about the new process.
What ______________________________________
5. We needed to make sure that we stayed on track. We really couldn’t afford to miss that
deadline.
What ______________________________________
Task 8. Which of the following situations have you experienced? Tick✓ them. Share with your
partner.
Tell me about a situation where
□ you had to work with a really difficult
colleague
□ you or your team achieved something great
□ you needed to help someone
□ you had a difficult task
□ you decided to replace a tool/app that you
were using
□ you came up with an effective/innovative
solution to solve a problem
□ you faced a communication difficulty with
one of your customers or teammates
□ you decided to replace a gadget that you
had
□ you needed to learn something
□ you received a good piece of advice
□ you gave someone a good piece of advice
□ you needed to decide how to spend a
large sum of money
□ you bought something useful
□ you bought something that turned out to be
useless

4. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 4 | 10
Task 9. Watch Kristin George, the head of product at
TuneIn, talk about a challenge that her company overcome.
Analyze what she says according to the STAR format.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AzjJIRKHeA
Situation Task Action Result
Task 10. Cover the right column. Look at the left column and guess what’s wrong with the
transcript.
Over the last two years, we've been working on
increasing our overall retention of our Android
product.
In our first version of our app, we focused on
UI elements that we thought would
communicate to users how to move from
screen to screen, or navigate between tabs,
and use a mini player.
Over the last two years, we've been working on
increasing our overall retention of our Android
product.
In our first version of our app, we focused on UI
elements that we thought would communicate
to users how to move from screen to screen, or
navigate between tabs, and use a mini player.
We had our own way of doing this.
It really was this big bar across the screen.
It said swipe here.
We thought that this UI element was going to
be extremely successful.
So we had our own way of doing this.
And it really was this big bar across the screen.
And it said swipe here.
And we thought that this UI element was
going to be extremely successful.
We found people just weren't seeing it. And what we found is people just weren't
seeing it.
We moved over to a Google UI element that
really is being used in places like The Play
Store.
We didn't think that this UI element was as
prominent.
We found that when we released it and tested
it on our listeners-- we found that it was
actually much more successful than the feature
that we had in place.
So we moved over to a Google UI element
that really is being used in places like The Play
Store.
And so at first, we didn't think that this UI
element was as prominent.
And what we found was-- when we released it
and tested it on our listeners-- we found that it
was actually much more successful than the
feature that we had in place.

5. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 5 | 10
People were discovering a new great content
that they wanted to listen to.
It ended up moving our most important
engagement metric, which is listening hours.
People were finding really great content that
they wanted to listen to on our platform.
They were finding more reasons to come back
and listen to TuneIn.
And as a result, people were discovering a
new great content that they wanted to listen to.
So it ended up moving our most important
engagement metric, which is listening hours.
And then as a result, people were finding
really great content that they wanted to listen to
on our platform.
And they were finding more reasons to come
back and listen to TuneIn.
Task 11. Add more expressions from this presentation to the table in Task 7:
At first we thought…
So we moved over to…
And what we found is…
And so as a result…
So it ended up [ing]

6. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 6 | 10
Transcript 1. Source: Stanford School of Business youtube channel
https://youtu.be/-FMB6xtQdjM?t=3m1s
>> As Aditi mentioned, we are first going to talk about interviews, impromptu speaking in the
context of interviews. Before coming to the GSB, I was at a company where I did a lot of
interviews.And by the end of it, I often felt like this. The person I was talking to had been rambling, I
couldn't get to the point, I couldn't understand what was it that they had really added to that
situation. So, I wanna offer a format for you when you're in an interview that you can use to help
structure your answers and help your interviewer understand why you are so awesome and perfect
for the job. And that format is STAR, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
3:50
So, I'll give you a little demonstration, starting with situation. And they key with the situation, is that
you don't wanna give too much detail. The tendency is for people to get into a lot of detail, and the
interviewer kind of gets lost in the situation itself. You wanna just offer enough information so that
they understand the context and the stakes.
4:13
So if I were given the question, tell me about a time when you were up against a really tight
deadline. I might say, okay, I had six weeks to get our company compliant with various
consumer protections regulations to meet an investor requirement, and what was at stake
was tens of millions of dollars. Very brief and to the point. Next, the task. The task can also be
brief. My task was to make sure that we met that deadline that had been set by
investors, so we got the money that we needed .End of story. And then action. This is where
you wanna spend most of your time. You really wanna help the interviewer understand what is your
thought process, what did you do and why did you do it. So in this case I started with a project
plan and I talked to various people across the company to try to understand how were they
going to be impacted by these regulations and what did we need to change. I came up with
the project plan and after getting buy in, I followed up really frequentlyto make sure we
were actually on track because we are up against such a tight deadline. And finally, the result.
Again, the result can be very short and sweet. So the result of this situation was that we met
the deadline, because of my work, you wanna make sure that you again give the interviewer a
reason to, to believe that you were the one that made this all happen, and we got the money that
we needed.
5:43
So hopefully that is a helpful example of how you can master interviewer, interviews, and help your
interviewer see why you are so great for the job.
Transcript 2. Source: Android Developers youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AzjJIRKHeA
Hi, I'm Kristin George. And I head up product at TuneIn. We have 40 million monthly active users
from all over the world. And TuneIn brings you the world of live radio to your smartphone. So we're
here today to talk about the Android product and why we're so excited about our fastest growing
platform.

7. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 7 | 10
Over the last two years, we've been working on increasing our overall retention of our Android
product.
In our first version of our app, we focused on UI elements that we thought would communicate to
users how to move from screen to screen, or navigate between tabs, and use a mini player.
So we had our own way of doing this. And it really was this big bar across the screen. And it said
swipe here. And we thought that this UI element was going to be extremely successful. And what
we found is people just weren't seeing it.
So we moved over to a Google UI element that really is being used in places like The Play Store.
And so at first, we didn't think that this UI element was as prominent. And what we found was--
when we released it and tested it on our listeners-- we found that it was actually much more
successful than the feature that we had in place.
And as a result, people were discovering a new great content that they wanted to listen to. So it
ended up moving our most important engagement metric, which is listening hours. And then as a
result, people were finding really great content that they wanted to listen to on our platform. And
they were finding more reasons to come back and listen to TuneIn.
What we found was by implementing fragments, Google is helping us handle all these different
device sizes and resolutions, so that we were creating a really great user experience on different
platforms.
And so I'm going to show off a little bit about fragments. If I come in here, you can see that there
are three different fragments on the browsing side of this screen. So the first is here. The second is
here. And then the third is as you choose a particular genre of music to consume. There's another
fragment over here on the side. And so you'll see this with our little mini player. And this fragment
moves from the side of the screen during a tablet UI to the bottom of the screen during a phone UI.
And what we did is we invested once, and then Google is helping us-- through this process--
conform to all the different types of screen sizes that they have. We decided to make a very
content-first screen. So a user can come in here and they can say, these are all my favorites as far
as genres. And then we can show them the world of live content as it happens.
2:59
So this is our very content-rich experience that's made for tablets. I always shipping a new app
every two and a half to three months. So what that gives us the ability to do is lean in to the new
features that Google puts out into their releases. So an example of this is rich notifications. And
you'll see that we made it really easy for people to favorite stations and songs that they like, stop,
and play, and then also discover new content with our Jump button.
3:29
So you'll see that we have a full, rich notification, and our users, as a result, feel like we're
constantly improving our app, and making them feel like we're paying attention to them, and that
we're always building new things.
So I'm looking forward to continuing to improve our product. Always reaching for higher retention.
And I really appreciate your time. So thanks for listening.

8. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 8 | 10
Teacher’s notes & key
Overview. There is quite a lot of tasks in this set of materials for you to pick and choose from.
The core tasks are Task 2 (presentation of the STAR framework) and Tasks 4 and 8 (practice
using the framework).
Task 3 focuses on deadline-related vocabulary and on linkers of purpose and result (to make sure
that, so, to). Tasks 5 – 7 focus on cleft sentences. Task 9 provides an example of an authentic
video of a business person using a variation of the framework. Task 10 gives the students practice
of noticing linkers in fast speech (the variation on page 10 is grammar revision: past simple and
continuous, cleft sentences, verb patterns, the passive).
Timing
Task 1.
10’
Project the picture and tell the group that it was a result of a Google search. S/s guess
the search (‘Challenge’). If the group gets stuck, play Hangman.
https://eltgeek.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/challenge.png
Board the question: Tell me about a challenge that you or your team _________ and
how you ________ it. Elicit words in the gaps (faced/overcame a challenge).
S/s discuss in pairs.
Task 2.
15’
(25’)
First time the s/s watch for gist (no questions given) and share in pairs. Then they
check Task 2 to see what questions they can already answer. Play again.
With a weaker group, give extra support by getting the students to transcribe key
sentences in #4:
My task was to make sure that we met that deadline that had been set by investors.
I came up with the project plan.
Use interactive transcript feature on youtube to play these lines several time.
Key: 1. Interviewees talked too much and without structure (were rambling)
2. STAR (situation, task, action, result)
3. Be brief – don’t give too much information.
4. See transcript 1 at the end.
Task 3.
a: 10’
b: 5’
c: 5’
d: 10-
15’
a Ask the s/s to cover the expressions at the bottom and try to fill the gaps. Monitor
and give support. 3 minutes later, s/s uncover the expressions and finish the task. Play
the video to check (stop after each answer).
Key:
a. 1) to 2) was at stake 3) to make sure that 4) set 5) so that 6) impacted 7) came up
with 8) to make sure that 9) on track 10) up against such a tight
b. A3 B3 C1 D2 E5
c. 1 on track / on track 2 at stake 3 make sure / up against a tight deadline 4 set 5
impacted
Task 4
15’
Allow 4 minutes to prepare.
Option: Monitor for mistakes in target language (deadlines-related lexis), give
feedback, then let the students repeat the task in new pairs.

9. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 9 | 10
Option: If you’re running out of time and you need to cover this material in one lesson,
skip tasks 6 and 7 (focus on cleft sentences) and proceed to task 8 (communication).
If you want to do cover this material in two lessons, either proceed to task 8 or do Task
4 twice and leave task 8 for production stage of the second lesson.
Task 5
5’
Play the sentences for the students to check:
Key: I couldn’t understand what was it they had really added to that situation.
https://youtu.be/-FMB6xtQdjM?t=3m23s
and what was at stake was tens of millions of dollars.
https://youtu.be/-FMB6xtQdjM?t=4m21s
Task 6.
5’
Key (variations possible)
Situation: x
Task: We needed to make sure that… so that… /So what I needed to make sure was
that…/What was at stake was…
Action:
So what I decided to do was / So what we did was /So the solution I came up with was
to
Result: So as a result I…
Task 7
15’
Key:
1) what we decided to do was focus on high priority issues
or what we decided to focus on was high priority issues
2) what we focused on was high priority issues
3) What we did when we identified the problem was, we came up with...
4) What we did next was (we) let everyone know…
5) What we needed to make sure was (that) we stayed on track.
Task 8:
10-30’
The students tick the situations they have experienced and then ask their partners
about the situations their partner ticked.
Model this task to ensure that the students are using the STAR framework.
Tasks
9-11
Task 9:
10’
Task
10: 15’
Task
11: 5’
Option 1: Assign these tasks for homework
Option 2: Do these tasks in the next lesson and then repeat task 8 in new pairs.
Option 3: focus on grammar (past forms, clefts) instead of listening and linkers (see
the alternative to task 10 below).
Task 9 Key:
NB: the speaker first mentions the task and then goes on to describe the situation
Task: Increase overall retention on our Android products
Situation: The existing UI (user interface) element didn’t communicate to the users how
to move from screen to screen, because the users weren’t seeing it.
Action: They moved over to UI element provided by Google.
Result: This new UI element was a lot more successful. It enabled people to find
content, improved their most important engagement metric (listening hours) and
ensured that more users come back.

10. O l y a S e r g e e v a e l t g e e k . w o r d p r e s s . c o m P a g e 10 | 10
Task 10: Fill the gap with the right form of the verb. Then listen and check.
Over the last two years, we 1) __________________ (work) on 2) __________________
(increase) our overall retention of our Android product.
In our first version of our app, we 3) __________________ (focus) on UI elements that we
4) _________________ (think/will) communicate to users how to move from screen to screen, or
navigate between tabs, and use a mini player.
So we 5) ________________ (have) our own way of doing this.
And it really was this big bar across the screen. And it said swipe here.
And we 6) _______________ (think) that this UI element 7) __________________ (be) extremely
successful.
And what 8) __________________________________ (we / find / people / not see it).
So we 9) __________________ (move over to) a Google UI element that really 10)
__________________ (use) in places like The Play Store.
And so at first, we 11) __________________ (not think) that this UI element was as prominent.
And what 12) __________________ (we / find) -- when we 13) __________________ (release) it
and 14) __________________ (test) it on our listeners-- we 15) __________________ (find) that it
was actually much more successful than the feature that we had in place.
And as a result, people (16) __________________ (discover) a new great content that they wanted
to listen to.
So it (17) __________________ (end up / move) our most important engagement metric, which is
listening hours.
And then as a result, people (18) __________________ (find) really great content that they
(19) __________________ (want) to listen to on our platform.
And they (20) __________________ (find) more reasons to come back and listen to TuneIn.
Task 11. Now look through the transcript and underline the expressions that Kristin George
uses to link her ideas (Example: So we had our own way of doing this). How many linkers did you
find?