Trust me, I’m an expert

Olia | Jan 08, 2025Feb 28, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this speaking lesson are to:

• discuss how to evaluate and choose expert advice;
• talk about the risks of following self-proclaimed experts;
• watch and discuss a video on financial advice and its implications. 

With this speaking lesson, students revise the vocabulary for discussing online experts (e.g. make an informed decision, seek advice, get a second opinion, etc.), assess key questions to ask before trusting an expert’s advice and share experiences and opinions on seeking guidance. They analyze and elaborate on common online advice and watch a video on financial advice. Students also discuss the risks of following advice from self-proclaimed experts and debate the accountability for spreading harmful advice online.

WARM-UP AND VOCABULARY

This speaking lesson begins with a warm-up. Students look at professions (dietician, financial advisor, designer and psychologist) and identify topics they would expect each person to be knowledgeable about. Afterwards, they revise vocabulary for discussing online experts (e.g. relevant qualifications, in-depth knowledge, turn to, etc.) and match halves to complete questions. Then, students choose the most important questions to ask an expert before using their services (e.g. Why should people turn to you for advice instead of others?). They also explain their choice. Following that, students discuss questions about seeking and evaluating advice. 

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION

At this point in this speaking lesson on expertise, students look at titles and replace [X] with specific things they often see online (e.g. Three signs you have [X].; Five life-changing tips for [X].; etc.). Then, they work in pairs and ask their partner to elaborate on the advice for one of the titles they created. After that, students watch a short video on financial advice and share their opinions on statements about it. Next, they read a text about the risks of following self-proclaimed experts’ advice. Afterwards, students engage in discussing online experts and their impact. Finally, they say to what extent content creators, viewers and online platforms are responsible for the spreading of harmful or unverified advice online. Students also discuss what they should do to prevent it.

WORKSHEETS

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