emalyn.

Speaking framework

PPF — the framework for
walk me through questions

PPF stands for Past, Present, Future. It's the clearest way to answer any question that asks you to describe a journey — your career path, a project update, a life change, or where you're headed. Three simple parts. One clear story.

P Past "Where I was / what I did before" Set the starting point. What was your background, situation, or role before the current one?
P Present "Where I am right now" Describe your current role, project, or situation. What are you doing and learning now?
F Future "Where I'm headed / my plan" Share your direction or goal. Where do you want to go and why does this next step make sense?
"Walk me through your background" Career questions Project updates Status reports Job interviews Networking introductions

"Most people answer 'walk me through your background' like a CV read-aloud — dates, job titles, companies. PPF turns it into a story with direction. Past shows where you came from. Present shows what you've built. Future shows you know where you're going."

PPF
Daily life examples

4 situations where PPF works

Click each one to see the full structure and a model answer.

Example 01 · Job interview The classic opening interview question "Tell me about yourself."
❝ Tell me about yourself. ❞
Past
Where you were before I started my career as an English teacher in the Philippines, working with university students on academic writing and presentation skills. I then moved to Bangkok five years ago, where I continued teaching — this time in Thai schools, working with younger learners across different levels.
Present
Where you are right now Right now I'm teaching full-time while also building free English speaking tools on the side — things like timed scenario drills and speaking frameworks that help learners practise independently. It's pushed me to understand both education and digital products in a way I didn't expect.
Future
Where you're going Going forward, I want to take what I've learned from both sides — teaching and building — and grow into a role where I can create structured learning experiences at a larger scale. That's exactly why this position interests me.
Full answer — read it out loud

I started my career as an English teacher in the Philippines, working with university students on academic writing and presentation skills. I then moved to Bangkok five years ago, where I continued teaching in Thai schools across different levels. Right now I'm teaching full-time while building free English speaking tools on the side — timed drills and speaking frameworks that help learners practise independently. It's pushed me to understand both education and digital products in a new way. Going forward, I want to take what I've learned from both sides and grow into a role where I can create structured learning experiences at a larger scale. That's exactly why this position interests me.

Example 02 · Career change Explaining why you're switching directions "Why are you leaving teaching to move into content creation?"
❝ Why are you leaving teaching to move into content creation? ❞
Past
Where you were before For the past six years I've been a classroom teacher — first in the Philippines, then in Bangkok. Teaching gave me a deep understanding of how people learn, how to explain complex things simply, and how to hold attention in a room.
Present
Where you are right now Over the last year I've been running an Instagram account about English learning and building free tools for my students. I've discovered that I can reach and help far more people through content than I ever could inside a single classroom — and I genuinely enjoy the process of creating it.
Future
Where you're going I'm not leaving teaching behind — I'm applying it differently. My goal is to build a content business that teaches English in a way that's practical, honest, and actually useful for non-native speakers. Content creation is how I do that at scale.
Full answer — read it out loud

For the past six years I've been a classroom teacher — first in the Philippines, then in Bangkok. Teaching gave me a deep understanding of how people learn and how to explain complex things simply. Over the last year I've been running an Instagram account about English learning and building free tools for my students. I've discovered I can help far more people through content than inside a single classroom — and I genuinely enjoy the process. I'm not leaving teaching behind — I'm applying it differently. My goal is to build a content business that teaches English in a way that's practical and honest. Content creation is how I do that at scale.

Example 03 · Project update Giving a status update at work or in a meeting "Can you give us a quick update on where the project stands?"
❝ Can you give us a quick update on where the project stands? ❞
Past
Where it started / what happened before We started the curriculum redesign project in January. The first phase — gathering feedback from students and reviewing the current materials — was completed in early February.
Present
Where it stands right now Right now we're in the second phase — writing the new lesson outlines. We've completed about 60% of the content. The main challenge this week has been aligning the level descriptors across all three grade groups.
Future
What happens next We're on track to finish the outlines by end of month. After that, the review team takes over for the final check before we print. No blockers at this point — we're in good shape.
Full answer — read it out loud

We started the curriculum redesign in January. The first phase — gathering feedback and reviewing current materials — was completed in early February. Right now we're in the second phase, writing new lesson outlines. We've completed about 60% of the content. The main challenge this week has been aligning level descriptors across the three grade groups. We're on track to finish the outlines by end of month. After that, the review team takes over for the final check before printing. No blockers — we're in good shape.

Example 04 · Networking Introducing yourself to someone new at an event "So what do you do? What's your story?"
❝ So what do you do? What's your story? ❞
Past
Where you came from I grew up in the Philippines and studied English education. I moved to Bangkok a few years ago to teach, not really knowing anyone here — just a one-way ticket and a lot of optimism.
Present
What you're doing now These days I split my time between teaching English in schools and building free learning tools online — things like speaking drills and conversation frameworks. It's a bit of an unusual combination but I love it.
Future
Where you're heading The goal is to grow the online side into something bigger — a platform for non-native speakers who want to improve their English speaking on their own terms. We'll see where it goes.
Full answer — read it out loud

I grew up in the Philippines and studied English education. I moved to Bangkok a few years ago to teach — just a one-way ticket and a lot of optimism. These days I split my time between teaching English in schools and building free learning tools online. It's an unusual combination but I love it. The goal is to grow the online side into something bigger — a platform for non-native speakers who want to improve their speaking on their own terms. We'll see where it goes.

3 things to remember when using PPF

01 Keep the Past short

The Past section is context, not your main point. Two or three sentences is enough. You're setting the scene — not giving a full biography. Most people spend too long here and run out of time before they reach the Future, which is what listeners actually remember.

02 The Future must connect to the Present

Your future direction should feel like the natural next step from where you are now — not a random wish. The listener should hear your answer and think "that makes sense." If your Future sounds disconnected from your Present, the story loses its logic and its persuasiveness.

03 PPF works for projects too, not just careers

Any time you need to update someone on progress — a project, a plan, a process — PPF works. Past = what's already done. Present = where things stand now. Future = what comes next and when. It's the clearest possible structure for a status report.

What goes in each part

Past

Where you were / what happened before

Background, previous role, how something started, what the situation looked like before.

Previous jobs or roles How a project started Where you lived / what you studied What the problem was before you joined
Present

Where you are / what you're doing now

Current role, responsibilities, what you're working on, what the situation looks like today.

Your current job or project What you're building or learning Current status of a plan What's working and what isn't
Future

Where you're going / what comes next

Your goal, direction, next step, plan, or what you want to achieve. Shows intent and awareness.

Career goal or next role What the project delivers next Skills you want to develop Where you see this going

Now practise PPF
out loud.

Answer "tell me about yourself" using PPF — time yourself and aim for 60 seconds.

Open Daily Drill →